New York City Live Music Calendar for March and April 2011

We have a new calendar for April and May 2011, and it’s here.  

A few things you should know about this calendar: acts are listed here in order of appearance, NOT headliner first and supporting acts after; showtimes listed here are actual set times, not the time doors open. If a listing here says something like ”9 PM-ish,” chances are it’ll run late. Cover charges are those listed on bands’ and venues’ sites: always best to click on the band link provided or go to the venues page for confirmation since we get much of this info weeks in advance. We go easy on the superlative adjectives here: every show included on this calendar is worth checking out, if the artist or band happen to play a style you enjoy. As always, weekly events first followed by the daily listings:

Sundays there’s a klezmer brunch at City Winery, show starts around 11:30 AM – 2 PM, $10 cover, no minimum, lots of good bands.

Sundays from half past noon to 3:30 PM, bluegrass cats Freshly Baked (f.k.a. Graveyard Shift), featuring excellent, incisive fiddle player Diane Stockwell play Nolita House (upstairs over Botanica at 47 E Houston). Free drink with your entree.

Through May of 2011, the series of free organ concerts at 5:15 PM continues most every week (holidays excepted) at St. Thomas Church, 53rd St. and 5th Ave.

Sundays in March at 6 PM the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra – not as much of an oxymoron as the immigrants from Minnesota would have you believe – at Brooklyn Bowl, free

Stephane Wrembel plays Sundays at Barbes at 9. He’s something of an institution here, plan on arriving EARLY, 45 minutes early isn’t too soon since the whole bar gets packed fast. The guitarist has few if any equals as an interpreter of Django Reinhardt, but it’s where he takes the gypsy jazz influence in his own remarkably original, psychedelic writing – and what he brings to the Django stuff – that makes all the difference. One of the most interesting players in any style of music, anywhere in the world.

Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (frequently) guitarist Matt Munisteri play NYC’s only weekly hot jazz session starting around 8 PM at the Ear Inn on Spring St.  Hard to believe, in the city that springboarded the careers of thousands of jazz legends, but true. This is by far the best value in town for marquee-caliber jazz: for the price of a drink and a tip for the band, you can see world-famous players (and brilliant obscure ones) you’d usually have to drop $100 for at some big-ticket room. The material is mostly old-time stuff from the 30s and 40s, but the players (especially Kellso and Munisteri, who have a chemistry that goes back several years) push it into some deliciously unexpected places.

Sundays in March the Chico O’Farrill latin Jazz Orchestra at Birdland, sets 8/10:30 PM, $30 seats avail

Every Sunday, hip-hop MC Big Zoo hosts the long-running End of the Weak rap showcase at the Pyramid, 9 PM, admission $5 before 10, $7 afterward. This is one of the best places to discover some of the hottest under-the-radar hip-hop talent, both short cameos as well as longer sets from both newcomers and established vets.

Mondays at the Fat Cat the Choi Fairbanks String Quartet play a wide repertoire of chamber music from Bach to Shostakovich starting at 7.

Mondays starting a little after 7 PM Howard Williams leads his Jazz Orchestra from the piano at the Garage, 99 7th Ave. S at Grove St. There are also big bands here most every Tuesday at 7.

Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: you know the material and the players are all first rate. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.

Also Monday nights Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, a boisterous horn-driven 11-piece 1920s/early 30’s band play Sofia’s Restaurant, downstairs at the Edison Hotel, 221 West 46th Street between Broadway & 8th Ave., 3 sets from 8 to 11, surprisingly cheap $15 cover plus $15 minimum considering what you’re getting. Even before the Flying Neutrinos or the Moonlighters, multi-instrumentalist Giordano was pioneering the oldtimey sound in New York; his long-running residency at the old Cajun on lower 8th Ave. is legendary. He also gets a ton of film work (Giordano wrote the satirical number that Willie Nelson famously sang in Wag the Dog).

Mondays at Tea Lounge in Park Slope at 9 PM trombonist/composer JC Sanford books big band jazz, an exciting, global mix of some of the edgiest large-ensemble sounds around. If you’re anybody in the world of big band jazz and you make it to New York, you end up playing here: what CBGB was to punk, this unlikely spot promises to be to the jazz world. No cover.

Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $30 per set plus drink minimum.

Also Mondays in March the Barbes house band, Chicha Libre plays there starting around 9:30. They’ve singlehandedly resurrected an amazing subgenre, chicha, which was popular in the Peruvian Amazon in the late 60s and early 70s. With electric accordion, cuatro, surf guitar and a slinky but boisterous rhythm section, their mix of obscure classics and originals is one of the funnest, most danceable things you’ll witness this year.

Also Mondays in March Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Union Pool in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 11 PM. The Rev. is one of the great keyboardists around, equally thrilling on organ or electric piano, an expert at Billy Preston style funk, honkytonk, gospel and blues. He writes very funny, very politically astute, sexy original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party til past three in the morning. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the lead soloist on baritone sax, with Dave Smith from Smoota and the Fela pit band on trombone, with frequent special guests.

The second and fourth Tuesday of the month there are free organ concerts at half past noon at Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Ave @ 55th St. curated by celebrated organ adventurer Gail Archer, a global mix of veteran and up-and-coming talent.

Tuesdays in March Balkan brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party  play Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as they’re very popular.

Tuesdays in March the Dred Scott Trio play astonishingly smart, dark piano jazz at the smaller room at the Rockwood at midnight.

Wednesdays in April (not March), 4-5 PM, all ages, at the Atrium at Lincoln Center a series of Afrocentric song/dance performances with Q&A afterward moderated by Meklit Hadero. Highlights: Chanda Rule and Somi on 4/6; amazing Ethiopian Afrobeat group Debo Band spinoff the And Lay Duo playing traditional Ethiopian tunes on 4/27.

Wednesdays at 9 PM Feral Foster’s Roots & Ruckus takes over the Jalopy, a reliably excellent weekly mix of oldtimey acts: blues, bluegrass, country and swing.

Every Thursday the Michael Arenella Quartet play 1920s hot jazz 8-11 PM at Nios, 130 W 46th St.

Thursdays and Fridays in March at Mehanata it’s Bulgarian sax powerhouse Yuri Yukanov and the Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, 10 PM, $10.

Fridays at 8:30 PM adventurous cellist/composer Valerie Kuehne books an intriguing avant garde/classical/unclassifiable “weekly experimental cabaret” at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick, 247 Varet St. (White/Bogart), L to Morgan Ave. It’s sort of a more outside version of Small Beast, a lot of cutting-edge performers working out new ideas in casual, unstuffy surroundings. Kuehne promises “never a dull moment.”

Fridays in March at 9 Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens play the Fat Cat.

3/2 creepy, cinematic, noir instrumentalists Mojo Mancini at the big room at the Rockwood ,7 PM $10.

3/2, 7:30 PM at Banjo Jim’s NYC Americana luminaries singing classic country and country rock duets led by songstress Karen Hudson. Special guest vocalists incl. Alan Lee Backer, Steve Antonakos, Sean Kershaw, Orville Davis, Shannon Brown, Drina Seay, Lindy Loo, Deb O’Nair, Mo Russell, Charlie Quill, Doug Moody, Kelli King, Glenn Spivack and David Michael Weis; songs by Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, Buck Owens, the Andrews Sisters, Linda Ronstadt, John Prine, Lucinda Williams and others.

3/2, 7:30 PM energetic oldtimey Americana act the Wiyos at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10.

3/2-6, 7:30/9:30 PM lyrical pianist Fred Hersch – whose new solo live album is a joy – at the Jazz Standard. 3/2 with singer Kate McGarry ; 3/3 with guitarist Julian Lage; 3/4-5 Noah Preminger on tenor sax (fresh off the success of his new Palmetto release Before the Rain), Ralph Alessi on trumpet, John Hebert on bass, and Billy Drummond on drums; 3/6 in a duo show with Joshua Redman. Tickets are $30.

3/2, 9 PM Marc Ribot’s “Really The Blues” with most of the Jazz Passengers – Bill Ware, Brad Jones & EJ Rodriguez – at Rose Bar in Williamsburg.

3/2, 10 PM fiery, oldtimey chanteuse April Smith & the Great Picture Show at the Mercury, $10, early arrival advised, this deserves to sell out

3/3, 7ish smart lo-fi garage duo the Fools, the Debutante Hour’s reliably entertaining, clever Susan Hwang and fearless punk cabaret songwriter Sabrina Chap among others at Goodbye Blue Monday.

3/3, 8 PM Espers cellist Helena Espvall plays a solo set and then joins hypnotic, haunting Maine chamber-Americana duo Arborea for gorgeous rustic soundscapes at Littlefield.

3/3, 8 PM clever, torchy oldtimey songwriter Jolie Holland at City Winery, $20 seats avail.

3/3, 8 PM modern roots reggae with Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad and Rebelution at Irving Plaza, $20 adv tix rec.

3/3 Springsteen violinist Sam Bardfeld’s Up Jumped the Devil – a tribute to jazz violinist Stuff Smith – at Barbes at 8 followed by Red Baraat’s funky Indian marching band madness at 10 for a $10 cover.

3/3, 9 PM charismatic Americana roots singer Cal Folger Day at Banjo Jim’s; she’s also at the National Underground upstairs at 7 on 3/11

3/3 Police cover band NY’s Finest at 9 followed by Tammy Faye Starlite’s hilarious Blondie tribute/spoof band the Pretty Babies at 10 at R Bar.

3/3, 9 PM rootsy Sweetheart of the Rodeo style country rock with Whisperado at Hank’s.

3/3 eclectic, danceable Brazilian maracatu and country sounds with Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar 10ish

3/3, 10:30 PM Whiting Tennis – the former Scholars frontman and arguably the finest practitioner of Pacific Northwest gothic rock – at Pete’s.

3/4, 6:30 PM Marc Cary’s Indigenous People plus Sameer Gupta’s Namaskar at le Poisson Rouge, $15. Cary is our favorite pianist right now – no disrespect to anybody else, but nobody else we know can switch from rivetingly intense majestic third-stream grandeur to playful, fun Rhodes funk grooves so effortlessly and intuitively as this guy. He’s doing both with probably both bands, the kind of workout that brings out his best. Gupta is his Focus Trio drummer and leads a hypnotic Bollywood flavored outfit.

3/4 the Snow’s wry, brilliantly lyrical frontman Pierre de Gaillande plays his own hilarious translations of French songwriting icon Georges Brassens’s songs at Drom, 7:30 PM, $10 gen adm.

3/4, 8 PM at Otto’s, a rare Friday surf music night put together by Unsteady Freddie: this one’s a real good one: the Octomen at 9, garage rockers Preston Wayne 4 at 10, then entertaining, intense Boston horror-surf rockers Beware The Dangers Of A Ghost Scorpion at 11; BTDOAGS are also at Spike Hill on 3/27.

3/4, 8 PM, deviously fun, low-register oldschool Cuban vamps and originals with Gato Loco – baritone guitar, sax, bass and tuba – at Barbes. They’re also at Bowery Poetry Club at 8 on 3/6.

3/4, 8 PM, the psychobilly Memphis Morticians at the smaller downstairs space at Webster Hall, $12 adv tix rec.

3/4-6, 8/10 PM the Larry Coryell “power trio” with Victor Bailey on bass and Lenny White on drums at Iridium, $30 cover. Iconic jazz guitarist from the 70s whose fusions associations transcend any involvement with the style (he got into Rachmaninoff in a big way back in the 80s), somebody you ought to see at least once

3/4-5, 8 PM at the Kitchen: “Inspired by her immigrant grandfather, a junk dealer in the Lower East Side who recycled scrap metal and other byproducts of the industrial age, Annie Gosfield will sample the sounds of metal, machines, and factories, and transform these raw materials into something new. Featuring two ensembles: the Annie Gosfield Ensemble, with Gosfield on sampling keyboard, Roger Kleier on electric guitar, and Ches Smith on drums and percussion; and Real Quiet with Felix Fan on cello, piano by Andrew Russo, and guest percussionist Alex Lipowski. Also pianist Stephen Gosling performs a selection of Gosfield solos.”

3/4, 8 PM pianist David Kalhous – who has an intuitive, laserlike feel for this sort of thing – plays the complete solo piano works of Leos Janacek at Bargemusic, $35/$30 srs/$15 stud.

3/4, 9ish swirling hypnotic tuneful postrock with cellist/composer Julia Kent at Littlefield, $8.

3/4, 9 PM: newschool and oldschool edginess: Raya Brass Band followed by The Scene Is Now at Matchless in Williamsburg

3/4, 9 PM hot Boston buzz band Mic Raygun, who mine a noirish, cinematic vein, at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

3/4, 9 PM edgy British postpunk dance-rockers Deluka at 9 at the downstairs studio space at Webster Hall.

3/4, 9 PM the reliably cinematic Morricone Youth at Hank’s.

3/4, 9:30 PMat I-Beam Sean Moran’s “Small Elephant” – Mike McGinnis – clarinets; Reuben Radding – bass; Chris Dingman – vibraphone; Sean Moran – nylon string guitar; Harris Eisenstadt – drums.

3/4, 9:30 PM Americana siren Julia Haltigan at BAM Cafe.

3/4, 10 PM retro 60s latin soul sounds with the Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout at 55 Bar.

3/5, 5 PM Elliott Sharp’s Orchestra Carbon play an open rehearsal of his Flexagons at Issue Project Room followed by a $35 ticketed show at 7 (it’s his birthday gig) featuring a marathon of solo and ensemble works for noiserock guitar.

3/5, 7 PM a cool dark Americana triplebill at Banjo Jim’s with Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons at 7, Carol Lipnik & Spookarama at 8 and fiddler Melody Allegra’s bluegrass jam at 9.

3/5, 8 PM richly arranged, sometimes rustic, sometimes cinematic Balkan noir band Kotorino at Barbes followed at 10 by Brooklyn’s own Banda Sinaloense de los Muertos; Kotorino are also at Sycamore Bar on 3/12 at 9.

3/5, 9 PM  luminary drummer Ben Perowsky’s MSO followed at 10 by cleverly lyrical, sultry, theatrical torch song satirists the Debutante Hour’s cd release show at Bowery Electric.

3/5, 8 PM utterly original cantorial riff-rockers Sway Machinery open for Malian psychedelic desert blues goddess Khaira Arby at the Bell House, 8 PM, $15 adv tix rec.

3/5, 8 PM, repeating on 3/6, 3 PM the Chelsea Symphony plays Sibelius’ lush, lyrical Fifth Symphony and other works at St. Paul’s Church, 315 W 22nd St.

3/5, 9 PM star ska trumpeter Kevin Batchelor and then eclectic Senegalese-American roots reggae band Meta & the Cornerstones at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix rec.

3/5 cowpunk with I’ll Be John Brown at Hank’s, 9 PM followed by the ferocious, psychedelic, dark paisley underground Newton Gang at 10 and the Judge Roy Bean Band at midnight or so. The Newton Gang are also upstairs at the National Underground on 3/29 at 9.

3/5, 9 PM ageless Irish acoustic punk band Box of Crayons at the new Freddy’s

3/5, 9 PM hypnotic carnatic vocal music of south India with Roopa Mahadadevan at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.

3/5 gypsy punk with Bad Buka (FKA Panonian Wave) at Mehanata, 10 PM

3/5, 10 PM Koony plays darkly intense, lyrical African Francophone roots reggae at Shrine.

3/5, 10 PM the satirical, fearlessly amusing Reformed Whores at Pete’s at 10.

3/5, 11 PM the Hate My Day Jobs at Lit doing their energetic fifth-generation Stooges thing.

3/6, 3 PM intense playful all-female klezmer supergroup Isle of Klezbos at the Queens Central Library, 89-11 Merrick Blvd, Jamaica Queens, F to 169th St, or E/J trains to Jamaica Center/Parsons-Archer; they’re also at the Westbeth Theatre on 3/9 at 8:30 for $15/$10 srs.

3/6, 6 PM gypsy jazz power trio Ameranouche at Puppets Jazz Bar

3/6, 6 and 9:30 PM cellist Zoe Keating and Ethel co-founder/violinist Todd Reynolds do their separate things with their instruments and every effects pedal ever manufactured, $15 adv tix rec.

3/6, 9 PM ageless, swirling, psychedelic punk pioneers Band of Outsiders at Lakeside. They beat Brian Jonestown Massacre to it by 20 years and still kick their ass.

3/6, 10 PM smartly lyrical retro theatrical rockers Balthrop Alabama at the big room at the Rockwood

3/6 Keeping Toward Sky: Tim Keiper, nguni and drums; Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Skye Steele, violin; Chris Tordini, bass play all kinds of crazy, captivating eclectic stuff at 10 PM at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

3/6, 11 PM lyrical noir songwriter Adam Masterson at the small room at the Rockwood; 3/9 he’s at Lakeside at 9.

3/7 the uncommonly imaginative Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra at Dizzy’s Club 7:30/9:30 PM, $20.

3/7, 9 PM cutting-edge big band jazz with the Russ Flynn Large Ensemble at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

3/7 Dina Rudeen – whose long-awaited, forthcoming retro soul/rock album is a strong contender for best of 2010 – at Small Beast at the Delancey, 11 PM.

3/8, 8/10:30 PM tuneful postbop jazz pianist George Cables – whose work with the Cookers this past year was nothing short of transcendent – plays a trio gig with James Genus and Jeff “Tain” Watts at the Blue Note, $15 seats avail

3/8, 8 PM Ice Cube – yeah, the guy from the Friday movies, doing his rap thing (back in the day he was one of the great ones) at B.B. King’s, $27 adv tix rec.

3/8, 9 PM Jen Shyu plays a rare solo set of her smart, socially aware, historically-imbued pan-Asian vocal jazz at Korzo.

3/8, 9:30 PM eclectic, captivating pianist Mika Pohjola with Steve Doyle on bass and Kyle Struve on drums at Miles Cafe, 9:30 PM, $20 cover includes a drink and “snacks” but sushi is extra.

3/8, 10 PM alto saxophonist David Binney leads a quartet with Jacob Sacks on piano, Thomas Morgan on bass and Dan Weiss on drums at 55 Bar. They’re back here on 3/22 as well.

3/8, guessing sometime around 11ish, Raekwon plays a cd release show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $15 adv tix rec., for some reason this doesn’t appear to be sold out yet.

3/8-12, 11 PM bassist Jennifer Leitham leads a trio with Sherrie Maricle on drums and Tomoko Ohno (not to be confused with the former Red Sox pitcher) on piano at Dizzy’s Club, $10 tix avail.

3/8 garage-punk with Sister Anne (andtheir two bass players) followed by retro soul star Eli “Paperboy” Reed at the Knitting Factory, 11 PM, $15, all ages.

3/9 Mos Def at the Blue Note is sold out – just so you know.

3/9 adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider with Iranian spike fiddle virtuoso/composer Kayhan Kalhor playing a Philip Glass premiere and more at Alice Tully Hall, 7:30 PM, $20.

3/9, 7:30 PM cello-driven world music band Deoro plays the big room at the Rockwood.

3/9, 9ish one of the great wits in rock, Marcellus Hall plays the cd release show for his career-best new one at Bowery Electric.

3/9, 9 PM at the Jalopy: Lunas Atlas – “beautiful and ancient songs of the Sephardic diaspora, sung in Ladino, Turkish and Greek. It features Chris Rael on sitar, 12-string guitar, Portugese lute and voice, Rima Fand on violin and voice, Bulgarian chanteuse Vlada Tomova, reed man extraordinaire Greg Squared and flamenco percussion star Nacho Arimany” – followed by Raya Brass Band.

3/9, 9ish cleverly theatrical, lyrical, satirical all-girl trio the Debutante Hour at Culturefix on Clinton St.

3/9, 10ish tongue-in-cheek, period-perfect early 50s style country from Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar.

3/9, 10 PM bassist Chris Tordini leads a quartet with the always fascinating Kris Davis on piano plus Jeremy Viner, tenor sax, clarinet; Jim Black, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

3/10, Maksim Shtrykov and Alina Kiryayeva, clarinet and piano, program TBA, 1 PM at Trinity Church, free.

3/10-13 saloon jazz piano legend Mose Allison at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM, $30. Without this guy, Tom Waits wouldn’t exist, maybe not Dr. John either. Now in his 80s, he’s absolutely undiminished.

3/10, 8 PM fiery psychedelic rock/honkytonk band the Newton Gang at Banjo Jim’s

3/10 NYC indie/janglerock legends Scout 8 PM at the small room at the Rockwood.

3/10, 8 PM The Escape Artist, a haunting Caravaggio-themed theatrical piece by legendary singer John Kelly with music by Carol Lipnik at the Park Ave. Armory on the upper east, $25, reception to follow concert. They’re also doing this at PS 122 from 4/15 through 4/22.

3/10 Stephan Said’s Magic Orchestra, 8 PM at Drom, $10 – fiery, socially aware rock, hip-hop, Balkan and reggae tunes.

3/10, 8:30 PM the most unpredictably amusing guy in country music, the Jack Grace Band at Hill Country

3/10 Burnt Sugar play Bowie at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM.

3/10 saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock plays the cd release for her new one Anti-House with Mary Halvorson , guitar; John Hébert , bass; Tom Rainey , drums, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10

3/10, 9 PM two of the funniest and most period-perfect songwriters in oldtimey Americana, Al Duvall and Robin Aigner at Rest Au Rant, 30-01 35th Ave., Long Island City.

3/10 noir rockabilly/blues showman Reid Paley at Rodeo Bar 10ish “laughing in the face of life’s unrelenting ugliness.”

3/10, 10 PM reggae and ska with the Hard Times and then Royal City Riot at 11 at Otto’s.

3/10, 10 PM oldschool Colombian cumbia band Cumbiagra at Barbes.

3/10-11 at Smalls, 10 PM Seamus Blake – tenor sax; Lage Lund – guitar; Dave Kikoski – piano; Matt Clohesy – bass; Bill Stewart – drums.

3/10, 11ish smart, tuneful powerpop with the Brooklyn What spinoff John-Severin & the Quiet 1s at Union Hall.

3/11, 6 PM at Alwan for the Arts, free and open to the public, “a conversation moderated by Amy Goodman between Ahdaf Soueif and her son Omar Robert Hamilton, both of whom were in Tahrir Square, Cairo, participating throughout, filming and disseminating information, and have since been writing about it all, but have never had the opportunity between themselves for a reflective encounter.”

3/11, 7:30 PM oldtime hokum blues and hillbilly music with the Second Fiddles at Hill Country.

3/11, 7:30 PM tuneful, energetic, original postbop saxophonist Benny Sharoni leads a quartet at Miles Cafe, $20 cover includes a drink and “snacks”

3/11, 7:30 PM avant garde multi-reed legend JD Parran plays Menon Dwarka; the solo version of You Have a Right To Remain Silent by Anthony Davis; “…vikings, unless…” by Douglas Anderson at Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St. between Bedford St. & 7th Ave. S, $15

3/11-12, 8 PM the long-awaited debut of The Songs of Buelah Rowley, by the brilliantly eclectic Mary Lee Kortes at the Cell Theatre, 338 W. 23rd St. (8th and 9th Aves.): “A song cycle with narration and projections based on the biography of Beulah Rowley, a regionally-known depression-era singer and songwriter from the Midwest,” $20 adv tix rec.

3/11, 8 PM a cool punk-oriented quadruple bill at Ace of Clubs starting at 8 with Box of Crayons, goth-punks Eleventh Hour (whose new album is called Coney Island Death March), the entertaining Hymen Holocaust and Irish band Paranoid Visions, who do a pretty good DKs facsimile.

3/11, 8 PM latin string quartet Sweet Plantain and equally cutting-edge, considerably more brooding Argentinian pianist/composer Fernando Otero at the 92YTribeca, $12 adv tix highly rec

3/11, 8 PM improvisational Afrobeat vibes with the Budos Band at the Bell House, $15.

3/11, 8 PM edgy trumpeter Nate Wooley plays his improvisational suite The Seven Storey Mountain at Issue Project Room.

3/11 a characteristically eclectic night at Barbes: reedman Petr Cancura leads a septet at 8 followed at 10 by Dominican folk music chanteuse Irka Mateo.

3/11, 8 PM whispery/sultry, original retro jazz/Americana chanteuse Brooke Campbell at the cafe at the 92YTribeca, free.

3/11, 8:30 PM at I-Beam, violinist Tom Swafford brings a huge, interesting band: Sally Wall, oboe; Mike McGinnis, clarinet; Jen Baker, trombone; Nathan Koci, accordion; Cory Bracken, log drum; Leanne Darling, viola; Brian Sanders, cello; Reuben Radding, bass

3/11 noir rocker Nicole Atkins at Maxwell’s at 8:30 PM, $16 adv tix rec; note that there is separate admission ($15) for the Blasters show at 11.

3/11 Bogs Visionary Orchestra’s Jose Delhart plays terse, pensive Americana nocturnes followed by the wry yet haunting Elisa Flynn, whose upcoming album features songs about William Tecumseh Sherman, the 1893 Chicago Exposition, and the Donner Party (yup, that’s me, she says) at Sugar Lounge, 147 Columbia St., Red Hook, 9 PM

3/11, 9 PM powerpop/oldschool R&B with the Brilliant Mistakes at the small room at the Rockwood.

3/11, 9 PM ageless reggae-rock band Faith at BAM Cafe.

3/11, 9 PM virtuoso oldschool country guitar duo the Plunk Bros. at Freddy’s.

3/11, 9/10:30 PM pianist Ben Waltzer with the JD Allen trio rhythm section, Gregg August on bass and Rudy Royston on drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15

3/11-12 Wess Anderson, Charles McPherson and others play music from Charlie Parker’s Bird with Strings at Rose Theatre at Lincoln Center, $30 tix avail.

3/11, 10 PM Zion Judah plays roots reggae at Shrine.

3/11, 10 PM a good dark Americana/Nashville gothic doublebill with Fist of Kindness followed at 11 by Maynard & the Musties at Desmond’s

3/12, 1 PM a free concert at Bargemusic, early arrival advised, most likely piano music.

3/12, 6:30 PM Turn Down the Sun play pretty good Dead Kennedys style punk at Ace of Clubs.

3/12, 7 PM charismatic blue-eyed soul siren Meg Braun and intense, smart multi-instrumentalist Americana songwriter Carolann Solebello (ex-Red Molly) at Caffe Vivaldi

3/12, 7:30 PM psychedelic Middle Eastern/Balkan/Asian jamband Tribecastan at Joe’s Pub, $15 adv tix rec.

3/12 a killer ska/rocksteady triplebill with the Hard Times on more of a reggae tip, then the oldschool Bluebeats and the latin-flavored King Django at Shrine, 8 PM

3/12, 8 PM lush, clever, quirky art-rockers the Universal Thump – in the midst of a brilliant new album – at Barbes.

3/12, 8 PM Poor Baby Bree presents Historic Songs of the Lower East Side at Bowery Poetry Club with an all-star oldtimey ragtime band featuring Karen Waltuch of the Roulette Sisters on viola.

3/12 intense, surprising, lyrical pianist Kris Davis leads a trio with Tony Malaby, saxophone; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Tom Rainey, drums, 9/10:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.

3/12, 9 PM an all-star evening of hypnotic, haunting sufi music at Alwan for the Arts with Taoufiq Ben Amor – vocals, oud and percussion; Ramzi El-Edlibi – percussion; and Zafer Tawil – violin, pud and percussion; George Ziadeh – oud and vocals , $20/$15 stud.srs.

3/12, 9ish garage rock fun with faux-French band les Sans Culottes and then another reunion show by 80s/90s legends Johnny Chan & the New Dynasty 6 at Bowery Electric.

3/12 Magges – the Greek Gogol Bordello – at Mehanata, 10:30 PM – free before 10

3/12, 10:30 PM LES punk/surf/rockabilly guitar legend Simon & the Bar Sinisters at Lakeside.

3/12 “Brooklyn’s #1 regressive rock act,” stoner metal parodists Mighty High at Trash, midnight.

3/13, 3 PM organist Gail Archer plays Liszt at West End Collegiate Church, West End Ave. at 77th St..

3/13 a killer doublebill at 55 Bar starting at 6 with noir guitarist Jim Campilongo leading an jam quartet followed by tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger with guitarist Ben Monder, bassist John Hebert and drummer Matt Wilson at 9:30

3/13, 7 PM, hot modern klezmer with the Klez Dispensers at Drom, $10.

3/13 a cool duo show with Dan Tepfer on piano plus Becca Stevens on vocals and charango, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10

3/13, 9 PM a wild cerebral exuberant intense psychedelic doublebill at Joe’s Pub with the incomparable Rachelle Garniez opening for Electric Junkyard Gamelan. The former topped our best albums list in 2007; the latter played arguably the best concert we saw all year long in 2010.

3/13, 11 PM the Hsu-Nami play Taiwanese art-rock/metal instrumentals with electrified er-hu violin at Arlene’s – this band is unbelievably intense and a lot of fun.

3/13, midnight, multi-instrumentalist Thad Debrock plays the small room at the Rockwood. He’s played brilliantly on so many Americana and singer-songwriter albums it’s not funny; it’ll be interesting to hear him do his own stuff.

3/14 the Italian Surf Academy feat. Marco Cappelli – guitar; Luca Lo Bianco, bass and Francesco Cusa, drums at 7:30ish at Barbes playing 1960s style spaghetti western and Italian surf music (!?!) followed at 9:30 by another devious surfy band, Chicha Libre. They’re also at Shrine at 6 (six) PM on 3/15.

3/14, 9 PM Godspeed You Black Emperor at Terminal 5, $25 all ages. 3/15-16, 8 PM they’re at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, $TBA, this may sell out, no word on adv tix.

3/14, 9 PM the eclectic Javier Arrau Jazz Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

3/15, 7 PM Musette Explosion play darkly smoldering oldtime Belgian barroom music at Barbes followed at 9 by Slavic Soul Party.

3/15, 7:30 PM at le Poisson Rouge: the Jasper String Quartet, Sospiro Winds, violinist Miranda Cuckson, pianists Jacob Greenberg and Aaron Wunsch, cellist Julia Bruskin, and hornist Angela Cordell Bilger play György Ligeti: Music for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, $15 adv tix rec.

3/15 pianist Jeremy Denk with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays Dvorak: Slavonic Dances (with pianist Wu Han), String Sextet and Piano Quintet in A plus works by Smetana at Alice Tully Hall, 7:30 PM, $25 tix avail.

3/15, 8 PM Cadillac Moon Ensemble plays works by Shawn Allison , Angélica Negrón, David Claman, Amy Beth Kirsten, Andre Brégégère, Ed RosenBerg III, and Anna Mikhailova at St. Peter’s Church, at 631 Lexington Ave. off 54th St., $10 sugg don.

3/15, 9 PM Iviorien roots reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly at SOB’s, $25 adv tix rec.

3/16, 7 PM a deliciously fun if completely bizarre doublebill: banjo virtuoso Jayme Stone, who’s recently moved from desert blues to Bach, opens for the increasingly sepulchral, mesmerizing retro latin harmony band Las Rubias del Norte at le Poisson Rouge, $15.

3/16, 7 PM at Alwan for the Arts, free and open to the public, a lecture by Stuart Schaar (Prof. Emeritus, Brooklyn College/Rabat, Morocco and editor of the Grove Press Middle East and Islamic World Reader) on the topic of Generational Change and the Future of Hope in the Arab World.

3/16, 7:30 PM Shara Worden and Ymusic play a Worden world premiere plus pieces from Sarah Kirkland Snider’s hypnotic antiwar suite Penelope at Merkin Concert Hall, $25 tix highly rec. I’ll also be simulcast live on q2.

3/16, 8 PM Ethel violinist/composer Todd Reynolds plays the cd release show for his lively, entertaining, strikingly accessible new cd Outerborough at Issue Project Room, $20 cover includes a copy of the double cd – good value!

3/16 the Solid Set play garage rock at Lakeside, 9 PM.

3/16 janglerocker Sam Sherwin – who’s mining a tuneful, soulful Wallflowers vibe these days – at the Parkside, 9 PM.

3/16, 9:30 PM the JD Allen Trio with Gregg August on bass and Rudy Royston on drums at Zinc Bar, 9:30 PM. This will sell out, get there at least a half-hour early: the most explosively interesting trio in jazz right now warp tenor player Allen’s wickedly melodic, intense compositions into some crazy and unexpected shapes

3/16, 9:30 PM Joris Teepe – bass; Don Braden – tenor sax; Alex Norris – trumpet, Jon Davis – piano; Gerry Gibbs – drums, at Smalls.

3/16 dark gypsy rock bandleader/bassist Yula Beeri and her band at the big room at the Rockwood 10 PM.

3/17 lyrical jazz pianist Deanna Witkowski at Trinity Church, 1 PM, free.

3/17, 7 PM the Lia Fail Pipe Band open for Black 47 playing their annual St. Paddy’s Day show at B.B. King’s, $25 adv tix rec. Black 47 actually draw a much cooler crowd than you’d expect at one of these St. Paddy’s Days shows.

3/17, 8 PM Iranian oud virtuoso Negar Booban plays a celebration of the Nowruz, the Persian New Year/equinox festival at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15stud/srs. Her debut here two years ago sold out quickly, advance tix rec

3/17, fun and funky stuff starting at 8 PM with Sex Mob followed by Tuarata tenor saxophonist Skerik’s punk jazz trio the Dead Kenny G’s at Brooklyn Bowl, $5.

3/17, 9 PM brilliantly lyrical, sly, torchy oldtimey songwriter/siren Kelli Rae Powell with “soulful songwriting monster” Yolanda Batts at Bar 4 in Park Slope

3/18, 7 PM pianist Simone Dinnerstein PS 142, 100 Attorney St. (Rivington/Delancey), $15, program TBA, possibly Bach from her ridiculously popular new cd.

3/17, 8 PM watch fortysomething moms dodge drunken amateurs in the Meatpacking District as they make their way to see Karla Bonoff at Highline Ballroom. $25 advance tix available in case you want to pick up a fortysomething mom.

3/17, 8:30 PM escape the drunken hordes with the Escher String Quartet playing Beethoven: Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, “Serioso” plus Mendelssohn: Quartet in D major, Op. 44, No. 1 at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, free, early arrival advised.

3/17, 10 PM yet another a chance to get away from the amateurs with Azizah & the Tribal Council playing roots reggae at Shrine

3/18, 7:30 PM the NYC debut of big band arrangements of Esquivel “compositions” by Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica at le Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec

3/18, 8 PM, repeating 3/19/11 at 9 PM at Symphony Space, legendary Lebanese expat oud icon/composer Marcel Khalife in the US premiere of his Concerto Al Andalus for oud and orchestra; Armenia’s most renowned kanun (zither) virtuoso, Karine Hovhannisyan, performing the concerto for kanun and orchestra by Khachatur Avetisyan; and clarinetist David Krakauer playing the NY premiere of the Klezmer Concerto by Ofer Ben-Amots for strings, harp, percussion and clarinet; plus the eclectic Orchestra Celebrate, conducted by Laurine Celeste Fox, $25 adv tix avail. at the World Music Institute box office and highly rec.

3/18, 8 PM Richard Thompson at NJPAC in Newark – $35 tix still available according to their website.

3/18, 8 PM eclectic vocalist Suzanne Langille and multi-instrumentalist Neel Murgai plus adventurous avant guitarist Chris Forsyth’s Paranoid Cat at Issue Project Room, $10.

3/18, 8 PM adventurous jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson leads a quintet at Barbes: Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone), Kirk Knuffke (cornet), Mary Halvorson (guitar), John Hébert (bass) & Ches Smith (drums), followed by Smokey Hormel’s Roundup playing western swing at 10.

3/18, 8 PM new music ensemble Detour at Galapagos, program TBA, $10.

3/18, 9 PM smart lyrical indie rocker Jennifer O’Connor opens for the Red House Painters’ Mark Kozelek at Bowery Ballroom, $25 gen adm.

3/18 bassist Carlo De Rosa leads a quartet with Mark Shim – saxophones, Vijay Iyer – piano, Justin Brown – drums to celebrate his new cd release, 9/10:30 PM, at the Jazz Gallery, $20

3/18, 9 PM charismatic Brazilian chanteuse Liliana Araujo – of Nation Beat – at BAM Cafe.

3/18, 9:30 PM sophisticated, counterintuitive Americana chanteuse Hope DeBates & North Forty at Caffe Vivaldi.

3/18, 10 PM a funk doublebill with Afroskull and Buzz Universe at Bowery Poetry Club, $10.

3/18 the Boss Guitars play surf classics and obscurities Lakeside, 11 PM.

3/19, 6 PM clarinetist Tom Piercy plays Piazzolla and other fascinating eclectic stuff at Caffe Vivaldi, supporting cast TBA.

3/19, 7 PM Ensemble Pi play a potent program of socially aware new music: George Crumb’s whale-song piece Vox Balaenae for Three Masked Players; Kristin Norderval’s Echo Systems (2011), composed in response to both the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the 1989 sinking of the Exxon Valdez tanker in Alaska; Pete Seeger’s classic song, Rainbow Race, in a new arrangement by Karl Kramer (2011); and Christopher Kaufman’s Hudson Valley (2010), capturing the world of the Hudson River Valley through music and film footage, including the dangers of natural gas drilling, at the great hall at Cooper Union, $15/$10 stud/srs

3/19, 7 PM latin jazz with the Gregorio Uribe Big Band at the Fat Cat.

3/19, 8 PM the high point of the month for rock music is at Trash with Thinktankok, the Highway Gimps (the missing link between My Bloody Valentine and Motorhead), the ferocious, anthemic, hilarious Brooklyn What, entertainingly ghoulish Space Ghost Cowboys and Fatty Acid around midnight. Oh yeah, open bar with PBRs and wells 8-9 PM with paid admission.

3/19, 8 PM wry lyrical janglemeister Jay Banerjee – creator of Hipster Demolition Night – is back with a wall-to-wall good evening of retro rock and soul starting with Zap & the Naturals, Toys in Trouble, Mighty Fine, Shakedown at the Majestic and his own band the Heartthrobs at midnight.

3/19, 8 PM irrepressible folk/Americana harmony trio Red Molly with Pat Wictor on guitar at the First Acoustics Coffeehouse in downtown Brooklyn, $30 adv tix rec.

3/19, 8 PM Sistermonk play Shrine – if you haven’t seen their gypsy funk thing at Grand Central (upstairs from the N/R platform) now’s your chance.

3/19, 8 PM retro jazz/bossa chanteuse Sasha Dobson – who excels at avoiding the schlock factor – at Barbes followed by the Baby Soda Jazz Band at 10 playing oldtime swing.

3/19, 8:30 PM sound sculptor Lesley Flanigan – whose creations using homemade speakers and feedback are absolutely hypnotic – plays a duet with Dither axeman James Moore at Roulette followed by string ensemble Till by Turning doing new compositions by Erica Dicker, Matt Marble, and Katherine Young.

3/19, 9 PM swirling hypnotic Radiohead-influenced art-rockers My Pet Dragon at Cake Shop; they’re also at the Mercury at 11:30 on 4/1, no joke

3/19, 9 PM Forever Her Nightmare play tuneful female-fronted punk/metal at Ace of Clubs, $10.

3/19, 10:30 PM big oldtime Americana outfit M Shanghai String Band at the Jalopy.

3/19 fearlessly funny, oldschool East Village style punk/Americana rockers Spanking Charlene play Lakeside,  11 PM.

3/20, 7 PM La Camerata Washington Heights plays “sacred and profane” music by Grandjany, Bach, Saint-Saens, Satie, Debussy, Villa-lobos and Beethoven at Culturefix on Clinton St., 8 PM

3/20, 7 PM the Four Bags – who blend jazz, classical and the Beatles with deadpan wit – at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel.

3/20, 8:15 smart, original 2/3 female rockabilly/surf trio Catspaw at Otto’s

3/20, 8:30 PM guitarist Scott DuBois leads a quartet featuring; Jon Irabagon, tenor, soprano sax; Thomas Morgan, bass; Kresten Osgood, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

3/20 Uncle Leon & the Alibis at Rodeo Bar 10ish: “Roller Derby saved his soul as he rode the Beer Train, hating his job whilst noticing that baby’s got back.”

3/21 new music ensemble Lunatics at Large debuts their Sanctuary Project featuring works by Andre Bregegere, Mohammed Fairouz, Raphael Fusco, Laura Koplewitz, Alex Shapiro at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall

3/21, 8 PM sharp, cumbia stars Chico Trujillo at Barbes – their only Brooklyn appearance this year – followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre. Chico Trujillo are at SOB’s on 3/22 at 11ish for $12 in advance if you can’t make it to Barbes.

3/21, 9 PM third-stream big band jazz with with Joseph C. Phillips and Numinous at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

3/21 Israeli Jam/Buzzcocks ripoff Electra at Bruar Falls.

3/22 the Gowanus Reggae and Ska Society a.k.a. GRASS plays the cd release show for their new one GRASS on Fire (a jazzy instrumental remake of the Wailers’ Catch a Fire) at the Apple Store, 103 Prince St., 7 PM, free

3/22 trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s genre-defying Millennial Territory Orchestra, 7:30/9:30 PM at the Jazz Standard, $20.

3/22, 8 PM Japanese salsa stars Sonodaband play a benefit for Japanese meltdown survivors at SOB’s, $12 adv tix very highly rec., followed at 10 by  Spanglish Fly with their sultry retro 60s latin soul vibe for $10 (separate admission).

3/22-27 trumpet luminary Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy at the Vanguard, sets 9/11 PM.

3/23, 7 PM, free, this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival is underway at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy). On the bill tonight: Preston Stahly, Emily Manzo and bagpiper Matthew Welch, Paul Crowley, Kevin Bourisquot and his large musical/theatrical/dancing troupe and Aled Roberts.

3/23, 8 PM powerpop guitar genius/songwriter Pete Galub at LIC Bar.

3/23-24, 8 PM Mariachi El Bronx open for dark gypsyish rockers Devotchka at Highline Ballroom, $26.50 adv tix rec.

3/23, 7:30 PM, new music ensemble Le Train Bleu plays their debut performance of Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat at Galapagos, $20/$10 stud.

3/23, 7:30 PM Pedro Diaz, oboe; Milan Milisavljevic, viola; Anna Stoytcheva, piano play Schumann, Brahms, Saint-Saens and Loeffler at the Bulgarian Consulate, 121 E 62nd. St., free.

3/23-24 eclectic retro Mexican bandleader Lila Downs at City Winery, 8 PM, $35 seats avail.

3/23, 9 PM Richard Ashcroft, late of the Verve at Bowery Ballroom, $25 gen adm. Go see the show, help save him from having to do car commercials for a living!

3/24 from Turkey to Tuva and all points in between, a Nevruz (Persian new year) celebration at the UN General Assembly Hall (bring ID and remember you have to go through a metal detector), 6 PM; 3/26 it’s at Town Hall at 8 PM, free admission to each w/rsvp to www.serdarilhan.com

3/24 dark, fiery bluegrass innovators Frankenpine plays the cd release show for their phenomenal new album upstairs at the National Underground, 8 PM.

3/24, 8 PM the Talea Ensemble play new works by Evan Ziporyn, Rand Steiger, Fred Lerdahl, David Fulmer, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Aaron Cassidy: “a highlight on the program will be a world premiere by Rand Steiger entitled A Menacing Plume (2011) which is a musical response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.” At Merkin Concert Hall, $20.

3/24 Pauline Kim-Harris (S.E.M Ensemble) and Christine Kim (principal cellist, Metro Chamber Orchestra) with Dan Joseph on hammered dulcimer play Xenakis, Ravel and others at Culturefix on Clinton St., 8 PM.

3/24 Palestinian-Canadian pianist and composer John Kameel Farah plays Middle Eastern-flavored electroacoustic works at Alwan for the Arts, 8 PM, $15 gen adm.

3/24 amusing toy piano specialist Phyllis Chen at Barbes at 8 followed by Nation Beat bandleader/drummer Scott Kettner’s Forro Brass Band at 10.

3/24 making their US debut, Australian/Korean jazz group Daorum offer a new spin on traditional Korean pansori art-song at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, early arrival highly advised.

3/24, 9/10:30 PM powerful, intense Middle Eastern jazz improvisation with Hafez Modirzadeh on saxes and Amir ElSaffar on trumpet at the Jazz Gallery, $15 first set, $10 for the second.

3/24, 9 PM Mike Baggetta – guitar; Jason Rigby – saxophones;Eivind Opsvik – bass; George Schuller – drums at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

3/24 oldschool soul revivalists the One and Nines – like a more Memphis equivalent of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – at Maxwell’s, 9:30 PM

3/24, 9:30 PM the cd release show for alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo’s excellent new Chronos album with Brian Charette on organ and Darrell Green on drums at Smalls.

3/25, 7 PM, free, this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival continues at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy) with Robert Rowe, Martha Mooke, Agatha Kasprzyk and Vision Fugitive (Audio/Video Collective from NYU) and Coppice (Noé Cuellar and Joseph Kramer)

3/25, 7 PM New York’s most diverse, engagingly virtuosic klezmer hellraisers Metropolitan Klezmer at Cooper Union as part of a commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (where’s Rasputina, who did a song about it?)

3/25, 7:15 PM, Americana hellraiser/singer Carolyn Mark at Hill Country. Is she gonna let the hordes of yuppies bellow at each other through her set? Doubtful. Could be great fun even without the music.

3/25, 7:30 PM powerful, eclectic singer Mellissa Hughes (of Newspeak) and pianist Timo Andres play songs about “death, sexuality, and Craigslist, by Jacob Cooper, Corey Dargel (a song utilizing condemned convicts’ last words), Ted Hearne, Gabriel Kahane, Matt Marks, and Eric Shanfield”  followed by Victoire keyboadist Lorna Krier and her bandmate Eleonore Oppenheim plus Peter Pearson and Derek Muro (of Love Like Deloreans) along with Stephen Greisgraber of Redhooker on guitar at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights), 124 Henry St, 2/3 to Clark St.; A/C to High St.; R/4/5 to Borough Hall, $10.

3/25, 8 PM the O’Farrill Brothers Band – Livio Almeida – saxophones; Adam Kromelow – piano; Adam O’Farril – trumpet and Zach O’Farrill – drums – play latin jazz at Barbes followed at 10 by the ageless Jug Addicts.

3/25 the Brilliant Coroners play Monk (fans will get the joke) at Fontana’s, 8 PM.

3/25, 8:15 PM Box Five play quirky female-fronted chamber pop followed by hypnotic marimba/cello duo Goli at Caffe Vivaldi.

3/25, 8:30 PM an amazing duo doublebill at I-Beam: the Charlie Evans/Neil Shah duo (bari sax and piano) and the Charlie Rauh/Sam Kulik Duo (guitar/trombone).

3/25, 9 PM hypnotic, intense gypsy-tinged Balkan instrumental rock band Barbez – who were sort of the prototype for Ansambl Mastika – at BAM Cafe “debuting new material from a forthcoming recording for John Zorn’s Tzadik label of radical reinterpretations of ancient melodies from Roman-Jewish community, the oldest Jewish community in Europe. The group will also present new works from a forthcoming album concerning the wars in the Middle East since 9/11.”

3/25, 9 PM charming, sultry French chanson revivalists les Chauds Lapins play the cd release show for their long awaited second album Amourettes at the 92YTribeca, $12.

3/25, 9 PM bassist Michael Feinberg plays the cd release show for his brash, smart new one at Smalls with saxophonist Noah Preminger, pianist Julian Shore, guitarist Alex Wintz, and drummer Daniel Platzman.

3/25, 9/10:30 PM alto sax hellraiser Jon Irabagon leads a trio with John Hebert on bass and Mike Pride on drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15.

3/25-26, 9:30 PM oldtime country harmonies with Those Darlins and then Austin retro funk/soul star Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears – who puts all these new jack wannabes to shame – at Bowery Ballroom, $16 adv tix rec.

3/25, 11 PM 90s style melodic  Britrock with the Royal Chains at Spike Hill, $7.

3/26, 3 PM at ABC No Rio hardcore with Loto Ball, Boston’s Furiosity, Belgian band Baby Fire and Brooklyn band Wojcik.

3/26, 3 PM, free, this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival continues at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy) with a demo by Dafna Naphtali & “musical robots” Lemur Bots followed at 7 PM by performances by Dafna Naphtali & Lemur Bots, Ted Hearne & Philip White and Jonathan Chen.

3/26, 6:30 PM violinist Erik Sato, violist Naomi Rooks, pianist Ruth Alperson, clarinetist Daniel Spitzer , cellist Michael Finckel play Beethoven, Schickele and Dvorak at the lounge at Hudson View Gardens, 116 Pinehurst Ave. and 183rd St., $10.

3/26 oud genius Mavrothi Kontanis’ amazing band Maeandros – featuring saxophone powerhouse Lefteris Bournias – at Barbes at 8 followed at 10 by retro latin soul band Spanglish Fly.

3/26 Connecticut surf rock monsters Commercial Interruption at 8 followed eventually at 10 by the Tarantinos NYC at Coco 66, free

3/26, 8 PM this month’s Brooklyn County Fair at the Jalopy features a reliably good C&W lineup with Ramblin’ Andy & the See Ya Laters, Spuyten Duyvil, Citizens Band Radio, Sam Otis Hill and Co. and at midnight the ferocious Newton Gang, $10.

3/26, 8 PM Roosevelt Dime play tongue-in-cheek oldtimey Americana originals followed eventually at 11 by funk/soul powerhouse Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds at Pete’s.

3/26, 8 PM, a mind-warping all ages metal show with Disma, Mutant Supremacy and death metal legends Nunslaughter (first NYC show in 10 years) at the Acheron in Bushwick.

3/26, 8 PM Juan de Marcos’ Afro-Cuban All Stars at the NY Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W 64th St., $45 seats avail (super expensive, but they’re mostly Buena Vista Social Club type legends).

3/26 the John Sharples Band- who play all covers by brilliant obscure rock songwriters at 9 at the Parkside followed at 10 by charismatic keyboardist/noir songwriter Tom Warnick & the World’s Fair.

3/26, 9 PM 80s style goth-pop pianist/chanteuse Kristin Hoffmann at Caffe Vivaldi.

3/26 lush, jangly Americana band Alana Amram & the Rough Gems at Matchless, time TBA. They’re also at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg on 4/1 at 11ish.

3/26, 9:30 PM renowned sufi/Middle Eastern multi-instrumentalist/singer Amir Vahab plus a screening of Like A Phoenix From The Ashes documentary film focusing on Iran in the 1960s and 70s; part of this year’s Persian Arts Festival.

3/26 legendary East Coast Balkan brass juggernaut Zlatne Uste at Drom, 10:30 PM, $10 adv tix rec.

3/26 midnight-ish Exit Clov plays captivating psychedelic pop in the vein of the Zombies at the big room at the Rockwood.

3/27, 3 PM, free, Dither guitarist James Moore and Cornelius Duffalo co-host an “open salon” featuring literally dozens of emerging cutting-edge composers (too many to list here) to wrap up this year’s edition of avant piano titan Kathy Supove’s Music with a View festival at the Flea Theatre (41 White St. between Church/Bwy)

3/27 John Zorn’s benefit for Japan at the Miller Theatre with Sonic Youth et al. is sold out. There are others coming up at benefits at the Abrons Arts Center on April 8 with Norah Jones, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Ikue Mori, John Zorn, Vinicius Cantuaria, Masada String Trio, among others., and the Japan Society on April 9

3/27, 7 PM Pierre de Gaillande sings George Brassens at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel.

3/27, 7:30 PM the Jack Quartet plays György Ligeti, Steve Lehman, and Horatiu Radulescu at le Poisson Rouge, $15.

3/27 the Felice Bros. show at Maxwell’s is sold out but there are still $20 tix avail. for the 3/28 show.

3/28, 7 PM the pretty amazing Kamikaze Ground Crew – Gina Leishman, saxophones, bass clarinet, accordion, vocals; Doug Wieselman, clarinets, saxophones, guitar; Steven Bernstein, trumpet and slide trumpet; Marcus Rojas, tuba; Peter Apfelbaum, tenor saxophone, Art Baron, trombone, Kenny Wollesen, drums – at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre

3/28, 7 PM the titanic Bobby Sanabria Big Band at the Museum of the City of NY, $5 cover

3/28 the Jasper Quartet at Advent Church, 93rd and Broadway, 7:30 PM, free.

3/28 the JC Sanford Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope, 9 PM. Their trombonist leader – who books the Monday night series here – and his adventurous crew absolutely slayed last time they played here.

3/28, 9 PM wry Americana multistylist guitarist/songwriter Steve Antonakos plays a solo show at Banjo Jim’s; he’s also at Local 269 at 7 on 3/31.

3/28 charming oldtime 20s swing jazz with Daria Grace and the Pre-War Ponies at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.

3/29, 8 PM, free at the Bell House (not a joke): “Due to a legal settlement that we’re not allowed to discuss TV Party is giving back with some community service. For one night only we’ll be providing drug awareness education to keep you from making terrible life choices! Join TV Party for a special showing of 90’s drug awareness episodes. We’ll see Zack Morris, Steve Urkel, Stephanie Tanner, Carlton Banks [besides Urkel, WTF are these people?!?], and more try to overcome the temptation of drugs while still looking cool. Including Just Say No & TV commercials from 90’s TV past! Test your drug use prevention knowledge with the D.A.R.E challenge! Winner gets a free D.A.R.E. t-shirt! Take away your dry mouth with drinks! No peer pressure… but seriously, have a drink. Prizes including tickets to upcoming Bell House shows & more!”

3/29, 8 PM art-metal Mars Volta spinoff Zechs Marquise play Highline Ballroom, followed by one of the guys from the MV, $20 adv tix onsale now.

3/29, 9:30 PM Bosnian singer Natasa Mirkovic and hurdy-gurdy virtuoso Matthias Loibner putting a new spin on traditional Balkan stuff at Joe’s Pub, $15.

3/30, 2 PM Suzanne Vega performs songs from her forthcoming play Carson McCullers Talks About Love at the Green Space. Also on the bill and talking with WNYC host John Schaefer: the Mountain Goats. Adv tix $20 very highly rec., events here always sell out.

3/30, 8 PM a killer gypsy punk triplebill at the downstairs studio space at Webster Hall with Bad Buka, Slavic Soul Party and Kultur Shock, $10 adv tix rec.

3/30, 8 PM a John Zorn Masada Marathon including just about every good rock, jazz and classical artist who’s ever played the Stone doing selections from the Book of Angels at the NY City Opera, $12 adv tix. very highly rec., this will sell out.

3/30, 9 PM all-female Canadian punk-pop trio Hunter Valentine at Bowery Electric, $12

3/30 austere, smart chamber-pop band Pearl & the Beard at Rock Shop in Gowanus, 10 PM, $10; 4/1 at 9:30 PM (no joke) they’re at the Knitting Factory for $10 in advance.

3/31, 7 PM pianist Anna Levy plays classic Bulgarian art-songs by Pancho Vladigerov, Ditimar Nenov, Veselin Stoyanov, Ivan Spassov, Vasil Kazandzhiev, Georgi Anaourdov and Mikhail Goleminov at the Bulgarian Consulate, 121 E 62nd St., free

3/31, 7 PM noir/garage chanteuse Peg Simone at Bowery Poetry Club.

3/31, 7:30 PM the Vinca String Quartet play Mozart, Janácek, Bartók and Beethoven at WMP Concert Hall, $25

3/31, 8 PM smartly multistylistic retro keyboardist/singer and Jack White collaborator Rachelle Garniez (whose most recent album we named best of the year) at Barbes.

3/31 a good night for voices: fearlessly lyrical pop/rock siren Elaine Romanelli at Banjo Jim’s 8 PM followed by country chanteuse Drina & the Deep Blue Sea at 9 and then Boo and Elena from Demolition String Band at 10.

3/31, 8 PM world-renowned Amsterdam-based jazz troublemakers Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra with the legendary Misha Mengelberg on piano at le Poisson Rouge, adv tix $15 highly rec.

3/31, 8 PM the Chiara String Quartet’s latest Creator/Curator concert features Lutoslawski’s String Quartet (with improvisations) and Daniel Ott’s String Quartet No. 2 at Galapagos, $10 adv tix rec.

3/31, 8 PM Irish art-rock crooner Pierce Turner at Paddy Reilly’s, $15.

3/31, 8 PM pianist Jenny Lin plays ten of György Ligeti’s Études pour piano (1985-2001), as well as his Continuum for Harpsichord (1968), and Musica ricercata (1951-3) Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St. between Bedford St. & 7th Ave. S, $15.

3/31, 8:30 PM the ferocious Balkan/Middle Eastern psychedelic jams and amped-up, haunting old folk songs of Ansambl Mastika at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, early arrival very highly advised.

3/31-4/2, 8 PM Wynton Marsalis leads a quintet at Rose Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center, $30 seats avail., reserve now if you’re going.

3/31, 9 PM amazingly period-perfect retro 60s Bakersfield country band the Dixons at Union Pool $TBA.

3/31, 10 PM Jane says she’s only going to be at Pete’s Candy Store: Oh Liza Jane play bluegrass and retro Americana followed by the infectious, all-female oldtimey Calamity Janes at 11.

3/31, 10:15ish chamber rock band Build plays the cd release show for their new one at Joe’s Pub $12. Note that the 9:30 PM opening act is nauseatingly self-indulgent.

3/31 retro soul/noir chanteuse Shendandoah & the Night at the Rockwood, midnight.

4/1 clever garage rock duo the Fools at 5 PM (no joke – makes sense, right?) at Goodbye Blue Monday.

4/1, 6 PM (no joke) country night with the Melody Allegra Band, Alex Battles & the Whisky Rebellion and Serena Jean and her band at Spike Hill, $6.

4/1 lyrical jazz piano titan Fred Hersch solo, 7 PM at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, $18 adv tix highly rec.

4/1, 7:30 PM Piedmont fingerstyle blues guitar virtuoso Mary Flower at the Good Coffeehouse, 53 Prospect Park W, $15

4/1, 8:30ish (no joke), Her Vanished Grace (playing the cd release show for their new one) and Religious to Damn do a goth-tinged doublebill at Union Hall, $8.

4/1 for real, ghoulabilly and noir retro rock with the Dead Sextons at Europa in Greenpoint, 8ish, $10

4/1, 9 PM (seriously) Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band and Lee Fields & the Expressions at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $17 adv tix at the Mercury rec.

4/1, 9 PM an amazing purist rock triplebill, no joke – wickedly catchy, jangly Rickenbacker guitar rockers Jay Banerjee & the Heartthrobs, garage-rock purists the Above and then garage legends the Fleshtones at Maxwell’s.

4/1, 9 PM, no joke, tuneful yet noisy new jazz with Kretzmer/Syversen/Niggenkemper/Peskoff at 1012 Willoughby in Brooklyn, sugg don.; they’re at Local 269 on 4/4/ at 9 for $10

4/1 haunting, twangy southwestern gothic band And the Wiremen play the Bell House at 9ish opening for the Waco Bros., $12 adv tic rec.

4/1, 9 PM Providence doom/metal duo The Body followed by a rare rare NYC appearance by Australian metal blunderbuss Whitehorse at the Acheron in Greenpoint – maybe your only chance to see them, don’t miss it if metal is your thing.

4/1 no joke – Brooklyn’s funnest band, Chicha Libre plays a rare Friday show at their home base, Barbes, at 10 before heading off on South American tour.

4/1, no joke, the New Cookers – not the Billy Hart/George Cables crew but guys inspired by the original Freddie Hubbard album – at BAM Cafe, 10 PM

4/1, 10 PM (no joke) goth legend Peter Murphy plays Highline Ballroom, adv tix $35 rec.

4/1, 11 PM (no joke – when this guy’s involved you know he means business) the snarling retro Americana noir sounds of the Reid Paley Trio at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick

4/1, 11 PM roots rock powerhouse Tom Clark & the High Action Boys play Lakeside 11 PM – not a joke.

4/1, no joke, intense Greek traditional party band Magges – sort of the Greek Gogol Bordello -at Lafayette Grill & Bar downtown, 11 PM

4/1 midnight (no joke) lush, atmospheric, socially aware Radiohead-influenced rockers My Pet Dragon at the Mercury, $10 adv tix at the box office highly rec.

4/1 (no joke) the Fleshtones at Maxwell’s.

4/1-2 the Prisoners of 2nd Ave. – who do a decent oldschool NY Dolls facsimile – at Bowery Electric. And they want $20 for it. No joke.

4/1, 2 PM Broadway Musicals of 1864 at the Town Hall featuring such popular songs as “Let’s Round Up Some Irishmen,” “I Need Some Mercury (Because Down Below Is Killing Me),” “We Won’t Call It Slavery Anymore” and the John Wilkes Booth version of “Dixie.”

4/1, 3 PM the New York Stock Exchange presents a concert to celebrate the successful prevention of the Fukushima nuclear explosions – as we all know by now, there was no meltdown, nor any emission of deadly plutonium or uranium isotopes – with vintage Elvis footage accompanied by a live band at the World Financial Center.

4/1, 6 PM brand-new social networking site narciss.us presents Shallow Is What We Aim For, We Are Pampered Children, Poser Dumb and My Eyelashes Are Longer Than Yours at Glasslands; celebrity dj Fella Tio spins blo-fi between sets.

4/1, 6 PM Steve Brotherdale’s Joy Division plays the Warsaw ep cover to cover followed by Melvin Seals’ Jerry Garcia Band at B.B. King’s.

4/1, 7 PM How to Stuff Your Trousers: A Panel Discussion with the Pros at Galapagos. What works best? A roll of quarters? A veggie hot dog? String cheese? Six of the best in the business, including Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, David Lee Roth, Keith Urban and our favorite perennial mayoral candidate, Murray Hill share the secrets of their craft.

4/1, 7 PM It’s Inarticulate Night at the Bell House. Ever wonder…um…why you can’t….um…talk to…you know…um…people? Now’s your chance to meet a whole club full of others just like you who will spend the whole night staring at their shoes or trying to figure something coherent enough to say to get the bartender to bring them a beer. $15 cover includes a year’s subscription to New York Magazine.

4/1, 4 PM Taurus & Libra present Payday: The Traveling Party. Ever wonder what it’s like to have to get up and go to work all week long instead of sleeping til 5 PM and living off mommy’s credit card? Join your group leaders Emily and Faden as they take you on an “ironical” voyage around New York. You’ll see the inside of a real check cashing place, meet a real-life bill collector, dodge undercover cops as you drink cheap beer from a paper bag outside a bodega, use real scissors to cut grocery coupons from the newspaper and go on a dollar-store crawl for cheap toilet paper without GPS or an iphone app. Authentic working-class attire is a must: trucker hat, overalls, 1970s sneakers for the guys; moth-eaten polyester, uneven bangs, torn corduroys for the girls.

4/1, 8 PM at Crash Mansion, it’s Eurethra, the world’s #1 Eurythmics cover band. Relive the golden days of the day-glo decade that you fetishize even if you never experienced it with unforgettable hits like Aqua, Plus Something Else and The First Cut! If you get tired of the band, women can join the free wet t-shirt contest in the men’s room.

4/1, 8:30 PM it’s a John Zorn-a-thon at the Stone with John Zorn’s Are You Itchy?, John Zorn’s Don’t Sit on That Chair, John Zorn’s Call the Exterminator, John Zorn’s Call the Exterminator Again and finally John Zorn’s Sidewalk Sale.

4/1, 10 PM the Central Park Conservancy presents a special VIP concert with Kenny G for Platinum Circle members in the new private Great Meadow in Central Park. Enjoy the new golf driving range (please be aware that frisbee is no longer allowed). The line to the brand-new Shake Shack starts at the Battery. Helicopter shuttles to the Hamptons will be running all evening from where the zoo used to be.

4/1 the New York Times exclusive interview with Justin Bieber, conducted by Bono at the Bloomberg Society at 5th Ave. and 42nd St. Get the scoop on both performers’ opposition to abortion, and after struggling to down his first Guinness, hear Justin confess how he thinks that Ryan Secrest is cute.

4/1 it’s the battle of the kiddie bands at Southpaw. This year’s first round pits tiny terror two-year-old William Slomowitz-Park and his avant garde percussion troupe The Isaagnys against the Borough Park death-metal of Siobhan Satmarowitz’ Mitzvah Tank. Meanwhile, the snotty punk-pop of Park Slope’s Germ Bombs pairs off against Turtle Bay newcomer Asanitansamarama Patel and Dowry Large Extra. And Williamsburg contender Yeast DuPont’s laptop project Trite Is goes up against Long Island City’s The Overprotected. All proceeds to benefit the Crusade Against Suicide, in memory of last year’s winner, Hayes Bessemer of the Kaplan Klass Killers (KKK).

4/1, 10 PM Flavorpill and Khloe Kardashian present the first annual Buttcrack Awards at Public Assembly. Do your pants hang low? Do they wobble to and fro especially when you bend over? First prize winner gets a year’s subscription to New York Magazine.

4/1, 11 PM the drummer from the Strokes is dj’ing at a “celebrity party” on the roof of the empty “luxury” condo building behind the Mercury Lounge that nobody wants to move into, free admission with condo tour and $50 credit check.

4/1 Whitney Houston plays the Recoup Lounge way over by the projects, 11:30 ish – she might be running a little late for this one – with the guy you see hanging out in Tompkins Square Park with the broken Casio.

4/1 it’s the first annual Foursquare New York City Marathon, brought to you by the new green BP Oil. You get 26 hours to do as many Foursquare checkins as you can. See who can become the new mayor of the Prada store: in the door, out the door, in the door, out the door! Breakfast, lunch AND dinner at Fette Sau! Bring a sleeping bag to Freeman’s!

4/1, 7-10 PM the NY School of Autotune celebrates with a recital at Arlene Grocery followed by the Body Shots Olympics sponsored by MTV.

4/2, 6 PM pianist Aysegul Durakoglu plays the cd release show for her new one featuring works by Chopin and Debussy at Drom, $10 adv tix rec.

4/2, 7 PM Marc Ribot and a hall of fame of downtown jazz peeps play noir soundtrack stuff including new arrangements of Henry Mancini (Touch of Evil), Andre Previn (Scene of the Crime), Roy Budd (Get Carter) and also Lounge Lizards, Rootless Cosmopolitans, and new noir by the guitarist himself at the Tishman Auditorium at the New School, 66 W 12th St., free.

4/2, 7 PM Nashville/Toronto gothic rock with Lorraine Leckie & Her Demons at Banjo Jim’s.

4/2, 7:30/9:30/midnight Jared Gold plays the cd release to his groovy new B3 organ jazz album at the Bar Next Door with his trio.

4/2, 8 PM rustic, haunting, sprawling Balkan/jazz/Americana band Kotorino at Barbes

4/2, 8:30 PM a triplebill put together by Brooklyn Jazz starting with the Rob Garcia 4: Noah Preminger – tenor sax, Jacob Sacks – piano, Joe Martin – bass, Rob Garcia – drums followed at 9:45 by the Anne Mette Iversen Quartet: John Ellis – sax; Danny Grissett – piano; Anne Mette Iversen – bass; Mark Ferber – drums and then at 11 the Adam Kolker Trio plus woodwinds: Adam Kolker – reeds; Jeremy Stratton – bass; Billy Mintz – drums plus a wind section, all this for $15 at the Cornelia St. Cafe.

4/2, 9 PM a classic Syrian music extravaganza celebrating centuries of music in the city of Aleppo featuring a historical lecture by Mohamed A. Alsiadi at Alwan for the Arts followed by a show by a 10-piece allstar Syrian/Middle Eastern orchestra, $20/$15 stud/srs.

4/2, 9 PM haunting Appalachian/Balkan vocal duo AE followed at 10:30 PM by bluesman Blind Boy Paxton at the Jalopy.

4/2 new wave literate rock legend Graham Parker at City Winery, 9 PM, $25 seats avail.

4/2, 9:30 PM Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica Quartet playing Esquivel at Caffe Vivaldi

4/2, 10 PM snarling Syd Barrett/Stooges style garage rock with Obits at the Bell House, $13 adv tix rec.

4/2, 10 PM Sonny Rollins band trombone vet Clifton Anderson at BAM Cafe.

4/2, 10 PM anthemic 80s-tinged keyboard-driven art-rock band Overlord at Fontana’s

4/2 jangly, lyrical southwestern gothic rocker Tom Shaner plays Lakeside, 11 PM.

4/3, 1 and 3 PM the Baltimore Consort play eclectic 16th century Spanish compositions at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.

4/3, 2 (two) PM the Parker String Quartet – who for what it’s worth just won a Grammy – free at Flushing Town Hall.

4/3, 3 PM the Greenwich Village Orchestra plays Ives – Variations on America; “American Songbook Selections,” and Howard Hanson’s sweeping, cinematic Symphony No. 2 at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, $20 sugg don. reception to follow.

4/3, 6 PM: Nico Soffiato on guitar, Nick Vedeen on alto sax, Giacomo Merege on bass and Zach Mangan on drums at Downtown Music Gallery.

4/3, 7 PM delightfully irreverent “unconventional oboe trio” the Threeds play Caffe Vivaldi joined by Eleanor Dubinsky who follows at 8 PM, playing new arrangements of Bjork, Mingus, the Doors, Carmichael and Dubinsky as well

4/3, 7 PM Stephanie Rooker & the Search Engine play wickedly smart, socially aware, psychedelic funk and downtempo grooves at the little room at the Rockwood.

4/3 tuneful British/Canadian janglepop band Early Winters (Carina Round’s latest project) at Public Assembly, time/$ TBA.

4/3 glammy, punkish, entertainingly funny Justice of the Unicorns at Bruar Falls at 8 followed at 9 PM rustic lyrical psychedelic Portland songwriter Shelley Short at Bruar Falls

4/3 popular Ethiopian-American chanteuse Meklit Hadero at the Skirball Center, 8 PM, $20.

4/3, 10 PM tuneful, sly, literate Americana band the Sometime Boys – the acoustic side project of ferocious art-rockers System Noise – at Banjo Jim’s

4/4 Colombian chanteuse Lucia Pulido at 7:30 followed by low-register oldschool Cuban band Gato Loco at 9:30 at Barbes. Gato Loco are also here on 4/18 at 10.

4/4, 7 PM the Ebene Quartet performs the Debussy String Quartet and arrangements of pieces by Miles Davis and Astor Piazzolla, plus “Misirlou,” at the Greene Space, $20.

4/4, 7:30 PM paint-peeling noiserock intensity with the Sediment Club at Bowery Electric, $10.

4/4, 7:30 PM new music ensemble Sequitur plays Robert Sirota’s A Sinner’s Diary; the NY premiere of Victoria Bond’s Frescoes and Ash; the world premiere of Catullus Dreams by David Glaser; the NY premiere of Mix Tape by Armando Bayolo; and the world premiere of Noemi by Daniel Godfrey. at Symphony Space, $20 adv tix rec.

4/4, 8/10:30 PM veteran Chicago blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker at the Blue Note, $10 “bar seating” avail.

4/4, 8:30 PM the Becca Stevens Band’s cd release show at the big room at the Rockwood.

4/5, noon, Members of the Chamber Music Society Lincoln Center play Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor at the Greene Space, free.

4/5, 7 PM members of Ensemble ACJW perform Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, as well as David Bruce’s octet Steampunk at the Greene Space, $20.

4/5, 8 PM Third World at Highline Ballroom $30 adv tix onsale now – don’t know how much, or how many original members, they have left (they were old when they started the band in the early 70s) – ostensibly they have a new album out. 196 Degrees in the Shade?

4/5, 8:30 PM adventurous mostly-female klezmer hellfaisers Isle of Klezbos at the Sixth St. Synagogue, 325 East 6th St (betw First & Second Aves), $15 includes a drink (in temple – yay!)

4/5, 9 PM Dina Rudeen plays the cd release for her brilliant new one at the little room at the Rockwood; dark psychedelic jazz pianist/composer Dred Scott plays at midnight with his trio.

4/5, 9 PM noisy distantly Balkan tinged guitar/trumpet madness with Ben Syversen’s Cracked Vessel at Local 269

4/5, 10 PM UK indie rock pioneers Wire at the Music Hall of Williamsburg; 4/6 they’re at Bowery Ballroom, $20 adv tix rec.

4/5, 11 PM lush atmospheric cinematic art-rockers the Quavers at Cake Shop

4/6, 8 PM Alison Leyton-Brown’s oldtime piano blues gand House of Stride at Barbes followed at 10 by the provocative, gorgeously harmony-driven oldtimey Roulette Sisters.

4/6, 7 PM string quartet Ethel play Julia Wolfe’s Early That Summer; Dohee Lee’s HonBiBaekSan; Jacob TV’s Syracuse Blues; Pamela Z’s ETHEL Dreams of Temporal Disturbances; Huang Ruo’s The Flag Project (excerpt) and Anna Clyne’s Roulette at the Greene Space, $20

4/6, 9:30 PM an amazing chromatically-charged, minor-key doublebill with haunting Appalachian/Balkan vocal duo AE and multistylistic Russian/tango/cinematic string band Ljova and the Kontraband at Joe’s Pub, $15.

4/7, noon, new music trio Janus play Debussy, Treuting, and Negron at the Greene Space, free.

4/7, 8 PM the Jack Quartet play Tetras by Iannis Xenaxis and Death Valley Junction by Missy Mazzoli, as well as Ari Streisfeld’s arrangements of pieces by haunted Renaissance composer Gesualdo.at the Greene Space, $20.

4/7, 8 PM Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays a darkly pensive, thematic program of two Beethoven Sonatas, No. 21, “Waldstein,” and No. 32, Op. 111, bookended by Brahms (Four Ballades, Op. 10) and Schoenberg (Sechs kleine Klavierstucke, Op. 19) at Carnegie Hall

4/7 Rebirth Brass Band at the Brooklyn Bowl; 4/10 they’re at Maxwell’s

4/7, 10 PM chanteuse Marta Topferova – who never met a latin style she couldn’t make her own, and make it compelling – at Barbes.

4/7, eclectic Brazilian/country/New Orleans band Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar 10ish

4/8, noon, free, the Escher Sting Quartet performs Zemlinsky and Brahms at the Greene Space.

4/8, 3 PM organ adventurer Gail Archer wraps up her latest tour through a composer’s repertoire with an all Liszt concert at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, 5th Ave. at 90th St., 6 train to 86th St., free.

4/8, 7 PM at the Greene Space – let’s cross our fingers and hope they’re ok – the Tokyo String Quartet performs on its “Paganini Quartet” of matched Stradivarius instruments Haydn’s String Quartet in F major Op. 77 No. 2, the fourth movement of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, and Beethoven’s “Grosse Fugue” Op. 133. at the Greene Space, $20.

4/8, 7:30 PM adventurous new compositions with the Janus Trio and Mantra Percussion at First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights), 124 Henry St, Brooklyn, NY, 2/3 to Clark St.; A/C to High St.; R/4/5 to Borough Hall.

4/8, 8 PM torchy catchy compelling soul/trip-hop band Mattison in the back room at the Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg.

4/8-9, 8 PM NYU performers play NYU composers at the Black Box Theatre, 82 Washington Square East adv tix free but required for the show.

4/8, 9 PM PinkBrown feat. Cracked Vessel guitar arsonist Xander Naylor with Max Jaffe on drums and Johan Andersson on saxophones at 1012 Willoughby.

4/8, 9 PM long-running garage rockers the Greenhornes at the Bell House.

4/8, 9 PM a hall of fame cast of West Coast Middle Eastern musicians led by percussionist Souhail Kaspar play music of Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Farid al-Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud/srs.

4/8, 9ish cleverly eerie new music improvisers Dollshot at Galapagos, $10.

4/8, 9 PM it’s the Lakeside 15 year anniversary party – amazing how such a friendly, unpretentious place could survive under siege from yuppies and tourists for so long. And whoever’s behind the bar by 9 is bound to be cool. We may be there.

4/8, 9/10:30 PM south Asian and Middle Eastern new jazz sounds with Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Gamak feat. Dave Fiuczynski on guitar at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $15

4/8, 9:30 PM eclectic acoustic Americana roots/zydeco/country band Blue Sky Mission Club at Hill Country

4/8, 10 PM the Black Angels at Bowery Ballroom; 4/9 they’re at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20 adv tix. at the Mercury highly rec., this will sell out.

4/8, 10 PM second wave garage rock vets the Greenhornes at the Bell House, $15

4/9, 8 PM up-and-coming southwestern gothic star Kerry Kennedy – part noir femme fatale, part fiery bandleader – at Union Hall, $12 adv tix highly rec.

4/9 a killer triplebill at the Postcrypt Coffeehouse – back uptown again after a brief stay in the East Village – with Alyson Greenfield at 8:30, Carol Lipnik at 9:30 and Lorraine Leckie at 10:30.

4/9, 8:30 PM hypnotic Mississippi hill country blues guitarist Will Scott at 68 Jay St. Bar.

4/9, 8:30/11 PM Jamaican jazz piano titan Monty Alexander at Birdland, $30 seats avail.

4/9, 9 PM a killer doublebill at Bowery Electric with ferociously lyrical songwriters, Linda Draper and Matt Keating.

4/10, 6 (six) PM Sara Lewis – simmering jazzy chanteuse who veers between dark cabaret-based piano songs and Beatlesque pop – at Caffe Vivaldi.

4/10, 6 PM Ras Moshe & the Music Now Ensemble feat. Kyoko Jitamura and Shayna Dulberger and Andrew Drury, followed at 7 by Belgian duo Olivier Stalon on bass and Pablo Masis on trumpet at Downtown Music Gallery

4/10, 7 PM cellist Sebastian Baversteam plays a solo show at Barbes followed at 9 by Stephane Wrembel.

4/10 hilarious, diverse satirical cowpunk rockers Uncle Leon & the Alibis at Rodeo Bar 10ish

4/11, 7 PM Gina Leishman, vox, baritone ukulele; Charlie Burnham, violin; Matt Munisteri, guitar and Brad Jones, bass at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre.

4/11, 8ish adventurous new music string quartet Ethel play two world premieres including Dohee Lee’s HonBiBaekSan (The Ritual of White Mountain) and Hafez Modirzadeh’s A Hot Time in the Ol’ Town; as well as performances of Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, and Pamela Z’s ETHEL Dreams of Temporal Disturbances at le Poisson Rouge, $20

4/11 oldtime Americana with the Builders & the Butchers at the Mercury, 10 PM, $10.

4/11 fiery charismatic art-rock/goth-punk siren Vera Beren books the night at Small Beast at the Delancey, including a set with her band at 10ish

4/12 catchy tuneful brilliantly melodic jazz from Terry Dame’s Monkey on a Rail in just their third concert since the early zeros, at Barbes at 7 followed by Slavic Soul Party at 9.

4/12 bassist Lauren Falls leads a quintet with Seamus Blake, tenor sax; Mike Moreno, guitar; Can Olgun, piano; Trevor Falls, drums, 8:30 PM at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

4/12-17, 8/10:30 PM the Crusaders – who reputedly have returned to their roots as a late 60s style funk/groove band – at the Blue Note, $30 “seats” avail ($35 on the weekend)

4/13, 7:30 PM The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble with Ostravská Banda conducted by Petr Kotik play John Cage: Concert for Piano and Orchestra with Joseph Kubera, piano; Carolyn Chen – Wilder Shores of Love (world premiere); György Ligeti – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Daan Vandewalle, piano; Alex Mincek – Pendulum #7 for saxophone and ensemble (world premiere) at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, $15 tix avail.

4/13, 10ish indie classical composer Emily Wells – whose latest stuff has the playful, accessible feel of Todd Reynolds’ recent work – at Glasslands, $10 adv tix onsale now.

4/14 retro soul/noir chanteuse Shendandoah & the Night at Spike Hill

4/14, 7:30 PM pyrotechnic violinist Gil Morgenstern’s reliably fascinating, thematic Reflections Series concludes its 2010-2011 season with a program titled Transfigured Nights with pianist Donald Berman and cellist Ole Akahoshi including Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Shostakovich’s Trio in E Minor, at WMP Concert Hall, $25.

4/14, 8 PM Shelby Lynne at City Winery, $30 seats avail.

4/14, 8 PM provocative, smart Palestinian-American world music songwriter Stephan Said at Drom, $10 adv tix rec

4/15-22 two of the most exhilarating singers on the planet, John Kelly and Carol Lipnik perform their suite The Escape Artist, which “traces the experience of a performer who has a catastrophic trapeze accident. While stranded on a gurney with a broken neck in a hospital emergency room, he escapes and finds refuge in the images that flood his mind: the sinners and saints, prostitutes and gods that populate Caravaggio’s paintings.” With music by Lipnik and Kelly plus selections by Monteverdi and John Barry, at PS 122, 8 PM, $25/15 stud/srs.

4/15, 8 PM Niger’s desert blues legends Etran Finatawa – who played one of the 20 best shows we saw last year – at Symphony Space, $35.

4/15, 8 PM a cool reggae triplebill at the smaller studio space downstairs at Webster Hall with Echo Movement, Maui Waui and the Green (whose blend of vintage Hawaiian and roots reggae is totally original), $10 adv tix rec.

4/15, 9 PM Joe Pug at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10; 4/16 he’s at the Mercury at 11:30 PM for $2 more.

4/15, 10 PM wild jazzy gypsy rock/jaz with Jay Vilnai’s Vampire Suit at Barbes

4/15, 11 PM O’Death at the Knitting Factory – this will probably sell out – $10 adv tix rec.

4/16-17, 5-7 PM free at Issue Project Room, some ideas close to our hearts: “Yolande Harris’s installation Tropical Storm, developed in a residency with Alvin Lucier at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, is a shot of a Florida storm, with the sound of rainfall as the only audio. In The Pink Noise of Pleasure Yachts in Turquoise Sea, Harris explores the place of sound in the underwater animals, and the effects of the sound of recreational boating on the smallest sea creatures.”

4/16, 7 PM Eleventh Dream Day opens for the recently reunited Come at the Bell House adv tix $20 rec.

4/16, 7:30 PM, repeating 4 PM on 4/17, Lisa Bielawa’s Synopses: Synopsis #2: In the Eye of the Beholder for percussion performed by Aaron Trant, Synopsis #4: I’m Not That Kind of Lawyer for solo double bass performed by Doug Balliet, Synopsis #6: Why Did You Lie to Me? for solo cello performed by Eric Jacobsen, Synopsis #9: I Don’t Even Play the Bassoon for solo viola performed by Miranda Sielaff, and Synopsis #10: I Know This Room So Well for solo English horn will be performed live, with new choreography by Catherine Gallant at NY City Center, 130 West 56th St., $15 tix avail.

4/16, 8 PM Central Asian troupe Turku play ancient Silk Road repertoire at Drom, $10 adv tix highly rec., this will sell out

4/16 psychedelic roots reggae monsters Dub Is a Weapon play their cd release show at Sullivan Hall, 9ish, $10 adv tix rec.

4/16, 11ish Bogs Visionary Orchestra at Goodbye Blue Monday; they’re also here late on 4/27.

4/16, midnight ecstatically fun Afrobeat band Elikeh plays Joe’s Pub, $14.

4/17, 1 and 3 PM all-male choral sextet Lionheart sing Thomas Tallis’s “masterful and heart-wrenching settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, performed in alternation with their traditional Latin chant responsories—as they might have been heard in the chapel of Elizabeth I” at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.

4/17, 4 PM hilarious retro Weimar bandleader/crooner Max Raabe & Palast Orchester at NJPAC in Newark, $21 tix avail.

4/17, 6 PM reedman Daniel Carter with bassist Pascal Niggenkemper at Downtown Music Gallery.

4/17, 9 PM  dark lyrical rock siren/guitar goddess Randi Russo plays the cd release show for her career-best new one Fragile Animal at the Mercury, followed by another equally fiery, lyrical band the Oxygen Ponies.

4/17, 9 PM pianist Bobby Avey leads a quartet with Miguel Zenon, alto saxophone; Thomson Kneeland, bass; Jordan Perlson, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

4/18-19 powerful jazz vibraphonist Mark Sherman and his Quintet with Jim Ridl, Dean Johnson, Tim Horner and special guest Randy Brecker at the Kitano, $25 plus $15 min at tables

4/18, 8 PM the irresistible Pipettes – snarling cockney girls playing oldschool Motown and soul – at Rock Shop in Gowanus; 4/20 they’re at the Mercury at 7:30 PM, $15.

4/19 Moroccan-American chanteuse Malika Zarra plays the cd release show for her new one Berber Taxi with her band at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM

4/19-24 and 4/26-5/1 Bill Frisell plays the Vanguard: first with Eyvind Kang on violin and Rudy Royston on drums, then with Ron Miles on trumpet, Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums.

4/20, 10 PM psychedelic dub reggae with John Brown’s Body followed by the Easy Star All-Stars at Highline Ballroom, $20 adv tix highly rec. Note that some loser from a reality tv show – who’s decided to switch from corporate rock to reggae – opens the show at 9.

4/21, three excellent, separate-admission shows at Joe’s Pub. 7 PM Pharaoh’s Daughter is $15; Spottiswoode’s cd release show at 9 is $15; Afrobeat band Emefe’s show at 11:30 is $TBA.

4/21-22, 7ish Mogwai at Webster Hall, adv tix $28.50 rec.

4/21, 7:30 PM adventurous new music ensemble Lunatics at Large play five brand-new commissioned works by Ryan Fusco, Andre Bregegere, Laura Koplewitz, Alex Shapiro and Mohammed Fairouz as part of their Sanctuary Project at WMP Concert Hall, $25

4/21, 8 PM in “Scuttling around in the shallows, Jane Winderen continues her investigation into the sound of shrimp, exploring how the smallest creatures of the ocean use sound for communication, orientation, and feeding. Hydrophones—originally a military development—are repurposed, inadvertently producing unexpected qualities not informed by their original design. Winderen uses these hydrophones to create immersive sonic environments, something far from the original intention of these surveillance devices.” At Issue Project Room, $12

4/21, 8:30 PM Susie Ibarra’s Electric Kulintang – sort of the Filipino counterpart to Electric Junkyard Gamelan – at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, early arrival highly advised

4/21, 8:30 PM oldtimey Americana with Margaret Glaspy, Miss Tess & the Bon Ton Parade and the Woes at Southpaw, $10 adv tix rec.

4/22 sprawling acoustic Americana with Jones St. Station at le Poisson Rouge, 7:30 PM, $10 adv tix rec.

4/22, 8 PM pianist Jenny Q Chai and Iktus Percussion Quartet play the world premiere of Five Pieces by Nils Vigeland, as well as works by Gérard Grisey, Lukas Ligeti, Vivian Fung, and two world premieres from emerging composers Inhyun Kim and Dillon Kondor downstairs in the Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space, $15/$10 stud.

4/22, 9 PM gypsy chanteuse Sanda Weigl’s cd release show for her intense, excellent new one Gypsy in a Tree at the 92YTribeca, $15 adv tix highly rec.

4/22, 9 PM oldschool plena and bomba sounds with Quimbombo at BAM Cafe.

4/22, 11 PM Hayes Carll at Bowery Ballroom $15 adv tix rec.

4/23, 1 PM a free concert at Bargemusic, early arrival advised, most likely piano music; there’s another on 5/7.

4/23, 1 and 3 PM, early music ensemble Pomerium sings works by Lassus, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, and Byrd at the Cloisters, $35 gen adm.

4/23, 8:30 PM ferocious noisy punk/glam rockers the K-Holes at Glasslands adv tix $10 rec.

4/25 charismatic intense somewhat scary cellist/vocalist Audrey Chen plays Roulette, 8:30 PM. One of the crew here insists that her set – “music” might not be an accurate word for it – at Issue Project Room last year was the best show of 2010. Your life will not be complete until you’ve survived an hour or so of her sonic assault.

4/26, 8 PM Balkan Beat Box at Webster Hall, $20 gen adm.

4/27, 7 PM Mr. Wau Wa – Gina Leishman, vox, accordion, pump organ; Rinde Eckert, vox, accordion, pump organ; Doug Wieselman, clarinet, sax, guitar; Marcus Rojas, tuba and Kenny Wollesen, drums – plays Bertold Brech at Barbes followed at 9:30ish by Chicha Libre.

4/27, 7:30 PM pianist Alexandra Joan – whose remarkable emotional intelligence and fearlessness set her apart from the millions of cookie-cutter classical pianists out there – plays an all-French program of Fauré, Ravel, Enescu and Fairouz at WMP Concert Hall

4/27 haunting, hypnotic Middle Eastern sounds with Duo Jalal feat. violist Kathryn Lockwood plus percussionist Yousif Sheronick David Krakauer and Glen Velez at Drom, 8 PM, $12 adv tix rec

4/28 the Newton Gang play their cd release show for their long-awaited new one at Southpaw, 9 PM followed by Gangstagrass at 11, $10 adv tix highly rec, all ticketholders get a copy of the new album.

4/29, 7:30 PM a high-energy gypsy rock doublebill with Watcha Clan and Rupa & the April Fishes at le Poisson Rouge, $15.

4/29 surfy latin garage rock with the Cuban Cowboys at BAM Cafe, 9 PM.

4/30 latin jazz by the O’Farrill Family Band at BAM Cafe, 9 PM.

5/3-4, 8 PM Bruce Cockburn & Jenny Scheinman at City Winery, $35 seats avail.

5/6, 9 PM the 2 Man Gentlemen Band and the Infamous Stringdusters at Bowery Ballroom $15 gen adm.

5/7 haunting original bluegrass/Americana band Frankenpine at the Brooklyn Museum

5/8 Rev. Horton Heat at Highline Ballroom.

5/9-12 the Mata Festival at le Poisson Rouge feat. ACME, Metropolis Ensemble, Florent Ghys, L’Arsenale, Cantori New York, Dither Electric Guitar Quartet, Ryan Carter, Christopher Mayo, and Angélica Negrón

5/9, 8/10:30 PM Matt Guitar Murphy at the Blue Note, $10 seats avail. Octogenarian Chicago blues guitar legend who suffered a stroke onstage a few years ago and finished the song before he decided to take a break. If he’s even a fraction of his old self he’s worth seeing.

5/10 Monty Python/Bonzo Dog Band’s Neil Innes at Highline Ballroom

5/14, 11 AM Wall to Wall Sonidos at Symphony Space, free, Arturo O’Farrill’s Sacred Concert for his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra based on settings of Jewish, Islamic, Gospel, and Afro-Cuban texts; a work for shakuhachi and string quartet [Colorado Quartet] from Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez; a world premiere of Roberto Sierra’s Cuarteto para cuerdas no. 2 [La Catrina Quartet]; Tania León [Harlem Quartet]; new works by Fernando Otero (with dancers); and performances by Continuum, Damocles Trio, Poulenc Trio, Ray Vega, Gabriel Alegria, and many others.

5/19, 7:30 PM the Trinity Choir sings music of Elena Ruehr at Trinity Church.

5/19, 9:30 PM Karen Hudson with her band at Lakeside playing songs from her forthcoming Late Bloomer cd.

5/26, 10:30 PM gypsy punks the West Philadelphia Orchestra followed by haunting, hypnotic, psychedelic Turkish band Raquy & the Cavemen at Drom, $12 adv tix rec.

6/4 the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at NJPAC in Newark, $25 seats avail.

6/19 this year’s free Punk Island festival at Governors Island happens two days in advance of Make Music NY as the yuppies are shitting their pants at the thought of loud, nonconformist music being played anywhere near their “luxury” apartments. Free ferries leave on the half hour from the old Staten Island Ferry terminal; here’s a public facebook page about it.

NYC Live Music Calendar for February and March 2011

The latest calendar for March and April is here.

 A few things you should know about this calendar: acts are listed here in order of appearance, NOT headliner first and supporting acts after; showtimes listed here are actual set times, not the time doors open. If a listing here says something like ”9 PM-ish,” chances are it’ll run late. Cover charges are those listed on bands’ and venues’ sites: always best to click on the band link provided or go to the venues page for confirmation since we get much of this info weeks in advance. As always, weekly events first followed by the daily listings:

Sundays there’s a klezmer brunch at City Winery, show starts around 11:30 AM – 2 PM, $10 cover, no minimum, lots of good bands.

Sundays from half past noon to 3:30 PM, bluegrass cats Freshly Baked (f.k.a. Graveyard Shift), featuring excellent, incisive fiddle player Diane Stockwell play Nolita House (upstairs over Botanica at 47 E Houston). Free drink with your entree.

Through May of 2011, the series of free organ concerts at 5:15 PM continues most every week (holidays excepted) at St. Thomas Church, 53rd St. and 5th Ave.

Sundays in March the Chico O’Farrill latin Jazz Orchestra at Birdland, sets 8/10:30 PM, $30 seats avail

Stephane Wrembel plays Sundays at Barbes at 9. He’s something of an institution here, plan on arriving EARLY, 45 minutes early isn’t too soon since the whole bar gets packed fast. The guitarist has few if any equals as an interpreter of Django Reinhardt, but it’s where he takes the gypsy jazz influence in his own remarkably original, psychedelic writing – and what he brings to the Django stuff – that makes all the difference. One of the most interesting players in any style of music, anywhere in the world.

Every Sunday the Ear-Regulars, led by trumpeter Jon Kellso and (frequently) guitarist Matt Munisteri play NYC’s only weekly hot jazz session starting around 8 PM at the Ear Inn on Spring St.  Hard to believe, in the city that springboarded the careers of thousands of jazz legends, but true. This is by far the best value in town for marquee-caliber jazz: for the price of a drink and a tip for the band, you can see world-famous players (and brilliant obscure ones) you’d usually have to drop $100 for at some big-ticket room. The material is mostly old-time stuff from the 30s and 40s, but the players (especially Kellso and Munisteri, who have a chemistry that goes back several years) push it into some deliciously unexpected places.

Every Sunday, hip-hop MC Big Zoo hosts the long-running End of the Weak rap showcase at the Pyramid, 9 PM, admission $5 before 10, $7 afterward. This is one of the best places to discover some of the hottest under-the-radar hip-hop talent, both short cameos as well as longer sets from both newcomers and established vets.

Mondays at the Fat Cat the Choi Fairbanks String Quartet play a wide repertoire of chamber music from Bach to Shostakovich starting at 7.

Mondays starting a little after 7 PM Howard Williams leads his Jazz Orchestra from the piano at the Garage, 99 7th Ave. S at Grove St. There are also big bands here most every Tuesday at 7.

Mondays at the Jazz Standard it’s all Mingus, whether with the Mingus Orchestra, Big Band or Mingus Dynasty: you know the material and the players are all first rate. Sets 7:30/9:30 PM, $25 and worth it.

Also Monday nights Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, a boisterous horn-driven 11-piece 1920s/early 30’s band play Sofia’s Restaurant, downstairs at the Edison Hotel, 221 West 46th Street between Broadway & 8th Ave., 3 sets from 8 to 11, surprisingly cheap $15 cover plus $15 minimum considering what you’re getting. Even before the Flying Neutrinos or the Moonlighters, multi-instrumentalist Giordano was pioneering the oldtimey sound in New York; his long-running residency at the old Cajun on lower 8th Ave. is legendary. He also gets a ton of film work (Giordano wrote the satirical number that Willie Nelson famously sang in Wag the Dog).

Mondays at Tea Lounge in Park Slope at 9 PM trombonist/composer JC Sanford books big band jazz, an exciting, global mix of some of the edgiest large-ensemble sounds around. If you’re anybody in the world of big band jazz and you make it to New York, you end up playing here: what CBGB was to punk, this unlikely spot promises to be to the jazz world. No cover.

Mondays at the Vanguard the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra – composer Jim McNeely’s reliably good big band vehicle – plays 9/11 PM, $30 per set plus drink minimum.

Also Mondays in March the Barbes house band, Chicha Libre plays there starting around 9:30. They’ve singlehandedly resurrected an amazing subgenre, chicha, which was popular in the Peruvian Amazon in the late 60s and early 70s. With electric accordion, cuatro, surf guitar and a slinky but boisterous rhythm section, their mix of obscure classics and originals is one of the funnest, most danceable things you’ll witness this year.

Also Mondays in March Rev. Vince Anderson and his band play Union Pool in Williamsburg, two sets starting around 11 PM. The Rev. is one of the great keyboardists around, equally thrilling on organ or electric piano, an expert at Billy Preston style funk, honkytonk, gospel and blues. He writes very funny, very politically astute, frequently salacious original songs and is one of the most charismatic, intense live performers of our time. It’s a crazy dance party til past three in the morning. Paula Henderson from Burnt Sugar is the lead soloist on baritone sax, with Dave Smith from Smoota and the Fela pit band on trombone, with frequent special guests.

The second and fourth Tuesday of the month there are free organ concerts at half past noon at Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Ave @ 55th St. curated by celebrated organ adventurer Gail Archer, a global mix of veteran and up-and-coming talent.

Tuesdays in March Balkan brass maniacs Slavic Soul Party  play Barbes at 9. Get here as soon as you can as they’re very popular.

Tuesdays Julia Haltigan plays 11th St. Bar at 10 “for the rest of her life.” A nuanced, cleverly lyrical country/Americana chanteuse with a terrific band behind her and a growing catalog of first-class original songs. See her now before it costs you big bucks at the Beacon.

Tuesday nights at 10, Marc Ribot has taken on booking a weekly show at Watty & Meg, 248 Court St. in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn: two guitarists each week, each playing solo, then trading songs, ideas, conversations, possibly jamming, $15 cover includes a drink.

Tuesdays in March the Dred Scott Trio play astonishingly smart, dark piano jazz at the smaller room at the Rockwood at midnight.

Wednesdays at 9 PM Feral Foster’s Roots & Ruckus takes over the Jalopy, a reliably excellent weekly mix of oldtimey acts: blues, bluegrass, country and swing.

Every Thursday the Michael Arenella Quartet play 1920s hot jazz 8-11 PM at Nios, 130 W 46th St.

Thursdays and Fridays in March at Mehanata it’s Bulgarian sax powerhouse Yuri Yukanov and the Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, 10 PM, $10.

Fridays at 8:30 PM adventurous cellist/composer Valerie Kuehne books an intriguing avant garde/classical/unclassifiable “weekly experimental cabaret” at Cafe Orwell in Bushwick, 247 Varet St. (White/Bogart), L to Morgan Ave. It’s sort of a more outside version of Small Beast, a lot of cutting-edge performers working out new ideas in casual, unstuffy surroundings. Kuehne promises “never a dull moment.”

Fridays in March at 9 Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens play the Fat Cat.

Saturdays in February slinky yet edgy tropicalia chanteuse Marianni plays Zinc Bar at 10 PM with her band

2/1 trombone free jazz legend Steve Swell with Perry Robinson on clarinet and Max Johnson on bass at 7 at Barbes, followed at 9 by Slavic Soul Party who also know a thing or two about good trombone.

2/1, 7 PM the Pride of the Subway Ceili Band at Banjo Jim’s followed at 9 by the NYCity Slickers playing classic and original bluegrass.

2/1, 8 PM, hypnotic, lush, atmospheric art-rockers the Quavers open for southwestern gothic legends Giant Sand at City Winery, $22 standing room tix avail.

2/1, 8 PM Caithlin DeMarrais plays the Mercury. One of the few truly spellbinding singers of our time – she was good in Rainer Maria and she’s pretty amazing now. And a haunting, pensive songwriter with a promising new album in the works.

2/1 midnight-ish lyrical star Talib Kweli at the Brooklyn Bowl, $10.

2/2, 7:30 PM the latest in edgy pianist Alexandra Joan’s Kaleidoscope series features her alongside fiery Balkan clarinetist Vasko Dukovski, Icelandic cellist Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir and violinist Erno Kallai performing Bartok: Contrasts for Piano, Violin and Clarinet: Brahms: Clarinet Trio, op. 114; Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time at WMP Concert Hall, 31 E 28th St. $25/$15 stud. Most of this crew delivered one of last year’s best concerts together; this could be another one.

2/2, 8 PM an excellent Afrobeat doublebill with Ikebe Shakedown and Zongo Junction at Brooklyn Bowl, $5

2/2, 8:30 PM female-fronted Canadian rock with Toronto’s edgy danceable postpunk People You Know and ferocious powerpop/punkpop Hunter Valentine at the Knitting Factory, adv tix $8 rec., all ages.

2/2, 9 PM the Mercenaries at Lakeside – Altogether Steve and the rest of the crew are still kicking ass after all these years, sort of the NYC version of the Replacements.

2/3 a 90th Birthday Celebration for Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh, 6 PM at Bruno Walter Auditorium at the NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center – performers include soprano Christine Moore, violinist Luis Casal, and pianists Ruzan Asatryan and Katie Reimer. Free, early arrival advised.

2/3-6, 7:30/9:30 PM tenor saxophonist and Miles Davis/Max Roach alum George Coleman leads an interesting quintet lineup including Larry Goldings on organ and Peter Bernstein on guitar at the Jazz Standard

2/3 subversive comedic musical duo Mel & El at Comix 353 W. 14th St, 7:30 PM, $10

2/3, 7:30 PM guest conductor George Steel leads the Trinity choir in a wonderful, often haunting program of 13th-16th century English renaissance choral works by Tallis, Sheppard and Parsons and others at Trinity Church, $20, early arrival rec.

2/3, 8 PM kick-ass new intelligent Brooklyn-bred rock with Mussels, the incomparably funny and assaultive Brooklyn What, the Proud Humans and Steer at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $8

2/3, 8 PM Pierre de Gaillande’s Bad Reputation doing their hysterically funny, vicious Georges Brassens songs in English, followed by the charming, sultry Les Chauds Lapins – who mine French chanson that predates Brassens by about 20 years- at Barbes. It was bound to happen.

2/3, 8 PM tuneful mathrock/metal band Stats, beautifully ugly/assaultive guitar jazz with the felicitously named Seabrook Power Plant and then Mantra Percussion playing Iannis Xenakis at Littlefield.

2/3, 8 PM edgy, snarky British postpunk/dance rockers Deluka at the Bell House, $15 gen adm.

2/3, 9 PM jaunty oldtimey swing and country with Miss Tess & the Bon Ton Parade at the Jalopy followed at 10 by gypsy jazz power trio Ameranouche.

2/3, 9:30 PM eclectic latin jazz bandoneon player Gregorio Uribe’s Big Band at Zinc Bar.

2/3, 10 PM eclectic cosmopolitan songwriter Tajna Tanovic at the downstairs cafe at Symphony Space, free

2/3, 10ish multistylistic, deliriously fun, danceable all-purpose Brazilian/country band Nation Beat at Rodeo Bar.

2/3, 11 PM psychedelic, fearlessly obscene French garage/surf rockers La Femme play Lit.

2/3, 11:30 PM the Hollows play their irrepressibly fun oldtimey bluegrass/hillbilly music at the Knitting Factory

2/3, 11:30 PM sharp literate tuneful downtempo Aimee Mann-ish rockers Elizabeth & the Catapult play the big room at the Rockwood.

2/4, 7 PM pianist Simone Dinnerstein hosts a program feat. cellist Wendy Sutter and violinist Maria Bachmann playing Kodaly’s Duo for Violin and Cello, plus a preview of a new duo written by Philip Glass at PS 142, 100 Attorney St. (Rivington/Delancey), $15 tix go to benefit the 4th/5th grade band program at the school. “The Neighborhood Classics series is designed for families, but is enjoyed by audience members of all types.”

2/4, 7:30 PM the MSM Philharmonia play Villa-Logos: Uirapuru (The Enchanted Bird); Francaix: Clarinet Concerto; Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, op.39 at Borden Auditorium at Borden Auditorium at Manhattan School of Music, $10/$5 stud/srs.

2/4, 7:30 PM the reliably comedic Erin & Her Cello at the big room at the Rockwood followed eventually at 10:30 by the brassy, funky Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds (who are back again the following night, same time, same room).

2/4, 8 PM cleverly lyrical, socially aware, inspiringly tuneful janglepop duo Left on Red take a break from busking for a show at Bar 82, just north of St. Mark’s on 2nd Ave.; 2/14 they’re at the NYC Transit Museum

2/4 Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, the “world’s only ensemble dedicated to the space-age big band music of Juan Garcia Esquivel,” 8 PM at Barbes followed at 10 by the martini cowboy himself, the Jack Grace Band.

2/4, 8ish, smart twangy literate Americana rock with Chip Robinson backed by the Roscoe Trio at Lakeside followed at 11 by the even higher-energy Tom Clark & the High Action Boys.

2/4, 9 PM jazz/third-stream chanteuse/composer Sara Serpa with a first-rate band: Andre Matos- guitar; Kris Davis- piano; Matt Brewer-bass; Tommy Crane- drums, at the Cornelia St. Cafe. Serpa is scary-good, one of the most original singers and writers in any style around these days: her latest album with noir jazz piano legend Ran Blake is transcendent.

2/4, 9 PM Nashville guitar/piano legend – Jerry Lee stomp and ferocious pickin -with Greg Garing at the Jalopy

2/4 the jangly, effervescent, irrepressible Mexican Go-Go’s – Pistolera – at Joe’s Pub, 9:30 PM, $15.

2/4, 10 PM Jennifer Choi (violin) Wendy Law (cello) Justin Hines (percussion) Rubin Kodheli (electric cello) “Classical Jam Trio and special guest Rubin Kodheli, featured performer and composer in the movie “Precious,” join forces in an evening of composed and improvised music including Osvaldo Golijov’s tango inspired cello solo, Ômaramor, Hines’ Samai’i Shira based on rhythms and melodies with Arabic influences, A.C.T. Amplified Cardbord Tube for solo percussion, Choi’s flamenco inspired Madrileño, and Kodheli’s Jungle and Nightengale” at the Stone, $10

2/4, 11 PM lush, atmospheric, socially aware, Radiohead-influenced rockers My Pet Dragon at the Bitter End.

2/4 garage rockers the Thigh Highs play midnightish at Hank’s

2/5, 7 PM an underworldly noir chanteuse doublebill with the Nashville gothic Lorraine Leckie and the Coney Island gothic Carol Lipnik at Banjo Jim’s – yum.

2/5, 7 PM fiery, funky Chicago-style electric blues guitarist Bobby Radcliff at Terra Blues

2/5 the year’s best doublebill so far: rustic, darkly intricate gypsy-inspired rockers Kotorino at 8 PM followed by ferocious pan-Balkan band Ansambl Mastika – whose new album is the best one we’ve heard so far this year – at Barbes.

2/5, 8 PM, free, pianist Chie Sato Roden and cellist Jody Redhage’s excellent chamber jazz ensemble Fire in July celebrate the release of their CD “Streetcar Journey,” featuring the music of beloved American film composer Alex North (1910-1991) and his magnificent, jazz-inflected score to the 1951 classic “A Streetcar Named Desire” at the Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street between 5th and 6th Aves.

2/5 starting at 8 the Truants, Bongo Surf, Mr.Neutron, Blue Wave Theory and the Tarantinos NYC at Unsteady Freddie’s surf music extravaganza at Otto’s.

2/5, 8 PM unusually tuneful mathrock with Stats at Cake Shop.

2/5, 8:30 PM edgy, funky songwriter Shayna Zaid & the Catch at the big room at the Rockwood

2/5, 9ish David First’s legendary late 70s noise-rock band the Notekillers – who were doing Sonic Youth stuff ten years before Sonic Youth – at Coco 66.

2/5 9 PM careening southwestern gothic/C&W band the Newton Gang at 68 Jay St. Bar

2/5 the Mighty Paradocs play their blend of hip-hop and punk at 9 followed by Rockers Galore playing dub reggae at Shrine at 10.

2/5, 9:30 PM sophisticated, torchy, eclectic Americana chanteuse Hope DeBates & North Forty at Caffe Vivaldi.

2/5 Taj Weekes & Adowa – who are about the best thing happening in roots reggae right now – at Joe’s Pub, 9:30 PM, $14

2/5, 10 PM crazed gypsy punks Bad Buka at Mehanata.

2/5, 90s Britrock style melodic powerpop with the Royal Chains, 10 PM at the Cameo Gallery

2/5, midnight the Jack Grace Band at the small room at the Rockwood.

2/6, 8 PM original and classic Cuban songs with low-register instruments: bass, baritone sax, baritone guitar, tuba, et al. with Gato Loco at Bowery Poetry Club.

2/6, 9 PM twisted Merle Haggard covers done free jazz style by Bryan & the Haggards at Rodeo Bar.

2/6, 10 PM fiery and sultry Roulette Sisters frontwoman/bluesmama Mamie Minch at the Jalopy

2/6, 11:30 AM or so cleverly virtuosic mostly female original klezmer band Isle of Klezbos at City Winery for brunch, $10, no minimum

2/6, 3 PM organist Gail Archer plays Liszt at the Church of St. John the Baptist, Lexington at 76th St.

2/6, 6:30 PM Matei Varga on piano playing Enescu, Janácek, Bartók, and Szymanowski at le Poisson Rouge, $15

2/7, 7 PM sultry oldtimey chanteuse Robin Aigner and her band at the small room at the Rockwood.

2/7, 8:30 PM Leif Arntzen’s TLAB: Leif Arntzen, trumpet; Ryan Blotnick, guitar; Michael Bates, bass; Miles Arntzen, drums at Cornelia St. Cafe, $10

2/7 charismatic noir powerhouse Vera Beren takes a turn booking Small Beast: so far she’s the only one who’s consistently been able to evoke the intense 2008-09 transcendence of the weekly dark rock show. On the bill: 9 PM Hypnofolk, 10 PM Lone Vein, 11 PM Beren’s own astonishingly powerful Gothic Chamber Blues Ensemble and eclectic surf instrumentalists the Tarantinos NYC at midnight.

2/7, 9 PM edgy Japanese big band jazz with the Yaozeki Big Band at Tea Lounge in Park Slope

2/8, 7:30 PM at Barbes Petr Cancura’s Down Home: his “attempt to capture the nostalgia of classic b & W photography with music steeped in Americana,” with Skye Steele – violin; Petr Cancura – sax, clarinet, mandolin; Scott Kettner – drums, percussion; Garth Stevenson – bass and Jesse Lewis – guitar.

2/8-13 alto saxophonist Steve Wilson’s weeklong 50th birthday celebration at the Jazz Standard: 2/8 with guests Carla Cook and Karrin Allyson; 2/9 a quartet show with strings; 2/11 a quintet featuring Mulgrew Miller, Lewis Nash and Christian McBride; 2/12-13 Tain Watts takes over the drum chair.

2/8 rare solo sets from an especially choice bunch of edgy songwriters: indie pop goddess Kendall Jane Meade of Juicy and Mascott, 90s luminary Richard Balayut of Versus and terse, intense, guitarishly spot-on Jennifer O’Connor, 9 PM at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10

2/8, 8 PM politically potent dancehall reggae star Anthony B at B.B. King’s, $20 adv tix rec.

2/8, 8:30 PM And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead’s cd release show at Littlefield, $12 adv tix highly rec., this will sell out.

2/8, 9 PM smartly lyrical retro soul/rock songwriter Dina RuDean at the small room at the Rockwood.

2/8, 9 PM alto saxophonist David Binney leads an inspired quartet with Jacob Sacks on keys, Thomas Morgan on bass and Dan Weiss on drums at 55 Bar

2/8, 9ish Adult Themes play Death by Audio. Distorted keys, fuzz bass, chick vocals, primitive garage rock meets noise but purposefully – cool stuff.

2/8 vintage R&B flavored powerpop powerhouse the Brilliant Mistakes at Rodeo Bar, 10ish.

2/8, 11 PM sprawling dark Americana band Bogs Visionary Orchestra at Goodbye Blue Monday – sort of the prototype for O’Death

2/9, 6 PM torchy sultry bluesy jazz chanteuse Natalie Galey leads a quartet at Caffe Vivaldi.

2/9, 8 PM dark guitar atmospherics with Spooky Ghost at the Stone, $10.

2/9 an impressively strong, cheap quadruple bill at Southpaw starting at 8:30 with pensive, jazz-tinged Canadian songwriter Chloe Charles, fiery gypsy punks Kagero, the ragtime dance-punk of Apocalypse Five and Dime and garage-soul rockers Billy Woodward & the Senders, $10

2/9, 9 PM noir singer Nicole Atkins & the Black Sea at Bowery Ballroom, $16 adv tix rec.

2/9 tropical punk madness at midnight-ish with Chicolina Sound Machine feat. Pedro Erazo of Gogol Bordello at Bowery Electric; even more amazing skaragga/metal cumbia rockers Escarioka open the show at around 9. CSM are also here on 2/23.

2/9, 10 PM tuneful up-and-coming jazz guitar star Ila Cantor shows off her pop songwriter side at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10

2/9, 10ish tongue-in-cheek, period-perfect early 50s style country from Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Rodeo Bar.

2/9, 11 PM big psychedelic funk band Turkuaz at Cake Shop

2/10, rustic old hillbilly songs with the Weal and the Woe at 8 followed at 10 PM by retro country legend Greg Garing at Barbes.

2/10 Israeli roots reggae with Moshav Band at the Canal Room, 8 PM, $10 adv tix. rec.

2/10, 9 PM the Michael Winograd Klezmer Trio at the Jalopy followed at 10:30 by pyrotechnic Balkan brass band Veveritse.

2/10, 9 PM ten-piece, six-trumpet funk band the Chase Experiment at Spike Hill.

2/10 LES punk/surf/soul legend Simon and the Bar Sinisters, 10ish at Rodeo Bar; he’s at Lakeside at the same time on 2/12.

2/11 artist Robin Hoffman, whose vibrant illustrations have documented the equally vibrant oldtimey/Americana scene at the Jalopy, celebrates the release of her latest coffee-table book there at 6 PM.

2/11 Ethiopian-inspired big band jazz legends Either/Orchestra’s 25th Anniversary Concert, 6 PM at le Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix very highly rec.

2/11, 7 PM witty, legendary Clash collaborator and Americana chanteuse Ellen Foley at Lakeside

2/11, 7 PM the Bantu Dub Project play dub reggae at Shrine

2/11, 7:30 PM pianist Edmund Arkus plays Brahms, Liszt and Haydn at the Third St. Music School Settlement, free

2/11, 8 PM House of Stride: Allison Leyton-Brown – piano; Russ Meissner – drums; Jim Whitney – upright bass and special guest Daria Grace at Barbes followed at 10 by Smokey Hormel’s Roundup doing their western swing thing.

2/11, 9 PM Changing Modes – the cleverly eclectic, sometimes new wave tinged female-fronted art-pop/punk band responsible for our choice of best song of 2010 – at Fontana’s.

2/11, 9:30 PM the Sometime Boys – a sometimes haunting, sometimes slinky and funky, sometimes rustically fun acoustic Americana spinoff of fiery art-rockers System Noise – at Branded Saloon, 603 Vanderbilt Ave. at Bergen, Ft. Greene, Brooklyn. Directions: 2/3/4 train to Bergen. Walk east on Bergen about 2 blocks to Vanderbilt. Or take the B/Q to 7th Ave/Brighton and walk north on Carlton 3 short blocks. Take a right on Bergen and walk one block to Vanderbilt

2/11 up-and-coming jazz vibraphonist Tyler Blanton and band at Miles Cafe, 9:30 PM $20 includes a drink and “snacks.”

2/11, 10 PM latin soul big band the Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout at 55 Bar.

2/11, 10:30 PM cool improvs with Nasheet Waits’ Equality Band: Logan Richardson, alto sax; John Hebert, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums at the Cornelia St. Cafe, $10.

2/11, 10:30 PM big band bassist/composer Joris Teepe leads a quintet at the Fat Cat.

2/11 Belgian barroom accordion jazz revivalists Musette Explosion at City Winery, 11 PM, free w/rsvp before 2/8 to concierge@citywinery.com

2/11, 11 PM SOJA (formerly Soldiers of Jah Army) play roots reggae at Bowery Ballroom, $25 gen adm.

2/11, 11:30ish noir rock legend Martin Bisi with Brian Viglione of the Dresden Dolls on drums at Bruar Falls, early arrival advised.

2/11 ska-punk with the Rudie Crew at Otto’s at midnight.

2/11, midnight, wittily tuneful, original jazz trumpeter John McNeil and his Quartet at Puppets Jazz Bar

2/12, 1 PM a free concert at Bargemusic, program TBA, most likely piano music, early arrival advised.

2/12, 6:30 PM ecstatic oldschool New Orleans funk/soul with Brother Joscephus and The Love Revival Revolution Orchestra at le Poisson Rouge, $10 adv tix rec.

2/12, 8 PM, repeating 2/13, 3 PM the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony plays Tschaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 with the fiery, virtuosic Karine Poghosyan on piano and Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2 at All Saints Church, 230 E 60th St. (2/3rd Aves)., adv. tix $20 rec.

2/12, 8 PM Bassam Saba and the 30-piece New York Arabic Orchestra at Symphony Space, $30/$20 stud/srs. Arguably the foremost Middle Eastern orchestra in North America, Saba also has an extraordinary new album out, Wonderful Land, a tribute to his native Lebanon. This will sell out, adv tix. absolutely required.

2/12, 8 PM global brass madness with Veveritse Brass Band followed at 10 by Red Baraat at Barbes.

2/12 a tasty ska doublebill with the Forthrights and the Pietasters at the Brooklyn Bowl, 8 PM.

2/12, 8:15 PM smart, socially aware Americana/acoustic psychedelic songwriter Allysen Callery at Caffe Vivaldi.

2/12, 8:30 PM Balkan-tinged jazz with the Ben Holmes Quartet feat. Ben Holmes (trumpet); Curtis Hasselbring (trombone); Geoff Kraly (bass); Vinnie Sperrazza (drums) at I-Beam.

2/12, 9 PM relentless, psychedelic Mississippi hill country style blues guitarist Will Scott – a worthy heir to the RL Burnside/Junior Kimbrough throne – at 68 Jay St. Bar.

2/12, 9 PM imaginative large country band Yarn – whose horn section makes perfect sense – at Sullivan Hall, $12.

2/12, 10 PM Kevin Batchelor’s Grand Concourse feat. members of Rocksteady 7, The Stingers & Westbound Train plays classic and original ska at Two Boots Brooklyn.

2/13, 3 PM the Greenwich Village Orchestra play an all-Brahms bill: Hungarian Dance No. 5; the Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, and Symphony No. 2 at Washington Irving HS Auditorium, $20 sug don. They’ve done all these previously, and brilliantly.

2/13 Frances-Marie Uitti, cello and Lisa Bielawa, composer/vocalist playing and singing Xenakis, Luciano Berio, and improvised settings of sonnets by Christian Hawkey, 6:30 PM at le Poisson Rouge, $15.

2/13, 7 PM violinist Hye-Jin Kim at Barbes, program TBA, followed at 9:30ish by jazz manouche monster Stephane Wrembel.

2/13, 8:30 PM the massively hilarious all-female accordion ensemble Main Squeeze Orchestra play the cd release show for their new one at Drom.

2/13, 9 PM Virginia’s hottest original bluegrass band the Dixie Bee-Liners at the Jalopy.

2/13, 11 PM literate powerpop star Patti Rothberg plays the cd release for her somewhat controversial new one Overnite Sensation at Otto’s. Only in New York – most recently she’s playing some stadium with the B-52’s, but she’s doing her cd release at Otto’s late on a Sunday. Early arrival advised.

2/14, 6 PM classic tango with the Hector Del Curto Tango Orchestra at the World Financial Center, free

2/14, 9 PM big band jazz night with the Delphian Jazz Orchestra at Tea Lounge in Park Slope

2/14, 9ish a rare Rosie Flores solo acoustic show at Bowery Electric, $10 adv tix rec.

2/14 oldtimey swing with Daria Grace and the Pre-War Ponies – “the best Valentines band in New York City” – 10ish at Rodeo Bar.

2/14, 10 PM Ghanian-American hip-hop powerhouse Blitz the Ambassador and his wild Afrobeat band at the new cafe at the Apollo Theatre, $15 adv tix rec.

2/15, 7 PM jazz/Americana violin star Jenny Scheinman at Barbes followed at 9 by Slavic Soul Party

2/15-20 intense jazz vibraphonist Joe Locke w/Geoffrey Keezer, George Mraz, Clarence Penn & Kenny Washington on vocals, 7:30/9:30 PM at Dizzy’s Club, $30 tix avail.

2/15, 7:30/9:30 PM saxophonist Seamus Blake leads a quartet with David Kikoski – piano; Matt Penman – bass; Victor Lewis – drums at the Jazz Standard, $20

2/15 tango nuevo bandoneon genius Raul Jaurena leads a trio with Pablo Aslan on bass and Roger Davidson on piano at Caffe Vivaldi, 8:15 PM.

2/15 compelling, frequently creepy art-folk chanteuse Larkin Grimm at Union Pool, 11 PM

2/16, 6:30 PM innovative violinist/composer Ana Milosavljevic plays an eclectic bill with Kathleen Supové on piano feat. TAKE Dance Music by Aleksandra Vrebalov, Eve Beglarian, Svjetlana Bukvich-Nichols and Milosavljevic herself at le Poisson Rouge, $10 adv tix rec. She played most of this program last year at Lincoln Center and it was very hypnotic and interesting.

2/16, 7:30/9:30 PM saxophonist Noah Preminger leads the quartet who play on his absolutely brilliant, terse new ballads album Before the Rain: Frank Kimbrough at the piano, John Hebert on bass and Matt Wilson on drums at the Jazz Standard, $20 – could be one of those shows people will be talking about for a long time.

2/16, 7:30 PM opening night of the Tune-In Festival at the Park Ave. Armory, 643 Park Ave. features Sympho, New York Polyphony, and Charles Perry Sprawls playing Arvo Pärt’s epic Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten plus the otherworldly world premiere of ARCO co-composed by Paul Haas, Paul Fowler and Bora Yoon, $25

2/16, 7:30 PM Georgy Valtchev, violin; Amir Eldan, cello; Lora Tchekoratova, piano  play Beethoven: Sonata in A Major, op 69; Sonata in A Major, op. 47, “Kreutzer;” Piano Trio in B-flat Major, “Archduke” at the Bulgarian Consulate, 121 E 62nd. St., free.

2/16, 8 PM subtle, soulful jazz/rock/Americana wordsmith/tunesmith Dina RuDean at Bowery Electric

2/16, 8 PM psychedelic Australian art-rock legends the Church play three of their classic albums in their entirety: Untitled #23, Starfish and Priest = Aura at the Highline, tix are painfully expensive ($39.50) but are probably worth it. on 2/17 they’re at B.B. King’s

2/16-18, 8 PM flamenco jazz piano titan Chano Dominguez’ Flamenco Hoy music/dance spectacular at NY City Center, 55th St. (6/7 Aves.), $35 tix avail.

2/16, 8 PM sharply literate, understatedly intense soul/rock songwriter Dina Rudeen with her excellent band at Bowery Electric

2/16, 8:30 PM a potentially alchemical bill with Brandon Ross – guitar/banjo/vocal with Stomu Takeishi – acoustic bass guitar and JT Lewis – drums at Roulette, $15

2/16 scorching Nashville gothic/paisley underground rockers the Newton Gang at Lakeside at 9 PM.

2/16, 10 PM virtuosic cello metal with Stratuspheerius at Fat Baby.

2/16, 10ish Vagina Panther at Death by Audio – snarling, in-your-face, female-fronted riff-metal.

2/17, 7:30 PM violinist Gil Morgenstern’s latest Reflections Series concert – this time with pianist Jonathan Feldman – explores the influence of location and dislocation on creativity with music by Ernest Chausson, Erin Schulhoff, Bedrich Smetana, Frédéric Chopin and Leoš Janácek. At WMP Concert Hall, 31 East 28th St.

2/17, 7:30 PM night two of the Tune-In Festival at the Park Ave. Armory, 643 Park Ave. features diverse politically-inspired avant garde music: ferocious, fearless new music ensemble Newspeak doing Matt Marks: A Portrait of Glenn Beck (2009), Eighth Blackbird playing Rzewski’s Attica memoir Coming Together, plus an all-star crew playing Andriessen’s Worker’s Union, $30.

2/17 cleverly lyrical classic pop/janglerock goddess Patti Rothberg at the Parkside, 8:30 PM

2/17, 8:30/10:30 smart new alto sax compositions with Jacam Manricks – saxes, Matt Wilson – drums and Sam Yahael- organ at the Bar Next Door.

2/17 worldbeat siren Chiwoniso plays Zimbabwean mbira funk at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM, free, early arrival advised.

2/17 all-purpose jazz/Americana stringed instrument virtuoso Matt Munisteri at Barbes, 10 PM.

2/17, 10 PM Ilamawana play original roots reggae at Shrine.

2/18, 7:30 PM NYC noir art-rock legends Elysian Fields at le Poisson Rouge, $15

2/18-20 the Mingus Big Band and then on 2/21 the Mingus Orchestra at the Jazz Standard, 7:30/9:30 PM, $25-30 tix rec.

2/18, 7:30 PM the MSM Philharmonia play Sejourne: Marimba Concerto; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol, op.34; Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 73 at Borden Auditorium at Manhattan School of Music, $10/$5 stud/srs.

2/18, 8 PM devious intense, literate, charismatic ukelele siren/songwriter Kelli Rae Powell solo at Jimmy’s 43, 43 East 7th St, eet in the East Village

2/18 smart eclectic new jazz and funk with trumpet star Leron Thomas, Boston band Six Figures and saxophonist Logan Richardson at the 92YTribeca, 9 PM, $10 adv tix rec.

2/18 Scott Kettner’s Forro Brass Band at Barbes at 8 followed by hip-hop/soul/jazz crew Peoples Champs at 10 feat. members of Slavic Soul Party, Meta and the Cornerstones, Baye Kouyate, Jo Jo Kuo and His Afrobeat Collective, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Afrodesia, Nation Beat.

2/18, 8:30 PM Dawn of Midi: Indian contrabassist Aakaash Israni, Pakistani percussionist Qasim Naqvi, and Moroccan pianist Amino Belyamani plus celebrated electric guitar quartet Dither playing new works including world premieres by Brent Miller, Adam Fong and Denise Gilson, and music by Lisa R. Coons from Dither’s 2010 album at Issue Project Room, $10.

2/18, 10 PM fiery noir guitar rocker Nathan Halpern and band – sort of the cross between Orbison and Pulp – at Sunny’s in Red Hook

2/18 sly western swing/country crooner Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers 10ish at Rodeo Bar.

2/19, 11 AM this year’s free marathon at Symphony Space is “young concert artists,” that is if you think under 50 is young. OK, by some standards it is. The complete schedule is here: the choicest hours seem to be the Bach hour at 11 AM and the Chopin hour (which you might think of arriving early for) at 3.

2/19, 8 PM at Trash the Brooklyn What’s monthly ass-kicking rock throwdown: big powerpop buzz band New Atlantic Youth, clever, percussively hypnotic indie duo Eleanor, Let Me Crazy, the Nuclears, the Brooklyn What and rock/ska en Espanol titans Escarioka, who are as good a pick as any for best live band in NYC. Wow.

2/19, 8 PM French early music choir le Poeme Harmonique sing a program titled Esperar, Sentir, Morir at Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 145 W 4th St., $35 tix avail.

2/19, 9 PM Middle Eastern multi-instrumentalist legend Ali Jihad Racy makes his debut at Alwan for the Arts, $25/$20 stud/srs. – this program focuses on the classical musical traditions of the Ottoman Sufi world featuring peformances on the buzuq and ney. Early arrival very highly advised, this will sell out.

2/19, 9 PM the Roulette Sisters – whose innuendo-steeped yet deep oldtime blues harmony album is a top contender for the year’s best – at the Jalopy.

2/19 and again on 2/26 deviously smart, edgy pianist/songwriter Lee Feldman plays the Path Cafe, 131 Christopher near Hudson, at 9 followed by singer-songwriter Daniel Hartnett who comes with some psych rock and Americana cred.

2/19, 10 PM legendary literate Irish punk/janglerockers Black 47 at Connolly’s

2/19, 11 PM NYC’s fun, funny, fiery counterpart to X, Spanking Charlene at Lakeside.

2/19, 11:30 PM snarling 90s indie rock trio Versus at the Mercury, $12

2/20 a rare solo appearance by legendary chanteuse Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl at Caffe Vivaldi, 8 PM.

2/20 multi-reed man Ben Kono’s cd release show with a choice band: Ben Kono, tenor sax, oboe, english horn, clarinets, flutes, compositions; Pete McCann, guitar; Henry Hey, piano; John Hollenbeck, drums, percussion; John Hebert, bass; Heather Laws, voice, French horn at the Cornelia St. Cafe, 8:30 PM, $10.

2/20, 9:30 PM agelessly assaultive faux-metal terrorists Gwar at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $25 gen adm.

2/21, 4 PM now everybody wants to do their own Bang on a Can marathon – which is ok with us. The latest avant festival is at Symphony Space, it’s cheap ($10) and features an “85th birthday tribute to Gunther Schuller performed by Ensemble Pi, the US debut of Ireland’s Fidelio Trio performing works by Charles Wuorinen and Evan Ziporyn, new songs from Errollyn Wallen, visual musical collaboration as performances by Matt Sullivan on oboe with live electronics and by jazz pianist Gustavo Casenave are accompanied by live painting from artists Ken Cro-Ken and Vicky Barranguet. Also featured is the Cassatt Quartet joined by Ursula Oppens, and appearances by composers Joan Tower, Huang Ruo, Tania Leon, David Del Tredici, and Amir El Saffar, among others.”

2/21, 6:30 PM soaring, intense, original country rockers Her & Kings County at the Mercury, $10. They were good when they were playing Hank’s five years ago – touring nationally now, they’re even better.

2/21 the Enso Quartet at Advent Church, 93rd and Broadway, 7:30 PM, free.

2/21, 8:30/10:30 PM haunting and sometimes quirky vocalese fueled jazz with Sara Serpa – vocals; Andre Matos – guitar; Matt Brewer – bass at the Bar Next Door.

2/21 eclectic Balkan/Greek/Jewish powerhouse Klezwoods and intense Eastern European juggernaut Raya Brass Band at Coco 66, 9ish.

2/21, 9 PM the Mike Fahie Jazz Orchestra (led by the first trombonist in Darcy James Argue’s band) at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

2/21, 9:30 PM a rare small club appearance by the JD Allen Trio (with Dezron Douglas on bass this time around, maybe working up some new tunes) at Smalls. Allen might be the most consistently interesting composer in jazz right now – if you’re free this could be a night to remember.

2/22, 6 PM in the Alice Tully Hall outer lobby International Contemporary Ensemble performing the world premiere of Nathan Davis’ Bells, free.

2/22, 8 PM southpaw guitarslinger Sam Sherwin – who’s doing the catchy Jakob Dylanesque janglerock/soul thing now – at Arlene’s

2/22-26 alto sax legend Dave Liebman with his famous 80s quartet including pianist Richie Beirach, bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart, 8:30/11 PM at Birdland, $30 tix avail.

2/23, 6 PM avant sounds from Allison Miller & Boom Tic Boom followed by Gutbucket playing the cd release for their new one at le Poisson Rouge, $12.

2/23, 8 PM the New York Chamber Virtuosi play Schubert (Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667), Saint Saens, Rossini, Weber and more at a “soiree” at the Gershwin Hotel

2/23, 8 PM ferocious psychedelic country/psychedelic rockers the Newton Gang upstairs at the National Underground.

2/23, 8:30 PM soaring Americana with banjo player Hilary Hawke & the Flipsides at 68 Jay St. Bar.

2/23, 8:30 PM a benefit concert “for education and to celebrate the Egyptian Revolution, feat. Shadia Mansour, Lowkey, Logic, Narcycist, Marcel Cartier, Mazzi of S.O.U.L. Purpose, Lah Tere of Rebel Diaz, Likwuid, Jody McIntyre. Proceeds to benefit Egypt Relief: Resala, LEAP, and Existence is Resistance” at Galapagos, $20 adv tix rec.

2/23, 10 PM subtle, psychedelic, completely original roots reggae/dub/worldbeat band Kiwi play at Shrine.

2/24, 7:30 PM irrepressible, irresistible Americana harmony trio Red Molly at the big room at the Rockwood welcoming new member Molly Venter, $10.

2/24, 7:30 PM fearless, politically aware new music group Newspeak play the world premiere of Darcy James Argue’s The Sleep Room; Argue’s Secret Society big band plays works by Vijay Iyer and Newspeak’s David T. Little at Merkin Concert Hall, $25 tix rec.

2/24 Irish and American new music with the Fidelio Trio and Evan Ziporyn, 7:30 PM at Symphony Space, $15

2/24, 8 PM clever, entertaining toy piano aficionado Phyllis Chen at Barbes.

2/24, 8 PM a rare worthwhile concert at Irving Plaza – roots reggae nostalgia with 80s stars the Itals, the Skatalites (probably no original members) and crooner Barrington Levy, $32.50 adv tix rec. at the box office.

2/24, 8 PM a rare acoustic duo show by Americana roots rock maven Jon Sobel and smart roots-pop tunesmith Elisa Peimer at Uncle Bourbon’s, 691 Bay St., Staten Island

2/24, 8:30 PM African-flavored jazz with percussionist Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble feat. Corey Wilkes and Ernest Dawkins at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, free, early arrival advised.

2/24 Pauline Oliveros performs Oracle Bones, a work corresponding to the Taoist Cardinal Directions, on accordion along with the spoken word of Ione and the koto of Miya Masaoka, 9 PM at Roulette, $15

2/24, 9 PM nobody but roots rock fanatics remembered who Wanda Jackson was until she made an album with Jack White and now all of a sudden all the trendoids are all over it. But anyway, she’s good – nice to see her get a $30 headline gig at Bowery Ballroom.

2/24, 9/10:30 PM brooding, intense Argentinian piano eclecticist Fernando Otero leads a sextet at the Jazz Gallery, first set $15, second one is $10, band includes Fernando Otero – piano, Nick Danielson – violin, Juan Pablo Jofre Romarion – bandoneon, Martin Moretto – guitar, Pablo Aslan – bass, David Silliman – drums.

2/25, 7:30 PM adventurous Hungarian world music ambassadors Czik Band at Symphony Space, $30 adv tix rec

2/25, 7:30 PM reliably adrenalizing alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw leads a trio at the Bar Next Door.

2/25, 8 PM the wry, tongue-in-cheek instrumentalists Songs for Unusual Creatures at Barbes feat. Michael Hearst, Allyssa Lamb, Ben Holmes and Kristin Mueller (the same people who brought you Songs for Ice Cream Trucks).

2/25, 8 PM deviously funny, brilliantly tuneful songwriter Sharon Goldman in the round with the similar Americana-influenced Carolann Solebello and blue eyed soul siren Meg Braun at the Good Coffeehouse Music Series at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West, Park Slope, 2 train to Grand Army Plaza

2/25, 8 PM Boston garage rockers Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents open for third-wave surf superstars Los Straitjackets at the Bell House, 8 PM, $15.

2/25, 8 PM drummer Neal Smith leads a quintet with Eric Alexander, tenor saxophone, Mark Whitfield, guitar, Mulgrew Miller, piano, Neal Smith, drums, Nat Reeves, bass at the Miller Theatre at Columbia Univ., 116th and Broadway, $25/$15 stud.

2/25 a classic oldschool NYC avant lineup: Susie Ibarra, drums, percussion, composer; Bridget Kibbey, harp; Jennifer Choi, violin; Kathleen Supové, piano 8:30 PM at Roulette, $15

2/25 la Fleur Fatale play 9 PM at Union Hall – majestic tuneful hard-hitting psychedelic powerpop from Sweden.

2/25, 9/10:30 PM bassist Gregg August leads a quartet with Sam Newsome – soprano saxophone, Luis Perdomo – piano, Rudy Royston – drums at the Jazz Gallery

2/25, 10 PM the irrepressible clown prince of oldschool country music, the Jack Grace Band at Rodeo Bar.

2/25, 11 PM the hilarious, X-rated girlgroup parody band Cudzoo & the Fagettes at Arlene’s – kind of the ultimate Friday night madness that would have fit in perfectly in this neighborhood ten years ago when it was still cool.

2/25, 11 PM Cleveland surf rock legends Purple K’nif – with the Waitresses’ Chris Butler on drums – at Lakeside.

2/26, 7 PM up-and-coming Americana chanteuse/songwriter Sarah Jarosz at the little room at the Rockwood

2/26, 7 PM hypnotic cello/marimba duo Goli open for goth-tinged art-rock songwriter Kristin Hoffmann at Caffe Vivaldi

2/26 ageless, fearless chamber-goth cello band Rasputina at the Highline Ballroom, 8 PM, $15 adv tix rec. Voltaire – who’s most recently been ripping off Mark Sinnis’ Nashville gothic sound – opens at 7.

2/26, 7:30 PM dark French psychedelic pop with Revolver at the Mercury, $10.

2/26, 8 PM the Lewis Nash Quintet : Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; Jimmy Greene, saxophone; Renee Rosnes, piano; Lewis Nash, drums; Peter Washington, bass at the Miller Theatre at Columbia Univ., 116th and Broadway, $25/$15 stud

2/26, 8 PM deviously torchy, wickedly lyrical ukelele siren Kelli Rae Powell opens for  prolific, lyrically intense Americana songwriter Jessi Robertson, playing the cd release show for her impressive new one Small Town Girls at 10 PM at Bar 4.

2/26, 8 PM Tony Malaby’s Novela featuring Kris Davis conducting from the piano at I-Beam

2/26, 9 PM soulful powerhouse Lebanese singer Naji Youssef performs Melkite and Maronite hymns and chants at Alwan for the Arts, $20/$15 stud.

2/26, 9 PM the Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band at Rodeo Bar.

2/26, 10:30 PM 1960s New Orleans soul survivor Willie West makes his NYC debut at Southpaw, $10 adv tix rec.

2/26, 11 PM the world’s funniest bar bandleader Jesse Bates & His Flying Guitars feat. various members of the Fleshtones at Lakeside

2/26, 11 PM East Village Pharmacy play dub reggae and psychedelic latin grooves at Shrine

2/26 Bill Ware’s Vibes Quartet at midnight 9 PM at Puppets Jazz Bar

2/27, 7:30 PM, an avant evening with Tristan Perich with Loud Objects, Jakum Ciupinski and the Syzygy New Music Ensemble at Galapagos, $12

2/27, 9 PM darkly comedic, intense, politically aware singer/composer Ted Hearne – whose Katrina Ballads album made our Best of 2010 list – at Littlefield, $10.

2/27, 10ish Iraqi metal monsters Acrassicauda at Bowery Electric, $15.

2/28 The Noriko Ueda Jazz Orchestra 9 PM at Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

2/28, 10 PM Motorhead at the Nokia Theatre, adv tix $37.50 available

3/1 drummer John Hollenbeck’s epically good Large Ensemble at the Jazz Standard, sets 7:30/9:30 PM.

3/2 creepy, cinematic, noir instrumentalists Mojo Mancini at the big room at the Rockwood ,7 PM $10

3/2, 7:30 PM the Wiyos at Rock Shop in Gowanus, $10

3/3, 7ish smart lo-fi garage duo the Fools, the Debutante Hour’s reliably entertaining, clever Susan Hwang and fearless punk cabaret songwriter Sabrina Chap among others at Goodbye Blue Monday.

3/3, 8 PM modern roots reggae with Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad and Rebelution at Irving Plaza, $20 adv tix rec.

3/3 Police cover band NY’s Finest at 9 followed by Tammy Faye Starlite’s hilarious Blondie tribute/spoof band the Pretty Babies at 10 at R Bar

3/3, 9 PM lushly rustic atmospheric Americana duo Arborea followed at 10 by lutenist Jozef Van Wissum at Littlefield, $10.

3/3, 10:30 PM Whiting Tennis – the former Scholars frontman and arguably the finest practitioner of Pacific Northwest gothic rock – at Pete’s.

3/4-5, 8 PM at the Kitchen: “Inspired by her immigrant grandfather, a junk dealer in the Lower East Side who recycled scrap metal and other byproducts of the industrial age, Annie Gosfield will sample the sounds of metal, machines, and factories, and transform these raw materials into something new. Featuring two ensembles: the Annie Gosfield Ensemble, with Gosfield on sampling keyboard, Roger Kleier on electric guitar, and Ches Smith on drums and percussion; and Real Quiet with Felix Fan on cello, piano by Andrew Russo, and guest percussionist Alex Lipowski. Also pianist Stephen Gosling performs a selection of Gosfield solos.”

3/4 entertaining, intense Boston horror-surf rockers Beware The Dangers Of A Ghost Scorpion at Otto’s; they’re at Spike Hill on 3/27

3/4, 10ish the New Collisions at Union Hall; 3/5 they’re at the little downstairs room at Webster Hall at 8 followed by Deluka at 9. Good doublebill!

3/4, 11 PM hypnotic, melodic cellist/composer Julia Kent at Littlefield, $8

3/5, 8 PM utterly original cantorial riff-rockers Sway Machinery open for Malian psychedelic desert blues goddess Khaira Arby at the Bell House, 8 PM, $15 adv tix rec.

3/5, 8 PM, repeating on 3/6, 3 PM the Chelsea Symphony plays Sibelius’ lush, lyrical Fifth Symphony and other works at St. Paul’s Church, 315 W 22nd St.

3/5 gypsy punk with Bad Buka (FKA Panonian Wave) at Mehanata, 10 PM

3/5, 10 PM Koony plays darkly intense, lyrical African Francophone roots reggae at Shrine.

3/5 hilariously satirical, lyrically-driven torch song parody band the Debutante Hour’s cd release show, 11 PM at Bowery Electric.

3/7 the uncommonly imaginative Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra at Dizzy’s Club 7:30/9:30 PM, $20

3/8, 8 PM Ice Cube – yeah, the guy from the Friday movies, doing his rap thing (back in the day he was one of the great ones) at B.B. King’s, $27 adv tix rec.

3/8, guessing sometime around 11ish, Raekwon plays a cd release show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $15 adv tix rec.

3/8-12, 11 PM bassist Jennifer Leitham leads a trio with Sherrie Maricle on drums and Tomoko Ohno (not to be confused with the former Red Sox pitcher) on piano at Dizzy’s Club, $10 tix avail.

3/8, 11 PM Eli Paperboy Reed at the Knitting Factory, $15, all ages

3/9 adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider with Iranian spike fiddle virtuoso/composer Kayhan Kalhor at Alice Tully Hall, 7:30 PM, $20.

3/9, 7:30 PM cello-driven world music band Deoro plays the big room at the Rockwood.

3/10 NYC indie/janglerock legends Scout 8 PM at the small room at the Rockwood

3/10 Stephan Said’s Magic Orchestra, 8 PM at Drom, $10 – fiery, socially aware rock, hip-hop, Balkan and reggae tunes

3/10 Burnt Sugar play Bowie at the Atrium at Lincoln Center, 8:30 PM.

3/10, 9 PM two of the funniest and most period-perfect songwriters in oldtimey Americana, Al Duvall and Robin Aigner at Rest Au Rant, 30-01 35th Ave., Long Island City.

3/11-12, 8 PM the long-awaited debut of The Songs of Buelah Rowley, by the brilliantly eclectic Mary Lee Kortes at the Cell Theatre, 338 W. 23rd St. (8th and 9th Aves.): “A song cycle with narration and projections based on the biography of Beulah Rowley, a regionally-known depression-era singer and songwriter from the Midwest,” $20 adv tix rec.

3/11, 8 PM the Budos Band at the Bell House, $15.

3/11, 9 PM powerpop/oldschool R&B with the Brilliant Mistakes at the small room at the Rockwood.

3/11-12 Wess Anderson, Charles McPherson and others play music from Charlie Parker’s Bird with Strings at Rose Theatre at Lincoln Center, $30 tix avail.

3/12, 7:30 PM psychedelic Middle Eastern/Balkan/Asian jamband Tribecastan at Joe’s Pub, $15 adv tix rec.

3/12, 8 PM lush, clever, quirky art-rockers the Universal Thump at Barbes.

3/13, 3 PM organist Gail Archer plays Liszt at West End Collegiate Church, West End Ave. at 77th St.

3/13, 7 PM, hot modern klezmer with the Klez Dispensers at Drom, $10.

3/13, 9 PM a wild cerebral exuberant intense psychedelic doublebill at Joe’s Pub with the incomparable Rachelle Garniez opening for Electric Junkyard Gamelan. The former topped our best albums list in 2007; the latter played arguably the best concert we saw all year long in 2010.

3/15-16, 9ish Godspeed You Black Emperor at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, $TBA, this may sell out, no word on adv tix.

3/18, 7 PM pianist Simone Dinnerstein PS 142, 100 Attorney St. (Rivington/Delancey), $15, program TBA, possibly Bach from her ridiculously popular new cd.

3/18, 7:30 PM the NYC debut of big band arrangements of Esquivel “compositions” by Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica at le Poisson Rouge, $20 adv tix rec

3/18, 8 PM, repeating 3/19/11 at 9 PM at Symphony Space, legendary Lebanese expat oud icon/composer Marcel Khalife in the US premiere of his Concerto Al Andalus for oud and orchestra; Armenia’s most renowned kanun (zither) virtuoso, Karine Hovhannisyan, performing the concerto for kanun and orchestra by Khachatur Avetisyan; and clarinetist David Krakauer playing the NY premiere of the Klezmer Concerto by Ofer Ben-Amots for strings, harp, percussion and clarinet; plus the eclectic Orchestra Celebrate, conducted by Laurine Celeste Fox, $25 adv tix avail. at the World Music Institute box office and highly rec.

3/18 Richard Thompson at NJPAC in Newark – $35 tix still available according to their website.

3/18, 8 PM new music ensemble Detour at Galapagos, program TBA, $10

3/19 irrepressible folk/Americana harmony trio Red Molly with Pat Wictor on guitar at the First Acoustics Coffeehouse in downtown Brooklyn, $30 adv tix rec.

3/21 Israeli Jam/Buzzcocks ripoff Electra at Bruar Falls

3/23-24 Lila Downs at City Winery

3/23, 7:30 PM, new music ensemble Le Train Bleu plays their debut performance of Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat at Galapagos, $20/$10 stud.

3/23, 7:30 PM Pedro Diaz, oboe; Milan Milisavljevic, viola; Anna Stoytcheva, piano play Schumann, Brahms, Saint-Saens and Loeffler at the Bulgarian Consulate, 121 E 62nd. St., free.

3/23 former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft at Bowery Ballroom, 9ish

3/24, 8 PM the Talea Ensemble play new works by Evan Ziporyn, Rand Steiger, Fred Lerdahl, David Fulmer, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Aaron Cassidy: “a highlight on the program will be a world premiere by Rand Steiger entitled A Menacing Plume (2011) which is a musical response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.” At Merkin Concert Hall, $20

3/25,9 PM charming, sultry French chanson revivalists les Chauds Lapins play the cd release show for their long awaited second album Amourettes at the 92YTribeca, $12.

3/27, 6:30 PM the Jack Quartet plays György Ligeti, Steve Lehman, and Horatiu Radulescu at le Poisson Rouge, $15

3/28 the Jasper Quartet at Advent Church, 93rd and Broadway, 7:30 PM, free.

3/31, 8 PM the Chiara String Quartet’s latest Creator/Curator concert features Lutoslawski’s String Quartet (with improvisations) and Daniel Ott’s String Quartet No. 2

at Galapagos, $10 adv tix rec

4/2 Graham Parker at City Winery.

4/3, 2 (two) PM the Parker String Quartet free at Flushing Town Hall.

4/5, 9 PM Wire at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20 adv tix rec.

4/9, 8 PM up-and-coming southwestern gothic star Kerry Kennedy – part noir femme fatale, part fiery bandleader – at Union Hall, $12 adv tix highly rec.

4/9, 10 PM the Black Angels at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20 adv tix. on sale 2/4