What live music are you going to see tonight?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Tuesday night at Jocko's Jazz Night At The Sahara in Methuen, NA, I saw Italian trumpeter Cicci Santucci play beautifully in a quartet setting. For a 73 year old trumpeter, he still blows pretty hard and gave us a demonstration of swing-style trumpet that had me tapping my foot like crazy. Before and after the set, his wife was selling some of his CDs. Several of them on Italian labels I've never heard of. I grabbed two of them, one because it was one of Romano Mussolini's last dates (yes, the son of *that* Mussolini). I gather from what I read that Romano was quite a good pianist.

Kevin

[Shawn]

Tonight:

Opeth, Mastodon & Ghost at the Gibson Amphitheater.

[rockefeller center]

Kirk Lightsey trio.

[rockefeller center]

Listen live @ http://www.birdseye.ch

[jeffcrom]

Atlanta's 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra, of which I'm a member, opened for Matt Moran's Slavic Soul Party tonight, in their first Atlanta appearance.

I'm the least photogenic MF on the planet, but I can't resist posting this picture from our set last night. The other saxophonist is Bill Nittler, one of my best friends.

[king ubu]

Tonight it will be Paal Nilssen-Love/Ken Vandermark and afterwards Donny McCaslin (with Uri Caine in the band... me no like Uri, he boring humorless dude, sorry... but I guess I'll stick around for Donny!)

[sidewinder]

Kirk Lightsey trio.

Always worth catching. Very nice guy too !

[king ubu]

WHOAH! Paal Nilssen-Love is one bad m-f! Holy shit! His playing was amazing, very, very intense, loosening up, freeing all rhythms, yet at the same time with lots of drive and momentum. Vandermark started on tenor, then they picked up for real when he went on with clarinet and baritone, then back to tenor it was... and they added an encore without losing any momentum - yet it was quiet, lyrical, with VDMK on clarinet again (the instrument I prefer hearing him on).

Fantastic set!

McCaslin's band... oh well... Uri Caine on fender and some cheapo stuff w/mac-book, Tim Lefebvre on electric bass, and Rudy Royston on drums. They kind of wanted to play an uninterrupted set, but applause didn't quite let them. Certainly all four of them are very good from a technical point of view, but well... McCaslin doesn't seem to know where he wants the music to go, Royston beats the sh*t out of his drums, but it's all too sly, too... you know, the youngish crowd loved how hip it was, but compared to Nilssen-Love it was super-tame and cute. Lefebvre was definitely the best of them, but he didn't get dirty that often, alas. Caine had some fine spots, but was mostly as boring as I expected (tell me off for that, if you want). McCaslin has a good sound on tenor and amazing technique, but he's not at a point where he has any direction with his own music. He has some sly ideas, does a short groove-thing, lets the band take over, then does his boring virtuoso soloing, very far removed from the original groove pattern, and often - worst in a much-too-long unaccompanied solo towards the end of the set - resembling a mix of etudes and transpositions straight out of some classical learning book.

Too bad, as there was loads of musical ability up there, but no idea what to do with it.

But then who am I to say so? The four seem to have enjoyed themselves, smiling at each other, happy about that clever little trick the other guy just pulled... it's just that to me, it got old before it even really started.

[Pete C]

Thursday through today at the Festival Internationale de Louisiane in Lafayette: Sonny Landreth, Bombino (Touareg from Niger, "desert blues" a la Tinariwen & Tartit), Robert Randolph Family Band, Khaira Arby (Northern Mali--she's related to Ali Farka Toure), Cheikh Lo, Lindigo (Reunion Island--disappointing; nothing like Rene Lacaille, who recorded with Bob Brozman), Pine Leaf Boys, Gary Clark Jr., Red Stick Ramblers, Debo Band ("Ethiopiques" from Boston), Vishten (P.E.I.), Lost Bayou Ramblers, Corey Ledet & his Zydeco Band, Destination Gospel Choir, Savoy Family Cajun Band, Feufollet, Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners, Canailles (Quebec). And there was so much tempting stuff I had to miss.

I passed on Seun Kuti, Texas Tornadoes, Chico Trujillo (Chile) and Slavic Soul Party since I've seen them all in Brooklyn, and I wanted to catch acts I haven't seen before, though I have previously seen Cheikh Lo, Robert Randolph and Sonny Landreth.

[Aggie87]

How did you like Gary Clark Jr? I've read alot about him, but haven't seen him yet.

[Chuck Nessa]

Tomorrow Lazaro and I are planning on hearing Ran Blake's recital in Kalamazoo.

[king ubu]

Please do report, Chuck!

I'm going to catch Matana Roberts again tomorrow - third time overall, second time since March, first time solo... looking forward very much to that!

[Pete C]

How did you like Gary Clark Jr? I've read alot about him, but haven't seen him yet.

He was great, and yes, he's getting a lot of attention.

[king ubu]

Fantastic solo show by Matana Roberts last night... wonderful, very intimate venue, small crowd only, almost like a private concert. She played, chanted, recited, did some sing-along with the audience... 45 brilliant, intense, and deeply moving minutes, straight from the heart. The Oscar Brown Jr. song was friggin' amazing in solo, it was great already done by the band, but in solo, it's just mind-bending.

She was hyper nervous when we arrived (about two hours early)... we found out why: her sax case had broken in the plane, the sax fell out and dropped, and during sound check, all she could play was one single note. They quickly found a repair man close by, and she was overjoyed about that (he fixed her horn for free, too, which again she found amazing). After her set, we had another quick chat, she asked if we'd stick around (for the set by Bad Panda, a rock band from Vancouver - they were effin' loud in the small venue, but they made for a quite good live act, with two ladies takin' care of bass and drum chores, and they created some propelling, stomping beats... did I mention I got kind of an obession with bass-playing ladies? )... anyway in the end, we were talking to Matana for half an hour or so, talking about her music and much more, while the guys were shutting down... got very late, but it was an unforgettable night, for sure!

[rockefeller center]

Medeski, Martin & Wood

[king ubu]

Will hopefully make it to the Bird's Eye for Marcus Wyatt's Blue Notes Tribute (second week).

[Aggie87]

Caught Los Lonely Boys tonight, who played a show at the baseball field after the Corpus Christi Hooks game tonight. $9 got a berm ticket for the game, plus the show, not a bad deal.

I like them more after seeing them than I did before - nice sound & groove, a mix of rock, blues, and hints of Tex-mex.

[rockefeller center]

Will hopefully make it to the Bird's Eye for Marcus Wyatt's Blue Notes Tribute (second week).

Hey Ubu! What's the exact date? Maybe we can meet there.

[king ubu]

Will hopefully make it to the Bird's Eye for Marcus Wyatt's Blue Notes Tribute (second week).

Hey Ubu! What's the exact date? Maybe we can meet there.

Tues. May 29

I'll meet someone from France who might be the biggest ZA jazz fan I've yet gotten in touch with... but would be very cool if you'd be there, too!

I'll catch the latest train back to Zurich, but I might be there somewhat earlier, not sure yet (and not sure what the other guy's exact plans are, either).

[BillF]

Lee Hallam and Duncan Winfield (trombones) wth the Gerry Tomlinson Trio at Whitefield this afternoon.

[Larry Kart]

Probably the Jason Roebke Octet at the Hungry Brain:

Josh Berman

Jeb Bishop

Jason Stein

Keefe Jackson

Matt Schneider

Jason Roebke

Mike Reed

(But that's only seven?)

Usually, it also includes either Mars Williams or Dave Rempis on saxes. Jamie Branch will also be there sometimes instead of Berman.

[rockefeller center]

Will hopefully make it to the Bird's Eye for Marcus Wyatt's Blue Notes Tribute (second week).

Hey Ubu! What's the exact date? Maybe we can meet there.

Tues. May 29

I'll meet someone from France who might be the biggest ZA jazz fan I've yet gotten in touch with... but would be very cool if you'd be there, too!

I'll catch the latest train back to Zurich, but I might be there somewhat earlier, not sure yet (and not sure what the other guy's exact plans are, either).

OK, cool, merci.

[king ubu]

So it's definitive that I'm NOT going to see CT in November - big bummer. Concert in Schorndrof cancelled without reason (well, maybe it was never actually planned, just made up by the booking guy? He did the same last year with CT in Mannheim, but this time it was on the club's website, I had tickets reserved, but luckily not yet paid). Big bummer. Did I say big bummer already? Mighty fat big bummer!

[Larry Kart]

Roebke Octet was excellent. Personnel was:

Josh Berman

Mars Williams

Keefe Jackson

Matt Schneider

Jason Roebke

Jason Adasiewicz

Mike Reed

(But that's only seven; Jeb Bishop must have been on the road.)

Band sounded tightly rehearsed, the unannounced original pieces (I assume all Roebke's) all swung hard, except for one slow-motion ballad. Exceptionally striking was a medium tempo piece that sounded like a Monk-Dameron collaboration -- maybe two-thirds the former, one third the latter, and as solidly put together as the proverbial brick outhouse -- with daunting changes that were not an obstacle course but in effect traced out a subsidiary melody. Guitarist Schneider took a long, soberly brilliant, very linear solo here; his playing throughout the first set was striking, as an accompanist as well as a soloist. Wish he'd get a chance to get something of what he can do on record; my stored-in-my-memory collection of top notch Schneider is a large one; he's special and unique. Jackson was in fine form, too; more straight ahead at times than he usually is, which fit the material, though I certainly like him when he's not straight ahead.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Roebke Octet was excellent. Personnel was:

Josh Berman

Mars Williams

Keefe Jackson

Matt Schneider

Jason Roebke

Jason Adasiewicz

Mike Reed

(But that's only seven; Jeb Bishop must have been on the road.)

Band sounded tightly rehearsed, the unannounced original pieces (I assume all Roebke's) all swung hard, except for one slow-motion ballad. Exceptionally striking was a medium tempo piece that sounded like a Monk-Dameron collaboration -- maybe two-thirds the former, one third the latter, and as solidly put together as the proverbial brick outhouse -- with daunting changes that were not an obstacle course but in effect traced out a subsidiary melody. Guitarist Schneider took a long, soberly brilliant, very linear solo here; his playing throughout the first set was striking, as an accompanist as well as a soloist. Wish he'd get a chance to get something of what he can do on record; my stored-in-my-memory collection of top notch Schneider is a large one; he's special and unique. Jackson was in fine form, too; more straight ahead at times than he usually is, which fit the material, though I certainly like him when he's not straight ahead.

Yep - Jeb's over here in the UK at the moment!