Gig Alert: Warren Wolf Jr.

Warren Wolf Jr.
“Re-Examination”
Playing Thursday at the Jazz Standard (116 E. 27th St., Gramercy)
Get: Tickets ($20) | Directions

At age 31, Warren Wolf is one of the greatest vibraphone talents to ever pick up a pair of mallets. But he’s pretty used to being a young up-and-comer. Wolf toured with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at age 9, was playing jazz club dates by 12, and matriculated at Berklee at 17 already primed for stardom. Since then, he’s kept a relatively low profile, quietly putting out four hard swinging albums as a bandleader. On up-tempo tunes like “Re-Examination,” Wolf’s virtuosity shines. He rips his way up and down the instrument with a percussive, blistering solo style, bringing unprecedented fire to a notoriously chilled-out instrument -- skip to 3:00 on this track to hear for yourself. Wolf’s music is equally impressive unaccompanied; in the video below, he blasts through five minutes of high-speed bop without missing a beat.