Select chronological listings.
The World Stage in Leimert Park has Friday 8pm PT in-person presentations with simultaneous live streams of righteous jazz; keep up with the schedule here. Fri. March 31: singer Liz Whitted Dawson Jazztet includes a snappin lineup featuring pianist Kevin Toney, windman Randal Fisher, bassist Michael Alvidrez and drummer Rayford Griffin. Fri. April 7: spontaneous abstraction from Purple Gums (cornetist Bobby Bradford & tuba man William Roper). Fri. April 14: Pablo Calogero, Christopher Garcia, Roberto Miranda & maybe more form an improvising ensemble you can really swirl into. Mon. April 17: Just Jazz presents the South African winds-piano duo of Steve & Bokani Dyer. Fri. April 21: Trevor Anderies. Fri. April 28: Trevor Ware & Friends. Check here for replays of past shows on the World Stage YouTube channel. Donations encouraged here.
Downtown's Teragram Ballroom occasionally presents heavy and improvisational music. Fri. March 31: '90s Chicago spacegroovers Tortoise. Fri.-Sun. April 14-16: Dark Angel. Calendar here.
ETA, a bar in Highland Park, brings top local jazz. Check in anytime here, as it often books on short notice. Fri. March 31: Marcel Camargo with Carey Frank & Dan Schnelle. Mon. April 3: guitarist Jeff Parker's versatile quartet with Anna Butterss, Josh Johnson & Jay Bellerose (Parker probably played with Tortoise on Friday).
The LAX-area bar Sam First offers 7:30pm and 9pm jazz shows, in person and sometimes STREAMING. Fri. March 31 & Sat. April 1: the experienced and expressive piano trio of Alan Pasqua, Darek Oles & Joe LaBarbera. Tuesdays: The alchemistic pianist Gerald Clayton hosts sessions. Sat. April 8: super rising drummer Anthony Fung Quartet. Fri. & Sat. April 21 & 22: sensitive young saxist Daniel Rotem celebrates a new record. Look here for full schedule and options.
Downtown's Disney Hall presents some jazz and events of note beyond classical. Sun. April 2: Herbie Hancock. Tues. May 9: Ziggy Marley. Wed. Nov. 8: Brad Mehldau Trio. Tickets here.
The Baked Potato in Universal City presents fusion (etc.) concerts at 8 & 10pm. Sun. April 2: metal and jazz bassist Marco Mendoza. Sun. April 9: L.A. Jazz Quartet. Thurs.-Sat. April 13-15: Simon Phillips' Protocol. Tues. April 18: Marvin "Smitty" Smith. Fri. & Sat. May 5 & 6: Michael Landau Group. Sun. May 7: Hazy Jane. Full schedule here.
1720 (east of downtown, south of the 10 freeway) books metal etc. Sun. April 2: Gravefest featuring Muerta Buena, Presser, Corrupt Vision, many more metal destructors. Mon. April 3: high-energy French technical deathsters Gorod. Sun. Apri 16: Polish death vets Vader. Wed. May 10: Portuguese melodic metalmen Moonspell. Sat. May 13: Autopsy. Full calendar here.
Vibrato, a luxurious restaurant high up in Bel Air, books mostly mainstream jazz. Sun. April 2: Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra. Full schedule here.
The Mint (Pico & Crescent Heights) has mostly Sunday jazz shows. Sun. April 2: Sabine Pothier and Sam Hirsh Trio. Sun. April 9: Rodolfo Zuniga & Surfaces and Sam Hirsh Trio. Sun. April 16: Lana Drincic and Sam Hirsh Trio. Sun. April 23: CSUN Jazz Combos and Sam Hirsh Trio. Sun. April 30: Kevin Gondim Group and Sam Hirsh Trio. Check listings here.
Keep up with the well-curated Vernacular New-Music Series at Oracle Tavern in a hideaway west of Chinatown two Mondays a month here. Mon. April 3: high abstraction from top veterans Nathan Hubbard, Steuart Liebig & Vinny Golia (drums, bass & winds) plus sounds no one else can yank from a tenor except Phillip Greenlief in duo with bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, visiting from NoCal. Yay! Mon. April 17: postclectic songwriting and kool harmonies from Garretson & Gorodetsky.
Tues. April 4, 7pm: The Getty Center in the Sepulveda Pass presents the great avant saxist David Murray with his new quartet in tribute to his artist friends Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems, whose work is showing. Get FREE tickets here.
2220 Arts + Archives (Beverly Blvd. near Alvarado) hosts a variety of cultural presentations including jazz & electronic. Tues. April 4: the flurrying quartet of saxist Immanuel Wilkins. Wed. April 5: a solo set from the amazing postjazz pianist Vijay Iyer; can't believe it's not sold out yet. Sun. April 23: Bill Galves' American Gamelan; The Smudges. Sun. May 7: Giacinto Scelsi, Patrick Shiroishi. Fri. & Sat. May 12 & 13: big jazz event from NYC with William Parker-William Hooker-Isaiah Collier Trio. Listings here.
The Paramount in Boyle Heights hosts concerts presented by Just Jazz. Thurs. April 6: electronified keyboardist Javier Santiago. Tues. April 28: Trumpeter Dan Rosenboom presents his new "Polarity" and a new band featuring saxist Gavin Templeton, pianist John Escreet, bassist Billy Mohler and drummer Damion Reed; saxist Nicole McCabe supports with an ace trio featuring bassist Logan Kane and drummer Jonathan Pinson. June 14: bubbling improv from Black Whole. Details here.
Catalina's Jazz Club in Hollywood hosts mostly mainstream jazz and singers, but there are exceptions. Fri. & Sat. April 14 & 15: Pete Escovedo. Thurs.-Sun. April 19-22: Steve Gadd Band. Sun. April 23: Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita. Fri. & Sat. April 28 & 29: Billy Childs Quartet. Check full calendar here.
The Whisky on Sunset Strip books metal etc. Sat. April 15: L.A. Guns. Fri. April 28: Angel. Sun. April 30: Supersuckers. Fri. May 5: Fear Factory. Fri. May 12: Lynch Mob. Thurs. & Fri. May 25 & 26: Doyle. Sun. June 4: Loudness. Wed. June 14: Otep. Sat. & Sun. July 1 & 2: Robby Krieger. Calendar here.
Alva's Showroom in San Pedro brings in some intriguing music from the edges in addition to tributes and stuff. Full lineup here. Sat. April 15: Bunny Brunel CAB. Tues. April 25: keyboardist Adam Hersh presents "Allan Holdsworth: The Composer," featuring the late great axman's former drummer and bassist, Gary Novak and Max Gerl, plus guitarist Andy Waddell. Sat. May 20: Dale Fielder Quartet. Sat. June 10: Nili Brosh Band.
Downtown's Belasco Theater stages some rock & metal shows. Sat. April 15: Static-X. Fri. April 28: Dying Fetus, Suicide Silence. Sun. April 30: Carcass, Municipal Waste. Thurs. May 11: Black Dahlia Murder. Wed. May 17: KMFDM. Fri. May 19: Lacuna Coil. Fri. June 9: Machine Head. Calendar & tix here.
Atwater's adventurous avant/modern/world club Zebulon offers surprises from the present and past. Sun. April 16: L.A. punk with '70s credentials from Gregg Turner Group, Cliff Roman's Weirdos. Mon. & Tues. July 24 & 25: Sun Ra Arkestra. Full calendar here.
The Regent downtown books some heavy music. Thurs. April 20: Iggy Pop and the Losers, featuring Chad Smith, Andrew Watt and Duff McKagan. Fri. May 5: Whitechapel. Sat. May 6: Wolves in the Throne Room. Mon. May 8: Unearth. Sat. May 20: Pentagram. Tues. June 6: Cattle Decapitation. Sat. June 10: Dark Funeral. Sat. July 15: Havok. Full lineup here.
The Kia Forum in Inglewood revs some metal. Fri. April 21: Gojira, Mastodon. Fri. June 9: Avenged Sevenfold. Mon. & Tues. Sept. 11 & 12: Ghost. Listings here.
Sat. April 22, 8pm: America's finest modern country-rock band, I See Hawks in L.A., infuse McCabe's in Santa Monica; tickets here.
The Fonda Theater in Hollywood has occasional metal. Sat. April 22: Enslaved, Insomnium. Fri. May 19: Obituary. Calendar here.
Sat. & Sun. April 22 & 23, 2pm PT: Florida death founders Obituary throw a livestream party from their studio; tickets here (available on demand through May).
The Orpheum downtown rocks and jazzes at times. Mon. April 24: Iggy Pop and the Losers, featuring Chad Smith, Andrew Watt and Duff McKagan. Sun. Sept. 24: Snarky Puppy. Tickets here.
Sat. April 29: Dymally Jazz Festival in Carson features Marcus Miller, Jamael Dean and more. Info here.
Open Gate Theater has moved its long-running and invaluable avant concert series from the Eagle Rock Cultural Center to the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Ave., Pasadena. Sun. April 30, 8pm: Alex Cline's "Floating Cloud," featuring Jeff Gauthier, Maggie Parkins, Kotzue Matsumoto, Vicki Ray & Will Salmon. Keep up with events here.
Sun. May 7, noon-5pm: "Rock for Ronnie" concert to benefit the Ronnie James Dio Cancer Fund, featuring Dio Disciples, an all-star band and more at Los Encinos State Historic Park in Encino; tickets here.
The Wiltern (Wilton & Western) occasionally harbors metal. Sat. May 27: Kreator, Sepultura. Full calendar here.
Inglewood's midsize YouTube Theater brings variety programming. Fri. June 2: metal with Helloween, Hammerfall. Fri. June 30: original Norwegian black metal from Emperor. Calendar here.
The Broad Stage in Santa Monica holds occasional jazz presentations. Sat. June 3: Jason Moran. Tickets here.
REDCAT (beneath downtown's Disney Hall) presents some experimental music and jazz. Fri. & Sat. June 16 & 17: Partch. Calendar here.
The Hollywood Bowl has some jazz etc. Sat. & Sun. June 17 & 18: Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival featuring Kamasi Washington & Poncho Sanchez (Sat.) and West Coast Get Down (Sun.). Sun. July 23: Reggae Night with Beres Hammond, Steel Pulse. Wed. Aug. 9: Joe Bonamassa With Orchestra. Fri. Aug. 11: Ruben Blades. Wed. Aug. 23: Herbie Hancock. Wed. Sept. 6: Buddy Guy. Fri. Nov. 3: Kiss 'em goodbye. Details here.
Highland Park's Lodge Room occasionally books jazz, metal, heft and influential obscurities. Thurs. June 22: Pere Ubu featuring Mike Watt & the Missingmen. Full schedule here.
Wed. June 28, 8pm: Just Jazz presents South African pianist Nduduzu Makhathini at MusicHead Gallery in Hollywood. Tickets here.
Fri.-Sun. Aug. 25-27: Metallica plays SoFi Stadium. If you had tickets for the Super Bowl, you're probably going to this too.
Piano Spheres always has topflight outward programming from the classically trained world at the Thayer or Zipper halls downtown. Calendar here.
Santa Monica's Jacaranda music series presents a great selection of forward-looking modern classical and world music. Inquire regularly here.
Keep up with L.A. Jazz Society events, including its Young Musician Showcases, here.
The Jazz Salon presents top singers on Thursdays at downtown's Los Angeles Athletic Club. Check in here.