Sunday, November 6
An unapologetic subversive, both at the piano and in the press, Matthew Shipp has often been grouped with pianistic revolutionaries Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor—an accurate, if somewhat narrow, comparison. While Shipp is unquestionably and proudly an avant-gardist, gaining his profile as the pianist in David S. Ware's pathbreaking 1990s quartet, his playing encompasses the history of jazz piano. Hidden in his labyrinthine performances are tendrils of Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, and other innovators of the eighty-eights. Even if you don't hunt for those styles, though, Shipp's powerful attack is mesmerizing. His most recent trio album, Art of the Improviser (Thirsty Ear), is one of the best albums of 2011, and sure to be one of the best concerts of the year as well. Matthew Shipp performs with Michael Bisio (bass) and Whit Dickey (drums) at 7 p.m. at Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th Street NW. $15.

Monday, November 7

Am I really being fair in identifying Bela Fleck and the Flecktones as jazz? Why, no, I'm not. I admit it. The thing is, though, that it's not fair to identify the quartet as belonging to any one category, and jazz is as fair a lumping-in as bluegrass, funk, or jam-band, all of which banjoist Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten, pianist/harmonicist Howard Levy, and drummer Roy "Future Man" Wooten deal in together and individually. But talk about fusion! If the goal of that ideology was to meld styles together into an insoluble whole that's also a new and unique style of its own, you'd be hard pressed to come up with someone who's had more success at it. Who else can lay a classical piano etude over bluegrassy banjo rhythms, funky bass accompaniment, and Spanish percussive colorings (as they do on "Sweet Pomegranates," the highlight of their new album Rocket Science? If that ain't jazz, maybe it should be. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones perform at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane in Bethesda. $28-68.

Wednesday, November 9
A MacArthur Genius Grant winner, Miguel Zenon filters jazz through all aspects of the music of his native Puerto Rico: folk songs ("plena"), art songs, pop songs, and good old-fashioned dance music. His music, executed on his peppery, slithery alto saxophone, is beautifully designed and played, and gives off a surprisingly raw energy that can take even Zenon by surprise. Credit for that should go as well to the stunning quartet he leads: pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig, and drummer Henry Cole, each one of the strongest and most in-demand instrumentalists in New York. With Zenon, however, they're something else again, and some of the hottest new jazz around. They perform at 8 p.m. at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE. $40.

2009 Umbrella Music Festival: Our pals over at the Chicago Reader noted in their ’09 Fall Arts Guide that the Umbrella Music Festival “is eclipsed only by the Chicago Jazz Festival as the most impressive and adventurous jazz event of the year.” Since those guys seem to know what they’re doing, we’ll take their word for it. This year’s event—which, for the fourth turn of the calendar, “celebrates jazz and improvised music from Chicago and beyond”—extends over four days and includes performances from Matthew Shipp and a quartet that includes Tortoise’s John Herndon. But the clear highlight is a closing-night performance of compositions by Joe McPhee arranged by Ken Vandermark for a nonet which features both players. Tickets for events vary in price, but most (if not all) still seem to be available. The first night’s slate of events is entirely free.

2009 Troika Music Festival:  Down in North Carolina’s Research/College Triangle (that’d be the area defined by the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill), organizers will present a locally-focused festival on November 5, 6, and 7. They call it Troika Music Festival (it’s cause, you know, three cities…triangle…you get it), and though the honchos say that they like to promote things Durham, they appear happy to include “critically acclaimed acts visiting from elsewhere”—even those from Raleigh and Chapel Hill. This year’s notables include Dead Oceans’ Bowerbirds, Merge Records’ The Love Language, and Future Islands, which may be so only for the fact that its MySpace page says the band hails from Baltimore. As of this writing, tickets were still available.

All Tomorrow’s Parties: On November 24, the folks over at Warp X will release All Tomorrow’s Parties, a film which is, according to press, “a kaleidoscopic journey into the parallel musical universe of the cult music festival of the same name.” Because the thing was reportedly born of the efforts of “over 200 filmmakers, fans and musicians,” we here at Fesitval Watch believe that this translates roughly to: A confusing mélange of film and video footage chopped together in an attempt to make live musical performances interesting for suckers stuck watching them at home.

In any case, ATP the film features (again, from press) “performances from an eclectic mix artists including: Battles, Sonic Youth, Belle And Sebastian, Patti Smith, Animal Collective, Grinderman,  Iggy and the Stooges, Portishead, Mogwai, Slint, Grizzly Bear, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Gossip, Daniel Johnston and The Boredoms [!!!].” Basically, it’s a best-of culled from the entire history of the festival. As such, it might be worth your dollars—even if its collage-y nature spells the need for a couple of aspirin (or perhaps, something a bit more illegal).

As for the live event, tickets are sold out for both of the next ATP festivals—December’s “Nightmere Before Xmas, 2009” (curated by the reunited My Bloody Valentine) and “Ten Years of ATP.” For those of you who happen to be headed over to the Butlins Holiday Centre for either of those shows, festival organizers have filled the gap between weekends with a four-day series they’re calling “In Between Days.” Performers include Fuck Buttons, Dirty Three, Mum, Om, Growing, and Deerhoof. As of this writing tickets (at 100 Pounds per person, lodging and “self-catering” included) were still available.