Steve Reynolds

Ahmed was fantastic. Very demanding and stringent. Full house at Roulette. Probably 350-400 in the crowd. So many young people. Lots of the long time community in attendance. Very gratifying. Standing ovation which is rare.

Last Thursday Mat Maneri, Lucien Ban, John Hebert & Randy Peterson two 54-56 minute sets. 7 new pieces (5 from Mat & 2 from Lucien) which are to be recorded to become “Mist”. Mostly very slow & even slower. second set especially spectacular with Mat playing at the highest level. The group improvisations within these slow often molasses tempos were tear inducing in an extremely emotional way for me. Randy Peterson rules the universe. Best jazz drummer on the planet. At least in this context. Swing High, Swing Higher Seeing Ahmed tomorrow night Tamarindo with Malaby, Brandon Lopez & Nasheet Waits on 4/6. Another kind of greatest jazz drummer in the world John Zorn’s Cobra on 4/5 / Ches Smith has something to say about the above as well:)

Geniuses at play / love this trio. Saw them last year or earlier this year. saw Tomeka last week with Angelica Neiscler & Savannah Harris. The other 2 were very good but Tomeka was off the chain great.

Tensegrity & Intensegrity are the 2 box sets of the Blue Shroud band playing improvised segments in small formations. Brilliant throughout. the 2 more recent boxes are wonderful as well although a step slightly down from the above. along with the earlier Mad Dogs & Mad Dogs on the Loose (new orchestra in small formations), all 6 of these boxes (all on Not Two Records) are the most undervalued recordings of this century.

Stumps Sven Ake Johansen group some of the Ictus box some of the Zlatko Kaucic box / the trio with Doerner is great Ostertag/Rose/Hemingway from mid 2010’s is incredible Rotations with Schick, Hautzinger & Sven / amazing Nathan Hubbard/Kyle Motl: Obsedian worlds with Joelle, Lotte & Kresten Osgood is stunning Martina Verhoeven quartet: Indicator Light Blue Plum Bloom: Buck, Mayas & Brown Splitter Orchestra: splitter musik 3 CD set mind blowing look at my shows for new names or under the radar names to watch out for Sandy Ewen, Maggie Cox, Chuck Roth, Michael Foster, Hans Young Binter, Orchid McRae, Webb Crawford, Brian Chase, Tim Dahl, Jessica Pavone, Joanna Mattrey, Anna Abondolo, etc.

plus Mary always adds local small room improv gigs when she’s in town. Brandon Lopez plays even more. Has to be close to 300 gigs a year. fwiw Tyshawn had three drums. Snare, small Tom, bass drum. Ride cymbal & one other cymbal. Devastatingly great. 55 minutes. Micah elevated the last 15 or so. Tyshawn giving lessons.

Last night at The Stone: Micah Thomas on grand piano, Jessica Pavone on viola, Mary Halvorson on guitar & Leslie Mok on drums 40 minute improv followed by an 18 minute piece Mary & Jessica playing on another level Tonight is Micah with Tyshawn Sorey. Starts in about 10 minutes both nights front row center tomorrow night in Brooklyn Maggie Cox solo contrabass Brandon Lopez, Chuck Roth & Dennis Sullivan / saw this trio a year ago at The Stone. They were great. Have a feeling it’s gonna be even better as Chuck is on fire lately.

Last night at The Stone Wendy Eisenberg, Trevor Dunn (on electric bass) & Ches Smith 40 minute improv followed by a 10 minute coda Wendy about 20% too loud but a great performance by the band. Her tone is not my favorite but Trevor & Ches are genius level musicians and the power & occasional grace and mystery of the excursions was palpable. Plus as always sitting first row leaning in is an awe inspiring experience with that drum/bass combination.

Tim Berne, Elias Stemesedar, Nels Cline & Tom Rainey at Lowlands last night 3 improvisations lasting an hour. 18 minute encore. simply one of the greatest sets of music I’ve ever witnessed. 3 feet from Nels. Berne introduces Tom Rainey as the greatest drummer in the world and he’s not wrong. previous night among other sets, Jessica Pavone, Chris Cochrane & Brian Chase Incredible 30 minute improvisation. Pavone is a genius level player. golden age of this music continues maybe something tonight Saturday night: Malaby, Ehrlich, Hebert & Rainey / grand masters at play

Seeing Tyshawn twice in June at Jazz Gallery (6/11 & 6/14). Band not listed yet. I’d love to see this trio. Two sets each night so no continuous set. I saw his quintet on 3/2/2020 right before the lockdown do a 2 hour plus continuous set.

Among other shows, Monday night / I was at 7 shows within 11 days, I think Sandy Ewen, Ravi Coltrane, Damon Smith & James Paul Nadien at the Record Shop astounding moreso with Ravi on tenor rather than soprano Sandy Ewen is a genius & my first time seeing Damon Smith live other standout sets during my recent run of gigs (looks like nothing until 2/19) I’m resting up:) Hans Young Binter, Anna Abondolo & Orchid McRae!!! Michael Foster, Joe Moffet & Eli Wallace!!! Larry Ochs, Ken Filiano & Tom Rainey!!! Ochs, Nels Cline & Chad Taylor!!!!! Tony Malaby, Sean Ali & Flin van Hemmen!!! Ingrid Laubrock, Chuck Roth & Cecelia Lopez!!!!!!!! Chuck & Ingrid destroyed reality. Best I’ve heard Cecelia.

Don’t miss among others At Union Pool with Patrick Holmes & Ryan Sawyer devastating awe inspiring Her performance with Nels Cline & Booker Stardum at Solar Myth this past fall was among the best examples of improvised beyond possible stuff I’ve ever experienced. so blessed to have seen her play 4 times last year. If not for a back problem recently I would have been at her final performance which was a solo set at Zurcher Gallery on January 21st.

Omg this is awful i just saw her play a few months ago genius level improvisor very very nice person as well RIP

Richard Manual was a genius level singer until drugs ruined him

Last night at The Stone Che’s Smith, Darius Jones & Craig Taborn 4 improvisations 50 minutes total. Good to great. Grand masters at work. So focused.