Best of New York 2012 • Fun

• "The Checkout: Live From 92Y Tribeca"

  92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St., nr. Canal St.; 212-601-1000

  Two of the most common knocks against jazz are that it doesn’t matter anymore and that it’s too expensive to see anyway. Radio host Josh Jackson’s monthly series, which is broadcast live on WBGO, drives a bari sax reed through the heart of both of those arguments. Jackson, a convincing advocate for the ­music’s vitality, picks two of the ­moment’s most adventurous and relevant musicians—saxophonist Marcus Strickland, singer Gretchen Parlato, pianist Dan Tepfer, to name but a few—and stages a double-bill concert for a very un-jazz-like $12 ($15 at the door). There’s no better ticket for those who want to expand their knowledge beyond Miles and Trane but are sick of paying tourist prices to do it.

From the 2012 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine