JAZZ BEAT: Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom at the Blue Room Thursday night

When Allison Miller was a teenager, Downbeat magazine pegged the drummer as an up-and-comer to watch. Miller is 41 now, and she has indeed been seen often, performing with Ani DiFranco, touring with Natalie Merchant and sitting in with the band on Late Night With Seth Meyers. She also fronts a jazz ensemble, Boom Tic Boom, which performs her progressive compositions with the tight playfulness of musicians who understand and inspire one another and who are clearly having fun. The outfit’s latest CD, Otis Was a Polar Bear, brings together the less than traditional orchestration of Jenny Scheinman on violin, Kirk Knuffke on cornet, Ben Goldberg on clarinet, Todd Sickafoose on bass and Myra Melford on piano. It’s jazz that intrigues with sly delight. Thursday night, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom visits the Blue Room.

Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom
7 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at the Blue Room, 1600 East 18th Street ($10)