Pop Will Thrive in Greenwich Village

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Marc Ribot will be in the lineup at Winter Jazzfest, two days of well-known and new acts in five Greenwich Village clubs.

By JON PARELES

Published: December 29, 2011

There’s little need to wait for two of 2012’s most promising events. Thanks to the intrepid Association of Performing Arts Presenters, which braves January in New York City for its annual convention, a brigade of jazz and world-music performers converges in downtown Manhattan next weekend. On Jan. 6 and 7, the Winter Jazzfest shares five Greenwich Village clubs within a three-block radius, each presenting half a dozen acts nightly. Then, on Jan. 8, Globalfest offers a dozen acts on three stages in Webster Hall in the East Village. First-rate music awaits those willing to endure scrimmages at doorways and chatty audiences.

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Winter Jazzfest features internationally known jazz musicians, like the saxophonist David Murray, leading his Cuban Ensemble, and the keyboardist John Medeski (of Medeski Martin & Wood) playing solo. The trumpeter Wallace Roney, the pianist Vijay Iyer, the guitarist Marc Ribot, the keyboardist Bernie Worrell, the drummer Cindy Blackman, the guitarist Lionel Loueke, the slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein and the bassist Bill Laswell are also appearing. If past years are any guide, the rest of the bill should be a strong one, too. (Jan. 6 and 7 at Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, near Thompson Street, 212-505-3474, and nearby clubs; $35 for one night, $45 for both.)

Globalfest’s lineup covers five continents. It includes the United States debuts of the Malian hip-hop group SMOD and the Chinese jaw-harp virtuoso Wang Li; the Cape Verdean songs of Mayra Andrade; the Brazilian samba singer Diogo Nogueira; the Haitian songwriter BélO; the French chanteuse Zaz; the modernized Italian tarantellas of Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino; the Middle Eastern fusion of Yemen Blues; exploratory Irish music from the Gloaming; and the Silk Road Ensemble, which uses ancient Asian instruments in new pieces. (7 p.m. on Jan. 8 at Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, 212-353-1600; $40.)