Pop, Rock and Jazz in NYC This Week

PRIESTS at Brooklyn Bazaar (July 29, 9 p.m.). Priests, a punk band based in Washington, D.C., has attracted a devoted national audience over the last five years with a series of sharply provocative singles and EPs (and wildly fun concerts). “Nothing Feels Natural,” Priests’ recent full-length debut, expands the musical range established on those early recordings without losing any of their urgency. A portion of the proceeds from this show will benefit Casa Ruby, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community center and charity organization in the group’s hometown.
bkbazaar.com

GILLIAN WELCH at the Beacon Theater (Aug. 2, 8 p.m.). The folk and country singer-songwriter Gillian Welch is known for taking her time between solo releases. Her most recent album, “The Harrow & the Harvest,” came out to widespread acclaim and multiple Grammy nominations six years ago. While Ms. Welch’s fans are still awaiting a proper follow-up, she and her close collaborator David Rawlings have embarked on a short run of shows at which they will perform “The Harrow & the Harvest” in its entirety to promote the LP’s release on vinyl.
212-465-6225, beacontheatre.com

SIMON VOZICK-LEVINSON

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Jazz

BILLY DRUMMOND at Mezzrow (July 28-29, 8 and 9:30 p.m.). Mr. Drummond — aptly, a drummer — plays with quick-thinking focus and forbearance. He can pile on the activity without weighing things down, a rare talent. It will serve him well at Mezzrow, a little basement club that’s better suited for percussion-free combos than it is for drummers. With Donald Vega and Dave Kikoski sharing piano duties, and David Wong on bass, he should have little trouble striking a measured balance; in Mr. Drummond’s hands, the intimacy of the space will become an advantage.
646-476-4346, mezzrow.com

GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA at the Manhattan Bridge Archway (Aug. 3, 6 p.m.). Musically speaking, what’s called the Jazz Age was in fact a time of gestation and transition: A small-band tradition, primarily centered in New Orleans and the Midwest, began making its way to the coasts in the 1920s, and growing into something bigger. The big-band sound and its attendant dance craze were in the offing. The Ghost Train Orchestra, a midsize ensemble, explores the music of that period, dipping into both the Dixieland and swing-era songbooks, and offering some nostalgic compositions of its own. This concert, which includes a swing-dancing lesson from Paolo Pasta Lana, is part of Live at the Archway, the Dumbo Improvement District’s series of free summer shows in a public plaza beneath the Manhattan Bridge.
718-237-8700, dumbo.is/live-at-the-archway

GREGORY LEWIS ORGAN MONK TRIO at Pier 84 in Hudson River Park (Aug. 3, 7 p.m.). For years Gregory Lewis has been rewiring Thelonious Monk’s music for the organ. With a kind of offhand savvy, he simplifies Monk’s harmonies and lets his ludic rhythms take the lead. But on his most recent album, Mr. Lewis has something else on his mind. “The Breathe Suite,” released this year, collects six heavy, swarming originals dedicated to black lives lost in conflicts with the authorities or engaged in the struggle for racial justice. Mr. Lewis may draw from both sides of his repertoire at this free show on Thursday.
212-627-2020, hudsonriverpark.org

ZEENA PARKINS at the Stone (Aug. 1-6, 8:30 p.m.). Ms. Parkins plays a relatively small instrument that is made of wood; has a bunch of strings laced across its sharp, triangular body; and plugs in. It can be tapped, pulled or struck, making sounds that sometimes dance, or patter, or move with a rustling grace. That thing she’s playing is an electric harp that she built herself, and that sits like a thunderbolt atop a metal pedestal. She sometimes plays it alone, but more often in small groups of experimental musicians who prefer, as Ms. Parkins herself does, to subvert the storytelling mission that guides much of American music. She’s in residence next week at the Stone, performing with different partners each evening.
thestonenyc.com

PAULA SHOCRON AND PABLO DÍAZ at Soup & Sound (July 29, 8 p.m.). Ms. Shocron, a pianist, and Mr. Díaz, a drummer, both hail from Argentina, and together they make wobbly, dreamlike music with the lilt of folk song and the expansiveness of jazz. Here they appear as part of the monthly Soup & Sound House Concert series, joined by a band of intrepid improvisers: Miguel Crozzoli on saxophones, Guillermo Gregorio on clarinet, Jaimie Branch on trumpet, Lee Odom on clarinet and Ken Filiano on bass.
soupandsound.org

BRIANNA THOMAS at Ginny’s Supper Club (July 29, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Ms. Thomas, a young vocalist from Illinois, is becoming a core constituent of New York’s traditional jazz scene. She sings with a deep tone and the occasional chiming vibrato, and draws most of her tunes from jazz’s standard repertoire: the Great American Songbook, blues classics and some bebop. Her talent as a vocal improviser is as important to her appeal as her winsome showmanship.
212-421-3821, ginnyssupperclub.com

GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

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