relyles

The first time I heard Akinmusire live was with Mark Turner. I know Larry is not a fan of Turner, but I found Akinmusire to be a better foil for Turner than the trumpeter that regularly plays with him, Avishai Cohen. He brought more contrast to the group IMO. I have enjoyed most of the Akinmusire albums I have heard although I confess that the last quartet CD did not resonate with me as much. I saw the quartet live and it was a bit of a disappointment as well. I enjoy Akinmusire's playing, but my best experiences with him have been when there is another horn.

I made it to Newport Friday. I arrived a little later than planned and missed most of the Sun Ra Arkestra, but I did catch about thirty minutes of Tia Fuller, the Gary Bartz 50th Anniversary of Another Earth, and the Billy Hart Quartet. I enjoyed all the sets I did hear, especially Bartz.

I have the two original releases. A lot of compelling music.

Elio Villafranca Quartet.

I have it, but also have not gotten very far yet.

Solid performance by the trio, but very limited drum soloing - only one or two brief understated solos.

Just placed my order.

Louis Hayes trio with Dezron Douglas and Abraham Burton.

This is going to be released by Pi. They use Bandcamp for their digital releases. There should also be a physical CD released simultaneously.

Thanks for the clarification. Glad I picked them up when they were available.

I don't know how to determine a "viable CD release", or whether they would be considered bootlegs, but Juba-Lee was part of the Cool Music reissues a couple of years ago.

After spending the fourth of July weekend at the Montreal "Jazz" Festival I am considering the possibility of going to Newport for the first time this year. My daughter has gone the past couple of years and enjoyed herself. If I go, I will only be able to make it on Friday.

I spent the weekend in Montreal for the jazz festival. It was actually a challenge to find any "jazz" that I wanted to hear the three days I was there, but I was able to catch ticketed solo piano sets by Bobo Stenson and Kris Davis. As a told several people the Stenson performance was basically what I expected, but I was hoping for something different. Not enough variety in the mood for me - most of the set was somewhat sedate, but it was solid nonetheless. Kris Davis' performance held my attention a bit more.

I have heard Darius Jones several times in the past couple of years and he has never said anything political during any performance I attended.

I have seen that group several times, including once arranging for them to perform here in Hartford. Unless a conflict arises, I plan to attend.

The Rob Brown group was the highlight for me. Picked up the new RogueArt disc while I was there.

I made it to Brooklyn for Friday night at the Vision Festival. I caught: Ava Mendoza/Matt Nelson/Adam Lane/Hamid Drake Marty Ehrlich Trio Exaltation (w/ John Hebert and Nasheet Waits) Matthew Shipp/William Parker Duo Rob Brown Quartet (w/ Steve Swell, Chris Lightcap, Chad Taylor) Kris Davis Trio (w/ William Parker and Jeff Tain Watts) Although I got stuck in traffic from Hartford and it took me five hours to get to the venue (more than double the expected travel time), overall it was a very strong night of music.

Amherst is Wednesday, June 12h.

Friday night I caught Matthew Shipp/Allen Lowe/Newman Taylor Baker/Kevin Ray at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT. Baker was subbing for one of my favorites Gerald Cleaver, and he was a more than capable replacement. I was curious about this ensemble for a while because unlike other bands Mr. Lowe is involved with, the music is totally improvised. Overall impressive performance. Afterward I even had the pleasure of giving Shipp and Baker a ride to the train station where they surprised me somewhat with their very enthusiastic response to a Woody Shaw CD playing in car.

Very good. I have heard all of them on multiple occasions, but this was the first time hearing that quartet. I like the balance of Formanek's compositional skills and the strong individual soloists.

Michael Formanek Elusion Quartet with Tony Malaby, Kris Davis and Ches Smith at Firehouse 12 in New haven, CT

Too bad. They were grooving hard. Very intense playing by Ford. There was a good crown in Old Lyme.

They were in New Bedford Friday night and I think Dartmouth, MA before that.

I think he still lives abroad, but this is the second time I have heard him live in the past 14 months.

Saturday night I caught the Ricky Ford Quartet with John Kordaleski, Jerome Harris and Barry Altschul at the SideDoor Jazz Club in Old Lyme, CT