10 shows to jazz up the Philadelphia spring

As Philly throws a yearlong party to commemorate America’s 250th birthday, it’s only right to include the music that Dizzy Gillespie once called “our native art form” in those celebrations.

Included in Philly’s spring jazz calendar are tributes to major figures on the occasion of their 100th birthdays — Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Randy Weston among them. We’re also blessed to have maestro Marshall Allen still on the planet to celebrate his remarkable 102nd!

Significant, too, are those artists who continue to evolve the commingling of jazz with influences immigrating into the music from across the globe, or, in the case of Navajo/Diné trumpeter Delbert Anderson, from an even older history within our own borders.

Twenty-five years after his first trip to Iraq, trumpeter Amir ElSaffar continues to discover fascinating ways to bridge the sounds of jazz and Western classical music with the traditions of the Arab world. His New Quartet dwells closer to the jazz end of the spectrum. But in inviting the Greek pianist Tania Giannouli to join his trio with saxophonist Ole Mathisen and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, he adds microtonal accents and ornamental filigrees that lead to new territories. arsnovaworkshop.org

Whether or not pianist Orrin Evans checks his horoscope, it makes sense that his birthday celebration includes all his fellow Aries: any excuse to expand a party from a single day to a full month, and to honor an entire community rather than just himself. The weekend of festivities features vibraphonist Warren Wolf (Scorpio) both nights, with an all-star rhythm section on Friday and the adventurous Brooklyn trio Ember on Saturday. chrisjazzcafe.com

Bassist Shawn Lovato stresses the tendency toward romanticism in his music, but he’s thinking less about the florid emotions of Schumann and more about the fervent passions of punk rock. He brings that visceral drama to a pared-down format with Biotic, a bass-forward trio that features saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Henry Mermer. firemuseumpresents.com

For some audiences, a bass solo is the equivalent of a commercial break. So what happens when the stage is occupied by two bassists alone? If the bassists in question are Philly’s favorite son and 11-time Grammy winner Christian McBride, and bluegrass/classical master and Grammy seven-timer Edgar Meyer, it’s unlikely anyone will be leaving their seats. ensembleartsphilly.org

Diné trumpeter Delbert Anderson melds influences from his Navajo ancestry with jazz and other genres. In the world premiere of his Penn Live Arts-commissioned piece Beyond Belief, Anderson will explore the tribe’s uneasy history with America through the interweaving of these parallel musical traditions. pennlivearts.org

Saxophonist T.K. Blue joined Randy Weston’s band in 1989 and remained there for nearly four decades, serving as its music director and arranger until the great pianist’s death in 2018. Blue has now assembled a stellar band to celebrate Weston’s centennial year, with fellow alum Santi Debriano on bass, George Coleman Jr. on drums, and Orrin Evans taking over the piano. chrisjazzcafe.com

The Mexican-born son of legendary Cuban pianist Chico O’Farrill, pianist and bandleader Arturo O’Farrill has used his music to draw connections between the musical traditions of the Americas while defying the walls — literal and figurative — built to divide them. He’ll return to the Annenberg with his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, a raucous octet carved from the ranks of its namesake orchestra. pennlivearts.org

This year’s spring festival kicks off with an electric tribute to Miles Davis led by the trumpet icon’s nephew, drummer Vince Wilburn. It continues with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, son of fellow centenarian John Coltrane, as well as an Orrin Evans-led tribute to Thelonious Monk featuring sax great Gary Bartz. But the lineup also includes worthy sets by everyone from rising newcomers like saxophonist Sarah Hanahan to newly minted National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Carmen Lundy. exitzerojazzfestival.com

May 26 of this year marks the centennial of one of the most significant voices in the history of jazz — or of any music, for that matter. To celebrate the legacy of Miles Davis, the War on Drugs drummer Charlie Hall will convene his long-running ensemble Get Up With It to explore the music of three of Davis’ most groundbreaking albums over a three-night run at Solar Myth, dedicating an evening apiece to In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and Jack Johnson. arsnovaworkshop.org

It has long seemed almost redundant to feature Wynton Marsalis’ name after the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. That’s how synonymous he is with the big band he founded at the NYC institution he’s led for nearly 40 years. But the ensemble’s annual Kimmel Center stop will be one of its last before the trumpeter and educator steps down next year, a seismic shift in the jazz landscape. ensembleartsphilly.org