by Giovanni Russonello

Welcome to this week’s edition of “Weekend in Jazz,” our list of every D.C. jazz show on our radar. A slew of innovators head into D.C. this weekend, from Azar Lawrence to Marcus Strickland to Silver Spring native Alex Pinto. At CapitalBop’s D.C. Jazz Loft this Sunday, a preview of next month’s festival shows, Chicago avant-gardist Rob Mazurek brings his fiery trio. Those and all of our favorite shows have a  label. As always, you can read CapitalBop’s full listings directly at our D.C. jazz calendar, if you’d rather. Happy hunting!

FRIDAY, APR. 29

cb picks:

• Javon Jackson Band, THEARC, 7:30 p.m.
• Marcus Strickland, KC Jazz Club, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m.
• Azar Lawrence Quintet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m.
• George Burton, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
• Alex Pinto, Twins Jazz, 9 & 11 p.m.
• Donvonte McCoy, 18th Street Lounge, 10:30 p.m.

Redd Brothers, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 6:30 p.m. | Brothers Chuck and Robert Redd — a vibraphonist and pianist, respectively — perform holiday music in a straight-ahead jazz format. Chuck spent years playing and traveling with famed guitarist Charlie Byrd; Robert is a music faculty member at Montgomery College. They’re joined at this week’s edition of Westminster Presbyterian’s “Jazz Night” by Tommy Cecil on bass, Leigh Pilzer on baritone saxophone and Jen Krupa on trombone. $5 cover for adults, no cover for attendees under 16, no minimum. View event on calendar | Westminster Presbyterian Church website

Yamomanem Jazz Band, Sala Thai (Petworth), 7 p.m. | The Yamomanem Jazz Band plays a faithful take on New Orleans jazz, conjuring the days of King Oliver and early Louis Armstrong with its lush brass section. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Sala Thai website

Karen Gray Trio, Sala Thai (Bethesda), 7 p.m. | Commanding vocalist Karen Gray is joined by pianist Bob Sykes and bassist Jim McIntyre in her laid-back renditions of jazz standards. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Sala Thai website

Potomac Jazz Project, Sala Thai (U St.), 7 p.m. | The Potomac Jazz Project is a jazz combo, led by bassist Stan Hamrick, that takes on modern and classic jazz tunes with a showmanly flair, as well as skill. The cast of supporting musicians tends to rotate, but it’s usually a very solid lineup. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Sala Thai website

Jolley Brothers, B. Smith’s, 7 p.m. | The Jolley Brothers, Noble on keyboard and Nate on drums, play thrice a weekend at B. Smith’s, the upscale soul-food restaurant in Union Station’s massive East Hall. The Jolleys, who perform with a bassist, comprise one of D.C.’s most exciting and auspicious acts. With roots in gospel, soul and the modal bop of the 1960s, the brothers (who also compose prolifically) bring some of the most creative elements in the African-American music canon forward into the 21st century, all while stamping it with their own distinctive flavoring. But B. Smith’s is a restaurant first, and the music remains in the background – no matter how expertly played. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | B. Smith’s website

Elijah & the Po’ Boys, Bayou, 7 p.m. | Tenor saxophonist Elijah Jamal Balbed leads the Po’ Boys trio — usually with drums and guitar — four nights a week during dinnertime hours at the New Orleans-themed Bayou. A strong, Dexter Gordon-like player, he performs mostly tunes from hard bop’s heyday and other standards. To hear Balbed stretch out with a full quintet, stay late on a Thursday night, when he plays Bayou’s featured set. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Bayou profile

Javon Jackson Band, THEARC, 7:30 | Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson plays with luscious, laid-back proficiency. He was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers from 1987 until the famed bandleader’s death in 1990. Jackson is joined by a group of heavily talented musicians who all hail from D.C. or Baltimore: Joel Holmes on piano, Corcoran Holt on bass and McClenty Hunter on drums. Cellist Shana Tucker opens for Jackson, performing her soul-dripping, jazz-influenced folk cello playing with a small band. Free. View event on calendar | THEARC website

Marcus Strickland, KC Jazz Club, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. | Marcus Strickland is one of the top young saxophonists on the New York City scene today. His approach to the bop tradition is strikingly singular; he drapes layers and then pulls them back, like covers on a bed. The distinctly modern music that he makes with his quartet is at once saxophone-focused and ensemble-driven. It’s all based on an airy, forward-flowing sensibility, in which the horn doesn’t just fill space – it creates room in which all the group’s other sounds can float around. Strickland’s regular quartet includes his brother, drummer E.A. Strickland, plus David Bryant on piano and D.C. native Ben Williams on bass. Two separate shows at 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. $16 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | KC Jazz Club profile

Azar Lawrence Quintet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | saxophonist Azar Lawrence is a John Coltrane acolyte who spent years accompanying the great’s former sidemen, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones. Lawrence has a hard-driving style that he opens up to East Asian and Indian influences. Part of his history involves a negotiation with smooth and funk aesthetics, but nowadays he sticks to hard-bop with a spiritual sensibility. His quintet includes Eddie Henderson on trumpet, former D.C. resident Benito Gonzalez on piano, Essiet Essiet on bass and Billy Hart (who was raised in the District and went on to international prominence) on drums. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $35 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar| Blues Alley profile

Annie Sellick, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 8 p.m. | Vocalist Annie Sellick has smoky but stalwart pipes, with personality to boot. She often ventures outside the jazz-standard canon, but hardly ever sounds outside her comfort zone. She’s joined here by Chris Grasso on piano, Zack Pride on bass and Lenny Robinson on drums. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Mandarin Oriental Hotel website

Andréa Wood & Michael Kramer, Tasting Room, 8 p.m. | Singer Andréa Wood has started catching people’s ears since returning to D.C., her hometown, in 2009. The Duke Ellington School of the Arts graduate moves fearlessly up and down octaves, all the while maintaining a distinct sense of purpose. She can explore the upper register in a beguiling waft, or plunge into the basement with buoyant, swelling articulation. Wood and guitarist Michael Kramer play Brazilian and classic jazz standards every week as background fare at the Tasting Room, a wine bar in Friendship Heights. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Tasting Room website

George Burton, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m. | Talented young pianist George Burton dips in and out of typical bop language with cutting improvisations and rhythms that cast a fog the divide between swing and groove. In New York City, his first-class band consists of Jaleel Shaw on alto saxophone, Terell Stafford on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass and Wayne Smith, Jr. on drums. If the group at Bohemian is of a similar quality, this will be a spectacular show. $18 cover in advance, $22 at the door, no minimum. View event on calendar | Bohemian Caverns profile

Antonio Parker Quartet, HR-57, 9 p.m. | Alto saxophonist Antonio Parker has long been a regular performer at HR-57, and when the club moved to H St. NE earlier this year, he played at opening night. Parker’s playing refers to John Coltrane’s tenor technique, but his aggressive tone and rhythmic inclinations are more contemporary, bringing neo-soul and R&B influences into his otherwise straight-ahead bebop. Parker’s style on the horn often nods toward another one of his personal favorites, the contemporary master Kenny Garrett. $12 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | HR-57 website

Alex Pinto, Twins Jazz, 9 & 11 p.m. | Alex Pinto – who grew up in Silver Spring, Md. – is a guitarist who treads the line between measured and impassioned. He nods toward John Scofield in his preference for a creamy, distorted guitar sound and layers of dissonance in his chords (though, as is the case with Sco, Pinto’s tone and harmonic sense are all his own). Pinto is also one of a growing number of American jazz musicians employing Indian classical techniques as major elements in their lexicon. His debut CD, Inner State, was released last year and portends great things for this bold new guitarist. Two separate sets at 9 & 11 p.m. $15 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Twins Jazz profile

Peter Edelman Trio, Columbia Station, 9 p.m. | The stalwart D.C. piano player Peter Edelman every week leads a rotating cast of musicians that often outgrows the title “trio.” No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Columbia Station profile

Donvonte McCoy, 18th St. Lounge, 10:30 p.m. | Arguably the city’s best jazz trumpeter, Donvonte McCoy plays every Friday and Saturday at the hip 18th St. Lounge. He likes to mix in some funk as well during the lounge gig, and he’s liable to inflect a touch of Chuck Brown-esque groove into his combo’s treatment of classic bop tunes by the likes of Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. He’s joined every Friday by the talented, Billie Holiday-indebted singer Integriti Reeves. Cover varies ($5-10), no minimum. View event on calendar | 18th St. Lounge profile

DeAndrey Howard’s Collector’s Edition, Utopia, 11 p.m. | Trumpeter DeAndre Howard’s weekly engagement at Utopia brings hordes to the restaurant and bar every Friday night. He and his small group, Collector’s Edition, play standards with a friendly, inviting touch, and they add to the positive vibes already flowing throughout the room — especially when Howard tosses aside the trumpet to sing a spontaneous blues. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Utopia profile

SATURDAY, APR. 30
cb picks:

• Yotam Silberstein, KC Jazz Club, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m.
• Azar Lawrence Quintet, Blues Alley, 8 p.m.
• George Burton, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
• Alex Pinto, Twins Jazz, 9 & 11 p.m.
• Donvonte McCoy, 18th Street Lounge, 10:30 p.m.
• Elijah Jamal Experience, Utopia, 11 p.m.

Jam Session with Peter Edelman, Columbia Station, 4 p.m. | Pianist Peter Edelman, a constant presence on the D.C. jazz scene for years now, leads an afternoon jam session every Saturday and Sunday. No cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | Columbia Station profile

Jolley Brothers, B. Smith’s, 7 p.m. | The Jolley Brothers, Noble on keyboard and Nate on drums, play thrice a weekend at B. Smith’s, the upscale soul-food restaurant in Union Station’s massive East Hall. The Jolleys, who perform with a bassist, comprise one of D.C.’s most exciting and auspicious acts. With roots in gospel, soul and the modal bop of the 1960s, the brothers (who also compose prolifically) bring some of the most creative elements in the African-American music canon forward into the 21st century, all while stamping it with their own distinctive flavoring. But B. Smith’s is a restaurant first, and the music remains in the background – no matter how expertly played. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | B. Smith’s website

Mark Mosley Trio, Sala Thai (U St.), 7 p.m. | Baltimore guitarist Mark Mosley plays a slick hand as a smooth jazz guitarist, but he can also hunker down on serious bop. He performs laid-back straight-ahead here with his trio. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Sala Thai website

Full Ascent Jazz Band, Sala Thai (Petworth), 7 p.m. | This jazz band plays in a number of traditional styles, from hard-bop to Dixieland to calypso. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Sala Thai website

Night & Day Trio, Sala Thai (Bethesda), 7 p.m. | A self-described “cool swinging jazz trio,” the District Jazz Trio is saxophonist Seth Popkin, pianist Dan Nathan and bassist Roger Rosa. The group plays jazz standards. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Sala Thai website

Lena Seikaly & Potomac Jazz Project, 7:30 p.m., Extra Virgin Restaurant | Vocalist Lena Seikaly sings jazz standards with a confident and playful demeanor, displaying a haziness reminiscent of Esperanza Spalding as well as a deference to traditional greats. The Potomac Jazz Project is a quartet that takes on modern and classic jazz tunes (and even some pop covers) with a showmanly flair, as well as skill. It’s led by bassist Stan Hamrick, and its rotating lineup often features some of D.C.’s best musicians. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Extra Virgin’s website

Yotam Silberstein, KC Jazz Club, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. | Yotam Silberstein is a heavily talented young guitarist – a whiz kid with uptempo tunes and a soulful blues-infuser on ballads. He often plays with some of New York City’s best musicians (Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride and Aaron Goldberg, to name a few). For this set, he’s joined by the talented pianist Roy Assaf, a fellow Israel native. Two separate shows at 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. $16 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | KC Jazz Club profile

Annie Sellick, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 8 p.m.| Vocalist Annie Sellick has smoky but stalwart pipes, with personality to boot. She often ventures outside the jazz-standard canon, but hardly ever sounds outside her comfort zone. She’s joined here by Chris Grasso on piano, Herman Burney on bass and Lenny Robinson on drums. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar |Mandarin Oriental Hotel website

Azar Lawrence Quintet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | Tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence is a John Coltrane acolyte who spent years accompanying the great’s former sidemen, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones. Lawrence has a hard-driving style that he opens up to East Asian and Indian influences. Part of his history involves a negotiation with smooth and funk aesthetics, but nowadays he sticks to hard-bop with a spiritual sensibility. His quintet includes Eddie Henderson on trumpet, former D.C. resident Benito Gonzalez on piano, Essiet Essiet on bass and Billy Hart (who was raised in the District and went on to international prominence) on drums. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $35 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile

George Burton, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m. | Talented young pianist George Burton dips in and out of typical bop language with cutting improvisations and rhythms that cast a fog the divide between swing and groove. In New York City, his first-class band consists of Jaleel Shaw on alto saxophone, Terell Stafford on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass and Wayne Smith, Jr. on drums. If the group at Bohemian is of a similar quality, this will be a spectacular show. $18 cover in advance, $22 at the door, no minimum. Two separate sets at 8:30 & 10:30. $18 cover in advance, $22 at the door, no minimum. View event on calendar | Bohemian Caverns profile

Thad Wilson Quartet, HR-57, 9 p.m. | Trumpeter Thad Wilson plays with articulation and clarity, and a deference to melody that makes it easy to fall in love with his playing. A prominent member of the D.C. jazz community, Wilson once led a resident big band at Bohemian Caverns and now teaches at George Washington University. He returns to HR-57, an old stomping ground of his, for a night leading a quartet. $15 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | HR-57 website

Alex Pinto, Twins Jazz, 9 & 11 p.m.| Alex Pinto – who grew up in Silver Spring, Md. – is a guitarist who treads the line between measured and impassioned. He nods toward John Scofield in his preference for a creamy, distorted guitar sound and layers of dissonance in his chords (though, as is the case with Sco, Pinto’s tone and harmonic sense are all his own). Pinto is also one of a growing number of American jazz musicians employing Indian classical techniques as major elements in their lexicon. His debut CD, Inner State, was released last year and portends great things for this bold new guitarist. Two separate sets at 9 & 11 p.m. $15 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Twins Jazz profile

Kaos Theory, Columbia Station, 9:30 p.m. | Kaos Theory is a smooth funk band. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Columbia Station profile

Donvonte McCoy, 18th St. Lounge, 10:30 p.m. | Arguably the city’s best jazz trumpeter, Donvonte McCoy plays every Friday and Saturday at the hip 18th St. Lounge. He likes to mix in some funk as well during the lounge gig, and he’s liable to inflect a touch of Chuck Brown-esque groove into his combo’s treatment of classic bop tunes by the likes of Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. Cover varies ($5-10), no minimum. View event on calendar | 18th St. Lounge profile

Elijah Jamal Experience, Utopia, 11 p.m. | Young powerhouse tenor saxophonist Elijah Jamal Balbed heads up one of the swinginest shows on U Street every Saturday night. His sound drips with the blues, and from the bell of this 20-year-old’s horn seem to rise the ghosts of Coleman Hawkins and Dexter Gordon. With the Washington City Paper‘s 2010 Best New D.C. Jazz Musician award under his belt, Balbed can always be expected always to deliver the goods. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Utopia profile

The Hang with Rashida Jolley and the Jolley Brothers, Bohemian Caverns, midnight | Bohemian Caverns’ late-night jam, The Hang, is hosted by a different band every week of the month. First Saturdays, the Jolley Brothers take the helm – and this week they’re joined by their talented sister, Rashida Jolley, who is on break from touring as the harpist in Lady Gaga’s band. The Bohemian Caverns kitchen remains open until 1 a.m., so there’s a chance to get a late bite without having to traipse to Ben’s Chili Bowl. $7 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | Bohemian Caverns profile

SUNDAY, MAY 1

cb picks:

• Jolley Brothers, B. Smith’s, 12 p.m.
• D.C. Jazz Loft presented by CapitalBop, Red Door, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday Jazz Lounge, BloomBars, 8 p.m.
• Sanga Equation, Twins Jazz, 8 & 10 p.m.

Jolley Brothers, B. Smith’s, 12 p.m. | The Jolley Brothers, Noble on keyboard and Nate on drums, play thrice a weekend at B. Smith’s, the upscale soul-food restaurant in Union Station’s massive East Hall. The Jolleys, who perform with a bassist, comprise one of D.C.’s most exciting and auspicious acts. With roots in gospel, soul and the modal bop of the 1960s, the brothers (who also compose prolifically) bring some of the most creative elements in the African-American music canon forward into the 21st century, all while stamping it with their own distinctive flavoring. B. Smith’s is a restaurant first, and the music remains in the background – no matter how expertly played. But as far as jazz brunch goes, it’s hard to top the Jolleys’ music. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | B. Smith’s website

Jam Session with Peter Edelman, Columbia Station, 4 p.m. | Pianist Peter Edelman, a constant presence on the D.C. jazz scene for years now, leads an afternoon jam session every Saturday and Sunday. No cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | Columbia Station profile

Jazz Jam, Dahlak, 6:30 p.m. | This jazz jam presents a friendly, relaxed environment where professionals and amateurs can play together. No cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | View Dahlak profile

Potomac Jazz Project, Laporta’s, 6:30 p.m. | The Potomac Jazz Project is a quartet that takes on modern and classic jazz tunes (and even some pop covers) with a showmanly flair, as well as skill. It’s led by bassist Stan Hamrick, and its rotating lineup often features some of D.C.’s best musicians. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Laporta’s website

D.C. Jazz Loft presented by CapitalBop, Red Door, 7 p.m. | In anticipation of CapitalBop’s D.C. Jazz Loft Series at the DC Jazz Festival in June, we present the fourth D.C. Jazz Loft. This one will preview next month’s festivities by showcasing saxophone sensation Elijah Jamal Balbed and OOO – two stellar D.C. acts that will perform at the festival series. OOO will appear in an extended format, with two visiting performers. And then special guest Rob Mazurek and his trio Starlicker will play a set. Mazurek is a Chicago avant-garde heavyweight trumpeter, who invokes hard-bop greats and free jazz fire all at once. A stripped-down version of the U St. All-Stars will perform and lead a jam session to end the night. CapitalBop’s D.C. Jazz Lofts are inspired by the jazz lofts of the bebop era – when musicians would come together in New York apartments after their gigs to stretch out creatively and try new ideas, free from the constraints of often-stuffy jazz clubs – and those of the free jazz period, when such lofts provided community performance spaces as well. $10 suggested donation, no minimum. View event on calendar | Red Door website

Akua Allrich, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m. | India Arie, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Miriam Makeba – all of their influences bubble up in vocalist Akua Allrich’s Afrobeat-influenced neo-soul. The Howard University graduate, who composes many of her own tunes, performs with a small band featuring some of the District area’s best jazz players: Gabrielle Murphy on saxophone; Janelle Gill on keyboard; Kris Funn on bass; Nathan Jolley on drums; and Osei Akoto on congas. $12 cover in advance, $15 at the door, no minimum. View event on calendar | Bohemian Caverns profile

Sunday Jazz Lounge, BloomBars, 8 p.m. | Guitarist Rodney Richardson and trumpeter Joe Herrera are looking to broaden jazz’s reach in D.C. while challenging the city’s musicians creatively. Increase popularity and raise the quality bar at the same time? you ask skeptically. Sure, the two don’t always go together – but Richardson and Herrera’s Sunday Jazz Lounge effort has its head in the right place, and it’s worth getting behind. Plus, from the crackling, friendly vibe and strong turnout that their first few lounges have enjoyed, it seems they’re succeeding. After a one-week hiatus, the Jazz Lounge is back – once again at the Columbia Heights community arts space BloomBars. As is lounge protocol, a special guest musician will kick things off with a solo set; this week that musician is Vaughn Ambrose, a talented soprano and tenor saxophonist, with strong roots in the hard-bop tradition. Then Richardson and Herrera will lead their quartet – featuring bassist Eric Harper and drummer Dave McDonald – through some of the less-traversed compositions in the bop songbook. $10 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | BloomBars website

Angela Johnson, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | Angela Johnson is a soul vocalist. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $25 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile

Sanga Equation, Twins Jazz, 8 & 10 p.m. | There’s something enigmatic and gripping about Sanga Equation, the local progressive jazz group. The quartet’s repertoire includes plenty of strong original content, re-harmonized standards and obscure covers. The group features vocalist Lena Seikaly, double bassist Ethan Foote, pianist John Xavier Paul and drummer Mahesh Somashekhar. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $15 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar |Twins profile

Peter Edelman Trio, Columbia Station, 8:30 p.m. | The stalwart D.C. piano player Peter Edelman every Sunday night leads a rotating cast of musicians that often outgrows the title “trio.” no cover, one-drink minimum. View event on calendar| Columbia Station profile

Cheryl Jones Trio, Utopia, 9 p.m. | Singer Cheryl Jones has a weekly engagement every Sunday at Utopia, where she sings with depth, force and clarity. Jones is equally likely to sing jazz standards, pop tunes or gospel classics. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Utopia profile

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