Sunday: “Lush Life: Interpretations of the American jazz canon.” Honeydog Adam Levy and DJ Jake Rudh host an evening of musical exploration at the Southern, where some of the Twin Cities’ top hip-hop artists will dip into the Great American Songbook. Read an interview with Levy here.  Sunday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis ($25/$22). Tickets online or call (612) 340-1725.

Sunday: “Jazz Off the Charts.” Two quintets, one stage, many shiny instruments. The jazzy Bryan Nichols Quintet meets the classical Copper Street Brass Quintet to “walk the line between planned charts and improvisation.” I asked Copper Street’s Stefan Kac what to expect. He said everyone will play mostly jazz tunes, though Copper Street will play theirs fairly straight. Each group will perform a set, after which they’ll join forces and we’ll see what happens. The Bryan Nichols Quintet is Nichols on piano, Brandon Wozniak and Mike Lewis on saxophones, James Buckley on bass and Sean Carey on drums. Copper Street is Allison Hall and Corbin Dillon on trumpets, Timothy Bradley on French horn, Alex Wolff on trombone and Kac on tuba. They’ll play some Brubeck, some Thad Jones, some Pat Metheny and some cat named Kac. Sunday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. Second St. ($20 adults/$15 seniors and youth/$5 with student voucher). Tickets by phone (612-767-5250) or at the door.

Monday-Tuesday: Kenny Barron Quartet Featuring David Sanchez. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship is the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Only 123 masters have been named since the program launched in 1982; today there are 72 living legends, including the elegant, lyrical Barron, who is also a nine-time Grammy nominee. Barron taught at Rutgers University from 1974-2000, where one of his students was future Grammy-winning saxophonist Sanchez. With Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass, Kim Thompson on drums. Here’s Barron and Sanchez in a recent performance at France’s Marciac jazz festival. Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 15-16, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis ($40/$25). Tickets by phone (612-332-5299) or online. 

Wednesday: Rhonda Laurie and Sidewalk Café CD Release. Laurie is a local treasure, a singer with a lush, lovely voice, a relaxed sense of swing, a warm and gracious stage presence, and a gift for the demands of gypsy jazz, which only looks easy. She and her band Sidewalk Café (Reynold Philipsek on guitar, Gary Schulte on violin, Jeff Brueske on bass) will finally celebrate the release of their year-old CD. Wednesday, Nov. 17, 9 p.m, Aster Café, 125 SE Main Street (on the riverfront), Minneapolis ($7). Reservations recommended; call 612-379-3138.

Thursday: “Meditations and Revelations” Concert II: “So Long Eric.” Back to MacPhail we go for the second concert in a year-long celebration of Mingus’ music, supported by a grant from the NEA. Last month’s concert was a great success and this one features even more musicians: Mike Lewis on saxophone, Greg Lewis on trumpet, Adam Linz on bass, Bryan Nichols on piano, JT Bates on drums. Come early (7 p.m.) for a Q&A with the artists. 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. Second St. Minneapolis ($10/$5 youth). Tickets at the door or call 612-767-5250.

Plan ahead:

• Thursday, Dec. 2, Walker Art Center: Jenny Scheinman’s Mischief & Mayhem. The Walker welcomes folk/country/rock/jazz violinist Jenny Scheinman, whose band includes Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and Ani DeFranco’s bassist Todd Sickafoose.
• Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 6-7, Dakota: Ravi Coltrane Quartet. The son of saxophone legend John Coltrane has more than come into his own. With Luis Perdomo on piano, Drew Gress on bass and E.J. Strickland on drums.
• Wednesday-Thursday, Dec. 8-9, Dakota: McCoy Tyner Trio with Gary Bartz. Thunderous pianist Tyner was the first big-name artist to play a new jazz club called the Dakota 25 years ago. He has been a frequent visitor ever since. The NEA Jazz Master will be joined by Bartz on saxophone, Gerald Cannon on bass and our own Eric Kamau Gravatt on drums.
• Friday, Dec. 17, Orchestra Hall: Dee Dee Bridgewater and Irvin Mayfield. The great jazz vocalist and Grammy-winning trumpeter celebrate the season with the Minnesota Orchestra led by Sarah Hicks.

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