Friday, December 2
The Grammy nominations were announced last night, and one of the few standouts on a terrifically vanilla list of jazz nominees (which mostly consists of a handful of old-guard darlings nominated several times) is pianist Gerald Clayton. Granted, Clayton is a legacy nominee—his father, John, is an accomplished bassist and highly respected educator. But he's earned it nonetheless: The 27-year-old is one of the hottest young piano players in the business, with an outwardly gentle tone that cloaks a sharp, percussive tack and astonishing harmonic sensibility. At the same time, one of the Grammies' most glaring omissions this year was in the Jazz Vocal Album category. There was no excuse for not nominating Gretchen Parlato, the soft-voiced, entirely original singer whose 2011 album The Lost and Found also tracked her emergence as a formidable composer. Fortunately, the Library of Congress is presenting a dual showcase for the should-be-winner and the should-have-been-nominee this evening. Parlato and Clayton's trio perform together at 8:00 p.m. at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Free (with tickets; online tickets are sold out but about 70 walk-up tickets remain).

Also...

There aren't a whole lot of bands in the area with violinists as sidemen, let alone leaders. That's one of many reasons to catch a performance by Matvei Sigalov, fast gaining prominence on the D.C. scene. The native of Samara, Russia is a classically trained violinist from childhood who, in addition to jazz, has also mastered R&B, gospel, pop, soul, and Brazilian samba, plus rock guitar. He's also got a deep interest in fusion, symptoms of which include playing his violin solos through a wah-wah pedal with Wurlitzer electric piano and drums thumping behind him. At the same time he's got a sly legato that can sound for all the world like an alto saxophone. He's an original thinker, in short, and an original stylist. And he's got an absolutely killer band working with him: Harry Appleman on piano, Eric Wheeler on bass, and Nate Jolley on drums. Who's to ignore such a lineup? Sigalov performs sets at 8 and 10 p.m. at Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th St. NW. $15.

Tuesday, December 6
Dan Blake is on to something. The saxophonist has worked with such masters of the straightahead as Herbie Hancock and Danilo Perez, as well as with the architect of abstraction, Anthony Braxton. It can be hard to imagine how to reconcile those extremes—and yet, in his own music, Blake has managed to pull it off. His Aquarian Suite can be described as sounding like a warped Horace Silver hard-bop record, with the inflection and accents of gutbucket blues but harmony and phrasing on a skewed trajectory to the moon. You might also compare him to Ornette Coleman, since he uses a "chordless" (i.e., pianoless) quartet, and Coleman's song title "Blues Connotation" is a pretty apt term for Blake's musical personality. But Blake has common ground with both of those players: deep, rich irrepressible melody. The Dan Blake Quartet performs at 8 and 10 p.m. at Twins Jazz, 1344 U St. NW. $10.

Wednesday, December 7
They called the jazz evolutions of the 1960s "The New Thing." It's become retroactively synonymous with the furthest-out sounds of the free and avant-garde, but it really covered a wider swath: Modalism, bitonality, Eastern sounds, the clattering cross-rhythms of the Miles Davis Quintet... anything that challenged the strictures of bebop's swing and chord patterns. And the man who deciphered that language for the trombone—an instrument that was often too unwieldy for postwar jazz—was Grachan Moncur III. Moncur's got credentials in the full-on free-jazz landscape, but even his most out stuff had a surprising undercurrent of pure, delicious melody. That sensibility also made him a splendid composer, one who never got anything near his due. But the Atlas Performing Arts Center's curator for jazz, Brad Linde, knows just what Moncur is capable of, and will be providing the trombonist with an 8-piece version of the Brad Linde ensemble as his accompaniment for Moncur's playing and compositions. They perform at 8 p.m. at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. $35.

Photo: Todd Boebel

Los Angeles native Gretchen Parlato is among an elite group of musicians who made their breakthrough in Washington, D.C.: She was the winner of the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for Vocals. Seven years and three albums later, Parlato is one of the most acclaimed and closely watched singers in jazz, and her star is still rising. Ahead of her two-night stand at Bohemian Caverns this weekend, Parlato talked to Washington City Paper about songwriting, playing with Terence Blanchard alums, and developing her unique sound.

Washington City Paper: On your new album, The Lost and Found, it seems you’ve branched out quite a bit in terms of composing your own material.

Gretchen Parlato: Yeah. That might be what allows this album to stand apart from the others. It just felt really good to release that.

WCP: Is it all new? Or something you’ve been working on for several years?

GP: A little bit of both. There are some songs that were composed specifically for this album, but there’s other songs and ideas that I’ve had for years that I just finished. I got in my own way for a long time in terms of finishing them—or in thinking that I could write at all.

WCP: Does that apply as well to the standards and other prewritten tunes that you’ve added lyrics to?

GP: Well, [Wayne Shorter’s] “Juju,” for example, those lyrics were the first attempt at writing that I ever tried. That was back in the Thelonious Monk Institute, so around 2001; the assignment from Terence Blanchard was specifically to write lyrics to “Juju.” And it was an assignment, so you kinda pretend you can do it even if you don’t know how. [Laughs] I said, “Okay, sure,” but I was terrified. And that’s what came out. So that was 10 years ago that I wrote that.

WCP: Is that an avenue you intend to pursue more fully?

GP: Yeah! There’s a handful of songs that have been composed by my friends and musical peers that are exquisite pieces of instrumental music that I hear words to—certain ones. It’d be a wonderful thing to collaborate with these other musicians.

WCP: Speaking of collaborations—and it’s interesting that you mention studying with Terence Blanchard—you seem to have a certain affinity for members and former members of Terence’s ensembles [pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Kendrick Scott and—most frequently—guitarist Lionel Loueke]. Is that a coincidence?

GP: Well, it’s definitely true. I met Aaron through Terence, and Derrick, too; I met Kendrick before Terence, but right around the same time that he started playing with Terence. I think it’s just kind of how life is; just before I moved to New York I was in the Monk Institute, connected with Terence Blanchard since he was the Artistic Director, and was in touch with all these musicians because we had heard his band often. I think of it more as meant-to-be—that things just sort of happen, and you live your life in a certain pattern and you look back on it and think, “Oh, of course! This is why things are the way that they are.”

WCP: Did you meet Lionel through Terence?

GP: No, I met Lionel at the audition for the Monk Institute. Terence was there as a judge, so I guess there was a connection there, but he wasn’t a part of Terence’s band yet. We were students together.

WCP: It was a surprise to find that Lionel wasn’t on the new record. You and he are such a sympathetic musical partnership.

GP: We definitely are! But, well, as life would have it, he’s so busy I can’t even keep track of his schedule. He’s playing with everybody, mostly Herbie Hancock. So it was harder for us to find the time to connect, but in a good way, that makes it even more special when we’re allowed to play together. It’s also good in that it got me to connect with Taylor Eigsti and form a quartet that was piano-based.

WCP: So that quartet, is that going to be your touring band in D.C.?

GP: Yes, through next fall I’m with Taylor on piano and keyboards; Alan Hampton on bass, and he’ll also sing and play guitar so we can perform “Still,” the tune we wrote; and Kendrick Scott on drums—though specifically in D.C., the drummer is Mark Giuliana, who’s just awesome, and anyone who doesn’t know how awesome he is there’s lots of videos with live performances.

WCP: Alan and Taylor both have compositions on The Lost and Found, don’t they?

GP: Yeah. Taylor wrote a song, the last track, called “Without a Sound.” Well, it actually didn’t have a title. He wrote it for me, to write words to, for the album. I titled it after the lyrics were written. Alan’s piece “Still,” that again was just instrumental and written for me to sing.

WCP: You sound so different from just about anyone else in jazz. How did you develop that style?

GP: My father is a jazz bass player, so I grew up hearing him practice and going to his gigs, and his father’s a trumpet player and a singer. And my grandmother on my mother’s side, she always played records by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and Frank Sinatra. So I grew up hearing jazz without knowing what it was.

But I think specifically that style you’re talking about, that’s understated and subtle, I think that just came out of hearing other singers do that. Like Bobby McFerrin. Like Joao Gilberto and bossa nova, and hearing that when I was really young and being completely moved and touched by the ability of these artists to draw you in, but without throwing the music at you. They have their palms up as an offering, and if you want to come into that world you’re welcome to, but it’s not forced upon you. It’s just the beauty of subtlety, of understatement, of something that is a quiet power, an intensity.

It’s also something that was just in my nature. I always say that if I had a voice that was a big belter, and I could sing like Aretha and do amazing ornaments and runs, I would. If that was my makeup I would do that. But it was a matter of learning what is the natural makeup of my instrument and my body, just accepting the voice that I have and learning what I could do with it. So there’s your very long answer! [laughs]

WCP: Were you aware going in that you had something original?

GP: No, I don’t think I ever thought of it that way. I grew up singing in choirs just like everybody else, and growing up with musical theater and imitation. I grew up on The Sound of Music and I wanted to be Julie Andrews when I was little. Or anything—it was the '80s, and I would sing along with Madonna and Whitney Houston. And before I found jazz I was singing in musicals, which is a kind of a belting tradition, and while I did do that to me it was like, “That’s a character when I do that. That’s not me singing, as an extension of how I speak.” I think that’s really the key. Singing shouldn’t sound like you’re trying to be anyone else.

I also like to challenge myself. I know that people often describe my singing as “whispering” and “hushed,” and I like that. I think there’s definitely an air surrounding my voice, but I believe it’s more than a whisper. In a whisper there’s no sound, no tone, and I try to reach the full capacity that I can. So I’m learning, let’s steer away from this breathy whisper, because if that’s all that people are hearing then they’re missing something.

Friday, April 15: It's not a stretch to call Ben Williams the pride of the current D.C. jazz scene. A native of Michigan Park, Williams grew up playing bass with the District's own Jolley Brothers, worked with Thad Wilson and Paul Carr, and studied with Michael Bowie and the Ellington School of the Arts' Carolyn Kellock before moving on first to Michigan State University, then to Juilliard. The whole scene celebrated when he won the 2009 Thelonious Monk Competition for bass, and people now boast excitedly about having worked with him or taught him in the past. It's no wonder: At the Monk finals, Williams (like the other finalists) had to demonstrate his skill by accompanying the great singer Dee Dee Bridgewater; the ease with which he followed her, completely unfazed by her harmonic liberties and surprise turns, made it clear he was walking away with the title. Williams' prize included a recording contract with the Concord Jazz label; the result, State of Art, drops in June. Meantime Williams and his hip-hop-infected band Sound Effect are one of the Kennedy Center's "Discovery Artists" this season. Williams performs at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.M at the KC Jazz Club, 2700 F St. NW. $16.

Saturday, April 16: The foremost qualities of Gretchen Parlato’s artistry are her breathy gentleness and sensuality—she doesn’t sing so much as she insinuates. She's got soul, wiles, confidence, and wisdom baked into that soft delivery, but no matter what other elements you may find in there, it's indisputable that she sounds like no one else working in jazz today. Parlato is, in fact, arguably the emblematic jazz vocalist of her generation, and perhaps the most visionary to come along in a generation: Her breakthrough album, 2009's In A Dream, was greeted with wild acclaim and her brand new The Lost and Found is set to parallel the former's achievement. Take none of this praise lightly; go see her. Gretchen Parlato and her quartet perform at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. at Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th St. NW. $25.

Monday, April 18: Every glance at the musical tapestry reveals a richer jazz legacy coming from Puerto Rico. Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri put the island on the jazz map in the '50s and '60s; Miguel Zenon explores its traditional musics in the '10s. But in between, in the early '90s, trombonist William Cepeda dug deep and formulated the field known as "Afro-Rican jazz"; it's an approach that puts Puerto Rico and its music, past and present, into context within the African diaspora. For Cepeda, a veteran of Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra, it's the launchpad for an unending series of explorations and experiments in the intersections of Puerto Rico, America, Africa, and the world. The 2002 film El Trombone de Bomba, William Cepeda’s Jazz is an insightful examination of the man, his art, and his international status; the film follows him back and forth between New York, where Cepeda is regarded as a shrewd musical innovator, and the "Little Africa" region of Puerto Rico, where he is a cultural treasure. The film screens at 7 p.m. at the Library of Congress' Mary Pickford Theater, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Free.

Wednesday, April 20
What's left to say about Phil Woods? Eighty years old this November, Woods has been a force on the national jazz scene for nearly 60 of those years, and was part of the last wave of straight-up bebop musicians. Woods' real accomplishment has been dodging the humongous shadow of Charlie Parker—this despite the fact that he plays Parker's instrument, the alto sax; plays Parker's milieu, bebop; was at one time dubbed "the new Bird," Parker's nickname; and married Chan, Parker's widow. How can you do everything possible to be compared to Bird and still get away with being yourself? By carving out a distinct sound that becomes completely iconic for your instrument. Woods' moment in the pop spotlight came in 1977 when he played on Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," fixing him forever in dentist's offices and elevators all across the world—but also establishing him as most of America's idea of what an alto saxophone sounds like. Truthfully, though, he's a blindingly brilliant technician with a fascinating imagination, which is how he became an NEA Jazz Master, and why you should trek down to his 8 and 10 p.m. sets at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. $45

Sunday, Oct. 3
One of the things that sets jazz apart as a musical form is that you can't simply give the talented stars an unassuming accompaniment that will stay out of their way and not make waves. The greats need to play with other greats, to humble, challenge, and inspire each other. Think Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith, Count Basie and Lester Young, Bird and Diz, Miles and Coltrane. Perhaps we're not seeing a combination quite on THAT level, but putting the breathtaking vocalist Gretchen Parlato and enfant terrible bassist Esperanza Spalding onstage together is certainly a spectacle unto itself. The two would top any list of rising jazz stars under 35; Spalding is a bass prodigy, the youngest teacher in the history of the Berklee College of Music and an attention-grabber in mainstream music as well as jazz; Parlato doesn't get quite the hoopla, but is every bit as accomplished and perhaps even more of a virtuoso on her built-in instrument. (Spalding, by the way, is a singer too, one with an awful lot of radiance to match Parlato's subtlety.) What will happen when we put them together? God knows, but it'll be amazing to behold. Spalding and Parlato perform at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. $35 – 85.

Monday, Oct. 4
The major event of the week, as it happens, is also one of the major jazz events of the year: the annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. The world's most prestigious jazz musicians' competition this year spotlights the voice. Gretchen Parlato, mentioned above? She's a Monk Vocal Competition winner. So is Tierney Sutton. Jane Monheit is a past runner-up. In short, the Monk is a career launchpad like no other, and (with a few recent exceptions) it happens right here in our fair city, so you can watch an artist being made. And, oh, by the way, the final round will also incorporate a concert paying tribute to the Great American Songbook, with performances by the competition's judges: Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau, Dianne Reeves...and this other woman you might have heard of. Aretha something. Finkel or something like that. The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition & Celebration of The Great American Songbook takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater, 2700 F St. NW. $35-75.

Tuesday, Oct. 5
We at Setlist have no wish to pass judgment on anyone, but if Anat Fort doesn't move you then something's the matter with you. The Tel Aviv native plays in the post-Keith Jarrett lineage of freeform piano, lyricism with delicate, almost whispered notes that blend and overlap like pieces of colored glass, into heretofore unknown shades of sound and color. That's just one layer, though. Fort can also adopt a more declarative touch, climbing spryly up the chords with a gentle but sure sense of swing, and a classical model of phrasing that has more in common with Mozart. In any configuration, though, Fort's piano notes strike deep, combining jazz tonality with a unique sense of melody and chord voicing that radiates color and beauty—and profound emotion. The evidence is available on Fort's exquisite new trio CD And If (ECM), with bassist Gary Wang and drummer Roland Schneider, as well as on the bandstand. The Anat Fort Trio performs at 8 and 10 p.m. at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. $25.

This last, almost completely overlooked in the jazz world, was nonetheless the record of the year. Here it is, along with the next, oh, say, nine. Where applicable, I've quoted (and linked to) my own reviews of these albums.

1. Ramsey Lewis – Songs From the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey (Concord)
"In a word, astonishing. It finds Ramsey Lewis, after 50 years playing R&B- and pop-laced jazz piano, reinventing himself as a composer—hence the subtitle, Ramsey Plays Ramsey. The trio disc (Larry Gray, bass; Leon Joyce, drums) contains 12 straightahead tunes of extraordinary delicacy, lyricism and finesse, all sounding thoroughly fresh."

2. Darcy James Argue's Secret Society – Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam)

3. Rakalam Bob Moses – Father's Day B'Hash (Sunnyside)

4. Gretchen Parlato – In A Dream (ObliqSound)
"Recently, jazz has embraced some callow vocalists whose singing is a sideline for their instrumental pursuits. Fortunately, such artists have Parlato to show them how it should be done: with emotional depth, subtlety, and the kind of precise technical craft where even the breathing sounds matter."

5. Vijay Iyer Trio – Historicity (ACT Music + Vision)
"It may be hard to grasp Iyer’s statement, but it’s fun to try, and the unique conceptions of both originals and covers suggest clues aplenty. Yet it’s just as exciting to imagine that Historicity’s equation has no solution and Iyer, with this compelling, provocative work, is still writing his place in history."

6. Arve Henriksen – Cartography (ECM)

7. Steve Lehman – Travail, Transformation, and Flow (Pi)
"With Travail, Transformation, and Flow, alto saxophonist Steve Lehman makes a rare offering to the jazz world: a thoroughly alternative principle of improvisation. Lehman’s deeply compelling harmonies and textures sound noticeably different from anything before it, but the music doesn’t have the threat-to-everything-we-know-and-love trappings of prior upheavals."

8. Joe Lovano's Us Five – Folk Art (Blue Note)

9. Robert Glasper – Double-Booked (Blue Note)

10. Jeff "Tain" Watts – – Watts (Dark Key Music)
"Jeff "Tain" Watts' drumming style is not generally about understatement, and
neither is much else on the fantastic Watts. His quartet-saxophonist
Branford Marsalis, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and bassist Christian
McBride-is a supergroup's supergroup, and their mainstream jazz is
muscle-bound and always in hyperdrive."

Oct. 30
The Brooklyn-born pianist Randy Weston was reared in blues and gospel, grew up with some of bebop’s revolutionaries, and as an adult began exploring musical traditions from all across the African continent—from Somalia to Nigeria to Morocco. His vision manages to assimilate all of those sources into an insoluble whole, equally able to interact with a Harlem big band or the Master Musicians of Jajouka. Weston’s music encompasses many musical traditions and also many human experiences: His sound can be dark or joyful, gnarled or straightforward, folksy or erudite—sometimes all at once. The only two things you’re sure to encounter at a Weston concert are the fierce but complex rhythm he generates with his percussive piano style and the profound emotional impact that explodes out of every performance, no matter what he plays. Weston's African Rhythms Trio performs at 8 P.M. and 10 p.m. at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. $30.

Oct. 31
It’s tempting to call Nasar Abadey a “drummer, composer, and mystic”—but the distinction would be false. Certainly Abadey doesn’t recognize it. The District’s dominant jazz drummer, who came of age on the Buffalo jazz scene, calls his music “Multi-D”—meaning that it moves "in multiple directions, and also in and out of multiple dimensions at the same time.” It's also some of D.C.'s most consistently interesting and proficient jazz, and profoundly spiritual—not bad on the eve of All Souls' Day. His band, Supernova (a name that extends to formats from trio to big band) makes a rare appearance this weekend at 9 and 11 p.m. Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th Street NW. $15 advance, $18 door.

Nov. 3
The foremost qualities of jazz vocalist Gretchen Parlato’s artistry are her breathy gentleness and sensuality—she doesn’t sing so much as insinuate. Throughout her latest, In a Dream, she exhibits a supple, nuanced airiness that puts the disc leagues ahead of the year’s other vocal jazz recordings. Om fact, Parlato, a past winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, is poised to become a major star – she's made the first-round voting in three 2009 Grammy categories, including Best New Artist and Album of the Year for In A Dream.  See why on Tuesday evening at Blues Alley, with sets at 8 and 10 p.m.

Nov. 4
Bossa, in Adams Morgan, has established itself as perhaps the most adventurous music venue in Washington. It's predisposed towards the various forms of Latin music, but in fact the bar and Italian bistro serves up music of all varieties and all nations: ska, indie rock, avant-garde, house, even exotica. On Wednesday, Bossa hosts an evening of experimental jazz. On the bill are Peeping Tom, a Swedish/French trio who play bebop standards by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie...without the boundaries; New Loft, a trio from Richmond who proudly include among their instrumentation "PVC tubing" and "things"; and our town's own DC Improvisers Collective (DCIC), whose completely improvised music incorporates rock and classical in addition to jazz. All this for $7!