Geri Allen Quartet brings versatility to Kimmel

November's Jazz Up Close Celebrates Thelonious Monk series at the Kimmel found pianist Danilo Pérez taking on Monk's music with classical and Latin-tinged covers and originals. It was as worldly, humorous, and erudite as Pérez's own

Panamonk

CD. The series continues in 2011, when such acts as the Randy Weston Quintet (March 5) and Martial Solal (April 9) will do Monk proud, I'm sure. But this week's showcase, with Geri Allen and her quartet - ah, that's an elegant animal of a different stripe. From modern to traditional, from bop to free, on her own dynamic recordings, and her efforts on other people's albums (Ornette Coleman, Steve Coleman) or in group/collaborative settings (Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Lester Bowie), Allen has proven a stately provocateur, a thinking pianist, composer, and arranger as often on the edge as she is happily in the center. Monk is one of her primary influences (along with the equally bizarre Cecil Taylor), and audiences should have no doubt as to how mesmerizing and strange this evening will be.

- A.D. Amorosi

Insouciant California folk-jazz swinger Dan Hicks is a most engaging frontman, a dry-witted and droll multi-instrumentalist whose band, the Hot Licks, is an effortlessly swinging, two-kazoo ensemble pretty much ideally suited to scat their way through "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Hicks does that and 11 other charmers, including originals like "Somebody Stole My Santa Suit" and "Santa Gotta Choo Choo," along with covers of Steve Allen's (via Louis Armstrong) "Cool Yule" and Chuck Berry's "Run, Rudolph, Run." Hicks also has several decades of his own nonseasonal material, of course, so his Holidaze in Hicksville show will sprinkle ingratiating staples like "I Scare Myself" and "How Can I Miss You (When You Won't Go Away)" into the eggnog.

- Dan DeLuca

Bert Jansch is a brilliant acoustic guitar player, going back to his days in Pentangle, the British folk band from the '60s. He's a guitarist's guitarist - Jimmy Page, Neil Young, and Johnny Marr are avowed fans. He writes songs rooted in ancient traditions - the harrowing "Needle of Death" is perhaps his best-known - and sings them in a plain-spun, plaintive voice. And while he never stopped recording, he's had a recent resurgence, including 2006's excellent

The Black Swan

, which featured contributions from Beth Orton, Devendra Banhart, and Mazzy Star's David Roback. A new album is in the works. Illness forced Jansch to cancel a tour that was to bring him to Philadelphia in October, but he has recovered and will come to Johnny Brenda's on Wednesday for a solo performance. Opening will be Meg Baird - haunting lead vocalist of Philly band the Espers - who's working on her second solo album.

- Steve Klinge