What live music are you going to see tonight?

[xybert]

Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock tonight.

I'm very excited that you are getting this once in a lifetime opportunity to see this. I know you are a huge Corea fan and I guess the two of them are not coming back to New Zealand any time soon.

As you know, I am very fortunate to be able to see a wide variety of many of my favorite musicians on a very regular basis (if I choose to go), so I don't know what it's like to have a rare opportunity to see live music but I imagine you have it has you all kinds of fired up.

Very little in this world for compares favorably to seeing my musical heroes up close and personal. I love listening to my CDs - but as it was 2 nights ago seeing, hearing and feeling Mark Dresser and company from a few feet away simply makes the world feel like a better place.

Cheers man. Yup, you guys are lucky as, spoiled for choice. I think you'd lose your mind if you moved down here Steve!

[king ubu]

Alexander Hawkins solo ... and he's got a kinda cool opening act too (some dude called Toni Braxton, I think )

[xybert]

Well, here's my report on the Corea/Hancock concert.

It was allright. A bit of a mixed bag, some transcendent moments where they really locked in and some really lacklustre moments.

Started out good, with Chick and Herbie walking out and joking with the audience. This is my fourth time seeing Chick perform live, and he has always had a warm, relaxed vibe about him when i've seen him. Herbie was cool, and when he first touched the acoustic piano it was a real 'holy shit' moment for me. The first piece was a free improv that started out in that sort of atmospheric/plucking the piano strings way. Herbie rotated round to his synth and started laying down these really cheesy, stock new age synth pads and i'm not kidding it did briefly occur to me to get up and walk out. It just put me in the headspace of 'this is bad' and i think it kind of set the tone for the rest of the night for me. It reminded me of that episode of Friends when Ross played keyboard. I was seriously tempted to call out ''infinite time!' in a nasally-nerd-doing-a-robot-voice. I love synths, but this just... there was just something absurd about it.

The next piece was amazing with Chick and Herbie just totally simpatico, playing furiously and joyously.

They went on to do Maiden Voyage, Canteloupe (sp) Island, Green Dolphin St. All quite good. They did an 'improv-jam-on-the-synths' part which was fun but ultimately sounded like it could be any two dudes messing around. There was some audience participation: New Zealand audiences tend to be very reserved and the reluctance was palpable but it actually went pretty well, partly due to some really enthusiastic i assume to be music students in the back. They came back for an encore and did Spain. It kind of fizzled for me. They got a standing ovation, and i don't begrudge them one bit; i was standing and clapping enthusiastically with the rest of them. And that was that!

[king ubu]

Alexander Hawkins solo ... and he's got a kinda cool opening act too (some dude called Toni Braxton, I think )

Quite great it was! Wonderful to meet again and hang with Alex!

The Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet consisted of Braxton (alto, soprano, sopranino, baritone), Ingrid Laubrock (tenor & soprano), Taylor Ho Bynum (pocket trumpet, flugelhorn, bass trumpet and trombone) and Mary Halvorson (guitar) (not sure what Braxton was doing with a notebook and a mixing console on a desk next to him ... he kept going there and turning some knobs, but I couldn't connect anything I heard with these actions). Anyway, took me a while to get into the music, which was one on-going set of an hour or so. Halfway through though, it felt like all flood gates were open ... what was a somewhat chamber-like exploration of textures and sounds turned into a most intense experience.

Must have been pretty tough for Alexander Hawkins to take the stage after that, alone at a very nice baby grand ... but our man easily stood his own ground (and got some nice compliments by Braxton afterwards, too! guess those count ten times as much as mine ). Alex as well played one on-going set, probably another hour of music (I never looked at my watch last night ...) - building up quite some steam, he incorporated a wild ride on the A-Train ... and as a short closer offered his hommage to Louis Moholo.

[erwbol]

Anthony Braxton 70th birthday concert at the Bimhuis as part of the Doek festival.

[BillF]

This outfit at Band on the Wall this evening.

[Steve Reynolds]

Anthony Braxton 70th birthday concert at the Bimhuis as part of the Doek festival.

I looked this up and I see that this might be about the most impressive gathering of current improvisors/musicians playing together in one place for one night.

Names that scream out at me:

Michael Moore

Nate Wooley

Mary Halvorsen

Ingrid Laubrock

Wolter Wierbos

Eric Boeren

Tomeka Reid

Michael Vatcher

Brandon Seabrook

Vincent Chancey

Wow

[erwbol]

Anthony Braxton 70th birthday concert at the Bimhuis as part of the Doek festival.

The first set was Falling River Music with about ten musicians on stage. Stunningly beautiful. Absolutely brilliant music. I had a seat on the second row and Braxton stood about 2.5 meters away from me, slightly to the left, so I could hear his contributions with great precision.

Then after a short intermission the full ensemble (about twenty musicians) played another terrific set of Braxton's older sometimes swinging compositions. At several points Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum and James Fei were conducting simultaneously.

A memorable evening of musical genius in a pleasant room. That whole area right from Central Station bordering the IJ waterway is full of modern architecture with lots of space with water in most directions. You can actually find places to sit and relax and enjoy the view there without the fevered activity of Amsterdam's city centre getting to you. That's unique in that city.

[Steve Reynolds]

Very glad you were able to experience the concert, erwbol

Like you, I love to hear and feel my favorite musicians up close. Last time I saw Evan Parker, I could have interfered with his saxophone playing if I chose to!!!

[erwbol]

Thanks, small rooms and modest settings always make it easier to connect with the music for me. I'd also like to see Evan Parker next time he brings his trio over to the Bimhuis.

I did a little searching and came to the conclusion that no CD of Falling River Music for larger nine or ten piece ensemble has been released yet(?). I hope a suitable performance will be released on CD soon.

There is a YouTube video of the FRM nonet from 2014.

[BillF]

This outfit at Band on the Wall this evening.

Fine session. Well integrated group - they should be after five years! - with a brand of showmanship that the large audience loved.

[uli]

Anthony Braxton 70th birthday concert at the Bimhuis as part of the Doek festival.

The first set was Falling River Music with about ten musicians on stage. Stunningly beautiful. Absolutely brilliant music. I had a seat on the second row and Braxton stood about 2.5 meters away from me, slightly to the left, so I could hear his contributions with great precision.

Then after a short intermission the full ensemble (about twenty musicians) played another terrific set of Braxton's older sometimes swinging compositions. At several points Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum and James Fei were conducting simultaneously.

A memorable evening of musical genius in a pleasant room. That whole area right from Central Station bordering the IJ waterway is full of modern architecture with lots of space with water in most directions. You can actually find places to sit and relax and enjoy the view there without the fevered activity of Amsterdam's city centre getting to you. That's unique in that city.

listening to it right now on bimhuis radio. with interestng interviews/comments from band members

http://bimhuis.nl/bimhuisradio

wow, happy b-day mr, braxton!

Edited June 5, 2015 by uli

[erwbol]

Anthony Braxton 70th birthday concert at the Bimhuis as part of the Doek festival.

The first set was Falling River Music with about ten musicians on stage. Stunningly beautiful. Absolutely brilliant music. I had a seat on the second row and Braxton stood about 2.5 meters away from me, slightly to the left, so I could hear his contributions with great precision.

Then after a short intermission the full ensemble (about twenty musicians) played another terrific set of Braxton's older sometimes swinging compositions. At several points Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum and James Fei were conducting simultaneously.

A memorable evening of musical genius in a pleasant room. That whole area right from Central Station bordering the IJ waterway is full of modern architecture with lots of space with water in most directions. You can actually find places to sit and relax and enjoy the view there without the fevered activity of Amsterdam's city centre getting to you. That's unique in that city.

listening to it right now on bimhuis radio. with interestng interviews/comments from band members

http://bimhuis.nl/bimhuisradio

wow, happy b-day mr, braxton!

Hopefully it will be uploaded to Dimeadozen.

[uli]

Anthony Braxton 70th birthday concert at the Bimhuis as part of the Doek festival.

The first set was Falling River Music with about ten musicians on stage. Stunningly beautiful. Absolutely brilliant music. I had a seat on the second row and Braxton stood about 2.5 meters away from me, slightly to the left, so I could hear his contributions with great precision.

Then after a short intermission the full ensemble (about twenty musicians) played another terrific set of Braxton's older sometimes swinging compositions. At several points Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum and James Fei were conducting simultaneously.

A memorable evening of musical genius in a pleasant room. That whole area right from Central Station bordering the IJ waterway is full of modern architecture with lots of space with water in most directions. You can actually find places to sit and relax and enjoy the view there without the fevered activity of Amsterdam's city centre getting to you. That's unique in that city.

listening to it right now on bimhuis radio. with interestng interviews/comments from band members

http://bimhuis.nl/bimhuisradio

wow, happy b-day mr, braxton!

Hopefully it will be uploaded to Dimeadozen.

i think it's planned to be in the podcast archives of bimhuis radio fo a year,

[erwbol]

Anthony Braxton 70th birthday concert at the Bimhuis as part of the Doek festival.

The first set was Falling River Music with about ten musicians on stage. Stunningly beautiful. Absolutely brilliant music. I had a seat on the second row and Braxton stood about 2.5 meters away from me, slightly to the left, so I could hear his contributions with great precision.

Then after a short intermission the full ensemble (about twenty musicians) played another terrific set of Braxton's older sometimes swinging compositions. At several points Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum and James Fei were conducting simultaneously.

A memorable evening of musical genius in a pleasant room. That whole area right from Central Station bordering the IJ waterway is full of modern architecture with lots of space with water in most directions. You can actually find places to sit and relax and enjoy the view there without the fevered activity of Amsterdam's city centre getting to you. That's unique in that city.

listening to it right now on bimhuis radio. with interestng interviews/comments from band members

http://bimhuis.nl/bimhuisradio

wow, happy b-day mr, braxton!

Hopefully it will be uploaded to Dimeadozen.

i think it's planned to be in the podcast archives of bimhuis radio fo a year,

I was able to rip the archived Mixcloud stream to an .mp4 using http://www.download-mixcloud.com/.

[alankin]

Last night.

Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet AACM 50th Anniversary Celebration

Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet + flugelhorn

Anthony Davis, piano

John Lindberg, bass

Pheeroan akLaff, drums + percussion

Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz738 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA

[mjazzg]

Last night.

Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet AACM 50th Anniversary Celebration

Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet + flugelhorn

Anthony Davis, piano

John Lindberg, bass

Pheeroan akLaff, drums + percussion

Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz738 S. Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA

bet that was special?

[alankin]

Last night.

Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet AACM 50th Anniversary Celebration

Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet + flugelhorn

Anthony Davis, piano

John Lindberg, bass

Pheeroan akLaff, drums + percussion

Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz

738 S. Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA

bet that was special?

Good concert. The music was selections from Smith's "Ten Freedom Summers". John Lindberg's playing was fantastic both - he makes difficult playing look easy. I think he's the only one of the quartet I've seen before. Anthony Davis was also great, too bad he hasn't been more active recording. I had hoped for more variety in the trumpet playing - Smith seemed to have more of a contribution from this compositions and direction than his soloing.

My table mates had a discussion about the titles of his pieces, wondering how music that seemed very abstract related to the events -- Emmett Till, Dred Scott, Freedom Summer...

20150605_210431 by Alan

Edited June 6, 2015 by alankin

[A Lark Ascending]

Spent the day at the folk festival in Southwell, 45 minutes away from me in the posh bit of Nottinghamshire. Odd that I travel all over to hear music but have never been to this one on my doorstep before.

Nice, small festival with just three main tents of different sizes. A range of performers from just starting out youngsters through to a specially flown in Majorcan punk-folk band (who were great fun...not music I'd want to hear on the stereo but good in the flesh).

Stars were Martin Simpson/Nancy Kerr/Andy Cutting who are English folk royalty and played a beautiful set from their new album. Also another peerless set from Chris Wood and Andy Cutting - they perform rarely together (I think the last time was when I saw them In Sidmouth last August) but their rapport is extraordinary. English tunes (and the occasional French or French-Canadian) but played in a slow, gently unfolding way that has you in a state of bliss.

The group I was most looking forward to as I'd not yet seen them live were The Rheingans Sisters. I just love it when these utterly unique groups spring up from nowhere. Two sisters playing fiddles (with the occasional bit of banjo). Some English stuff but they both spent some time in northern Sweden so there's that element; and then the younger sister has just finished a degree in south west France learning the traditional music of that region so that goes in the mix. Utterly entrancing - again, like with Wood and Cutting, totally in synch, each one effortlessly taking over the lead lines from the other or gently embellishing the line started by the other.

More confirmation of richness of the musical times we live in. I am never short of surprises.

[Van Basten II]

Jason Sharp solo on baritone sax and Matana Robert doing solo chapter 3 of her Coin coin project, playing loops, doing vocals and alto sax with images screened behind her, not her most convivial project. Overall it was interesting stuff but after a while I was longing for interaction with live people after near two hours of musicians alone on stage .

[ejp626]

Wasn't sure I would make it in, but saw Tafelmusik doing a free show on Friday. Was very entertaining -- and hard to beat free! Highlights were Telemann's Wassermusik Suite and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3.

[BillF]

Gilad Atzmon at Wilmslow.

It was his birthday and he had hoped to celebrate it at Royal Northern College ....

[erwbol]

Gilad Atzmon at Wilmslow.

It was his birthday and he had hoped to celebrate it at Royal Northern College ....

But the political correctness nazis intervened?

Edited June 10, 2015 by erwbol

[niels]

Well, not tonight but I just bought tickets for the Louis Moholo Moholo Quartet (Jason Jarde, Alexander Hawkins, John Edwards) next week in the Bimhuis which I'm quite exited about.

[erwbol]

Well, not tonight but I just bought tickets for the Louis Moholo Moholo Quartet (Jason Jarde, Alexander Hawkins, John Edwards) next week in the Bimhuis which I'm quite exited about.

Do you go to the Bimhuis often?