Jazz

Byline:Â Stuart Broomer

KEN ALDCROFT’S CONVERGENCE ENSEMBLE. Guitarist Ken Aldcroft’s latest group releases its debut CD, The Great Divide. Joining Aldcroft for these two concerts are bassist Wes Neal, saxophonist Evan Shaw, drummer Joe Sorbara and trombonist Scott Thomson. Oct. 8. $10. Now Lounge, 189 Church St. Oct. 27. $10. Arraymusic Studio, 60 Atlantic Ave., Ste. 218; 416-769-2841, www.nowlounge.com.

MADELEINE PEYROUX was just 22 years old when she achieved sudden fame in 1996. Her debut disc, Dreamland, featured a sound as deep and direct as Edith Piaf’s, and a vocal style that at once reflected her Georgia roots and Parisian upbringing. Her slightly gritty voice–brilliantly blending languor and precision–invokes inevitable comparison to Billie Holiday. She’s currently touring in support of Half the Perfect World, a new CD that mines songs by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits. Oct. 18. $29.50-$34.50. The Music Hall, 147 Danforth, 416-778-8163, www.madeleinepeyroux.com.

JAZZ FM91 SOUND OF JAZZ SERIES. Some of the city’s finest flutists come together for A Tribute to the Flute. While several of the players here–including Colleen Allen, Alex Dean and Vern Dorge–are talented saxophonists who double on flute, Bill McBirnie is the notable exception. He’s a dedicated player who can match the instrument to the most demanding lines. Oct. 16. $25. Old Mill Inn, 21 Old Mill Rd. A Tribute to Oscar Peterson finds many of the city’s distinguished pianists–among them, Robi Botos, Mark Eisenman, Dave Restivo, Bernie Senensky, Don Thompson and Nancy Walker–paying homage to the grand master. Oct. 30. $25. Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queens Quay W., 416-595-0404, www.jazz.fm.

TONE COLLECTOR. This New York-based free jazz trio unites the formidable talents of much-lauded tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, as well as Norwegian-born bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Jeff Davis. While Malaby has been building a substantial reputation for his topnotch work with such well-known and favourable ensembles as Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra and the Paul Motian Band, his volatile vocal style of intense improvisation is heard in its fullest, most energizing effect in this trio, featuring a shifting weave of elements anchored by Opsvik and elaborated by Davis’ unique tapestry of sounds and rhythms. Oct. 4. $10. Arraymusic Studio, 60 Atlantic Ave., Ste. 218, 416-769-2841.

CLOGS

HUGH’S ROOM. During the folk boom of the 1960s, New York-born singer-guitarist Geoff Muldaur was a proponent of ’20s country blues, singing and playing the songs of Blind Willie Johnson, Sleepy John Estes and Peg Leg Howell, along with Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band and Paul Butterfield. Since then, he’s broadened his view of classic American music, including the early jazz and homegrown impressionism of 2003’s Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke, but he remains one of the blues’ best interpreters. Oct. 4. $22.50-$25. 2261 Dundas St. W., 416-531-6604, www.hughsroom.com.

LULA LOUNGE. Synthesizing classical, jazz and samba into a virtuosic personal idiom, Brazilian guitarist Badi Assad moves fluently from detailed acoustic improvisations to rocketing scat vocals to inspired percussion episodes. Her own songs are as compelling as her interpretations of pieces by such composers as Egberto Gismonti and Ralph Towner. Also appearing is the 2d-piece percussion ensemble Nunca Antes. Oct. 13. $20. Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W., 416-588-0307, www.lula.ca.