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BOBBY BRADFORD QUARTET featuring VINNY GOLIA EUROPEAN TOUR (January 29-February 8) BOBBY BRADFORD cornet VINNY GOLIA woodwinds BERNARD SANTACRUZ double bass CRISTIANO CALCAGNILE drums • Sunday, January 29: Parazzar (Brugge, BE) • Monday, January 30: La Malterie (Lille, FR) • Wednesday, February 1: Sunset (Paris, FR) – Discount available!! see below (20€ statt 28€ mit dem Code 20BB1 über die Website des Clubs) • Thursday, February 2: Bimhuis (Amsterdam, NL) • Friday, February 3: Musicus Concentus – Sala Vanni (Firenze, IT) • Saturday, February 4: Novara Jazz – Istituto Civico Musicale Brera (Novara, IT) • Sunday, February 5: Spezia Festival (Trevozzo, Piacenza, IT) • Tuesday, February 7: Centro d’Arte – Cinema Torresino (Padova, IT) • Wednesday, February 8: Porgy & Bess (Wien, AT) --- I plan to attend the concert in Novara, topping off a one-week trip that starts Sunday prior in Milan with Roscoe Mitchell ... I have seen Bradford in concert once so far, with the loud and intense Circulasione Totale Orchestra headed by Frode Gjerstad, and I'm a big fan of the live albums by Bradford/Gjerstad on Nessa and NoBusiness. With Circulasione, it was magic, all those (mostly) younger dudes standing in a semi circle, Bradford seated on a chair in their midst ... the music was *really* loud, two drummers on stage (Hamid Drake and Louis Moholo no less!), Sabir Mateen going ape-shit and all that ... but as soon as Bradford put his horn to his lip, his tone projected through all of it, seemingly effortless, with a singing clarity that really touched me. So yeah, I'm looking forward very, very much to hearing him live again!

Our own esteemed Chuck Nessa has just released Silver Cornet by the Bobby Bradford/Frode Gjerstad Quartet. Here's an excerpt from my review: "The instrumental line-up and Bradford’s history would suggest that their music would be heavily influenced by Ornette, but at least as a listener that’s not really the case. In fact, the Quartet really reminds me of Other Dimensions In Music in the way the music rises and falls in a very natural way. Bradford has what I call an “organic” approach to improvising; everything flows, nothing seems forced, and it’s very conversational. You really hear the history of jazz and free music in his playing. Listening to Frode is like what I imagine watching Pollock at work was like: At first everything looks random and disconnected, but over the course of time you see an arc, a progression. He infers, rather than states, and he’s a great foil for his front-line partner. The acoustics of the Dallas show made picking up the bass difficult, so it’s great to hear Ingebrigt’s contributions so much more clearly. He’s all over his instrument, with a lightening-quick approach that reminds me of Barry Guy at times. And Frank Rosaly? Well, I’ve never seen anyone play like he does. His approach involves rapidly taking various cymbals off their stands, placing them on top of drumheads, and striking or swiping them. It’s mesmerizing live, and what almost got lost was how well he can drive the band when needed. Once the Dallas performance was finished, I had a vision in my mind that the music hadn’t really stopped, that it was a river that would keep flowing. Silver Cornet is proof of that." You can read the full review of Silver Cornet on improvisedblog.