Our guide to pop and rock shows and the best of live jazz.
Pop
CHARLES BISSELL at the Bowery Ballroom (Dec. 29, 9 p.m.). In the fall of 2003, the New Jersey rock band the Wrens released a burned-out masterwork called “The Meadowlands.” The group’s third album, and first in seven years, it drew rapturous (and well-deserved) praise from the critics of the day. Next came the waiting — which, as Tom Petty memorably observed, is often the hardest part. Rumors of a follow-up album have come and gone for much of the intervening decade-plus. This solo performance by the Wrens’ singer-guitarist, Charles Bissell, opening for the indie-rock act Cymbals Eat Guitars, may offer a glimpse of that elusive release.
877-987-6487, boweryballroom.com
FERN MAYO at Sunnyvale (Jan. 2, 8 p.m.). Named for a character in the dark cult-classic comedy “Jawbreaker,” from 1999, Fern Mayo plays ’90s-style alt-rock with an appropriately mordant zest, as heard on its supercharged 2016 EP, “Hex Signs.” The group is working on a full-length debut for 2018, and this show in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a good choice for anyone who hopes to ring in the new year with a blast of heartfelt noise. With Dump Him, Fleabite and Mallrat.
877-987-6487, sunnyvalebk.com
LETTUCE at Brooklyn Bowl (Dec. 29-31, 8:30 p.m.). This jam-friendly funk and jazz act paid tribute to one of its heroes in October with “Witches Stew,” a live set of Miles Davis covers drawn from the pioneering trumpeter’s electric period of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It’s a heady, expansive listen, suggesting high-flying possibilities for this three-night run, with the guitarist John Scofield (a collaborator of Mr. Davis’s) sitting in.
718-963-3369, brooklynbowl.com
MOOR MOTHER at Brooklyn Bazaar (Jan. 4, 8 p.m.). Camae Ayewa, the Philadelphia artist who performs as Moor Mother, is a rapper, an activist and an ecstatically free noise collagist. Writing about a festival performance by Ms. Ayewa last spring, the New York Times critic Jon Pareles noted, “The set was equally eloquent verbally and nonverbally.” Expect to leave this Thursday night show feeling challenged and enlightened.
877-987-6487, bkbazaar.com
TELEVISION at the Bowery Ballroom (Dec. 30-3110 p.m.). If Television begins playing “Marquee Moon” at approximately 11:54 p.m. on Sunday night, revelers on the Bowery will enter 2018 midway through one of rock’s most ebullient guitar solos. Even failing such a moment of synchronicity, this New Year’s performance will be one to remember. Taking place just a few blocks south of the fashion storefront that once housed CBGB, where Television played frequently in the 1970s, it’s an opportunity to commune with New York’s flickering post-punk past and wonder what’s still to come. With the brilliantly witty singer-songwriter Eleanor Friedberger.
877-987-6487, boweryballroom.com
TESTPILOT at Depot 52 Warehouse (Dec. 30, 10 p.m.). Here are some differences between Deadmau5 and Testpilot: Deadmau5 performs in a gigantic light-up rodent mask; Testpilot does not. Deadmau5 built a wildly successful career with melodic, crowd-pleasing house music; Testpilot prefers sleek techno. That’s about it. Both stage names are aliases for the Canadian producer and social media provocateur Joel Zimmerman, who will bring his more modest alter ego to New York for the first time at this Brooklyn warehouse gig on Saturday night. With Tensnake and Dennis Ferrer.
512-674-9300, teksupport.frontgatetickets.com
SIMON VOZICK-LEVINSON
Jazz
MONTY ALEXANDER at Birdland (Jan. 2-6, 8:30 and 11 p.m.). Mr. Alexander, a pianist, mingles the rhythms of his native Jamaica with his talents as a gospel-tinged jazz improviser. With his Harlem-Kingston Express, he brings together musicians versed in both reggae and straight-ahead jazz, creating a brew that’s danceable and lilting and often ramps up from hypnotic to electrifying.
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com
DEZRON DOUGLAS-JOHNATHAN BLAKE QUARTET at Smalls (Dec. 29-30, 10:30 p.m. and midnight). Two adroit players with verve to spare, the bassist Mr. Douglas and the drummer Mr. Blake make a potent rhythm section. Mr. Douglas knows how to goad his band mates through suggestion and understatement; Mr. Blake makes big gestures that can roll and rumble without crowding out anyone else’s narrative. Here the two sit at the helm of a quartet that includes the alto saxophonist Lummie Spann and the pianist Victor Gould.
646-476-4346, smallslive.com
BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO at the Village Vanguard (Jan. 2-7, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.). Mr. Mehldau, 47, is among the leading pianists of his generation. For over 10 years he’s held together this trio, with the bassist Larry Grenadier and the bassist Jeff Ballard; it centers on Mr. Mehldau’s ability to imbue both jazz standards and contemporary pop tunes with a plain-stated beauty, thanks to his rich major harmonies and tumbling way with melody. The group’s appearances at the Vanguard have become a tradition of their own, and have produced multiple albums.
212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com
RENÉ MARIE at Jazz Standard (through Dec. 30, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; Dec. 31, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m.). Ms. Marie seems the archetypal jazz vocalist in a few ways — her amped-up sensuality, her confiding wit, her self-righteous charm — but she never seems to compromise herself for the sake of entertainment. The title of her latest album, “Sound of Red,” an impressive collection of original compositions, sums up her music pretty succinctly. Ms. Marie’s run at the Standard culminates in a special New Year’s Eve performance.
212-576-2232, jazzstandard.com
TOM RAINEY OBBLIGATO TRIO at the Cornelia Street Café (Dec. 30, 8:30 and 10 p.m.). Mr. Rainey, a drummer, crafts constantly shifting, variegated textures on the toms and cymbals, always in fluid response to his band mates. You could go an entire tune without consciously noting his feathery playing, but its impact is working its effects on you nonetheless. With Obbligato, usually assembled as a quintet, he uses a polyphonic approach to unpack jazz standards. The group — which released a lovely sophomore album this year — appears here as a threesome, with Kris Davis on piano and Drew Gress on bass.
212-989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com
CHARENEE WADE at Ginny’s Supper Club (Dec. 30, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Ms. Wade applies a frank and unadorned style to repertoire from across the jazz canon, as well as other corners of the black music tradition. A runner-up at the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, she has released two albums, including “Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson,” on which Ms. Wade transfers the works of that influential poet and musician into a modern-jazz format.
212-421-3821, ginnyssupperclub.com
GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO
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