Jazz Sunday: Dead Cat Bounce / James Merenda Trio

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dead Cat Bounce cooks up a high energy, horn-rich fusion of blues, rock, funk and jazz, with Gary Wicks (bass), Bill Carbone (drums), and four hard-driving saxes: bandleader Matt Steckler, Jared Sims, Felipe Salles, and Charlie Kohlhase. With their cutting-edge sound, and tight, multi-part arrangements, they’ve won numerous awards and accolades throughout North America. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The James Merenda Trio plays Merenda's compositions with freedom, curiosity, and joy.&nbsp;With Merenda (alto sax), Jon Dreyer (bass), Vincent Gonzalez (drums), and featured guest Vanessa Morris (vocals). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jazz Sundays at the Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams.

Square Root

Jazz Sunday: Holiday Jazz Jam with Brian Friedland & Friends 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pianist (and Jazz Sundays series producer) Brian Friedland leads a set followed by a jam celebrating the season, with arrangements by Duke Ellington, Joshua Redman, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, and some fun surprises. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jazz Sundays at the Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams. Cover $10-20 at the door pays the musicians. $5 discount for musicians on jam nights.

Jazz Sunday: Philippe Crettien Trio / BLINK 

For this album release event, Philippe Crettien (sax) experiments with triad combinations over chords, exploring new sounds with Barry Smith (bass) and Mike Connors (drums), “a perfectly balanced trio.” Jorrit Dijkstra’s guitar band, BLINK, uses a microtonal tuning system, which gives it a mesmerizing and dreamy sound full of collective melodic and multi-rhythmic layerings. Dijkstra’s compositions form a springboard for open improvisations, with references to free jazz, African high life, Indonesian gamelan, and Delta blues. With Dijkstra (alto sax), Eric Rosenthal (drums and percussion), and three guitars: Eric Hofbauer, Gabe Boyarin, and Nate McBride. Jazz Sundays at the Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams.

Jazz Sunday: Use the Force / Jazz Fusion Jam

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Under a new name, the John Williams Jam Band takes a wider scope as Use the Force. Celebrate the preview of their new album with its spirited celebration of movie music: funky grooves, jazzy harmony, and epic solos. With Brian Friedland (keyboard),​ Rick Stone&nbsp;(sax), Nick Grondin&nbsp;(guitar), Sean Farius&nbsp;(bass), and Giuseppe Paradiso&nbsp;(drums). Followed by an open, rollicking jazz fusion jam. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jazz Sundays at the Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams. Cover $10-20 at the door pays the musicians. $5 discount for musicians on jam nights.

Jazz Sunday: Jeff Gardner / Peter Perfido & Dominique Humbert

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On tour from Brazil, Jeff&nbsp;Gardner&nbsp;(piano) will play solo selections from his 22 CD's including jazz, Latin jazz, samba, baião, bossa nova, and pentakosmos. A highly original voice, he has performed with countless jazz icons (Freddie Hubbard, Norma Winstone, Steve Lacy, to name a few) while teaching in New York and Paris. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And on tour from France, Dominique Humbert (sax) and Peter Perfido (percussion) will play originals plus tunes from Thelonious Monk, Paul Motian, Wayne Shorter, and friends. Their terra incognito approach to improvising varies from minimal and mediative to textured density. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jazz Sundays at the Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams. Cover $10-20 at the door pays the musicians.

Jazz Sunday: Allan Chase / Sun Ra Jam

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Few know more about jazz history than Allan Chase, a brilliant scholar and phenomenal alto/ baritone saxophonist whose playing is informed by Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Gerry Mulligan. DownBeat magazine dubbed him “an edgier kind of cool.” Everyone's favorite professor, he has shaped generations of jazz musicians. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;His set is followed by a jam on the kaleidoscopic, space-traveling music of Sun Ra. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jazz Sundays at the Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams. Cover $10-20 at the door pays the musicians. $5 discount for musicians on jam nights.

Ran Blake and Friends 90th Birthday Celebration

Jazz piano legend and MacArthur genius award recipient Ran Blake celebrates his 90th birthday. The concert will feature a short set by Ran followed by solos and duos by an all-star cast of colleagues, former students, and friends. There will be a brief post concert reception. For health reasons, Ran will not be able to attend, but there will be a guest book for attendees to sign and wish Ran well. The entirety of the admission costs will go to help Ran with his ongoing medical costs.

First Parish in Brookline

Jazz Sunday: Steven Kirby / Rhombus

Steven Kirby, known for his exciting, melodic, expressive sound, has been called “a guitarist of rippling technique and a poetic mind” by Downbeat Magazine. For the second set, the 6-piece ensemble Rhombus fuses intricate compositions with bold collective improvisations. Their music draws from the energy of rock, the rhythmic complexities of Balkan music, and the experimentation of avant-garde jazz. Comprising the band are Aubrey Johnson (vocals), Sean Berry (sax), Phil Sargent (guitar), Greg Loughman (bass), Mike Connors (drums), and Brian Friedland (keys). Jazz Sundays at The Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams.

The Square Root

Jazz Sunday: Dahlgren, Silvio, Day & Cowan / Bob Toabe & Edmar Colón

Winnie Dahlgren (vibes), Will Silvio (sax), Daniel Day (bass), and David Cowan (drums) join forces for a tribute to the legendary group Steps Ahead and the iconic saxophonist Michael Brecker. They’ll blend intricate rhythms, complex harmonies, and dynamic improvisation, adding a contemporary twist that reflects the past and present of jazz fusion. For the second set, Bob Toabe brings sparkling, lyrical sensibility to the piano, teaming up with Edmar Colón on sax. Colón was awarded the Latino 30 Under 30 Award New England by El Mundo, and has been busy in the past few years composing for jazz orchestra, including the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Jazz Sundays at The Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams. (Photo: Edmar Colón, by Robert Torres)

Jazz Duo House Concert: Brian Friedland & Lihi Haruvi

Friedland (piano) and Haruvi (sax) play in an intimate space from their recent album with Man on Land and other original compositions and arrangements. This highly interactive and adventurous set will transport you between wildly different times, places, and moods. Seating is limited! We highly recommend you reserve seats in advance.

Brilliant Studio

Jazz Sunday: Todd Brunel & Jason Palmer / Jam: Music of Eric Dolphy

Todd Brunel’s sax and woodwinds have taken him far and wide, playing with stars like folk icon Judy Collins, Know Orchestra, Sonic Explorers, and many more. His work won Best Musical for Ain’t Misbehaving with Front Porch Theater. Tonight he plays with Jason Palmer, one of DownBeat Magazine’s Top 25 Trumpeters of the Future. Palmer has performed with Roy Haynes, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and for 20 years his quintet was the house band at Boston’s famed Wally’s Jazz Café. The set is followed by a jam on the music of great jazz saxophonist and composer Eric Dolphy. Jazz Sundays at The Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams.

Jazz Sunday: Guillermo Nojechowicz / Sam Spear

A drummer who plays with the ear of a composer, originally from Buenos Aires, Guillermo Nojechowicz forges an elegant fusion of Brazilian Argentinean jazz. Combining samba and the tighter lines of straight-ahead jazz, he is a master of idioms including Cuban, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, funk, and tango. Sam Spear likewise brings the ear of a composer to her subtle, gorgeous saxophone sound. Jazz Sundays at The Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams.

Jazz Sunday: Tomoko Iwamoto / Jam: Gypsy Jazz

Tomoko Iwamoto&nbsp;leads the gypsy jazz quartet 440, adding harmony with her beautiful violin. She appears as a guest&nbsp;with Women in World Jazz, and performs&nbsp;with legendary clarinetist Billy Novick in the swing trio, Jazz Tapestry. Her set tonight is followed by a gypsy jazz jam. Jazz Sundays at The Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams.

Jazz: Brian Friedland’s Surprise Band / Dan Rosenthal & Eric Hofbauer Quartet

Extra Thursday show in the Jazz Sundays series! Series curator Brian Friedland has put together a special band that will play all-new original material and covers around a surprise theme, wide ranging in style and unlikely to have been visited by other Jazz groups. For the second set, trumpet player Dan Rosenthal is regularly on Boston bandstands with Charlie Kohlhase’s Explorers Club, the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, the Fernando Huergo Big Band, among many others. He was also a longtime member of Russ Gershon’s Either/Orchestra, and sometimes plays in a family band with his father, bluegrass legend Phil Rosenthal. Guitarist Eric Hofbauer performs with Charlie Kohlhase’s Explorers Club, Tony Malaby’s Firebath, the Dylan Jack Quartet and many others. Chair of Jazz Studies at Longy School of Music, he also runs the Creative Nation Music label. Jazz Sundays at The Square Root brings together Boston’s best jazz artists in an intimate restaurant setting for performances and themed jams.

S22: conversations

Wondering what to do in Boston? Places to eat? Free activities? Good for a group? Date night spot? Girls night out? The best things to do? Ask Joyraft!

Best places to go in Boston? Things to do? Places to eat?

Questions & answers about things to do in Boston

Recs 💬

Community recs 💬

S4: top picks

The most fun, cool and unique things to do in Boston. Can’t miss events, shows and experiences. Concerts, restaurants, bars, free things in Boston and beyond.

The most fun and cool events happening around Boston

Hot and new things to do in Boston

Hot & new

Hot & new 🔥

S11: happening this weekend

What to do in Boston this weekend? From festivals, concerts, performances, free events, screenings and more, Joyraft has the best things to do in Boston.

25+ things to do in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville this weekend

Things to do in Boston this weekend

This wknd

This weekend for you

S21: roundups

Our top picks: outdoor dining, free events, spring festivals, best bars, upcoming concerts, museum parties - the latest in and around Boston.  Slug: joyraft-top-picks-best-things-to-do-boston-ma

Top picks of the best things to do in and around Boston

Joyraft picks: Boston’s best things to do

Roundups ⭐️

Curated by Joyraft ⭐️

S28: calendar experiences

This week in Boston

This week in Boston 📆

This week 📆

S20: c+d experiences

Discover new, unique events and experiences happening in and around Boston. Perfect for date night, good for a group or with a friend. Be the first to know.

The newest events happening in and around Boston

The newest events on Joyraft

Just added

Just added to Joyraft

S16: editor picks

The most unique and can’t miss things coming up in Boston / Cambridge / Somerville and beyond. Festivals, food, drinks, fairs, concerts, art and free activities.

Unique and Can’t Miss Things to Do in Boston

Can’t-miss things to do in Boston 🚨

Can't-miss things to do 🚨

S2 (A): top experiences

The most popular things to do on Joyraft. Concerts, restaurants, bars, events, parties, openings, kid friendly, date ideas, free things in Boston and beyond.

Top 20 things to do in Boston

Top 20: Joyraft’s most popular

Top 20

Top 20 on Joyraft

S3 (A): trending experiences

Discover can’t miss events and things to do in Boston. The most fun, unique and cool events coming to the Boston area this spring and summer.

The hottest events happening in Boston

Trending events on Joyraft

Trending 📈

S17: interest based

Your guide to everything free in and around Boston. From events, to fairs, to festivals, to outdoors. Joyraft has all the free events happening near you.

100+ free things to do in Boston and beyond

Free things to do in Boston

Free things to do

S19: interest based

Kid-friendly events in Boston

S18: interest based

Where to eat and drink in Boston? Joyraft has Boston’s newest bars, restaurants and specials. Drinks and pre fixe dinner menus. Cambridge & Somerville too.

Where

nrmna

Experiences

Jazz Sunday: Dead Cat Bounce / James Merenda Trio

Jazz Sunday: Holiday Jazz Jam with Brian Friedland & Friends

Jazz Sunday: Philippe Crettien Trio / BLINK

Jazz Sunday: Use the Force / Jazz Fusion Jam

Jazz Sunday: Jeff Gardner / Peter Perfido & Dominique Humbert

Jazz Sunday: Allan Chase / Sun Ra Jam

Ran Blake and Friends 90th Birthday Celebration

Jazz Sunday: Steven Kirby / Rhombus

Jazz Sunday: Dahlgren, Silvio, Day & Cowan / Bob Toabe & Edmar Colón

Jazz Duo House Concert: Brian Friedland & Lihi Haruvi

Jazz Duo House Concert: Brian Friedland & Lihi Haruvi

Jazz Sunday: Todd Brunel & Jason Palmer / Jam: Music of Eric Dolphy

Jazz Sunday: Guillermo Nojechowicz / Sam Spear

Jazz Sunday: Tomoko Iwamoto / Jam: Gypsy Jazz

Jazz: Brian Friedland’s Surprise Band / Dan Rosenthal & Eric Hofbauer Quartet