With all due respect to Art Blakey, there are inherently more thrills in being a passenger than a messenger, mostly because the former suggests some sort of ride and the latter some kind of chore. The Jazz Passengers would never do anything so stuffy as convey missives; the crew got semifamous at the Knitting Factory playing a jovial strain of downtown skronk that touches on both Sun Ra and the Marx Brothers. With Jazz Passengers in Love, released almost two years ago, the JPs toned down the light avant-noodlings to focus on romance, though the band’s live shows are still charmingly bent: The JPs touring vocalist is Deborah Harry. At 8 & 10 p.m. at Blues Alley, 1073 Rear Wisconsin Ave. NW. $18. (202) 337-4141. (Brett Anderson)