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HotSpots - This Weekend
Weekend Jazz Hang (Curated by Hot House Jazz Magazine)
STATEN ISLAND JAZZ FESTIVAL 2026
Staten Island Jazz Festival 37 turns the St. George Theatre into a one-night crossroads for Afro Latin fire, swing, and vocal soul. On Saturday, December 20, 2025 (7:00pm, doors at 6:00pm), Universal Temple of the Arts brings together Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, trombone master Wycliffe Gordon with the Dal Segno Trio, the powerhouse Brianna Thomas Band, Sounds of April & Randall, and the Julie Maniscalco Dectet for a lineup that really does span generations. Festival visuals draw on the work of Romare Bearden, underscoring UTA’s long relationship with iconic Black artists and cultural visionaries since 1967. Adding to the glow, WBGO 88.3 FM’s Sheila E. Anderson emcees the evening, threading the stories between sets and keeping the focus on community as much as virtuosity. If you’re looking for a holiday-season night where the borough’s neighborhood feel meets world-class jazz, this is the Staten Island stop to circle. MORE INFO AND TICKETS
🚀 Boundary-Pushers
Artists experimenting, innovating, and stretching jazz forward
The Boundary-Pushers this weekend are the bands stretching the music from inside the tradition, not outside of it. At Patrick’s Place, the jam with Patience Higgins keeps Harlem’s improvising culture live and messy in the best way, while downtown Smalls runs a three-part story with the Scott Robinson, Justin Robinson, and Sullivan Fortner quartets pushing harmony, sound, and swing right up against the club’s brick walls. The Kenny Barron Quintet at the Village Vanguard is technically “keeper” territory, but the way Barron reharmonizes and rephrases puts him squarely in the boundary conversation, especially in that room. Over in Tribeca, Steve Davis, T.K. Blue, and the JC Hopkins Biggish Band rotate through The Django, giving you everything from modern hard bop to big-band color in a single basement. The TJG 30th Anniversary sets with Gerald Clayton at The Jazz Gallery show how the next generation is writing the book in real time, and Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet at The Side Door stretches the corridor east—reminding us that pushing the music forward is happening in Brooklyn lofts, Harlem lounges, West Village basements, and quiet Connecticut inns all at once.
 | Patience Higgins — Jam at Patrick’s Place (Dec 19, 8:00pm) The Friday jam at Patrick’s Place with Patience Higgins is Harlem’s laboratory night—horns, singers, and walk-ins stretching hard-swing language until it blurs into church, jukebox, and neighborhood storytelling. It’s loose, loud, and gloriously unpolished in the best way, a reminder that the edge of the music often lives in rooms where the bandstand and the bar are basically the same conversation. MORE INFO |
TLG 30th Anniversary ft. Gerald Clayton — The Jazz Gallery (Dec 19–20, 7:00pm) The Jazz Gallery’s 30th Anniversary with Gerald Clayton sits right at the fault line between institution and experiment: a pianist with deep mainstream credentials treating the gig like a sketchbook for new ideas. Surrounded by a room that has always been a launchpad for the next wave, Clayton’s writing and improvising feel less like a victory lap and more like a status report from the future. MORE INFO |  |
 | Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet — The Side Door, Old Lyme (Dec 19) At The Side Door, Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Quartet turn a cozy Connecticut inn into a high-voltage listening room. Thurman’s dual identity as vocalist and saxophonist lets the band slip quickly from songbook clarity into open, hard-swinging stretches—proof that the boundary-pushing energy of the city is quietly alive up the corridor too. MORE INFO |
Sullivan Fortner Quartet — Smalls Jazz Club (Dec 20) Sullivan Fortner’s quartet at Smalls takes the piano-trio-plus-horn format and twists it through reharmonizations, rhythmic feints, and sudden dynamic drops. In that tight basement, every left-hand gesture and voicing choice lands like a small plot twist—one of those sets where you walk out humming standards that don’t feel like standards anymore. MORE INFO |  |
Patience Higgins – Jam | Dec 19 | Patrick's Place: 2835 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10039. 212-491-7800. patricksplaceharlem.com Boncellia Lewis – Brunch | Dec 21 | Patrick's Place: 2835 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10039. 212-491-7800. patricksplaceharlem.com Scott Robinson Quartet | Dec 19–20 | Smalls Jazz Club: 183 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 212-252-5091. smallslive.com Justin Robinson Quartet | Dec 19 | Smalls Jazz Club: 183 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 212-252-5091. smallslive.com Sullivan Fortner Quartet | Dec 20 | Smalls Jazz Club: 183 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 212-252-5091. smallslive.com Kenny Barron Quintet | Dec 19–21 | Village Vanguard: 178 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014. 212-255-4037. villagevanguard.com Steve Davis Quintet | Dec 19 | The Django: 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. thedjangonyc.com T.K. Blue Quintet | Dec 19 | The Django: 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. thedjangonyc.com JC Hopkins Biggish Band | Dec 20 | The Django: 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. thedjangonyc.com TJG 30th Anniversary ft. Gerald Clayton | Dec 19–20 | The Jazz Gallery: 1160 Broadway, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10001. jazzgallery.org Ben Solomon, Rick Rosato & Kush Abadey – Earlybird Show | Dec 19 | Ornithology Jazz Club: 6 Suydam St, Brooklyn, NY 11221. 917-231-4766. ornithologyjazzclub.com Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet | Dec 19 | The Side Door at Old Lyme Inn: 85 Lyme St, Old Lyme, CT 06371. 860-434-0886. thesidedoorjazz.com |
🎷 Keepers of the Flame
Masters and modern torchbearers carrying the jazz tradition forward
Keepers of the Flame this week highlights artists and rooms dedicated to continuity—music grounded in lineage, craft, and the steady transmission of style. From the The Keepers of the Flame this weekend are the ones reminding everyone why straight-ahead, song-driven jazz still hits so hard. At Birdland, Stacey Kent brings her deceptively light touch to deep lyric storytelling, while Christian Sands at Dizzy’s swings the piano trio tradition forward with that big, orchestral sound. Over in the Village, the Kenny Barron Quintet at the Vanguard and the Uri Caine and William Hill III trios at Mezzrow cover two sides of the same lineage—one in a storied basement, one in an intimate listening room where every nuance lands. The midtown glow comes from the Chris Botti Quartet at Blue Note, threading pop sheen through real band interplay, and Kenny Martyn & the Kings of Swing with Sarah Hayes at Swing 46, keeping social-dance swing honest. Beyond the city, Bill Charlap’s trio at Jazz Forum and Ingrid Laubrock’s “Grammy Season” with DoYeon Kim at Firehouse 12 extend that flame up the corridor—proof that straight-ahead and chamber-leaning modern jazz can both be part of the same living tradition.
Kenny Barron Quintet — Village Vanguard (Dec 19–21) Kenny Barron’s quintet at the Vanguard is the textbook definition of Keeper of the Flame: a master pianist working modern changes, deep swing, and ballads in the most storied room in the music. The band stretches without ever losing the song, so you get edge and elegance in the same breath—perfect for listeners who want to feel the lineage in real time. MORE INFO |  |
 | Stacey Kent — Birdland (Dec 19) 8:30pm) At Birdland, Stacey Kent keeps the vocal flame with that quiet, precise storytelling she’s known for—standards, bossa, and originals delivered like short films. The band leaves plenty of space around her phrasing, letting lyric and melody sit front and center in a room built for song. MORE INFO |
Bill Charlap Trio — Jazz Forum, Tarrytown (Dec 19 - 20) Bill Charlap’s trio at Jazz Forum brings big-city piano tradition into a small, serious listening room just up the river. It’s all about touch, time, and voicings—trio jazz that feels both classic and very alive, for people who want to sit close and actually hear how the harmony moves. MORE INFO |  |
Stacey Kent | Dec 19–20 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. birdlandjazz.com Birdland Big Band | Dec 19 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. birdlandjazz.com Christian Sands | Dec 19–20 | Dizzy’s Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9595. jazz.org/dizzys Chris Botti Quartet | Dec 19–21 | Blue Note Jazz Club: 131 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012. 212-475-8592. bluenotejazz.com Uri Caine Trio | Dec 19–20 | Mezzrow: 163 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 646-476-4346. smallslive.com William Hill III Trio | Dec 19 | Mezzrow: 163 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. 646-476-4346. smallslive.com Ingrid Laubrock's “Grammy Season” & DoYeon Kim | Dec 19 | Firehouse 12: 47 Crown St, New Haven, CT 06510. 203-785-0468. firehouse12.com Bill Charlap Trio | Dec 19 | Jazz Forum: 1 Dixon Ln, Tarrytown, NY 10591. 914-631-1000. jazzforumarts.org Kenny Martyn & Kings of Swing with Sarah Hayes | Dec 19 | Swing 46: 349 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-262-9554. swing46.nyc |
✊ Voices of Resistance
Artists channeling jazz’s spirit of resilience, protest, and community
Voices of Resistance this weekend trace a straight line from Harlem sanctuaries to downtown bandstands. At Mount Morris Ascension, the Harlem Jazz Series with Neil Clarke (Dec 19) turns the drum into a talking instrument inside a Black church—Rhythm as history lesson, ceremony, and neighborhood heartbeat. A few blocks west, the Countdown 2026 Coltrane Festival ft. Ravi Coltrane Quartet at Smoke (Dec 19–21) is its own kind of testimony: the son extending his father’s spiritual and political vocabulary without ever turning it into nostalgia. Downtown, Mingus Dynasty at Zinc Bar (Dec 19–20) keeps Charles Mingus’s fire alive in a tight club—blues, anger, humor, and swing in one compressed blast. Taken together, these sets frame resistance not as slogan but as sound: drums, saxophones, and bands insisting on memory, agency, and joy in real time.
 | Neil Clarke — Harlem Jazz Boxx Series @ Mount Morris Ascension (Dec 19) Master percussionist Neil Clarke turns the Harlem Jazz Series into a conversation between drums, church acoustics, and community. In that sanctuary, every pattern feels like call-and-response with the room itself—part concert, part ceremony, and a reminder that rhythm has always been a language of survival and resistance. MORE INFO |
Ravi Coltrane Quartet — Countdown 2026 Coltrane Festival, Smoke (Dec 19–21) Ravi Coltrane’s run at Smoke sits right in the emotional center of the Countdown Coltrane Festival: not a tribute act, but a living extension of the language his father helped shape. In a close-up room with serious listeners, the quartet leans into risk, space, and intensity—treating Coltrane’s spirit as a launching pad rather than a museum piece. MORE INFO |  |
 | Mingus Dynasty — Zinc Bar (Dec 19–20) Mingus Dynasty at Zinc Bar keeps Charles Mingus’s mix of blues, rage, and humor very much alive. The band compresses big-ensemble energy into a tight club, where protest themes, gospel shouts, and hard swing collide—making the music feel less like “repertoire” and more like a still-current manifesto. MORE INFO |
Daniel Garbin Group | Dec 19 | New York Society for Ethical Culture: 2 W 64th St, New York, NY 10023. 212-874-5210. nysec.org Steven Maglio & His Big Band Orchestra – NOT Just Sinatra | Dec 21 | The Cutting Room: 44 E 32nd St, New York, NY 10016. 212-691-1900. thecuttingroomnyc.com |
🎵 More Shows/ Events | Film - Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat | Dec 20 | Sista’s Place - Brooklyn This stunning documentary is a historical roller coaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Road to crash the UN Security Council in protest of the murder of Patrice Lumumba. RSVP (718) 398-1766. MORE INFO |
Special / Holiday & Christmas Shows
The holiday slate this year runs like a little festival of its own, from sacred jazz pageants to big-band blowouts and Charlie Brown nostalgia. At the center are the marquee concert halls: Big Band Holidays with JLCO and Chris Crenshaw at Jazz at Lincoln Center, A Swinging Birdland Christmas and Champian Fulton’s Christmas run at Birdland, plus Dave Koz & Friends and Marcus Johnson’s Holiday Celebration carrying the smooth-jazz and R&B side of the season down the corridor. Church and community spaces bring the spiritual thread: “Bending Towards the Light… A Jazz Nativity” at St. Paul & St. Andrew, Cartoon Christmas Trio with the Wilmington Children’s Chorus, and a whole family of Charlie Brown shows—Charlie Brown Christmas LIVE at ShapeShifter, and A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas at the River Room—keep the focus on story, choir, and kids. Around that core you’ve got the small-room holiday parties: Allan Harris’ Nat King Cole Christmas at Pangea, It’s a Ray Blue Christmas at BeanRunner, Nicole Zuraitis’ Jazz Christmas Party at the Jazz Loft, Jeremy Baum’s “Charlie ‘Baum’ Christmas” at the Falcon, and Water Gap Jazz Orchestra’s Ellington Nutcracker/Grinch suites at the Morris Museum, all giving the standards a local accent. And then there’s the cosmic side: Sun Ra Arkestra’s Holiday Jam in Philly and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat at Sista’s Place reminding us that holiday jazz can hold joy, politics, and satire in the same stocking. Taken together, the season reads less like background music and more like a map of how different communities claim December in their own sound.
Bending Towards the Light… A Jazz Nativity ft. Paquito D’Rivera, Ingrid Jensen & Maurice Chestnut | Dec 22 | St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church: 263 W 86th St, New York, NY 10024. 212-362-3179. stpaulandstandrew.org
Swinging in the Holidays ft. Champian Fulton, Olivia Chindamo, Wyatt Michael & Ken Peplowski | Dec 21 | 54 Below: 254 W 54th St, Cellar, New York, NY 10019. 646-476-3551. 54below.com
A Swinging Birdland Christmas | Dec 21–22 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. birdlandjazz.com
Champian Fulton | Dec 23–26 | Birdland: 315 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036. 212-851-3080. birdlandjazz.com
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat | Dec 20 | Sista’s Place: 456 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216. 718-398-1766. sistasplace.org
Big Band Holidays – JLCO w/ Chris Crenshaw ft. Shenel Johns & Kate Kortum | Dec 19–21 | Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9800. jazz.org
Allan Harris – A Nat King Cole Christmas | Dec 19 | Pangea: 178 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003. 212-995-0900. pangeanyc.com
Melissa Hamilton Trio | Dec 20 | Pangea: 178 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003. 212-995-0900. pangeanyc.com
Emily Braden | Dec 20 | Daddy Rabbit NYC at LouLou: 176 8th Ave, Lower level, New York, NY 10011. 212-337-9577. daddyrabbitnyc.com
Black Tie Jazz Party | Dec 26 | Daddy Rabbit NYC at LouLou: 176 8th Ave, Lower level, New York, NY 10011. 212-337-9577. daddyrabbitnyc.com
Charlie Brown Christmas LIVE 2025 | Dec 21, 11:00am | ShapeShifter Lab: 837 Union Street, Ground Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215. 646-820-9452. shapeshifterplus.org
It’s a Ray Blue Christmas | Dec 20 | BeanRunner Café: 201 South Division St, Peekskill, NY 10566. 914-737-1701. beanrunnercafe.com
Nicole Zuraitis’ Jazz Christmas Party | Dec 22 | The Jazz Loft: 275 Christian Ave, Stony Brook, NY 11790. 631-751-1895. thejazzloft.org
Jeremy Baum Trio – “Charlie ‘Baum’ Christmas” | Dec 21, 2:30pm | The Falcon: 1348 Route 9W, Marlboro, NY 12542. 845-236-7970. liveatthefalcon.com
A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas | Dec 20 | The River Room: 50 Riverside Dr, Willimantic, CT 06226. 860-292-0025. riverroomwilli.com
Water Gap Jazz Orchestra – Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker and the Grinch Suites | Dec 20, 3:00pm | Morris Museum: 6 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown, NJ 07960. 973-971-3706. morrismuseum.org
Sun Ra Arkestra Holiday Jam | Dec 26 | World Café Live: 3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104. 215-222-1400. worldcafelive.org
Cartoon Christmas Trio with Wilmington Children’s Chorus | Dec 19 | OperaDelaware Studios: 4 South Poplar St, Wilmington, DE 19801.
Marcus Johnson Holiday Celebration | Dec 23–24 | Keystone Korner Baltimore: 1350 Lancaster St, Baltimore, MD 21231. 410-946-6726. keystonekornerbaltimore.com
🔔 Must See Next Week (Dec 15-20)
“Must See Next Week” is basically late-December in stereo: sacred, swinging, and a little cinematic. Harlem sets the tone with Craig Harris & the Harlem Nightsongs Big Band and Joaquin Pozo at the Harlem Jazz Series (Dec 25–26), turning Christmas week into a brass-and-batá sermon. Up on Broadway, Smoke keeps the Countdown 2026 Coltrane Festival blazing with Eddie Henderson, Vincent Herring, and George Cables (Dec 24–26), while Dizzy’s splits the week between the wry, joyful chaos of Matt Wilson’s Tree-O (Dec 22–23) and A Very Irby Christmas (Dec 24).
For the night-owl crowd, the Village Vanguard holds down the center with Kenny Barron’s Quintet (through Dec 26), and The Django offers two sides of the club spectrum: global groove with People of Earth (Dec 23) and straight-ahead fire from the Eric Alexander and Wayne Tucker bands (Dec 26). On the more luxe end, crooner energy shows up at Aman’s Jazz Club (Brian Newman, Richard Cortez, SaRon Crenshaw) and Fasano Baretto (Richard Cortez), while the corridor stretches out to City Winery Philly for Wayne Newton – Mr. Las Vegas, and to Blue Note LA, where bass phenom Mohini Dey and trumpeter Maurice “Mobetta” Brown turn the West Coast into its own holiday hang.
Craig Harris & the Harlem Nightsongs Big Band | Dec 25 | Harlem Jazz Series @ Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church: 12 Mt Morris Park W, New York, NY 10027. 212-831-6800. harlemjazzboxx.com
Joaquin Pozo | Dec 26 | Harlem Jazz Series @ Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church: 12 Mt Morris Park W, New York, NY 10027. 212-831-6800. harlemjazzboxx.com
Eddie Henderson w/ Vincent Herring Quintet feat. George Cables | Dec 24–26 | Countdown 2026 Coltrane Festival @ Smoke Jazz Club: 2751 B’way, New York, NY 10025. 212-864-6662. smokejazz.com
Matt Wilson Tree-O | Dec 22–23 | Dizzy’s Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9595. jazz.org/dizzys
A Very Irby Christmas | Dec 24 | Dizzy’s Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center: 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10019. 212-258-9595. jazz.org/dizzys
Richard Cortez | Dec 26 | Fasano Baretto: 60 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017. 646-869-5400. fasanorestaurantny.com/baretto
Brian Newman | Dec 23 | The Jazz Club at Aman New York: The Crown Building, 9 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019. 212-970-2626. thejazzclub.com
Richard Cortez | Dec 24 | The Jazz Club at Aman New York: The Crown Building, 9 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019. 212-970-2626. thejazzclub.com
SaRon Crenshaw | Dec 26 | The Jazz Club at Aman New York: The Crown Building, 9 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019. 212-970-2626. thejazzclub.com
Kenny Barron Quintet | Dec 23–26 | Village Vanguard: 178 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014. 212-255-4037. villagevanguard.com
People of Earth | Dec 23 | The Django: 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. thedjangonyc.com
Eric Alexander Quartet | Dec 26 | The Django: 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. thedjangonyc.com
Wayne Tucker Quintet | Dec 26 | The Django: 2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 212-519-6649. thedjangonyc.com
Wayne Newton – Mr. Las Vegas: Memories and Melodies | Dec 26 | City Winery Philadelphia: 990 Filbert St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. 267-479-7373. citywinery.com/philadelphia
Mohini Dey | Dec 22 | Blue Note LA: 6372 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. 310-855-3750. bluenotejazz.com/la
Maurice “Mobetta” Brown (Album Release) | Dec 23–24 | Blue Note LA: 6372 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. 310-855-3750. bluenotejazz.com/la
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