E-Mail This Article to a Friend High self-esteem Live jazz is alive in Boston BY JON GARELICK

The latest sea change in Boston’s healthy yet fragile jazz ecosystem is a shift in programming at Inman Square’s venerable Ryles (212 Hampshire Street). At the end of this month, jazz-trumpeter Frank Vardaros and his Purple Rose Productions conclude their three years of booking the club and long-time Boston-area booker Brian Walkley and his Willow Entertainment step in. A press release from Willow promises "rock, lounge, soul, Americana, blues, and fusion as well as great jazz" for Ryles. Willow’s jazz bookings at Ryles begin this week (March 26 and 27) with pianist James Williams’s ICU, which features Bill Pierce, John Lockwood, and Yoron Israel plus vocalists Keith Outlaw and Ron Higgins. Vardaros and the Ryles Jazz Orchestra come in March 30; they’re followed by bassist Harvie S and his Latin band April 15 and 16; the Jazz Mandolin Project April 21 and 22; keyboardist Ken Werner and his trio April 23 and 24; a Jazz Revelations Records showcase featuring, among others, the exciting young New Orleans trumpeter Christian Scott April 29; Bebop Guitars April 30; the Teresa Inês Group May 8; vocalist Shelley Neill May 22; and Dan Moretti and Oscar Stagnaro May 25. The popular jazz brunches will continue every Sunday, and interesting non-jazz performers will include Thaddeus Hogarth (April 17), Toni Lynn Washington (May 1), and Aaron Perrino with Jake Z (May 19). Call (617) 876-9330.

Meanwhile, Zeitgeist Gallery (1353 Cambridge Street in Inman Square; call 617-876-6060) carries on with the provocative Callithumpian Consort series with music "by and for saxophonists" led by sax man Jorrit Dijkstra April 2; Dennis Warren’s Full Metal Revolutionary Jazz Ensemble April 3; Zeitgeist owner Gil Aharon’s Fishlung piano series with Dan DeChellis and Aharon’s Fishlung Trio April 10; Sound on Survival with saxophonist Marco Eneidi, bassist Lilse Ellis, and drummer Peter Valsamis April 30; and the Dan Levin Quartet and the Andrew Neumann/Eric Rosenthal band with violinist Katt Hernandez May 1.

Scullers (400 Soldiers Field Road in the DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel at the Mass Pike; call 617-562-4111) presents new vocal sensation Lizz Wright April 1 and 2; guitar freak Stanley Jordan April 3; the Eddie Palmieri septet April 8 through 10; local percussionist Brooke Sofferman and his new Sofferman Perspective April 13; Cubanismo April 14; the Marian McPartland Trio April 16 and 17; vocalist Karrin Allyson April 21 and 22; vocal superstar Dee Dee Bridgewater May 13 and 14; the John Pizzarelli Trio & Bossa Nova May 16; saxophonist Miguel Zenon May 18; conguero Pancho Sanchez May 20 and 21; and vocal hero Jimmy Scott May 22.

The Boston Creative Music Alliance continues its season at the ICA (955 Boylston Street in Boston; call 617-354-9698) with Chicago avant-garde saxophonist Fred Anderson and drummer Chad Taylor April 9; the William Parker Quartet with Sabir Mateen, Kidd Jordan, and Alvin Fielder April 16; and downtown New York drummer Bobby Previte with his band Bump, featuring Marty Ehrlich, Curtis Fowlkes, Wayne Horvitz, and Steve Swallow, April 30.

The FleetBoston Celebrity Series (617-482-6661) has vocal savant Bobby McFerrin April 4 and Wynton Marsalis’s new quartet April 28, both at Symphony Hall (301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston). Guitarist Tisziji Muñoz fronts a trio with John Lockwood and Rakalam Bob Moses April 24 at the Regent Theatre (7 Medford Street in Arlington; 781-646-4849). The New England Jazz Alliance (NEJA) and the International Society present the Harlem-Roxbury Arts Ensemble, which is led by saxophonists Salim Washington and Kurtis Rivers, with special guest tuba player Howard Johnson, April 12 at the Tremont Theatre (276 Tremont Street in Boston; 617-567-6354). Guitarist Eric Hofbauer continues his CNM (Creative Nation Music) series April 25 at the Cambridge Family YMCA (820 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square; 617-271-4704) with the Dominique Eade/John Lockwood Duo and with Hofbauer himself celebrating his American Vanity CD. And the Intransitive Festival of Electronic Music takes over Massachusetts College of Art’s Tower Auditorium, 621 Huntington Avenue in Boston, May 14 through 16 (call 617-354-6898 or visit www.intransitiverecordings.com).

Highlights of the hefty, previously announced Water Music schedule at the Regattabar (in the Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett Street in Harvard Square; 617-876-7777) include the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine March 31 through April 4; Indo-jazz group Natraj with special guest Chitravina N. Ravikiran April 21; Donal Fox’s Monk & Bach with John Patitucci and Al Foster April 23 and 24; Chucho Valdés & Irakere April 28 through May 1; Stefon Harris May 4 and 5; and Jane Monheit May 28 and 29. Water Music’s big "mainstage" events for the spring are Sonny Rollins at the Berklee Performance Center (136 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston) April 10 and the Herbie Hancock Trio with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette at Symphony Hall April 18.