ROCKIN’ ISABELLA: Rudresh Mahanthappa’s quartet brings jazz to the Gardner Museum.

One of the highlights of last fall’s concert season was the October “Composer Portrait” of Julius Hemphill, so it’s good news that the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in conjunction with Berklee College of Music, is bringing back jazz as a regular part of its concert season. On February 21, saxophonist RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA leads a quartet with his long-time musical partner, pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist François Moutin, and drummer/tabla player Dan Weiss. Mahanthappa and Iyer, Americans of Indian ancestry, have been brewing a personal jazz language drawing on their varied backgrounds. The Gardner is also bringing in local vocal quartet SYNCOPATION (April 17) and the BERKLEE BLUEGRASS BAND (June 19) — all part of the “Gardner After Hours” program on Thursday nights (280 the Fenway; 617.278.5156).

Scullers (DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel, 200 Soldiers Field Road, Boston; 617.562.4111) has the usual mix of local and international stars: local Afro-Cuban dance band OBBINI TUMBAO (January 10); the wonderful South Shore jazz singer DONNA BYRNE (January 11); an all-too-rare local appearance by Bronx composer/trumpeter/conguero JERRY GONZALEZ and his FORT APACHE BAND (January 16); German-born, Berklee-educated guitarist/vocalist LENI STERN (January 17); blues great JAMES COTTON (January 18-19); dummer/composer Brooke Sofferman and his SOFFERMAN PERSPECTIVE (January 22); pianist BILLY CHILDS (January 23); singer-songwriter KENNY RANKIN (January 24); the ARTIE SHAW ORCHESTRA under the direction of Dick Johnson (January 30); singer HOLLY COLE (January 31); the phenomenal soul-rock singer BETTYE LAVETTE (February 7); Afro-Latin star PONCHO SANCHEZ (February 8-9); New Orleans–style singer/pianist MARCIA BALL (February 13-14); singer JANE MONHEIT (February 15-16); local cabaret kids BOBBI CARREY and WILL MCMILLAN doing a program of Academy Award–winning songs, “The Envelope, Please” (February 20); the scary-concept BEATLEJAZZ (February 21); powerhouse singer RACHELLE FARRELL (February 22-23); singer/pianist DIANE SCHUUR (February 29); pianist DONAL FOX (March 1); and contempo R&B/pop singer OLETA ADAMS (March 7-8).

The Regattabar (Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St, Cambridge; 617.395.7757) brings in singer-songwriter/guitarist RAUL MIDÓN (January 16); the Boston-born Afro-Cuban band GONZALO GRAU Y LA CLAVE SECRETA (formerly La Timba Loca; January 18); local favorites the EITHER/ORCHESTRA doing their “Ethiojazz” with one of the creators of the genre, MULATU ASTATKE (January 24); and the SUPERPOWERS (formerly Boston Afrobeat Society; January 26). Then there’s a string of Mardi Gras-related gigs with New Orleans great DR. JOHN (February 8-9); BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO (February 13); and the Soul Queen of New Orleans, IRMA THOMAS, doing her annual Valentine’s weekend (February 14-16). After that it’s Boston-based Brazilian singer-songwriter/composer SERGIO BRANDÃO and his band MANGA-ROSA (February 29); the JOHN PATITUCCI TRIO (March 5); Great American Songbook pianist BILL CHARLAP and his trio (March 6-7); the exciting young guitarist KURT ROSENWINKEL (March 13); Colombian-born singer-songwriter MARTA GÓMEZ (March 15); avant-guitarist DAVID TORN with an all-star band featuring Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, and Tom Rainey (March 20); one of the great pianists in the history of the music, KENNY BARRON, and his trio (March 21-22); and guitarist BILL FRISELL with his 858 Quartet of violinist Jenny Scheinman, violinist Eyvind Kang, and cellist Hank Roberts (March 27-29). And mark your calendars for SHEILA JORDAN, a great jazz singer who hasn’t played Boston in longer than I can remember (April 23).

Ryles (212 Hampshire St, Cambridge; 617.876.9333) continues with its Wednesday-night world music and jazz presented by Medici Musica. Brazlian guitarist LUIS SILVA comes in on January 9. Bassist Jason Davis’s multimedia EARTHSOUND (January 16) mixes live music with pre-recorded environmental sounds from around the world and a mix of classical, Brazilian, Peruvian, and Jewish music, supported by flutist Fernando Brandão, saxophonist Hankus Netsky, and percussionist Jorge Perez-Albela. Also at Ryles: the SONHO MEU BRAZILIAN GROUP (January 23); Perugian singer ELEONORA BIANCHINI doing Italian and Latin jazz (January 30); the fine local Israeli pianist GILAD BARKAN and his trio (February 6); Latin-jazz supergroup TOCARE (formerly Brasileirinho) with flutist Fernando Brandão, accordionist Evan Harlan, guitarist Claudio Ragazzi, bassist Fernando Huergo, and drummer/percussionist Keita Ogawa (February 13); daring experimental singer ALIDA ROHR and her band collaborating with the Boston String Quartet (February 20); saxophonist FLORENCIA GONZALEZ and her group named after the infectious Uruguayan rhythm Candombe (February 27); Portuguese jazz singer SARA SERPA and her quintet with the exciting pianist Vardan Ovsepian (March 5); the cool Italian folk nonet NEWPOLI with vocalists Carmen Marsico and Angela Rossi and guitarist Björn Wennås (March 12); guitarist CLAUDIO RAGAZZI and pianist NANDO MICHELIN and friends (March 19); Brazilian pop-jazz singer/arranger FERNANDO HOLZ (March 26); and singer VLADA TOMOVA’S BALKAN TALES (April 2).

The Lily Pad (1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge; 617.395.1393) brings in another indie-jazz supergroup: alto-saxophonist DAVE REMPIS of the Vandermark 5 with trumpeter Forbes Graham, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, and drummer Luther Gray (January 6); the GILAD BARKAN TRIO (January 10); the virtuoso, mad-cap QUARTET OF HAPPINESS (January 11); guitarist ERIC HOFBAUER (January 26); PANDELIS KARAYORGIS returning in a quintet with saxophonist Mat Langley, trombonist Jeff Galindo, bassist Jef Charland, and drummer Luther Gray on January 27 and then with his trio on February 24; and NANDO MICHELIN (January 31). The Lily Pad features pianist GIL AHARON and his trio every Sunday night at 10, and Boston institution the FRINGE every Monday.

Berklee College of Music continues its Sovereign Bank series with synth-master keyboardist/soundtrack composer GEORGE DUKE mixing it up with Berklee students and faculty (January 29); a singers’ showcase called “THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK: BERKLEE ON BROADWAY” (February 24); and the exciting SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE, with saxophonists Miguel Zenon and Joe Lovano, trumpeter Dave Douglas, vibist Stefon Harris, pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland (March 7). Those are all at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston (617.747.2261).

DAVE HOLLAND gives two free concerts during his week-long residency at New England Conservatory: a March 25 duo show with one of Holland’s long-time collaborators, trombonist Robin Eubanks, in Jordan Hall and a March 27 show, “Music of Dave Holland,” in Brown Hall, where the great bassist and composer will put the kids through their paces. Other NEC faculty concerts include drummer BOB MOSES’s 60th-birthday show with guitarist Tisziji Muñoz and pianist John Medeski (January 28, Jordan Hall), and keyboardist ANTHONY COLEMAN’s investigation of Jelly Roll Morton (Brown Hall, January 23) and Antonin Artaud’s The Theater of Cruelty (Jordan Hall, March 10). NEC’s concert halls are accessible at 30 Gainsborough St, Boston (617.585.1122).

In a couple of must-see one-offs, the great gospel-infused jazz-and-pop singer LEE GENESIS, a fixture on the local scene in the ’70s, returns behind his first-ever solo CD, The Soul of Lee Genesis, at Johnny D’s (17 Holland St, Somerville; 617.776.2004) on January 9, and the superduo of banjoist BÉLA FLECK and CHICK COREA play Symphony Hall on February 29 (301 Mass Ave, Boston; 617.876.7777). And remember, for a complete calendar of jazz events around Boston you can visit www.jazzboston.org.