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DECEMBER 1
Continuing the Smithsonian Associates’ series “Message From a Messenger: Art Blakey’s Children” is pianist Mulgrew Miller, who starred in the drummer’s Jazz Messengers from 1983 to 1986. While firmly rooted in the ’50s hard-bop traditions that Blakey initiated, Miller doesn’t play with the propulsive energy of longtime Messenger Bobby Timmons. Instead, his approach is closer to that of the joyful, buoyant, melodically sensitive Oscar Peterson. Miller’s latest record, Getting to Know You, still features his airy, mainstream approach, but the restless “Eastern Joy Dance” pursues a welcome embrace of non-Occidental rhythms. At 7:30 p.m. at the Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium, 10th & Constitution Ave. NW. $20. (202) 357-3030. (Christopher Porter)