Jazz on Jackson Stage

Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing GitanNoon Chicago-born guitarist Alfonso Ponticelli is a leading exponent of “jazz manouche,” the Gypsy jazz style made famous by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in their Quintette du Hot Club de France. Swing Gitan sometimes delves into other Romany styles, including flamenco and Balkan dance music, but jazz is its raison d’etre. Ponticelli is joined here by violinist Steve Gibons, bassist John Bany, and rhythm guitarist Jason Miller. —PM

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Frank D’Rone2:20 PM Frank D’Rone has been Chicago’s foremost old-school jazz singer for more than five decades. His voice has darkened and grown a touch reedier and his coiffure is definitely curlier and bushier, but his swinging, insouciant delivery sounds much the same on the recent Double Exposure (Whaling City Sound) as it did on his 1960 debut, After the Ball. He’s backed by pianist Bobby Schiff, bassist Nick Schneider, drummer Chuck Christiansen, and his own guitar. —PM

Young Jazz Lions Stage

Lakeview High School Jazz Combo Noon

NIU Jazz Ensemble 4:15 PM

Petrillo Music Shell

Billy Hart Quartet 5 PM This high-grade quartet is a collective endeavor, but out of respect to fantastic drummer Billy Hart, at 71 the oldest member of the group, it bears his name. Over the decades Hart has rarely been a bandleader, though he’s worked with a who’s who of postbop giants—Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders—and brought an inimitable lilt and improvisational heft to just about everything he touches. He’s cut two albums with this dream band, which includes some of the most influential voices of jazz’s younger generation: Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson, Fly saxophonist Mark Turner, and bassist Ben Street. The recent All Our Reasons (ECM) is one of the year’s most gratifying jazz releases so far, with tunes that hollow out and rebuild standards such as Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and Sonny Rollins’s “Airegin” and originals that expertly toy with form and harmony. —PM

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