In our haste to get in all the Big Deals of a given season, we tend to overlook the one-offs and not-only-jazz series. This spring is rich in such " special events. " For one, there’s the Sun Ra Arkestra at Johnny D’s (617-776-2004), a venue that, contrary to popular belief, programs all kinds of music. Now led by the indefatigable 78-year-old alto-saxophonist Marshall Allen, the Arkestra lands at the Davis Square club on April 3.
That same day, Boston’s esteemed avant-world quartet the Fully Celebrated Orchestra plays the last of the season’s Saturday-afternoon jazz gigs at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (617-566-1401). On April 4, four Berklee-prof vibraphonists — Gary Burton, Victor Mendoza, Ed Saindon, and Dave Samuels — honor their forebears at Berklee Performance Center (617-747-2261) in a program titled " Four by Four: A Tribute to Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Milt Jackson, and Cal Tjader. "
Steve Lacy has been eagerly participating in local musical life since he repatriated from Paris to Boston last fall to teach at New England Conservatory. On April 20, he and his wife, the vocalist Irene Aebi, will offer " Ten Dukes and Highlights from the Beat Suite, " a mix of Ellington with Lacy’s settings of Beat poetry, at the MFA (617-369-3300). On May 2 and 3, Lacy pairs off with pianist Danilo Pérez at the Regattabar (617-576-7777).
The latest big wind from Cuba, pianist Omar Sosa, plays the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center (617- 577-1400) on April 24. And if you love the Afro-Cuban thing, note that the local brass-and-percussion ensemble (with a touch of flute) Brass Roots will celebrate the release of their Purple Cha Cha Heels (Accurate) at the Green Street Grill (617-876-1655) on April 4. Note also that too-little-seen-in-Boston tenor-sax man David Murray comes to the Copley Theatre (617-308-7332) on April 13 with the Gwo Ka Masters of Guadeloupe.
The Office for the Arts at Harvard University (617-495-8676) is cooking up a special " Learning from Performers " series: " Beyond Recall: The Progressive Tradition in Jazz. " It will include guests/honorees Roswell Rudd and Dave Douglas taking part in a panel discussion on April 11 in Harvard’s Winthrop House and performing at Sanders Theatre on April 12.
The Boston Creative Music Alliance (617-354-6898) continues its spring series at the ICA with a rare appearance by legendary British sax improviser Evan Parker with bassist Barry Guy and electro-percussionist Paul Lytton April 22 and electronic sound artists Ellen Band and David Lee Myers and San Francisco’s Rova Saxophone Quartet on separate bills May 4. And the Jazz in the Sanctuary series at the Church of Our Saviour in Brookline (617-364-2243) features, among other good shows this spring, former Charles Mingus trumpet man Jack Walrath (April 27).
At Ryles (617-876-9330), Arturo Sandoval joins Frank Vardaros and the Ryles Jazz Orchestra May 1 and 2, and Maynard Ferguson gets a birthday tribute from the RJO May 3 before bringing in his own Big Bop Nouveau Band on May 4.
Scullers (617-562-4111) brings in pianist Peter Cincotti (April 3), Dave Samuels’s Caribbean Jazz Project (April 10), piano phenom Cyrus Chestnut (April 11 and 12), steel-drum jazz guy Andy Narell (April 15), superstar bassist Stanley Clarke (April 16), Argentine tenor legend Gato Barbieri (April 17-19), alto-sax terror Kenny Garrett (April 22 and 23), Louis Prima straightwoman Keely Smith (April 24-26), Ahmad Jamal–endorsed piano newcomer Hiromi (May 7), vocalist Steve Tyrell (May 9 and 10), vocalist Jim Porcella in his guise as " Bombay " Jim with his Swinging Sapphires (May 13), Flora Purim and Airto (May 15 and 16), trombonist Steve Turre (May 27 and 28), and Phil Woods (May 29 and 30).
Other highlights at the Regattabar include bassist Lello Molinari and his band of local superstars (April 1), incomparable pianist Fred Hersch in duet with vocalist Norma Winstone (April 2), Jim Porcella in a Louis Prima/Keely Smith tribute with vocalist Ida Zecco (April 3), hot tenor-saxist Chris Potter (April 4), Kendrick Oliver and the New Life Jazz Orchestra (April 5), the Mili Bermejo Trio (April 8), guitarist Mike Stern (April 10), traditionalists New Black Eagle Jazz Band (April 13), a debut by highly touted new African-German vocalist Lyambiko (April 15), pianist Pierre Hurel (April 16), pianist Kenny Barron’s " Canta Brasil " (April 17-19), George Garzone & Jerry Bergonzi’s Gargonz (April 23), vocalist Dominique Eade (April 24), the Michel Camilo Trio (April 25 and 26), the Dave Holland Quintet (May 7-10), the Ben Schwendener Group (May 13), the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (May 14), the Rebecca Parris Quintet (May 16), Indo-jazz ensemble Natraj (May 21), Eddie Palmieri (May 22-24), and pianist Donal Fox’s trio with guest Stefon Harris (May 29 and 30).
R-Bar booker Fenton Hollander’s Water Music (617-876-7777) will also present the Wayne Shorter Quartet (April 6) and Sonny Rollins (April 12), both at Berklee Performance Center.
