This week's jazz offerings are decidedly piano-centric, with three of the instrument's jazz virtuosi coming through the Garden State

By Alex W. Rodriguez/For The Star-Ledger

Helen Sung in Newark

The Newark Museum hosts a wonderful music series, Jazz in the Garden, in its beautiful Alice Ransom Dreyfuss Memorial Garden. The weekly series books first-class jazz artists to perform for large crowds in the pristine garden setting.

This week, pianist Helen Sung is on tap, along with the rest of her trio: bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Rudy Royston. One of the first graduates of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute, Sung has impressed audiences throughout her career with her precise feel and inventive musical vocabulary.

The museum is at 49 Washington St., and the show takes place Thursday at 12:15 p.m. Tickets are $3 (free for children and museum members); call (973) 596-6550 or visitnewarkmuseum.org.

Charlap in Princeton

Princeton’s annual Golandsky Institute International Piano Festival brings some of the world’s finest concert pianists together for a week of evening performances. Bill Charlap, who lives in West Orange, has earned the Friday evening slot, reserved for a jazz solo act.

Charlap has paid his dues on the jazz scene as a sideman for artists such as Phil Woods and Gerry Mulligan. But for many years, he has served as one of the instrument’s most respected jazz ambassadors, whether playing solo, with his acclaimed trio, or in duets with his wife, pianist Renee Rosnes.

Charlap performs at the Taplin Auditorium, Ivy Street at Washington Road, Princeton, Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 ($25 for students and seniors); call (877) 343-3434 or visitgolandskyinstitute.org.

Benevento in Teaneck

Brooklyn-based jazz upstart Marco Benevento offers a much different take on the jazz piano tradition than Sung or Charlap; he brings his high-energy, electrified act to Mexicali Live in Teaneck this week.

The Brooklyn-based pianist lacks the virtuosity and deep jazz vocabulary of many of his older peers, but makes up for it with an in-your-face experimental attitude and a knack for engaging a live audience. Benevento reworks the jazz piano format into something that would be more familiar to jam band aficionados and hard rockers than a typical jazz club patron.

Mexicali Live is at 1409 Queen Anne Road, and the show takes place Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15; call (201) 833-0011 or visit mexicalilive.com.

Yahel trio in New York

Sam Yahel, another younger keyboard talent on today’s jazz scene, incorporates more straight-ahead jazz into his repertoire than Benevento. Best known for his work on the Hammond B-3 organ, he gets around just as well on the 88 keys of a grand piano. This week, he brings his keyboard skills to one of the most famous pianos in the modern jazz universe: the one that sits stage right at the Village Vanguard.

A native of Germany and a longtime New York resident, Yahel will perform with his trio, which features bassist Matt Penman and drummer Jochen Rueckert. In this configuration, Yahel and his group swing breezily through original compositions marked by fascinating harmonies.

The club is at 178 7th Ave. South in New York, and the shows take place tonight through Sunday at 9 and 11 p.m. Tickets are $25; call (212) 255-4037 or visit villagevanguard.com.