Across NYC this weekend, Makaya McCraven continues his Winter Jazzfest artist residency with three shows, Mary Halvorson continues her residency at The Stone, Punch Brothers kick off season two of The Energy Curfew Music Hour at Minetta Lane Theatre, and Rachael & Vilray perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Also in the US, Hurray for the Riff Raff's Austin City Limits set airs on PBS, and Gabriel Kahane is in Orlando. Across the Atlantic, Julia Bullock sings at Saffron Hall in UK.
Lots of great live music across New York City this weekend from Makaya McCraven, Mary Halvorson, Punch Brothers, and Rachael & Vilray.
Percussionist/composer Makaya McCraven, who began his artist residency at the 2025 NYC Winter Jazzfest last night, continues the performances with three shows this weekend: an improv set with Junius Paul, Matt Gold, Marquis Hill, and Josh Johnson at (Le) Poisson Rouge tonight; an after-midnight set as part of the festival’s Brooklyn marathon night at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday; and a Sunday jazz dance session at Xanadu in Brooklyn. McCraven’s residency culminates with a sold-out set celebrating the tenth anniversary of his album In the Moment at Public Records in Brooklyn on Tuesday with DJ sets by Gilles Peterson. McCraven’s latest album, In These Times, was released to critical acclaim on International Anthem / Nonesuch Records / XL Recordings in 2022.
Guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson continues her own residency of four nights at The Stone in New York City, following last night’s set with label mate Ambrose Akinmusire, with a quartet set with vocalist Alex Koi, bassist Henry Frase, and percussionist Tomas Fujiwara tonight, and with her band Sterno—trumpeter Brett Deschenes, pianist Dan St. Clair, and bassist Nat Baldwin—on Saturday. Halvorson, whose latest album Cloudward, was released last January, won the 2024 JJA Jazz Award, the DownBeat Critics Poll for Guitarist of the Year and has been recognized on many year-end lists including Slate, Jazzwise, The Quietus, and Treble Music, The Guardian, All About Jazz, PopMatters, and more.
Chris Thile and his fellow Punch Brothers are joined by special guests Billy Strings and Jesca Hoop to record the first show of season two of The Energy Curfew Music Hour, their fully acoustic musical variety show, at Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City on Saturday. The five-concert series runs through February 24, with each night being recorded for future release as an Audible Original. Season 1 of The Energy Curfew Music Hour is available to listen to here, and features musical guests like Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Jon Batiste, Norah Jones, James Taylor, Lake Street Dive, Gaby Moreno, yMusic, and others.
Rachael & Vilray—the duo of singer/songwriter Rachael Price (Lake Street Dive) and guitarist/singer/songwriter Vilray—perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Appel Room tonight and Saturday as part of the Unity Jazz Festival. “I Love a Love Song! is a truly lovely album, front to back,” No Depression says of their latest album, released on Nonesuch in 2023. “More than anything, it’s two accomplished solo performers coming together with a mutual respect and love of musical standards with the goal of responding in kind.
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Across the US, tune in to see Hurray for the Riff Raff, aka Alynda Segarra, perform on Austin City Limits on PBS in a double bill with Norah Jones this Saturday as part of the show's landmark 50th anniversary season. Segarra and their band perform songs from their acclaimed new album, The Past Is Still Alive, and more.
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And across the Atlantic, soprano Julia Bullock joins the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden, England, on Saturday. The Baroque program features works by Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, Bach, and more. Bullock recently stopped by for the Nonesuch Selects video series, in which artists visit the Nonesuch office, pick some of their favorite albums from the music library, and share a few words on their choices. She chose recordings by Gipsy Kings, k.d. lang, Jan DeGaetani, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Dawn Upshaw, Sanford Sylvan, Caetano Veloso, and John Adams. You can watch it here.
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Back in the US, composer/performer Gabriel Kahane's concerto If love will not swing wide the gates is given its world premiere by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Eric Jacobsen, and clarinetist Anthony McGill at Dr. Phillips Center's Steinmetz Hall in Orlando Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Kahane joins Jacobsen (cello) and OPO Strings for two sets at Dr. Phillips Center's Judson's Live on Sunday evening. The program includes music from his two Nonesuch albums, Book of Travelers and Magnificent Bird, and Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major.
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