What live music are you going to see tonight?

[BillF]

Alan Barnes with the house trio at Whitefield this afternoon.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

fri i saw--- MAGMA. they were amazing. vocally they could be the greatest progressive rock band of all time, perhaps....the music was from another world. the original member is the drummer, who was pretty much a jazz, or jazz-rock if you will, drummer-, his wife Stella Vander who joined in 1973, is a french pop legend in her own right with a recording carreer going back 52 yrs and was the MVP of the all around incredible ensemble. they said it was their 1st trip the the USA since 1999....

sat i saw---FLEETWOOD MAC. had same seat as for last year shows, front row hard stage rt. however last nt in canada it was actually the most intimate arangement yet, im talking abuot the distance from seat-to-stage. every arena although shaped the same, all are really different and so the stage fits in them different ways. John McVie literally walked right next to the aisle when he decended the stage stairs. i was inches away from both McVies the entire show. i made a big effort not to focus on Lindsey at all, god i cant stand Lindsey.....Christine sounded incredible, so happy to hear her since her tunes one more time. so ive caught the tour now in CA OR WA + British Columbia......maybe they are going on never-ending tour, will they be back in fall?????

[mikeweil]

Kevin Mahogany was in town tonight, with a German/Dutch rhythm section that plays with him for years and had a nice, no-nonsense groove. Drummer missed the first set - one of the most important highway bridges across the Rhine is closed for repair, and neither did his GPS show it nor the touring agency inform him ...

The singer was in fine form, may be the last of his kind, I'm afraid - he appeared a bit tired or sick, and the way he sang "For Al We Know" as an encore, sans microphone or accompaniment, was so heartfelt that it left me a bit worried about him ....

[A Lark Ascending]

Marius Neset Quintet in the place in Sheffield where they show the snooker.

Marius Neset: sax; Magnus Hjorth: piano; Jim Hart: vibes; Petter Eldh: bass; Joshua Blackmore: drums

Excellent couple of sets. Very composed music (but with lots of solo space), tricksy and nervy but full of passion. I've yet to get a sense of Neset as a distinctive saxophone voice but there's no doubting the overall excitement of the group.

[Head Man]

Joshua Redman Trio at The Sage in Gateshead tomorrow followed by The Cookers there on Sunday.

I'm hoping this will end my recent run of watching pretty poor live jazz perfomances.

[relyles]

Ches Smith / Craig Taborn / Mat Maneri @ Firehouse 12 in New Haven.

[Steve Reynolds]

Ches Smith / Craig Taborn / Mat Maneri @ Firehouse 12 in New Haven.

I LOVE that trio. Wondering if they played free improvisations or some of Ches' wonderful compositions.

[Chuck Nessa]

Tonight, Myra Melford, Mark Dresser and Matt Wilson at Constellation.

[Utevsky]

Last night, at The Royal Room in Seattle, Open Loose (Mark Helias, Tony Malaby and Tom Rainey) played two excellent muscular sets. Opening for them was a hefty new Seattle trio, consisting of Evan Flory-Barnes on bass, Neil Welch on sax and D'Vonne Lewis on drums. An excellent evening all around.

[jeffcrom]

Matthew Shipp solo, at a tiny little club in Tallahassee. It was pretty great. Afterwards I said hello, and we talked admiringly about Allen Lowe.

[Steve Reynolds]

Last night, at The Royal Room in Seattle, Open Loose (Mark Helias, Tony Malaby and Tom Rainey) played two excellent muscular sets. Opening for them was a hefty new Seattle trio, consisting of Evan Flory-Barnes on bass, Neil Welch on sax and D'Vonne Lewis on drums. An excellent evening all around.

Even though I probably see the trio a couple of times a year for the last few, I'm always fired up to see the long standing trio. Telepathic is one of those overused descriptors but it fits this band. April 25th @ Cornelia Street after they return back from their little tour. My guess is Malaby played a bit if soprano along with the tenor. First time any of Helias' compositions for this band called for Tony to play soprano are a few on the new recording. My first impression of the new music via seeing them in December was very positive. Also looking forward to picking up the new CD on Intakt at the upcoming show.

[BillF]

Superb session including fascinating pre-gig talk by The Cookers at The Sage, Gateshead yesterday afternoon.

Great Organissimo presence at this one - David Weiss on stage and Head Man and self in the audience!

[sidewinder]

Superb session including fascinating pre-gig talk by The Cookers at The Sage, Gateshead yesterday afternoon.

Great Organissimo presence at this one - David Weiss on stage and Head Man and self in the audience!

Lucky you guys !

[Head Man]

Yes, it really was a great set....easily the best live jazz I've seen for several years. Everyone played their socks off and the two Billys were a revelation. Where do they get their energy from?

The previous evening I was also at The Sage watching the Joshua Redman Trio. This is the first time I've seen him live and whilst I did enjoy the set I'm afraid watching The Cookers on the following day put his performance in perspective...a bit too low-key for me, I'm afraid.

[tomatamot]

Tonight: The Joshua Redman Trio at The Lantaarn/Venster in Rotterdam.

[Head Man]

Tonight: The Joshua Redman Trio at The Lantaarn/Venster in Rotterdam.

Ah, that's why they were low-key when I saw them on Saturday..... saving all their energy for Rotterdam!

[relyles]

Ches Smith / Craig Taborn / Mat Maneri @ Firehouse 12 in New Haven.

I LOVE that trio. Wondering if they played free improvisations or some of Ches' wonderful compositions.

It was all composed music. I have yet to be completely won over by Smith, but I did enjoy this more than I did These Arches. The compositions for this trio worked better for me. This was my first time hearing Maneri live. He seems to be having equipment difficulties during the second set. He was using a borrowed viola and the clip he uses for the amplification did not fit properly. In any event, he was impressive. Taborn as always was fabulous. Enjoyable night out.

[Steve Reynolds]

Ches Smith / Craig Taborn / Mat Maneri @ Firehouse 12 in New Haven.

I LOVE that trio. Wondering if they played free improvisations or some of Ches' wonderful compositions.

It was all composed music. I have yet to be completely won over by Smith, but I did enjoy this more than I did These Arches. The compositions for this trio worked better for me. This was my first time hearing Maneri live. He seems to be having equipment difficulties during the second set. He was using a borrowed viola and the clip he uses for the amplification did not fit properly. In any event, he was impressive. Taborn as always was fabulous. Enjoyable night out.

This is a much more open and free group than These Arches (I now remembered that you didn't really like that band - which is understandable as they are certainly not for all tastes - It took me about 30 minutes into their first set last year to get past the rigidity of the compositions)

Taborn in this trio is fabulous and I'm very gratified that you were able to see Mat Maneri for the first time. I've been to a couple of sets where he had similar equipment issues with his OWN viola.

When it is hooked up correctly it sure pays off!!!

[Utevsky]

Last night, at The Royal Room in Seattle, Open Loose (Mark Helias, Tony Malaby and Tom Rainey) played two excellent muscular sets. Opening for them was a hefty new Seattle trio, consisting of Evan Flory-Barnes on bass, Neil Welch on sax and D'Vonne Lewis on drums. An excellent evening all around.

Even though I probably see the trio a couple of times a year for the last few, I'm always fired up to see the long standing trio. Telepathic is one of those overused descriptors but it fits this band. April 25th @ Cornelia Street after they return back from their little tour. My guess is Malaby played a bit if soprano along with the tenor. First time any of Helias' compositions for this band called for Tony to play soprano are a few on the new recording. My first impression of the new music via seeing them in December was very positive. Also looking forward to picking up the new CD on Intakt at the upcoming show.

I've seen Malaby before, but not this trio. Your guess is correct. Malaby played tenor and soprano in Seattle.

[Steve Reynolds]

8:00 Otomo Yoshihide/Sachiko M

10:00 above plus special guest

@ The Stone

[relyles]

Tonight:

Rob Mazurek Black Cube SP @ The Parlor Room at Signature Sounds, Northampton, MA

[mr jazz]

Elaine Elias and her band (including husband Marc Johnson) put on an incredible performance last night in DC. While her piano chops are top notch as usual, she played a few songs on an electric piano (sounded like a Fender Rhodes) and really got a lovely retro sound.

[A Lark Ascending]

The Laura Jurd Quartet in Sheffield. Absolutely thrilling concert from a band who look like they could be in my A Level class!

Laura Jurd: trumpet; Elliot Galvin: piano; Conor Chaplin: bass; Corrie Dick: drums

Jurd has been getting a lot of press in the last couple of years as someone to watch. I've been enjoying her records but was not prepared for the real power of her playing live. All the band really impressed, but I was also especially taken by Elliott Galvin who used that red keyboard to alternate between an early 70s Fender Rhodes sound (including lovely distortion) and almost Larry Young-like swirling organ textures.

Most of the first half were instrumental versions of tunes from her latest album which is song based. Part two was newer compositions - spacey and intense by turns. She seems to like fjords!

What is really going to stand her in good stead is her compositional ability. All the pieces were very carefully constructed with themes and sub themes, yet still leaving plenty of room for improvisation.

A player it is going to be delightful to see grow. Look out for her, Brits, in your local jazz emporium.

[BFrank]

Charles Lloyd weekend. Great to see Eric Harland 2 nights in a row, too - he's a monster!

Tonight I saw "Wild Man Dance Suite":

Charles Lloyd tenor saxophone

Gerald Clayton piano

Joe Sanders bass

Eric Harland drums

Sokratis Sinopoulos lyra

Miklos Lukacs cimbalom

Tomorrow night will be his New Quartet:

Charles Lloyd tenor saxophone

Jason Moran piano

Reuben Rogers bass

Eric Harland drums

[Justin V]

On the 18th, I caught Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea in Indiana. I'd never seen Herbie live before, and with their last tour being 37 years ago, I knew that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see them together. We had front-row seats with a dead-on view of Herbie, with the piano and a monitor blocking some of our view of Chick.

I could go on at length, but it was easily one of the best concerts I've ever attended. Their complementary styles served them well on two freely improvised duets (one acoustic and one mainly electric), 'Alone Together', a Miles tribute consisting of 'All Blues' and 'Someday My Prince Will Come' (the latter featuring the soaring vocals of Gayle Moran-Corea), 'Cantaloupe Island' and an encore of 'Spain', with an audience sing-along.

The electric duo was unbelievable, with Herbie laying down this spooky, atmospheric and intense background that eventually gave way to this gonzo, alien-sounding riff with percussion from Chick, which Herbie then soloed over on electric keyboard and acoustic piano. It was fun, challenging and inventive, which made it emblematic of the whole show.

After their encore, Herbie and Chick shook hands and thanked much of the first row, and my wife and I shook hands with Herbie. They both seemed genuinely appreciative of the audience throughout the night, which is always good to see. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to witness the warm interplay between two giants in top form; it was a special night. I can only hope that they release an album commemorating and/or documenting the tour, as their last tour produced two albums. I wish that I could have seen them in Chicago and/or Ann Arbor the two previous nights as well, because their free-wheeling collaboration has to make each a concert a unique experience..

Edited May 5, 2015 by Justin V