Von Freeman Pavilion

Fast CitizensNoon This mostly local sextet has an unusual strategy for creative renewal, but there’s no arguing with the results. It’s maintained the same personnel for ten years, surviving even the 2005 departure of reedist Aram Shelton for Oakland, California, but on each album (three so far) a different member leads the band. Last year’s Gather (Delmark), with cellist and tenor guitarist Fred Lonberg-Holm at the helm, is their best yet. They’ve never done a better job exploiting their stylistic range, instrumental versatility, and pugnacious attitude. Shelton also plays Thursday at Elastic with his Chicago quartet. —Bill Meyer

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Evan Christopher Clarinet Road2:20 PM Thanks to his incomparable mastery of early New Orleans and Chicago jazz, Crescent City clarinet virtuoso Evan Christopher often gets pegged as a neotraditionalist, but his ears are much bigger than that. He’s demonstrated fluency in Brazilian choro, Argentine tango, and jazz manouche, among other styles, and with his fine working group, Clarinet Road, he’s forged a compelling composite sound, informed by the past and rooted in the present. The band’s lineup for this gig includes guitarist-bassist Don Vappie, organist-pianist Joe Ashlar, and drummer Ocie Davis. —Peter Margasak

Young Jazz Lions Pavilion

11:30 AM Jones College Prep High School Jazz Combo

3:35 PM Lincoln Park High School Jazz Ensemble

Hamid Drake & Bindu: Reggaeology6:10 PM Before he became one of the most acclaimed and in-demand free-jazz drummers in the world, Hamid Drake was one of the most talented and in-demand reggae drummers in Chicago, and in the current incarnation of Bindu (a catch-all name for his composition-driven projects) he weds those two worlds. Trombonists Jeb Bishop and Jeff Albert occupy the front line, while guitarist Jeff Parker and bassist Joshua Abrams help Drake sculpt thick, infectious grooves; Cincinnati beatboxer Napoleon Maddox sometimes reinforces the rhythms and sometimes offers poetic commentary. Bindu’s excellent 2011 album, Reggaeology (Rogue Art), pushes reggae-jazz experiments a la guitarist Ernest Ranglin into uncharted, freedom-seeking territory—I’ve been waiting for the group to play in town ever since it came out. —Peter Margasak