Saturday, Jan. 8
There are two Roy Hargroves, and they often command the same bandstand together. One of them is the aloof, distant trumpet master who plays the finest bebop horn of his generation, then stalks around the stage moodily while the next solo gets going. The other is the one who basks in his rapport with the crowd, does a little step when his solo hits its rhythmic peak, and pulls the mouthpiece away to spontaneously throw in a funny dash of scat. But which side will take the stage, and when will the other take over? Does it matter? Hargrove is a master of his craft, and one to throw in the fervor of gospel and the grooves of funk and hip-hop just to throw off your expectations...and then surpass them. He's also got a fabulous working quintet that currently includes Washingtonian native Ameen Saleem (another in the seemingly endless line of great D.C. bass players). The Roy Hargrove Quintet performs at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, 2700 F St. NW. $35.

Photo: Bob Travis.

Sunday, Jan. 9
There's no shortage of piano players in this town—though even in that crop Will Rast stands out as something special with his taste for lyrical beauty and freakishly in-the-pocket rhythms. He's also an organ player, and in that regard he is surely the king in this town. He cover the gamut from soul to funk to fusion jazz on that device, and lays down thick textures that can't be imitated by anyone else. He's also got a jones for electronic music that he does extremely unusual and interesting things with. Why mention all of this? Well, Rast performs Sunday night at Bossa in Adams Morgan...and the website lists him as simply "Will Rast." No mention of his trio, quartet, or his Funk Ark project; even the space on their schedule that lists the genre of the musicians is mysteriously blank. Rast does tend to fall back on a jazzy framework, though, even in his external exercises, so go see him. The gig happens at 9 p.m. at Bossa, 2463 18th St.t NW. Free.

Monday, Jan. 11
These days, John Kocur’s steadiest gig is not in the clubs but in the classroom, teaching music at Northern Virginia Community College and directing the school’s repertory jazz ensemble. But when he does find time to pick up his alto saxophone and hit the bandstand, Kocur remains one of the D.C. scene’s best musicians. He’s got a big, slippery sound and a love of melody that makes his solos joyous and his compositions smart and exciting. Though Kocur’s educational endeavors occupy most of his time these days, he hasn’t abandoned his writing: He’s got a brand new crop of compositions, and he’s been woodshedding them with his quartet to prep them for performance in the new year. Who says teaching is for those who can’t do? The John Kocur Quartet performs at 8 and 10 p.m. at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. $20.

Photo: Darrell Jennings.

The sad part: this was another woefully underattended concert. The Atlas is a good venue, comparatively intimate for an auditorium setting, but Saturday night went beyond intimate. "Small crowd, huh?" Harper laughed. "Let's hope y'all know how to clap loud and fast."

Still, the sub-50-percent capacity did little to dampen the spirits of the group. Harper is luminous in a trio—his accompaniment hard and tight, his brushwork impressionistic and masterful—but thoroughly unleashed once the full sextet is onstage. With fireworks on the tom-toms, he punctuates his players' solos in all the right places, challenging them to match him flourish for flourish, and in his hands, a standard like Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'" becomes something else entirely—as he barrels through the four-beat swing, his hands blurring before your eyes, you can't help but feel that the song will never be the same.

On tenor sax, Dayna Stevens has the hoarse smokiness of a low-range Paul Desmond, and his interchange with Bruce Harris (trumpet) is funky, sensitive, and graceful. The other players—Jon Notar on piano, D.C. native Ameen Saleem on bass, and Jean-Marie Collatin on assorted percussion—form a tight unit with a slick, easy response to the histrionic virtuosity of their leader. Also nice: the full dynamic range, even when down-tempo (cf. "I've Never Been in Love Before").

They wound down the set with "All Praise Is to God" (a Harper original), "Tamisha" (a Saleem original), a piano-led "Amazing Grace," Ruben Brown's "Float Like a Butterfly" (not a bad tagline for this combo, come to think of it), and a few others that escape the memory.  There wasn't a doubter in the house. But the house, after all, was small.