On the user-friendly website for Ampers, a collection of 12 independent public radio stations across Minnesota including KBEM and KFAI, I’ve been listening to a live performance by the Twin Cities jazz group Monk in Motian recorded at the Artists’ Quarter on Nov. 8, 2009.

Monk in Motian plays the music of Thelonious Monk in the style of Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band — sans piano. They haven’t yet released a CD, although you can hear several recordings on their MySpace page. An hour recorded at the AQ is a treat.

Thank you, Ampers — and thank you, Minnesota Legacy Fund. Turns out there’s a lot of jazz on the website, including dates with the JAZZAX Quartet, Sam Miltich and the Big Dipper Jazz Band, and Butch Thompson.

Jazz to hear live this weekend and beyond:

Friday: Eric Gravatt Trio. Café Maude seems almost too small a room for drummer Gravatt, best known beyond the Twin Cities for playing with Joe Henderson, Weather Report and McCoy Tyner. But he can do whispers as well as thunder. He’ll be joined by pianist Peter Schimke, just back from a gig in L.A. with Estaire Godinez. 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, Café Maude, (no cover).

Friday-Saturday: Jeanne Arland Peterson’s Birthday gig. Didn’t I just write about this? Wait — that was last year. Long may the tradition continue. The jazz pianist and mother to the Peterson clan turns 89 by performing for and with her family and friends. The 2009 celebration saw the launch of her double CD, “88 Grand,” a delightful play on words. 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Aug. 27-28, Artists’ Quarter, 408 St. Peter St. (in the basement of the Hamm Building), St. Paul ($12).

Sunday-Monday: Karrin Allyson. Last year around this time, Concord celebrated vocalist and pianist Allyson’s career by releasing “By Request: The Best of Karrin Allyson,” an overview of her recorded work to date. Her catalog is impressive — the Great American Songbook, jazz, roots music, and blues, plus songs in French and Portuguese — but I might suggest that her very best happens live in front of an audience. The Dakota feels like home to her, and she’s bringing two musicians she loves to play with: guitarist Rod Fleeman and bassist Larry Kohut. Expect four warm and engaging, remarkably musical shows. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sunday-Monday, Aug. 29-30, Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. $40/$25).

Plus: Free jazz every day at the Fair. You know you want a corn dog.

Pamela Espeland keeps a Twin Cities live jazz calendar,  blogs about jazz at Bebopified  and tweets about jazz on Twitter.