HotSpots - This Weekend

Weekend Jazz Hang (Curated by Hot House Jazz Magazine)

December 05, 2025

🚀 Boundary-Pushers

Artists experimenting, innovating, and stretching jazz forward

The “Boundary-Pushers” this week form a loose circuit of artists stretching the language of jazz in very different rooms. At Smoke, Chief Adjuah is running trumpet, electronics, and Black Indian ritual through a club format, while downtown The Soul Rebels & Friends and New York Holidays with Svetlana & The New York Collective bend brass, second-line, and holiday repertoire into something closer to a block party than a straight club hit. At Dizzy’s, Ulysses Owens Jr.’s Big Band treats the large ensemble as a modern engine—groove, gospel, and sharp writing—while Sam Newsome’s quartet at Smalls and the Yuko Fujiyama/Reggie Nicholson duo at IBeam work the more experimental edge of small-room improv. The Jazz Gallery’s Mentoring Series with Johnathan Blake & Dabin Ryu shows what the next generation is doing with that vocabulary, and Adam Hersh’s trio with Gary Novak at ShapeShifter folds fusion chops into Brooklyn’s open-lab scene. Out West, the axis shifts to bass and groove: Marcus Miller at Catalina and Derrick Hodge at Blue Note LA both anchor “West Coast Pulse” with sets that pull equally from funk, gospel, and film-score atmospheres—more proof that the edges of the music are just as rooted as the center.

Chief Adjuah — Smoke Jazz Club (Dec 5–7, 7pm) Trumpet, electronics, Black Indian/New Orleans lineage, and full ritual energy. This can sit in BP or Voices of Resistance; editorially I’d anchor it in Voices and mention him here as a cross-over. MORE INFO

The Soul Rebels & Friends — Blue Note NYC (Dec 5–7, 8pm) Brass band, hip-hop, second-line, and guests. Big “New Orleans in the Village” feel and absolutely a boundary show. MORE INFO

Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band — Dizzy’s Club (Dec 5–7, 9pm) Large ensemble, modern writing, and groove-forward charts. Big band as contemporary statement, not nostalgia. MORE INFO

Yuko Fujiyama / Reggie Nicholson — IBeam, Brooklyn (Dec 6, 8pm) Loft-space duo energy; texture and sound more than head–solo–head. MORE INFO

Christian McBride Trio | Dec 5-7 | Village Vanguard: 178 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014. 212-255-4037. www.villagevanguard.com 

Ehud Asherie Quartet | Dec 7 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. www.birdlandjazz.com

Emmet Cohen Trio | Dec 5&6 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. www.birdlandjazz.com 

Eric Reed | Dec 5 | The World Stage: 4321 Degnan Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90008. 323-293-2451. www.theworldstage.org 

Gabrielle Stravelli | Dec 6 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. www.birdlandjazz.com

Isaiah J Thompson Quartet “A Guaraldi Holiday” | Dec 5 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center: 14 Castle St, Great Barrington, MA 01230, United States. 413-528-0100. www.mahaiwe.org

Jazz Vespers ft. Tabreeca Woodside | Dec 7 | Saint Peter's Church: 619 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022. 212-935-2200. www.saintpeters.org

Lucy Wijnands | Dec 7 | Daddy Rabbit NYC At LouLou: 176 8th Ave, Lower level, New York, NY 10011. 212-337-9577. www.daddyrabbitnyc.com

Marcus Miller | Dec 5–7 | Catalina Bar & Grill: 6725 W Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, United States. 323-466-2210. www.catalinajazzclub.com 

Nat Harris Quartet | Dec 7 | Cafe Ornithology: 1037 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11221. www.ornithologyjazzclub.com

New York Holidays with Svetlana & The New York Collective | Dec 6 | Blue Note Jazz Club: 131 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012. 212-475-8592. www.bluenotejazz.com

Pete Rodriguez Quintet | Dec 5 | Zinc Bar: 82 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012. 212-477-8337. www.zincbar.com

Satish Robertson Quartet | Dec 6 | Sista's Place: 456 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216. 718-398-1766. www.sistasplace.org

The Soul Rebels & Friends | Dec 5–7 | Blue Note Jazz Club: 131 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012. 212-475-8592. www.bluenotejazz.com

Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band | Dec 5–7 | Dizzy's Club At Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9595. jazz.org/dizzys

🎷 Keepers of the Flame 

Masters and modern torchbearers carrying the jazz tradition forward

Keepers of the Flame this week live in that sweet spot where swing, melody, and small-band conversation hold steady across very different rooms. You get it in Joshua Redman’s quartet at Jazz Forum, working post-bop language in a listening room just outside the city, and in The Anderson Brothers’ Sinatra program at Symphony Space, treating standards as material to shape, not museum pieces. Mid-Manhattan keeps the line moving with the Michelle Collier Jazz Swingtet and Bill Malchow Band at Swing 46, giving dancers and listeners a real band to lean into. Downtown and Brooklyn, Milena Casado at Close Up, Ollice Spaulding at the Soho Grand Club Room, Eric Person at The Django, and the Adam Hersh Trio feat. Gary Novak at ShapeShifter all carry that same torch—modern harmony and feel, but still rooted in song form, groove, and live-room dynamics.

Joshua Redman | Dec 5-7| Jazz Forum, Tarrytown | Joshua Redman’s quartet at Jazz Forum keeps the focus on intimacy and interaction: post-bop language, deep tone, and a room small enough that every dynamic shift lands. It’s the kind of set where you hear the difference between “tour date” and “working band in a listening space.” *LIMITED SEATS MORE INFO

Eric Person | Dec 5 | The Django NYC | Eric Person’s quartet at The Django works inside the straight-ahead frame but keeps the lines angular and alive. In that brick-and-vaulted room, his horn sits right on top of the rhythm section, giving the set a feel that’s equal parts classic downtown and present-tense New York. MORE INFO

Milena Casado | Dec 5 | Close Up NYC | Milena Casado brings a modern, melodic horn voice into Close Up’s focused listening environment. Her writing leans lyrical rather than flashy, and the club’s scale keeps the details front and center—good for listeners who want to sit close and track how the tunes unfold over a set. MORE INFO

Michelle Collier | Dec 6 | Swing 46 NYC | Michelle Collier’s Swingtet at Swing 46 carries the flame for social dance jazz: clear time, ensemble blend, and arrangements built to move both dancers and seated listeners. It’s a reminder that “straight-ahead” doesn’t have to be museum music—it can still be Saturday-night social fuel. MORE INFO

The Anderson Brothers Play Sinatra | Dec 6, 3:00pm | Symphony Space: 2537 B'way, New York, NY 10025. 212-864-5400. www.symphonyspace.org

Michelle Collier Jazz Swingtet | Dec 6 | Swing 46: 349 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-262-9554. swing46.nyc

Bill Malchow Band | Dec 6 | Swing 46: 349 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-262-9554. swing46.nyc

Milena Casado | Dec 5 | Close Up: 154 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002. www.closeupnyc.com

Ollice Spaulding | Dec 5 | Club Room at Soho Grand Hotel: 310 W B'way, New York, NY 10013. 212-965-3588. www.clubroomnyc.com/events

Eric Person Quartet | Dec 5 | The Django: 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. www.thedjangonyc.com

Adam Hersh Trio feat. Gary Novak | Dec 5 | ShapeShifter Lab: 837 Union Street, Ground Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215. 646-820-9452. shapeshifterplus.org

Joshua Redman Quartet | Dec 5 | Jazz Forum: 1 Dixon Ln, Tarrytown, NY 10591. 914-631-1000. www.jazzforumarts.org

✊ Voices of Resistance 

Artists channeling jazz’s spirit of resilience, protest, and community

Voices of Resistance trace how the music speaks for community, spirit, and long memory. In Harlem, the Harlem Jazz Series at Mount Morris Ascension—with Yayoi Ikawa this week and Craig Harris & the Harlem Nightsongs Big Band next—puts improvisers inside a church, where the sound echoes both neighborhood history and global Black movements. The City Island Jazz Quartet at the Starving Artist Cafe and the All’s Well Sisters at All Souls each offer quieter versions of that same impulse: small ensembles creating space for gathering, not just background. At Smalls, the Duane Eubanks Quintet and Sam Newsome Quartet push against the walls of straight-ahead language, while the TJG Mentoring Series with Johnathan Blake & Dabin Ryu and the duo of Yuko Fujiyama/Reggie Nicholson at IBeam frame experimentation as a kind of testimony—music that resists easy categories while staying grounded in community rooms.

Yayoi Ikawa | Dec 5 | Harlem Jazz Series (Mount Morris Ascension) | At the Harlem Jazz Series, Yayoi Ikawa brings a pianist’s touch for harmony and space into a church setting, where every chord hangs a little longer in the air. The context matters: this is concert, community gathering, and quiet testimony folded into one weekly ritual. MORE INFO

Johnathan Blake & Dabin Ryu Duo | Dec 5&6 | TJG Mentoring Series, The Jazz Gallery | In the Jazz Gallery’s Mentoring Series with Dabin Ryu, Johnathan Blake stands at the hinge between generations: a drummer with deep bandstand history holding space for newer voices. The project reads as both concert and infrastructure—building a future for the music on purpose. MORE INFO

Sam Newsome Quartet | Dec 5-6 | Smalls Jazz Club, NYC | Sam Newsome’s quartet at Smalls stretches what a soprano-led band can be without losing swing and form. Extended techniques and color sit right next to more traditional language, turning the basement club into a place where experiment and lineage share the bandstand. MORE INFO

City Island Jazz Quartet | Dec 7, 2:00pm | Starving Artist Cafe: 249 City Island Ave, Bronx, NY 10464. 718-885-3779. www.starvingartistonline.com

Yayoi Ikawa – Harlem Jazz Series | Dec 5 | Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church: 12 Mt Morris Park W, New York, NY 10027. 212-831-6800. harlemjazzboxx.com

Craig Harris & the Harlem Nightsongs Big Band – Harlem Jazz Series | Dec 11 | Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church: 12 Mt Morris Park W, New York, NY 10027. 212-831-6800. harlemjazzboxx.com

All’s Well Sisters | Dec 7 | All Souls Church: 1157 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10075. 212-535-5530. www.allsoulsnyc.org

Duane Eubanks Quintet | Dec 5&6 | Smalls Jazz Club: 183 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 212-252-5091. www.smallsjazzclub.com

Sam Newsome Quartet | Dec 5&6 | Smalls Jazz Club: 183 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 212-252-5091. www.smallsjazzclub.com

TJG Mentoring Series Revisited w/ Johnathan Blake & Dabin Ryu | Dec 5&6 | Jazz Gallery: 1160 B'way, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10001. www.jazzgallery.org

Yuko Fujiyama/Reggie Nicholson | Dec 6 | IBeam: 168 7th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215. www.ibeambrooklyn.com

🎵 More Shows/ Events

Keith “The Captain” Gamble | Dec 8 | New Amsterdam Music Association: 107 W 130th St, New York, NY 10027. 212-281-1350. www.namaharlem.org

Freddie Hendrix | Dec 5 | The Statuary: 53 Congress Street, Jersey City, NJ 07307. www.thestatuaryofjerseycity.com

Fats Waller's Lost Show: Early To Bed (w/ John McWhorter) | Dec 5 | Triad (The): 158 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023. 212-362-2590. www.triadnyc.com

WeBop Family Jazz Party – A Holiday Jazz Jam | Dec 7 | Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9800. www.jazz.org

The Fat Cats Youth Orchestra Open Workshop and Rehearsals | Dec 7 | ShapeShifter Lab: 837 Union Street, Ground Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215. 646-820-9452. shapeshifterplus.org

đź”” Must See Next Week (Dec 8 -12)

Next week brings a rare mix of mastery, intimacy, and cross-coastal fire. Bill Charlap settles into Smoke for his annual solo-piano residency, offering two sets an evening of unfiltered lyricism and swing. At Birdland Theater, Eliane Elias brings her signature blend of Brazilian elegance and jazz sophistication across two nights of 7pm and 9:30pm performances. Brandon Sanders takes over Dizzy’s with a double-set album-release celebration, while the Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints project continues its run at the Village Vanguard—modern interplay at its highest level. Over at Zinc Bar, the week forms a three-night arc: Houston Person, Christopher McBride, and William Hill III each leading back-to-back early and late shows. Sunday at Pangea, Premik Russell Tubbs & Margee Miner-Tubbs bring a fusion-driven spiritual uplift. And on the West Coast, Blue Note LA presents rising star Julius Rodriguez followed by the always-electric Keyon Harrold—a perfect bicoastal snapshot of jazz’s evolving future.

Craig Harris & the Harlem Nightsongs Big Band – Harlem Jazz Series | Dec 11 | Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church: 12 Mt Morris Park W, New York, NY 10027. 212-831-6800. harlemjazzboxx.com

Countdown 2026 Coltrane Festival ft. Melissa Aldana, Walter Smith III & George Garzone Sextet | Dec 10–11 | Smoke Jazz Club: 2751 B'way, New York, NY 10025. 212-864-6662. www.smokejazz.com

Jane Monheit | Dec 9–11 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. www.birdlandjazz.com

Tammy McCann | Dec 10 | Dizzy's Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9595. jazz.org/dizzys

Jacky Terrasson Trio | Dec 11 | Dizzy's Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9595. jazz.org/dizzys

Patricia Brennan Trio | Dec 11 | Instituto Cervantes: 211 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017. 212-308-7720. cervantes.org

Stan Rubin Orchestra feat. Joe Politi & Lynn McCune | Dec 11 | Swing 46: 349 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-262-9554. swing46.nyc

Chris Botti Quartet | Dec 8–11 | Blue Note Jazz Club: 131 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012. 212-475-8592. www.bluenotejazz.com

Ron Carter & Gene Bertoncini Duo | Dec 8–9 | Mezzrow: 163 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 646-476-4346. www.smallslive.com

Adam Kolker & Marc Copland | Dec 10 | Mezzrow: 163 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 646-476-4346. www.smallslive.com

Ricky Ford Quartet | Dec 11 | Smalls Jazz Club: 183 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 212-252-5091. www.smallsjazzclub.com

Christian McBride & Inside Straight | Dec 9–11 | Village Vanguard: 178 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014. 212-255-4037. www.villagevanguard.com

Christian Finger Band | Dec 6 | Pangea: 178 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003. 212-995-0900. www.pangeanyc.com

Wednesday Night Jazz Series ft. Steve Berger | Dec 10 | Pangea: 178 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003. 212-995-0900. www.pangeanyc.com

TJG 30th Anniversary ft. Bill Frisell | Dec 10–11 | Jazz Gallery (The): 1160 B'way, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10001. www.jazzgallery.org

Oz Noy Trio | Dec 11 | Django (The): 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. www.thedjangonyc.com

Mark Whitfield | Dec 11 | Django (The): 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. www.thedjangonyc.com

Gustavo Casenave Solo Concert | Dec 10 | National Opera Center: 330 7th Ave, 7th Fl, New York, NY 10001. 212-796-8620. www.operaamerica.org

Gotham Jazz Wednesday ft. Hot Toddies Jazz Band | Dec 10 | Somewhere Nowhere NYC at Renaissance Chelsea Hotel: 112 W 25th St, New York, NY 10001. 212-404-7969. www.prohibitionproductions.com/gothamjazz

Lezlie Harrison feat. Wine & Jazz Trio | Dec 10 | 333 Lounge: 333 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217. 718-399-8008. www.333lounge.com

Jeremy Pelt Quartet | Dec 8 | Jazzmobile @ 500 MacDonough St: 500 MacDonough St, Brooklyn, NY 11233. jazzmobile.org