relyles

Like Steve - when I go I usually just hang out in the venue. There are a couple of grocery stores close by if you want a snack, but otherwise not much to do.

Tonight I caught Farmers By Nature (Craig Taborn-William Parker-Gerald Cleaver) at the Stone in NYC. Two fantastic sets of music!

ROVA saxophone quartet

To be fair maybe "ECMish" was not the best description. The title of the upcoming release is "into The Silence". I think that is an apt description of the music as well. It was dominated by slower tempos and an overall "moodier" feel. Jason Lindner and Nasheet Waits both had moments that generated a bit more excitement, but for the most part it was a mellow affair. Interestingly, the audience response seemed a bit subdued as well - especially in comparison to the audience response to the other sets that night. Also, I think the instrumentation on the recording is slightly different in that it includes a second horn (Bill McHenry) and the pianist and bassist are different.

I made trips down Friday and Saturday. I opted to stay at one venue each night. Friday I did the ECM stage at Tishman Auditorium. David Torn, bored me to tears, but I knew going in he was not really my thing. Really enjoyed the sets by Mark Turner, Craig Taborn and Vijay Iyer. The Avishai Cohen group was a bit too stereotypical ECMish for me (not qualitative judgment - just used as a descriptor that I think most can associate), but I found things to enjoy - in particular Nasheet Waits who I have always appreciated since hearing him with Andrew Hill. The Ches Smith - Craig Taborn - Mat Maneri set was pretty much what I have come to expect from that group. Not necessarily something I would go out of my way to hear, but I appreciated what they were trying to do. Saturday night I parked myself at the New School Auditorium on 12th Street. I arrived a little late for the Don Byron set, but that and OGJB were the highlights for me that night. Henry Butler, Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9. played a high energy set of New Orleans inspired music. I agree with kh1958's comments about Maalouf who I have heard on recordings before, but my interest in his group was primarily Mark Turner. Because I rode (or actually chauffeured) three other people from CT, I had to sit through the Monty Alexander set, which to be honest was painful. By the time it started at 12:00 am I was tired and thinking about the 2 hour drive home, and the music just did not move me much. In any event, overall I enjoyed my two marathon nights of music. I hope to catch up on all the sleep I lost in the next week.

I was at the Firehouse 12 concert when this was recorded. My recollection is that it was a solid two sets of music, so the release should be pretty good.

Tonight was Construction Party and Lilypad in Cambridge, MA. Some very intense playing! Dave Rempis - alto saxophone Forbes Graham - trumpet Pandelis Karayorgis - piano Nate McBride - bass Luther Gray - drums

I was getting ready to mention the same thing. Heard the duo when they came through Hartford two years ago and enjoyed it very much.

I received my package over the weekend. Since Allen suggested it may be the unexpected sleeper of the bunch, I started with When A Cigarette is Smoked by Ten Men. Glad I did. It is excellent. As Allen stated on another thread, the Young Ms. Christiansen is particularly impressive, but the recording in its entirety is a very cohesive and thoroughly engaging document. Today I moved to We Will Gather When We Gather. I listened to the first half of the disk during my morning commute. Much "straighter" than I anticipated, but so far all the soloists are in fine form. Thanks for all this music Allen. I still regret that I was unable to get to Brooklyn this past Sunday, so it is very consoling to be able to immerse myself in these new discs for a while.

A week ago I heard pianist Fred Simmons in a duo performance with vibraphonist Jay Hoggard. Simmons' discography is slim - his most notable association seems to be with Dewey Redman. I believe he has been in education for the past many years at Wesleyan in Middletown, CT. Anyway, intimate performance on a Sunday afternoon, which was quite impressive. Too bad we have not heard more from Mr. Simmons over the years.

PM sent re: Bolt – Shuffle (Driff) *Anthony Braxton – Quartet (Santa Cruz) 1993 1st Set (Hatology $10) *Peter Brotzmann/Joe McPhee/Kent Kessler/Michael Zerang – Tales Out of Time (Hatology $10) Stephan Crump – Reclamation (Sunnyside) Garrison Fewell/Roy Campbell/Luther Gray – Invisible Resonance Trio (Creative Nation) Chico Freeman/Heiri Kanzig – The Arrival (Intakt) Rich Halley 4 – Creating Structure (Pine Eagle) Phil Haynes – Sanctuary (Corner Store) Brian Landrus/Lonnie Plaxico/Billy Hart – The Deep Below (Blue Land/Palmetto) Mostly Other People Do the Killing – Red Hot (Hot Cup) Simon Nabatov/Mark Dresser – Projections (Clean Feed) Trio 3 + Vijay Iyer – Wiring (Intakt)

Yesterday I caught pianist Fred Simmons playing duo with Jay Hoggard. Originally it was supposed to be a quartet, and then the program handed out at the venue suggested a trio with Pheeroan akLaff. Ultimately it was just the two and it was a delightful performance in a very intimate room. I knew Simmons' name because of his prior association with Dewey Redman, but for the most part his career has been teaching at Wesleyan University for a number of years. Too bad he has not performed more frequently - I was very impressed.

One of my favorites. I feel very fortunate to have been able to hear him live in a Music Inc. reunion performance a few years ago, and then being involved in presenting him here in Hartford.

Based on that statement - I just sent an order via PayPal to add this to my prior order.

An Evening of Talent Deserving Wider RecognitionSunday, October 18th 3:00 PM $10 Suggested Donation Allen Lowe, alto sax and all compositions with: 3 PM: Loren Schoenberg solo piano; Micro-Cosmics, a post-Frank Melrose/Hoagy Carmichael fusion of ersatz modernity in the post-post-modern age of jazz 3: 45 PM Kelly Green solo piano; variations on Mary Lou Williams 1954 solo piece I Loved Him 4:30 PM: Shayna Dulberger bass, Ava Mendoza guitar, Allen Lowe alto, Miki Matsuki, on drums, Paul Austerlitz, clarinet. Lewis Porter piano: a suite on the notion of gender; part of the Mary Lou Williams Suite 5:30 PM Pianist Ursula Oppens in a quartet with Allen Lowe, clarinetist Ken Peplowski, and bassist Kevin Ray; various of Lowe’s original works; on gender; part of the Mary Lou Williams Suite 6: 30 PM: Whores is Funky: A quartet of Allen Lowe on electronics and; Ray Suhy on guitar and banjo; Jake Millett on sampling, electronics, etc. Larry Feldman on violin, Kevin Ray on bass. This is our Americana segment built on pre-war blues and hillbilly song forms. 7: 30 PM: sextet – Allen Lowe, alto; Kirk Knuffke trumpet, Paul Austerlitz clarinet, Kevin Ray bass, Lewis Porter piano; Jeremy Carlstedt, drums. The post-bop world of Mary Lou Williams, Jaki Byard, Barry Harris 8:30 PM: A nine-piece band, with: Lou Grassi, Allen Lowe, Kevin Ray, Hayes Greenfield, Paul Austerlitz, Randy Sandke, Bobby Zankel, Christopher Meeder, Lewis Porter – an ADHD version of a big band. Working Title: The Five Stages of Grief/Meditations on Disintegration (or: The Spectacle of the Spectacle of Death).

I just got an email from iBeam with the October calendar. It has the date for this event as October 11th instead of October 18th. Has the date changed. I have held the 18th on my calendar since you announced the event. I am not sure I can make the 11th. Edit - It must be a mistake in the email, because the website says the 18th.

Of all people, my then fifteeen year old daughter hipped me to this. I watched the first two seasons and enjoyed them much. You reminded me that I need to check out the third season.

Pre-order sent via PayPal.

still on my calendar

I have the Tardy disk and the Walrath and Freddy Redd discs are available from dusty Groove. I have always been a Tardy fan. Maybe he is one of those underrecognized saxophonists.

Definitely!

I feel obligated to meet you before you move back to CT, when hopefully we will run into each other with some frequency.

I just put it on my calendar. A Sunday afternoon should be doable for me.

Last night - Jill Scott. I don't listen to as much music outside of jazz as I used to, but Ms. Scott is someone I will always make an effort to hear live when I have the opportunity.

I made it down Saturday. I sat in the third row to try to reduce some of the anticipated sound issues. Although not great, for the most part the sound from my seat was listenable. For me, the sound affected the Laubrock set the most. At times it was difficult to distinguish the koto, tuba and piano when everything was happening at once. Musically, most of the sets were solid, if not necessarily memorable. My friend and I both wished the Wadada Leo Smith-Aruan Ortiz duo - which was short at about 35 minutes - had a little more variety in mood, but as it was my first time hearing Smith live I am glad I had the chance to hear him. Malaby played the longest set of the night and it was a good one. Again, although the sound was not ideal, both tuba and cello were audible from my seat. Malaby himself did not really show any flashes of the remarkable abilities that Steve Reynolds is always raveing about, but for the most part he was effective. The Joelle Leandre-Gerald Cleaver-Mat Maneri set may have been the highlight of the day. For one thing they set up on the floor instead of the stage. As a result they were that much closer to the audience - and me in particular. They improvised three pieces - again not a very long set, but the interaction/communication between the three was on a very high level. First time hearing Leandre live and her mastery of the bass had me thinking about adding more of her recorded output to my collection. I have made it a goal the past few years to get down for at least one day of Vision Festival. As always, I am glad I made the trip even if I did not necesarrily hear anything that was life altering. I enjoy the scene for the day, and as an added bonus I did get a chance to say hello to our own hero Chuck Nessa.