What live music are you going to see tonight?

[relyles]

Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 7:30 pm

STREET SONGS/THE ACCORDIAN PROJECT WITH MARIO PAVONE

Studio 59 - 59 Barber Street - Downtown Torrington

Mario Pavone - bass / compositions

Matt Mitchell - piano

Adam Matlock - accordion

Carl Testa - bass

Steve Johns - drums

Brass Quartet:

Dave Ballou - cornet, flugelhorn

Peter McEachern - trombone

Leise Ballou - french horn

Gary Buttery – tuba

I would be interested to hear how this show was! I love the playing of Mario Pavone, and have the Streets Songs album high on my wish list.

Nice set last night. This was the first of five dates this ensemble will be playing over the next month. I might try to catch one or more of the upcoming shows. The texture created by the brass ensemble and the two basses was very warm and slightly dark. The accordion blended well into the overall sound of the ensemble. Ballou and McEachern have several impressive solos. At times it was a little difficult to hear Testa's bass, but there were a couple of spots when the two bassists were featured that were very interesting.

Different kind of venue. It is an old church that has been converted into a setting reminiscent of an Eighteenth Century European drawing room. I was seated on a sofa directly in front of the musicians and there were a variety of parlor chairs and couches in various spots in the room. All things considered sound was solid.

[Larry Kart]

Josh Berman Trio (Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly) at Constellation.

Wish I could be there. Say Hi to the guys for me.

Sorry, I'd left the house before you posted the above. Very nice set, almost all new pieces by Josh -- quirky lyrical-elliptical and quite individual, maybe like some blend of Herbie Nichols and the Giuffre of both the first Hall-Pena and the later Bley-Swallow editions of the Jimmy Giuffre Three (if Giuffre were Jewish). Performances were uncommonly brief for this day and age, maybe 12 pieces in the the first 45 or 50 minutes. Best of all, Josh's solos were so much of and on the pieces that it has hard to tell where the pieces left off and the solos began. I think this material will be an album eventually.

[RiRiIII]

Charles Lloyd quartet with Maria Farantouri and Greek trio with lyra, el guitar and el piano, below Acropolis in Athens right now.

[relyles]

2014 UMOJA Music Series
Friday, June 20, 2014 – 6 pm - FREE

Charter Oak Cultural Center - 21 Charter Oak Ave – Hartford, CT

Jay Hoggard + UMOJA
UMOJA | UNITY
Jay Hoggard - Vibraphone
Yunie Mojica - Alto Saxophone
Raynel Frazier - Trombone
Josh Evans - Trumpet
Jen Allen- Piano
Stephen "King" Porter - Bass
Jocelyn Pleasent - Drums /Percussion
Jonathan Barber - Drums

[BFrank]

Chester Thompson at the intimate Joe Henderson Lab @ SFJazz on Friday.

Chester Thompson Hammond B-3 organ

Robert Stewart tenor saxophone

Barry Finnerty guitar

Ron E. Beck drums

SPECIAL GUEST

Kim Nalley vocals

This show KILLED tonight. This group was amazing - on fire from the first note. Special props to Ron Beck for ultra-solid drums, too.

[Van Basten II]

Still at the same place than previous nights

Golden State

Harris Eisenstadt’s Golden State
Michael Moore – clarinet
Sara Schoenbeck – bassoon
Mark Dresser- bass
Harris Eisenstadt – drums, compositions

And for MVP, the award goes to Mark Dresser, man he was fun to listen to last night. Another very enjoyable gig.

[Steve Reynolds]

A few comments about Saturday night.

Both trios led by Max Johnson on bass

First set with Paul Flaherty switching back from alto to tenor for each shortish piece. Maybe 5 improvised pieces totally 40 minutes which fit perfectly for the small intimate crowd @ I Beam. Total facility on both horns with a pure sound through all registers of each horn. Sublime melodic playing with a subdued energy and commitment. Understated drumming by a new musician to me and fine playing by the bassist, especially with the bow.

Second set with Mat Maneri on viola now joined by Michael Sarin on drums. First 5 minutes build quickly into one if those mind bending Mat Maneri riffing explosion. A few minutes later we have clapping into a personal tribute to Roy Campbell where a melody was loved almost to death. I never participated in a set of music like that before and I'm not sure it all worked for all but it worked for me.

By this point I'm aware that the young bassist has an ability with the bow that is special as he can make the sound stop in such a tension filled and precise manner. I was reminded of great veteran freeish bassists like Mark Helias, Mark Dresser or Ken Filiano. Plus he really started to feel the pulse of the music during the second 20 minute piece - the transitions from arco to pizzicato were becoming organic/very natural.

I hadn't heard Sarin in a couple of years and this was the first time hearing him in a free improvising context and he was subtle yet powerful with an especially attractive sound from his cymbal splashes.

Done at 40 minutes, they decide to play another piece after a very strong end to the second piece. If it was after 50 minutes, maybe it doesn't work as it was getting a bit steamy and music of this sort and quality can be very satisfying in shorter set dosages.

That being said, the final 8 to 10 minute piece raised the ante, showed Michael Sarin to be on the top shelf of today's drummers - some power the man exhibited - imagine the restraint of not playing like that for the first 40 minutes - so the impact was multiplied - and again Mat got to one of those plateaus of ethereal riffing and whatever, wherever or however he plays those lines of skronk, melody and everything in between. How he gets there most every time I see him play live I have stopped trying to figure out.

Wonderous

Blessed, baby

Edited June 22, 2014 by Steve Reynolds

[ejp626]

So the Vancouver International Jazz Fest kicked off this weekend. I managed to get down for some of the free admission jazz shows at Robson Square. I saw nearly all of the set by the Partisans - a UK jazz quartet sort of in the Polar Bear/Get the Blessing vein. Line-up is saxophone, guitar, electric bass and drums. Definitely jazz-rock. Their new album Swamp is supposed to come out in Sept. I think they had a few advance copies for sale, but the timing just didn't work out, as we had to leave before the end of the set. They were ok, though I like both Polar Bear and Get the Blessing better.

Then I returned for the main show of the evening -- Rudresh Mahanthappa and Gamak. Well, sort of Gamak. The band members have all changed up, and this was essentially his Indo-Pak Coalition (guitarist Rez Abbasi and percussionist Dan Weiss) with the addition of electric bassist Rich Brown. However, they actually did play almost entirely tracks off of the CD Gamak: Waiting is Forbidden, Abhogi, Stay I, Wrathful Wisdom and Ballad for Troubled Times. I've seen Rudresh with Rez Abbasi a long time back at the Chicago Jazz Festival, but this time the impact was much greater -- the quasi-club setting helped. Honestly, Rez pretty much stole the show and his solos were received with more enthusiasm than Rudresh's, which was kind of curious. While the line-up was the same as the Partisans, the sound is totally different, not only with the sound world largely coming from ragas and other Indian music, but the rhythm section was generally doing more complex poly-rhythms. I'm not sure how much Dan Weiss has practiced with Rich Brown, but they seems to have good rapport and even did some trading bars for a while. It was an interesting show, though maybe mixing it up with a track or two off Apti might have been good. (I guess that might have required Dan moving over to tabla, but I think he would have been up to it.

Anyway, Rudresh is making a quick tour through Canada (Victoria, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) so catch him soon if interested.

Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss

Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss

[Van Basten II]

The Deciders (Rudi Mahall, Axel Dörner, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Jon Fält, Ole Morten Vågan)

When they get down to it, they are quite good, too bad they like they fool around a lot and act like giggling kids quite often ...

[Leeway]

.

Then I returned for the main show of the evening -- Rudresh Mahanthappa and Gamak. Well, sort of Gamak. The band members have all changed up, and this was essentially his Indo-Pak Coalition (guitarist Rez Abbasi and percussionist Dan Weiss) with the addition of electric bassist Rich Brown. However, they actually did play almost entirely tracks off of the CD Gamak: Waiting is Forbidden, Abhogi, Stay I, Wrathful Wisdom and Ballad for Troubled Times. I've seen Rudresh with Rez Abbasi a long time back at the Chicago Jazz Festival, but this time the impact was much greater -- the quasi-club setting helped. Honestly, Rez pretty much stole the show and his solos were received with more enthusiasm than Rudresh's, which was kind of curious. While the line-up was the same as the Partisans, the sound is totally different, not only with the sound world largely coming from ragas and other Indian music, but the rhythm section was generally doing more complex poly-rhythms. I'm not sure how much Dan Weiss has practiced with Rich Brown, but they seems to have good rapport and even did some trading bars for a while. It was an interesting show, though maybe mixing it up with a track or two off Apti might have been good. (I guess that might have required Dan moving over to tabla, but I think he would have been up to it.

Anyway, Rudresh is making a quick tour through Canada (Victoria, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) so catch him soon if interested.

Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss

Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss

I've seen Mahanthappa three times, last with the Mark Dresser Quintet. His soloing was not strong; he seemed a bit unsure. Maybe it was the context, but he seems much stronger in a composed context.

[ejp626]

I've seen Rudresh with Rez Abbasi a long time back at the Chicago Jazz Festival, but this time the impact was much greater -- the quasi-club setting helped. Honestly, Rez pretty much stole the show and his solos were received with more enthusiasm than Rudresh's, which was kind of curious. While the line-up was the same as the Partisans, the sound is totally different, not only with the sound world largely coming from ragas and other Indian music, but the rhythm section was generally doing more complex poly-rhythms. I'm not sure how much Dan Weiss has practiced with Rich Brown, but they seems to have good rapport and even did some trading bars for a while. It was an interesting show, though maybe mixing it up with a track or two off Apti might have been good. (I guess that might have required Dan moving over to tabla, but I think he would have been up to it.

Anyway, Rudresh is making a quick tour through Canada (Victoria, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) so catch him soon if interested.

I've seen Mahanthappa three times, last with the Mark Dresser Quintet. His soloing was not strong; he seemed a bit unsure. Maybe it was the context, but he seems much stronger in a composed context.

I think his compositions are generally interesting but they don't seem to leave him a lot of room to do anything particularly interesting when it comes to the soloing but, though Rez didn't seem too constrained. I do think Rudresh was a bit more compelling as a soloist in a more straight-forward setting, like when I saw him and Vijay Iyer play earlier in their careers up at the Green Mill for instance.

Anyway, I thought it was a good show, but you basically are getting a live version of the CD Gamak.

[aparxa]

Detroit's jazz group Straight Ahead.

[Van Basten II]

Saw Beck two nights ago, never saw him live a lot of fun very dynamic show, a mix of classics with numerous pieces from his latest, although quite loud wish I brought earplugs as they had at times 4 musicians playing electric bass or guitars , you could say it was a rockin' show.

[Van Basten II]

Doubleheader tonight Trixie Whitley and later on Rudresh Mahanthappa's Gamak

[Leeway]

WRIGHT/DRURY/CROSSLAND - Red Room, Baltimore, June 26, 2014

Went out to Baltimore last night to see Jack Wright (as, ss), Andrew Drury (perc) and Patrick Crossland (tb), at the Red Room. If you like free improvisation, you should check out saxophonist Jack Wright, who follows the free improvisation ethic in about as pure and unadulterated a form as possible, and has been doing so for many years. Wright seems to exist for the purely improvisation moment. What's more, he has a fine sound, honed in the course of innumerable gigs and sessions. Drury is a percussionist who utilizes mostly advanced techniques; hardly ever uses a drumstick. Last night his kit consisted of a tom drum, a large sheet of something or other, small objects, bows, etc. Amazing soundscapes. Drury has played often with Wright. I believe this was Crossland's first gig with Wright and Drury. I really liked the interaction amongst the three; Crossland fit right in. Just when you think all approaches to the trombone have been covered, along comes someone who brings a new insight. For the most part low-key (although punctuated by some surprising pops and blasts), Crossland was yet highly articulate. It was a completely in-the-moment performance by the trio. Next time Wright performs, it is likely to be completely different.

[Justin V]

Tonight I saw Eddie Palmieri and heard two jerks yell a running commentary through every song.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Justin V

[tomatamot]

zaterdag 28 juni 2014 Benjamin Herman &
Robin Nolan trio

[Leeway]

KEIR NEURINGER - Red Room, Baltimore, MD, June 27, 2014

Despite horrendous traffic (again) to Baltimore (my normal 50-60 min has been taking 2-2:30 hours), I went back to Baltimore for Keir Neuringer's solo show at the Red Room, Baltimore. You may recall that I wrote about Neuringer's performance as part of a quartet appearance at I-Beam, Brooklyn, a couple of weeks ago. I was gobsmacked. I went to Baltimore to see to check my initial reactions to his playing, and to see him in a solo context. The performance consisted of Keir reading a section from the booklet he wrote that accompanied his "Ceremonies Out Of The Air" album, in commemoration of the life and death of his mother (and of our mortality generally), then playing alto saxophone. The writing was of literary quality and the playing was---phenomenal. I was as bowled over as I was the first time I hear Keir. You think you might get used to it, but I haven't yet. The playing seems to be a compound of wild despair, anger, aggression, love, fear and whatever other wild emotions might send you running for solace. The alto was played high above his head, or low to the hardwood floor, body twisted and turned, in an effort to extract every nuance and angle of the music. Absolutely gripping.

I mentioned in my previous post that would love to see a duo with Keir and Evan Parker. I talked to Keir briefly after the set (first time I've spoken with him), and he told me that he spent some time with Evan and performed with him a couple of years ago in London. I would like to see a repeat of that performance a little closer to home.

[Van Basten II]

Saw last night Jacques Kuba-Séguin a trumpet player very much influenced by Stanko played with his own quartet plus a string quarted, very fine show, too bad the economics of the jazz business will make impossible that they keep playing together and get better.

Saw Perez-Blade-and Patitucci in a trio without WS, exemplary show.

Tonight will be seeing Ambrose Akinmusire in duet with Bill Frisell and later on Mark Turner and Baptiste Trotignon.

[kh1958]

Indian violinist Kala Ramnath at St. Edwards University, Austin.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

last night in Canada: QUEEN

tonight in USA: Steve Winwood

[Leeway]

Tarus Mateen's West Afro East & Matana Roberts' COIN COIN @ The Fridge, Washington DC, June 28, 2014.

IIRC, I saw Tarus Mateen with Jason Moran quite some time ago. I last saw Matana Roberts at the old Roulette in lower Manhattan in pre-COIN COIN days (I think; she may have been working on some parts of it at the time). I thought it might be interesting to see them live, especially COIN COIN.

I didn't have high hopes for the Mateen set and I wasn't disappointed. A problem that plagued the entire evening was slipshod production by the concert sponsors. For example, neither the names of Mateen's musicians nor Roberts' were listed on the advance material or the program hand-out. The stage announcement by one of the organizers omitted the names, and Mateen's announcement during the set was not intelligible (and I was sitting in the first row). Maybe it was an effort to protect the guilty. Anyway, Mateen's group consisted of Mateen on electric bass, an unknown guitarist, an unknown drummer, a djembe player whom I spoke with later, Amadu, and a balafon player, whom I also spoke with, Uasuf Gueye. The last two are natives of Senegal; could not meet two nicer guys. The music was essentially heavy riff-driven beat music, which was fine, but got tiresome after a while. It was one-dimensional. Perhaps if the guitarist or drummer had contributed more, the music was have gained that needed additional dimension. As it was, I started wondering what the gig would have sounded like if Mateen, Amadu, who was killing on the djembe, and Uasaf, with some fine balafon playing, played as a trio. I soon found out, when Mateen, accompanied by the two Senegalese only, began to play together, but then Mateen started to sing, and, I can say, as a singer Mateen is a good electric bass player. The set was capped by some mild religious sermonizing and spiritual singing by Mateen. Something might be made out of all this, but it wasn't that night.

One of the annoyances during the first set was photographers (I think connected with the organizers) crawling all around the stage and the legs of patrons, taking endless numbers of pictures. That should have been stopped by the organizers (misnomer). It was left to Matana Roberts to stop it. She and her group took the stage without any announcement, and simply started playing. I believe the group was the same as that appearing on the COINCOIN2 album.

Matana Roberts: alto saxophone, vocals, conduction, wordspeak
Shoko Nagai: piano, vocals
Jason Palmer: trumpet, vocals
Jeremiah Abiah: operatic tenor vocals
Thomson Kneeland: double bass, vocals
Tomas Fujiwara: drums, vocals

When some hapless guy (not a pro) started to take a picture, Matana, using her favorite gesture of the evening, a sideways tomahawk chop, started chopping at the violator and actually stopped the band, chewed the guy out a bit, said they had a rough day, and wanted to put on the very best show (she later mentioned they had a four hour train ride). I was totally on-board about the photography, but it was done in a graceless and rather severe way (think Keith Jarrett) and I think she lost some of the audience as a result. I also thought it was bad form for her to talk her bad day, or about her train ride, when customers come to a concert with their own problems, and expect the musicians to get on with the show despite the expected travails of traveling musicians. This could have been avoided if the "organizers" had introduced the band properly and made it clear photos and video were not permitted. Instead, one of the photographers from the first set tried to take some pictures from the middle of the aisle further back, and Matana karate chopped him furiously, whereupon he retreated quickly. Someone yelled out, "No photos!" Not a great vibe.

So, on to the music. I was a huge fan of the original COIN COIN, not as much for the second installment, although I respect it quite a bit. Matana does quite a bit of conduction, using the sideways karate motion a lot, also with a baton, and through her alto sax. I'm really enamored of Matana's alto playing; burnished, soulful, strongly characteristic. She also played a clarinet, which surprised me, but she did so for only about a minute. Palmer on trumpet carried quite large part of the musical weight of the program and he was fine. Shoko Nagai was on electric piano; not sure if that sound really fit, but I enjoyed it anyway. Tomas Fujiwara was excellent on drums. Jeremiah Abiah has a fine operatic voice. Matana read from her scripts and sang as well. She got the audience into a sing-hum routine at one point; it felt a little forced, as it went on a little too long perhaps, and one maybe feared the karate chop. I thought of Charles Ives as I was listening to this performance, which occasionally teetered on the precipice of pastiche. I still will give it high marks for its ambition, its moments of heart-felt belief, and its strong sense of social justice.

[Van Basten II]

Leeway, first time I saw Matana playing was this Coin coin version, It was a rather different cast Here's my post from then

Posted 17 June 2008 - 11:16 PM

Saw her on stage tonight with this formation Matana Roberts' Mississippi Moonchile with Jeremiah (voice) + Gordon Allen (trumpet) + Shoko Nagai (piano) + Hill Greene (bass) + Tomas Fujiwara (drums) . I still have goosebumps, very personal and emotive music, a formidable and amazing show of around 90 minutes nonstop where they threw everything at us but the kitchen sink. You want free jazz, you got it, you want blues, you got it, you want gospel, you got it.


Definitevely a must see show,.

[Van Basten II]

Saw Ambrose Akinmusire quintet , high quality contemporary jazz gig, but the the highlite of the nite, no forget it more highlite of the year belonged to the good Doctor, Lommie Smith that is who put a smile on everyone's face as with his octet tore up the Gesu with a scorching mostly old school music.

Gesu which is a small hall of about 300 reserved seating in the basement of a church with no drinking allowed inside the hall was not the best place for this kind of gig, Smith nonetheless made it a night to remember even using the magic cane (For magic details go see the gig I ain't saying more). In terms of pure unadultarated fun this double set (things they usually don't do in this room) it goes with the Dewey Redman gig held there in 2005.

[Leeway]

Leeway, first time I saw Matana playing was this Coin coin version, It was a rather different cast Here's my post from then

Posted 17 June 2008 - 11:16 PM

Saw her on stage tonight with this formation Matana Roberts' Mississippi Moonchile with Jeremiah (voice) + Gordon Allen (trumpet) + Shoko Nagai (piano) + Hill Greene (bass) + Tomas Fujiwara (drums) . I still have goosebumps, very personal and emotive music, a formidable and amazing show of around 90 minutes nonstop where they threw everything at us but the kitchen sink. You want free jazz, you got it, you want blues, you got it, you want gospel, you got it.

Definitevely a must see show,.

Yes, that sounds a more impressive show than mine, which might be due to the tension in the band and the tension in the audience, which prevented a real immersion in the music. Also, yours was 6 years ago, and the intervening years might have taken some of the energy that comes with a fresh approach, i.e., it might be getting routine. I do agree, as I hope I made clear, that this is still music worth seeing/hearing, with certain caveats.