by Giovanni Russonello

Welcome to this week’s installation of “Weekend in Jazz,” our list of every D.C. jazz show on our radar. Our favorite shows have a label. As always, you can read CapitalBop’s full listings directly at our monthly calendar, if you’d rather. Happy hunting!

FRIDAY, JAN. 21

cb picks:

• Jazz Night’s 12th Anniversary Celebration, Westminster Presbyterian, 6 p.m.
• Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m.
• Lyle Link Quartet, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
• Donvonte McCoy, 18th Street Lounge, 10:30 p.m.

Jazz Night’s 12th Anniversary Celebration, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 6 p.m. | If ever a D.C. jazz tradition deserved a birthday celebration, Jazz Night surely does. This tradition began as an experiment exactly 12 years ago, and continues today. Every Friday night, Westminster Presbyterian Church’s “Jazz Night” is a hub for fish frying, communing and jamming on straight-ahead jazz. This week’s birthday bash band features the legendary Buck Hill, Arnold Sterling and Antonio Parker on saxophones, Vince Evans on piano, Herman Burney on bass and Nasar Abadey on drums. $5 cover for adults, no cover for attendees under 16, no minimum. View event on calendar | Westminster Presbyterian Church website

Karen Gray Trio, Sala Thai (Bethesda), 6:30 p.m. | Commanding vocalist Karen Gray is joined by guitarist Dave Mosick 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.), 6:30 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

L’Tanya Mari Trio, Sala Thai (Petworth), 7 p.m. | Singer L’Tanya Mari is influenced by Ella Fitzgerald, singing jazz with depth and soulful warmth. 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

Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | Eddie Palmieri is one of the greatest living Latin jazz pianists – but even that description doesn’t do him any justice. Throughout his career, he has incorporated bebop and fusion influences with aplomb. Still, it’s his work as a leader of Afro-Caribbean bands, usually with his keyboard playing in the driver’s seat, that has made Palmieri a legend. He performs all weekend with the versatile trumpeter Brian Lynch, with whom Palmieri won a Grammy in 2007 for the album Simpatico. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $37.75 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile

Sharón Clark, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 8 p.m. | Vocalist Sharón Clark sings with fervor and soul, plus impressive precision. She’s joined here by Chris Grasso on piano, Tommy Cecil on bass and Chuck Redd on drums. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Mandarin Oriental Hotel website

Lyle Link Quartet, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 p.m. | Lyle Link is a standout alto saxophonist with an audacious but inviting tone. He’s one of D.C.’s best, and he’ll be joined in his quartet by a cast of top-grade local musicians. $15 cover in advance, $20 at the door, no minimum. View event on calendar | Bohemian Caverns profile

Kessler, Williams, Antoniuk & Hawkins Quartet, Twins Jazz, 9 p.m. | Eminent local tenor saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk joins three other musicians for a leaderless, straight-ahead jazz engagement. The quartet is rounded out by Steve Kessler on piano, Mike Hawkins on bass and Kip Williams on drums. $15 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Twins Jazz profile

Peter Edelman Trio, Columbia Station, 9:30 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. Cover varies ($5-10), no minimum. View event on calendar | 18th St. Lounge profile

DeAndre 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, JAN. 22

cb picks:

• Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m.
  
• Lyle Link Quartet, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
• Jeff Antoniuk & Jazz Update feat. Alex Norris, Twins Jazz, 9 p.m.
• Khan Jamal, Red Door, 9 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

Potomac Jazz Project, Sala Thai (Petworth), 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

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

Triple Double Jazz Band, Sala Thai (Bethesda), 7 p.m. | Consisting of Joey Whitney on tenor sax, Ed Gallagher on guitar, Alan Pachter on bass and Tom Reed on drums, the Triple Double Jazz Band plays straightforward, straight-ahead versions of jazz standards. No cover, 1-drink minimum. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Sala Thai website

Lena Seikaly & Potomac Jazz Project, 7 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

Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | Eddie Palmieri is one of the greatest living Latin jazz pianists – but even that description doesn’t do him any justice. Throughout his career, he has incorporated bebop and fusion influences with aplomb. Still, it’s his work as a leader of Afro-Caribbean bands, usually with his keyboard playing in the driver’s seat, that has made Palmieri a legend. He performs all weekend with the versatile trumpeter Brian Lynch, with whom Palmieri won a Grammy in 2007 for the album Simpatico. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $37.75 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile

Bonnie Harris Quartet, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 8 p.m.| Vocalist Bonnie Harris leads a quartet featuring Chris Grasso on piano, Tommy Cecil on bass and Chuck Redd on drums. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Mandarin Oriental Hotel website

Lyle Link Quartet, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 p.m. | Lyle Link is a standout alto saxophonist with an audacious but inviting tone. He’s one of D.C.’s best, and he’ll be joined in his quartet by a cast of top-grade local musicians. $15 cover in advance, $20 at the door, no minimum. View event on calendar | Bohemian Caverns profile

Kaos Theory, Columbia Station, 8:30 p.m. | Kaos Theory is a smooth funk band. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Columbia Station profile

Jeff Antoniuk & Jazz Update feat. Alex Norris, Twins Jazz, 9 p.m. | Tenor saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk plays straight-ahead jazz, with its sights set on what lies just past the horizon. Antoniuk’s tone is broad, with a constantly swelling and growing life of its own. The D.C.-based musician is joined in his group, Jazz Update, by the nimble pianist Wade Beach, bassist Tom Baldwin and drummer Tony Martucci. For this gig, the group will be celebrating the music of 20th-century post bop’s most important composer, Wayne Shorter. Trumpeter Alex Norris heads down from New York to join the billing. $15 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Twins Jazz profile

Khan Jamal, Red Door, 9 p.m. | Khan Jamal is a vibraphonist whose gently roiling expressionism carves a crater in your heart. And it has already left its mark on the legacy of experimental music. Helming the seminal Philadelphia vanguard group Sounds of Liberation, then going on to flourish in his solo career, Jamal has always had an instinct to look outward, feel inward and destroy any lines in the sand with sweeping, impossible artistic statements. From his music’s titles and sounds, it’s clear that this Black Arts pioneer knows too much (about our society, its wasted capacity for love, etc.) to rest easily; he is one of a small class of musicians whose art stares us in the eye and demands, compassionately, that we take on that same sense of deeper reflection. The ante is always high for Jamal. He will play one solo set, then will collaborate with percussionist Scott Verrastro for a second. OOO (a.k.a. the Tri-O Trio), perhaps D.C.’s leading free jazz group, will open for Jamal. It should also be mentioned that those who haven’t yet seen a show at Red Door owe it to themselves to experience this tiny, incense-tinged, counterculturite loft. (Full disclosure: Luke Stewart, CapitalBop’s avant music editor, organized this gig and is a member of OOO.) $5 suggested donation, no minimum. View event on calendar | Facebook page

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. Vie?w 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

SUNDAY, JAN. 23

cb pick:

• Jolley Brothers, B. Smith’s, 12 p.m.
• Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m.

Kevin Pace Trio, Chef Geoff’s, 11 a.m. | Kevin Pace has a strong command on the bass and an intuitive ear as a composer. He puts both on display at the restaurant Chef Geoff’s, where he performs every week during Sunday brunch. This is background music, but that’s because of the environment, not the performance — which is anything but second-rate. (To hear Pace stretch out a bit more, catch him at Utopia with the Bobby Muncy Quartet, every Wednesday except the third of the month.) No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Chef Geoff’s website

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 | 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

Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | Eddie Palmieri is one of the greatest living Latin jazz pianists – but even that description doesn’t do him any justice. Throughout his career, he has incorporated bebop and fusion influences with aplomb. Still, it’s his work as a leader of Afro-Caribbean bands, usually with his keyboard playing in the driver’s seat, that has made Palmieri a legend. He performs all weekend with the versatile trumpeter Brian Lynch, with whom Palmieri won a Grammy in 2007 for the album Simpatico. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $37.75 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile

Max Light Trio, Twins Jazz, 8 p.m. | Young guitarist Max Light will lead a straight-ahead jazz trio comprised of Milo Johnson on bass and Sahil Ansari on drums. $10 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Twins Jazz profile

Peter Edelman Trio, Columbia Station, 8:30 p.m. | The stalwart D.C. piano player every Sunday night leads a rotating cast of musicians that often outgrows the title “trio.” No cover, 1-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

Rachel Panay, Black Fox Lounge, 9 p.m. | Vocalist Rachel Panay sings jazz with her quartet. No cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Black Fox Lounge website

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