Gerri Allen, above, performs at the Kennedy Center on Saturday with fellow pianist Patrice Rushen. | taken by flickr user treyguinn
Welcome to this week’s installation of “Weekend in Jazz,” a full list of every D.C. jazz show that we can get our hands on. If you’re just breezing through, check for the shows with a 
label — those are our favorites. As always, you can read CapitalBop’s full listings directly at our monthly calendar, if you prefer. Happy hunting!
FRIDAY, OCT. 22
cb picks: Sharel Cassity Quartet with Michael Dease, KC Jazz Club; David Sanborn with Joey DeFrancesco, Blues Alley; Louis Hayes Jazz Communicators with Larry Willis, Bohemian Caverns; Donvonte McCoy, 18th St. Lounge
Lolita Lamkin in the Natalie Cole Jazz Experience, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 6 p.m. | What began as an experiment over a decade ago continues today as one of Washington’s greatest weekly traditions: Westminster Presbyterian Church’s “Jazz Night.” Every Friday night, the house of God becomes a not-so-likely hub for fish frying, communing and jamming on straight-ahead jazz. This week’s edition features John Lamkin III on drums, Lyle Link on saxophone, Benjie Porecki on piano, Romier Mendez on bass and Lolita Lamkin on vocals. Beware: Natalie Cole is not actually featured on this gig. $5 cover for adults, no cover for attendees under 16, no minimum. View event on calendar| Westminster Presbyterian Church website
Sharel Cassity Quartet with Michael Dease, KC Jazz Club, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. | Sharel Cassity, a rising star on the alto saxophone, will perform here with the trombone player Michael Dease. Cassity has a deep, clear and consistent tone on the saxophone, and is making a name for herself as a composer and performer. When she’s not leading her quartet, Cassity plays with the Roy Hargrove Big Band and the Jimmy Heath Big Band, among other groups. Two separate sets at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. $16 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | KC Jazz Club profile
David Sanborn with Joey DeFrancesco, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | There’s no doubt alto saxophonist David Sanborn is a legend. The nature of his legacy, though, is up for debate. Some would quickly dismiss most of his music as smooth jazz, and there’s no doubt he has played his fair share of that. But over the past two years, he has zeroed in on a celebration of the 1960s sub-genre known as soul jazz. His current trio, featuring organist Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Byron Landham, is a masterful group that has its own take on the style’s hard-driving earnestness. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $60 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile
Louis Hayes Jazz Communicators with Larry Willis, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m. | Drummer Louis Hayes has for decades been a leading light on the jazz scene. Starting out in the 1950s with Yusef Lateef, Hayes went on to play with Cannonball Adderley and Horace Silver. An energetic and unrelenting drummer, he can blow away listeners with the subtle placement of his not-so-subtle bass drum “bombs” and the fervor of his swing. He’s joined here by local legend Larry Willis, a soulful player with a storied background in both hard-bop and fusion — among other types of music. $25 cover in advance, $30 at the door, no minimum. View event on calendar| Bohemian Caverns profile
Antonio Parker Quartet, HR-57, 9 p.m. | Alto saxophonist Antonio Parker idolizes (and often eulogizes, with musical tributes) John Coltrane. But his aggressive alto 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. $15 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | HR-57 profile
David Fiuczynski Trio, Twins Jazz, 9 & 11 p.m. | Guitarist David Fiuczynski has played in an astonishing array of musical settings, including as the leader of jazz/funk outfit Screaming Headless Torsos and as an accompanist for drummer Stewart Copeland, formerly of the Police. Here he is joined in a jazz trio by bassist Tony Grey and drummer David Throckmorton. Two separate sets at 9 and 11 p.m. $15 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar| Twins Jazz profile
Brulee, Columbia Station, 9:30 p.m. | Brulee is a jazz and alt-pop fusion quartet featuring vocalist Aura Kanegis. No cover, one-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Columbia Station profile
Donvonte McCoy, 18th St. Lounge, 11 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, OCT. 23
cb picks: Geri Allen & Patrice Rushen, Kennedy Center; David Sanborn with Joey DeFrancesco, Blues Alley; Louis Hayes Jazz Communicators with Larry Willis, Bohemian Caverns; Donvonte McCoy, 18th St. Lounge; Elijah Jamal Experience, Utopia
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
Geri Allen & Patrice Rushen, Kennedy Center, 7:30 p.m. | Geri Allen, a world-class jazz pianist and a Howard University alum, performs here with the jazz/R&B pianist and singer Patrice Rushen. Both are music professors (Allen at Michigan and Rushen at Berklee), and both are pioneers: Allen, who won the Guggenheim Fellowship Award for Music Composition in 2008 and the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award in 2010, is known as a daring pianist; Rushen was the first woman to serve as the musical director for the Grammy Awards and the Emmy Awards, in addition to enjoying R&B stardom as a singer in the 1970s and playing with Wayne Shorter in recent years. Allen and Rushen will duet on two facing Steinway Grand pianos. Two separate sets at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. $30 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | Kennedy Center website
David Sanborn with Joey DeFrancesco, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. | There’s no doubt alto saxophonist David Sanborn is a legend. The nature of his legacy, though, is up for debate. Some would quickly dismiss most of his music as smooth jazz, and there’s no doubt he has played his fair share of that. But over the past two years, he has zeroed in on a celebration of the 1960s sub-genre known as soul jazz. His current trio, featuring organist Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Byron Landham, is a masterful group that has its own take on the style’s hard-driving earnestness. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $60 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile
Louis Hayes Jazz Communicators with Larry Willis, Bohemian Caverns, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m. | Drummer Louis Hayes has for decades been a leading light on the jazz scene. Starting out in the 1950s with Yusef Lateef, Hayes went on to play with Cannonball Adderley and Horace Silver. An energetic and unrelenting drummer, he can blow away listeners with the subtle placement of his not-so-subtle bass drum “bombs” and the fervor of his swing. He’s joined here by local legend Larry Willis, a soulful player with a storied background in both hard-bop and fusion — among other types of music. $25 cover in advance, $30 at the door, no minimum. View event on calendar| Bohemian Caverns profile
Thad Wilson Quartet, HR-57, 9 p.m. | Thad Wilson, one of D.C.’s most revered local trumpet players and bandleaders, used to play at HR-57 on the regular. His emphatic, articulate and soulful hard-bop playing used to be an essential component of the Logan Circle establishment. But he’s been taking time off to be with his family, teach at George Washington University and work on a few projects — including scoring a silent Oscar Micheaux film. It’s a treat to have him back onstage at HR, even for just one night. $15 cover, no minimum. View event on calendar | HR-57 profile
David Fiuczynski Trio, Twins Jazz, 9 & 11 p.m. | Guitarist David Fiuczynski has played in an astonishing array of musical settings, including as the leader of jazz/funk outfit Screaming Headless Torsos and as an accompanist for drummer Stewart Copeland, formerly of the Police. Here he is joined in a jazz trio by bassist Tony Grey and drummer David Throckmorton. Two separate sets at 8 and 10 p.m. $15 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar| Twins Jazz profile
Donvonte McCoy, 18th St. Lounge, 11 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 swingin’est shows on U Street every Saturday night. The lineup of musicians on this late-night gig varies from week to week, but it’s consistently outstanding. Plus, with the Washington City Paper’s 2010 Best New D.C. Jazz Musician award under his belt, the 20-year-old Balbed can always be expected always to deliver the goods on sax. no cover, 1-drink minimum. View event on calendar | Utopia profile
SUNDAY, OCT. 24
cb picks: SFJazz Collective, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center; David Sanborn with Joey DeFrancesco, Blues Alley; Matthew Shipp, French Embassy
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
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
SFJazz Collective, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (University of Maryland), 8 & 10 p.m. The SFJazz Collective is a widely renowned jazz ensemble whose membership rotates every year, but that’s always comprised of eight of the most prescient players in the world. The group’s style is rooted in the swingin’ tradition of bebop and hard bop, but looks ahead by often lacing its original compositions with advanced polyrythms, nontraditional harmonic structures and precise arrangements. This show will specifically celebrate the music of legend Horace Silver, who was a founder of the Jazz Messengers and helped lead jazz’s hard-bop revolution with his highly rhythmic, bluesy and Caribbean-inflected piano style. The iteration of the SFJazz Collective that will appear includes Miguel Zenon on alto saxophone, Mark Turner on tenor saxophone, Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet,Luis Bonilla on trombone, Stefon Harris on vibraphone, Edward Simon on piano, Matt Penman bass and Eric Harland on drums. $42 cover for general audience, $9 for University of Maryland students, no minimum. View event on calendar | Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center website
Jazz Jam, Dahlak, 6 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
Jam Session, HR-57, 7 p.m. | This is a chance for local musicians to stretch out and see which of their new ideas stick when thrown against HR’s craggy brick walls. It’s also an inexpensive way for jazz fans to get a peek into the raw collaborations of D.C.’s rising stars. $8 cover for audience members, $4 cover for musicians, no minimum. View event on calendar | HR-57 profile
David Sanborn with Joey DeFrancesco, Blues Alley, 8 & 10 p.m. There’s no doubt alto saxophonist David Sanborn is a legend. The nature of his legacy, though, is up for debate. Some would quickly dismiss most of his music as smooth jazz, and there’s no doubt he has played his fair share of that. But over the past two years, he has zeroed in on a celebration of the 1960s sub-genre known as soul jazz. His current trio, featuring organist Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Byron Landham, is a masterful group that has its own take on the style’s hard-driving earnestness. Two separate sets at 8 & 10 p.m. $60 cover, $10 minimum. View event on calendar | Blues Alley profile
Matthew Shipp, French Embassy, 7:30 p.m. | Pianist Matthew Shipp comes to D.C. as part of a four-city performance of music from his newest recording, “4D.” His appearance is part of Transparent Productions’ experimental jazz series, and also marks the first installment of the French Embassy’s jazz series for the 2010-2011 season. Shipp is arguably the most important progressive jazz pianist since Cecil Taylor (who too will play the embassy on Nov. 10). Shipp has recorded dozens of albums, collaborating with a wide array of artists. In his playing, influences ranging from free jazz to bebop to hip-hop can be heard. An open conversation with Shipp at 6:30 p.m. will precede the music. $15 cover, no minimum. (Preview by Luke Stewart) View event on calendar| Transparent Productions website
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, Utopia, 9 p.m. | Singer Cheryl Jones has a weekly engagement every Sunday at Utopia, where she draws on her broad base of musical passions. She 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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