What live music are you going to see tonight?

[medjuck]

Trombone Shorty. He's not short, plays trumpet as well as trombone and doesn't play much jazz but he's the real deal. Most fun I've had at a concert in years.

[BillF]

Alan Barnes and John Hallam at Whitefield this afternoon.

[kh1958]

Friday night, the Lonnie Smith Trio at the Carver Center in San Antonio. That was an awesome concert.

[sidewinder]

Friday night, the Lonnie Smith Trio at the Carver Center in San Antonio. That was an awesome concert.

Sounds great !

[BillF]

Robert Fowler's Mulligan Concert Jazz Band at Southport today. Great session!

http://www.jazzjournal.co.uk/news-extra/620/review-robert-fowler-plays-gerry-mulligan

[jeffcrom]

James Houlik, probably the finest classical tenor saxophonist in the world, playing Russell Peck's concerto "The Upward Stream," with Ludwig Symphony Orchestra, an Atlanta ensemble which performs one concert per quartet, as far as I can tell.

[Justin V]

I caught The Cookers in Detroit on Saturday, with Donald Harrison manning the alto spot (Gary Bartz was on alto when they played the Detroit Jazz Festival last year). It was an amazing show. It really is a significant achievement to assemble such an all-star band and make it into a touring group. I think that the band is comprised of some of the greatest living jazz musicians performing in an ego-free manner. I'd make the long drive just to see a trio of George Cables, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart; the group, as a whole and individually, is just too good to miss.

I had the opportunity to chat briefly with McBee, Harrison and George Cables afterward. I talked a bit with Harrison about his nephew Christian Scott, who apparently first recorded with his uncle at 16. I had a chance to tell McBee how much I adore Michael White's The Land of Spirit and Light, on which McBee is astounding. He was very gracious and came across as a true gentleman. Cables lived up to his reputation as a super-nice guy and talked for a bit about his travels. I'm always nervous when talking to musicians I admire, but I was glad that I had the opportunity to tell them I appreciated their work.

On Sunday, I made the trip back to Detroit to catch Jimmy Heath with the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble. The concert opened with a three-song set by a group from the Detroit School of Arts. They were some talented, mature kids who have a lot of potential.

The U of M jazz ensemble always has some talented kids. One drummer in particular really impressed me, and I found myself wishing that their only female member, a baritone saxophonist, had more opportunities to solo after her fun, earthy solo on 'Gingerbread Boy'. After the U of M band played three songs, Heath came up for a quartet reading of 'On Green Dolphin Street' and big-band versions of 'A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing', 'The Voice of the Saxophone' and 'Gingerbread Boy'.

Jimmy Heath, as always, was a blast to see. From his sensitive tribute to Coleman Hawkins and his funky take on Strayhorn's tune to his skilled deployment of the various sections of the ensemble on 'Gingerbread Boy', he's a masterful composer/arranger/saxophonist. I don't think that he gets as much recognition as he deserves. I'm looking forward to listening to his new big-band album, Togetherness: Live at the Blue Note.

It was a great weekend for music in Detroit.

[ejp626]

I saw the Emerson String Quartet last night. This is their first tour since replacing the long-time cellist with Paul Watkins. They played Mozart, Bartok and Beethoven quartets, with a very nice minuet? from Haydn as the encore. It was a fine concert, though my favorite time seeing them was several years back in Chicago when they played Dvorak's 12th quartet.

[jlhoots]

Fred Eaglesmith

Tif Ginn

[BFrank]

Spring Quartet - Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Leo Genovese

Saw this show tonight. Great show - and surprisingly heavy on the free jazz. These guys can PLAY.

If they're coming to YOUR town, don't miss them!

[relyles]

JASON ROBINSON’S JANUS ENSEMBLE
Bezanson Recital Hall – University of Massachusetts - Amherst, MA
We begin our silver anniversary season with a performance by saxophonist, composer and Amherst College Assistant Professor of Music Jason Robinson as he reassembles the nine-piece ensemble featured on his most recent celebrated recording, Tiresian Symmetry (Cuneiform). The group features Robinson, along with Oscar Noriega (reeds), Marty Ehrlich (reeds), Bill Lowe (tuba, bass trombone), Michael Dessen (trombone), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Drew Gress (bass), George Schuller (drums) and Ches Smith (drums).

[Justin V]

Spring Quartet - Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Leo Genovese

Saw this show tonight. Great show - and surprisingly heavy on the free jazz. These guys can PLAY.

If they're coming to YOUR town, don't miss them!

Spring Quartet - Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Leo Genovese

Saw this show tonight. Great show - and surprisingly heavy on the free jazz. These guys can PLAY.

If they're coming to YOUR town, don't miss them!

I had second-row tickets for their Detroit show, but it was postponed. I can only hope that the venue actually does reschedule it.

[Head Man]

Spring Quartet - Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Leo Genovese

Saw this show tonight. Great show - and surprisingly heavy on the free jazz. These guys can PLAY.

If they're coming to YOUR town, don't miss them!

Thanks for that...I'm due to see this group at The Sage in Gateshead in April.

[Steve Reynolds]

JASON ROBINSONS JANUS ENSEMBLE

Bezanson Recital Hall University of Massachusetts - Amherst, MA

We begin our silver anniversary season with a performance by saxophonist, composer and Amherst College Assistant Professor of Music Jason Robinson as he reassembles the nine-piece ensemble featured on his most recent celebrated recording, Tiresian Symmetry (Cuneiform). The group features Robinson, along with Oscar Noriega (reeds), Marty Ehrlich (reeds), Bill Lowe (tuba, bass trombone), Michael Dessen (trombone), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Drew Gress (bass), George Schuller (drums) and Ches Smith (drums).

Sounds like it should be great

[relyles]

JASON ROBINSONS JANUS ENSEMBLE

Bezanson Recital Hall University of Massachusetts - Amherst, MA

We begin our silver anniversary season with a performance by saxophonist, composer and Amherst College Assistant Professor of Music Jason Robinson as he reassembles the nine-piece ensemble featured on his most recent celebrated recording, Tiresian Symmetry (Cuneiform). The group features Robinson, along with Oscar Noriega (reeds), Marty Ehrlich (reeds), Bill Lowe (tuba, bass trombone), Michael Dessen (trombone), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Drew Gress (bass), George Schuller (drums) and Ches Smith (drums).

Sounds like it should be great

It was!

[kh1958]

Last night, Charles Lloyd and Gerald Clayton duo at Laurie Auditorium, Trinity University, San Antonio.

A really beautiful concert.

[JSngry]

Also made it to the Lloyd gig, and yeah, beautiful. I'm not so much into the whole "magical" and "transported" thing these days, at least not as leading indicators/selling points, but I am into gorgeous tone, masterly phrasing/pacing, playing silence, and subtle-yet-exquisite taste in clothes. Charles Lloyd delivered all of that in abundance, very glad I was there.

Did not know Gerald Clayton before last night, but the guy has huge ears, a marvelous touch, and also dresses well. He also seems to be one of these guys who probably plays a lot of different "ways" to meet the need of any given situation, and if you can do that without sounding obvious/derivative/etc. then that's just good old-fashioned skill. So, whoever you are, Gerald Clayton, my bad for not knowing your name or your work.

If I had one complaint (and, really, none would be called for in the specifics of this evening), it would be the use of miking. It was a good hall with good sound, a good piano, and a reedist who has mastered the sound of his instruments (he was playing a few flute notes away from the mike, and I heard him just as distinctly as if they were on mike...and never mind the tenor, hey...). With just a duo, in that hall, I really do not think that miking was required...but I understand how it is "expected" these days...world gone wrong from good intentions, perhaps?

Also, I had never seen a Chinese oboe until last night. That's one intriguing-looking instrument, that is.

[BillF]

"In Memory of Stan"

Was in Southport last night for a gig put on at short notice called "In Memory of Stan". The late Stan Tracey had been booked some months ago and the gig went ahead under the leadership of Clark Tracey, with Steve Melling on piano, Andrew Cleyndert on bass and Art Themen and Simon Allen on saxes. Clark tells me he's writing a biography of his Dad. I promised to read it.

[Leeway]

Took in two concerts this weekend at An Die Musik in Baltimore. On Friday night, I went to see the Michael Formanek Quartet. This was a last minute decision, since I don't much care for Formanek. But Ellery Eskelin was playing with the group, and since I hadn't seen him in quite some time, I decided to go to the second (late) show, and at least avoid the notorious DC Beltway traffic slog. The group consisted of Formanek on bass (of course), Jacob Sacks, piano, Dan Weiss, drums, and Eskelin on tenor. Every time I see a Formanek show, which usually look great on paper, I leave muttering I'm not going to waste my time and money on going to another performance. Odd, since Tim Berne is a protege of Formanek, and I am a fan of Berne, so I should be a fan of MF too, right? No. The syllogism does not hold. I call MF's music MOR (middle of the road) free jazz (more often composed). Sonny Simmons said something once at a concert that has stayed with me. He said the music has to be a little bit scary to be good. Formanek's music is as scary as a Sunday school teacher. Anyway, I got there in time to hear the last two pieces of the first set, and they sounded really good! I thought, this time it's going to be different. I looked forward to the 2nd set. With most of the crowd gone, though, it seemed most of the energy of the first set dissipated too. The set became disjointed. I have not previously seen Sacks or Weiss before. Sacks was playing with a splint on his right pinky finger; despite that, I found his approach interesting. What was off-putting was his constant grinning and smiling, like there was an in-joke no one else was getting. Formanek had already introduced Weiss as someone who never failed to crack him up, and this held true, as Weiss and Sacks looked like two school kids trying not to laugh in church, eventually causing Formanek to start laughing too. Too bad the audience wasn't in on the joke. Oh yeah, Eskelin, he played OK, but seemingly detached from whatever the band behind him was doing. He does have a great tone though. I left, muttering, that next time...

Back to An Die on Sunday to see the great Dave Burrell, in a trio with David Tamure (tenor sax) and Joe Chonto, drums. Burrell has a new (?) CD out based on Civil War themes (of all things), but he made it work. His playing was just terrific. Tamura I faintly heard of, but not heard. He plays the tenor almost like it is an alto. Chonto was completely new to me. This guy can play LOUD! I mean, there were times when he made Hamid sound like Paul Motion. Plus he had the largest collection of cymbals (about 10) I've seen on a jazz drum kit, including one very long snakelike contraption that hung on a rod that produced a long set of vibrations. But here's the thing: they were all completely tuned in to each other. They knew the music. No charts in front of them (like so many others do now, as if it was a Berklee seminar room), but they knew the music, and improvised forcefully over the basic songs. I saw both sets, some of the pieces were repeated, similar but not the same. Watching Burrell dig into the music was inspirational...even a bit scary.

[Steve Reynolds]

Took in two concerts this weekend at An Die Musik in Baltimore. On Friday night, I went to see the Michael Formanek Quartet. This was a last minute decision, since I don't much care for Formanek. But Ellery Eskelin was playing with the group, and since I hadn't seen him in quite some time, I decided to go to the second (late) show, and at least avoid the notorious DC Beltway traffic slog. The group consisted of Formanek on bass (of course), Jacob Sacks, piano, Dan Weiss, drums, and Eskelin on tenor. Every time I see a Formanek show, which usually look great on paper, I leave muttering I'm not going to waste my time and money on going to another performance. Odd, since Tim Berne is a protege of Formanek, and I am a fan of Berne, so I should be a fan of MF too, right? No. The syllogism does not hold. I call MF's music MOR (middle of the road) free jazz (more often composed). Sonny Simmons said something once at a concert that has stayed with me. He said the music has to be a little bit scary to be good. Formanek's music is as scary as a Sunday school teacher. Anyway, I got there in time to hear the last two pieces of the first set, and they sounded really good! I thought, this time it's going to be different. I looked forward to the 2nd set. With most of the crowd gone, though, it seemed most of the energy of the first set dissipated too. The set became disjointed. I have not previously seen Sacks or Weiss before. Sacks was playing with a splint on his right pinky finger; despite that, I found his approach interesting. What was off-putting was his constant grinning and smiling, like there was an in-joke no one else was getting. Formanek had already introduced Weiss as someone who never failed to crack him up, and this held true, as Weiss and Sacks looked like two school kids trying not to laugh in church, eventually causing Formanek to start laughing too. Too bad the audience wasn't in on the joke. Oh yeah, Eskelin, he played OK, but seemingly detached from whatever the band behind him was doing. He does have a great tone though. I left, muttering, that next time...

Back to An Die on Sunday to see the great Dave Burrell, in a trio with David Tamure (tenor sax) and Joe Chonto, drums. Burrell has a new (?) CD out based on Civil War themes (of all things), but he made it work. His playing was just terrific. Tamura I faintly heard of, but not heard. He plays the tenor almost like it is an alto. Chonto was completely new to me. This guy can play LOUD! I mean, there were times when he made Hamid sound like Paul Motion. Plus he had the largest collection of cymbals (about 10) I've seen on a jazz drum kit, including one very long snakelike contraption that hung on a rod that produced a long set of vibrations. But here's the thing: they were all completely tuned in to each other. They knew the music. No charts in front of them (like so many others do now, as if it was a Berklee seminar room), but they knew the music, and improvised forcefully over the basic songs. I saw both sets, some of the pieces were repeated, similar but not the same. Watching Burrell dig into the music was inspirational...even a bit scary.

I saw a band with Sacks and Weiss over a year ago. Sacks is an interesting pianist but Weiss added little with a very predictable rote approach to the kit. Even my wife thought he was stale and she loves most drummers as much as I do. Yes Ellery has a great tone but I've not heard the fire from him over the past few years that used to his normal level.

[alankin]

This Thursday in Philadelphia:

Feb 27, 2014

• 5:30PM – 7:30PM

Penn IUR 10th Anniversary Special Event

Nick Spitzer, producer of public radio's American Routes and professor of American studies and anthropology at Tulane University in New Orleans will discuss the intersection of cities, music and public culture. With a line-up of special guests, Spitzer will explore how music and musicians express Philadelphia’s cultural identities.

Featured speakers and performers include Jimmy Heath, NEA Jazz Master saxophonist and leader of Philadelphia's Heath Brothers; Sam Reed, jazz saxophonist and bandleader at the Uptown Theater in the ‘50s and ‘60s; Elaine Hoffman Watts and Susan Watts, mother-daughter, trumpet-drum klezmer duo; the Budesa Brothers with Lucky Thompson, organ trio; Frankie and the Fashions, four-part, doo-wop harmony group; and introductory remarks by Kathy Peiss, the Roy and Jeanette Nichols Professor of American History, University of Pennsylvania.

A reception with live performances will follow.

This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, registration required. Made possible with funding from the Office of the Provost in celebration of the Year of Sound and co-sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences’ Urban Studies Program.

http://city-soundscapes.eventbrite.com/

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

Bennie Maupin: for this 1st time in 12-13 years.........

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

well heres somethin u dont see every day, just like on tender moments, lonnie smith turning point.....MWANDISHI.....

[BFrank]

Here's a re-post from FB:

Jack DeJohnette

If you haven't had the chance to hear the ‪‎The Spring Quartet‬ live here's a track recently recorded in New Orleans. Enjoy!

[Hardbopjazz]

George Cables, Playing the music of Dexter Gordon.