What live music are you going to see tonight?

[Larry Kart]

If all goes according to plan:

10:00PM at the Hungry Brain, 2319 W Belmont, 773.935.2118

Jason Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed

A Fox Can Be Hungry : Matt Schneider, Jason Adasiewicz, Anton Hatwich, John Herndon

[Michael Weiss]

Tom Harrell Quintet last night at the Vanguard.

Wayne Escoffrey - tenor

Danny Grissett - piano

Ugonna Okegwo - bass

Jonathan Blake - drums

One of the best working bands out here.

Aside from an excellent set of original tunes and a couple of others (KD's "Straight Ahead" and "Body and Soul"), the solos, accompaniment, group dynamic and creativity was all of the highest quality. Totally stimulating from the first note to the last – a rare thing these days!

[David Gitin]

William Parker with Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes, Hamid Drake at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA

[PHILLYQ]

On Thursday night(5/15) I had an open night when I could go see some live

music but I couldn't decide who to see- Henry Threadgill was at Jazz

Gallery(Saw him there once before and it was excellent) and Todd

Sickafoose(whom I'd never heard) was at 55Bar. I was still undecided as I

headed to the subway, so I decided to let the NYC subway decide for me! The

station I went to has the 'B' train, which would leave me off near 55Bar, and

also the 'Q' train which would leave me off near Jazz Gallery . I decided to

take whatever train came first and go to that show. The 'B' train came first,

so I went to see Todd Sickafoose at 55Bar.

Todd Sickafoose(TS)plays upright bass, and he had a group with Jenny

Scheinman on violin. Here's the list of who played in his group:

http://www.55bar.com/ There was also a percussionist not listed on the 55Bar

website. His music featured a lot of interesting harmony, opening with a slow

trombone/violin duet that gradually morphed into some very intense group

interplay. TS was also a rarity- it was his group, but he didn't take a bass

solo on every tune and really allowed the compositions and the players to

shine.Although Jenny Scheinman was the main soloist, everybody in the group

got at least one turn to shine and everyone played very well despite playing

mostly off charts. At times the music was quite lush and expansive and at

other times they were going straight to gutbucket/funky.

Jenny Scheinman was featured quite a bit(Ithink she soloed on every piece)

and she played great. Her solos were full of passion and she also has quite a

bit of technical ability to realize her passion. I've now seen her play in two

very different settings, once with Bill Frisell's 858 Quartet and with this

group and she was outstanding in both. Many thanks to Todd Sickafoose and Co

for a great set of music and for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for

'picking' a great show.

[marcello]

Last night:

Bill Charlap trio at Dizzy's - Peter Washington (bass) & Kenny Washington (drums).

For the first couple of tunes they were so blazing fast and synchronized, it was on the verge of being a bore, then Charlap played a intro to Sophisticated Lady that seemed to settled them in and it was jazz piano trio music of the highest level.

The set had a interesting mix of tunes with Ellington, Kern, Horace Sliver, Oliver Nelson, Hank Jones etc.

[HolyStitt]

Tonight I saw the Dave Brubeck Quartet at Orchestra Hall.

It was fun how he worked the bad weather we had in the area today into the first set. He played Gone With The Wind, Stormy Weather, On The Sunny Side of the Street, and Over the Rainbow.

[Larry Kart]

Saw this tonight. Fine set, place was packed. Group's first album is fine too.

MIKE REED’S PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS Drummer Mike Reed formed this quartet last year to explore the rich but neglected trove of local postbop made between 1954 and 1960.... the tunes Reed tackles on the new Proliferation (482 Music) [are] associated with Sun Ra, John Jenkins, and Wilbur Campbell, among others.... Reed, reedists Greg Ward and Tim Haldeman, and bassist Jason Roebke don’t try to make People, Places & Things a repertory band: though the buoyant rhythms and rippling melodies in these deeply soulful songs remain intact, that’s not because they’re played straight. The group pushes against the swing feel, and Ward and Haldeman, who steer clear of the traditional string-of-solos approach in favor of electric multilinear improvisations, abstract bits of the tunes—stretching and transforming them, stripping them down and reconstituting them.... 10 PM, Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont, 773-935-2118, donation requested. —Peter Margasak

http://www.mikereedmusic.com/

[kh1958]

Friday night--Sonny Fortune at Sweet Rhythm, with Michael Cochran on piano, David Williams on bass, and Steve Johns on drums--Three sets worth. Sonny Fortune is really playing well these days, mostly standards. I seriously considered going back for more the next night.

Saturday night--Mike Clark at Hotel Kitano, with Mark Shim on tenor, Jerry Z on organ, and Christian Scott on trumpet. The Kitano is a really great club, sort of like if your living room was a jazz club. This group was another winner, as I heard two excellent sets, rather exceeding my expectations.

Afterward, to the Blue Note for a late set with Melvin Sparks. He barely knew the first names of the organ player and drummer who accompanied him, but it didn't matter too much--he sounded like he could play all night and was just getting really warmed up by the end of the hour and a half set.

Sunday--Junior Mance at Cafe Loupe. This was hardly the optimum place to see him, as this job is the typical piano and bass playing for diners at a restaurant, requiring the tuning out of conversations and a procession of waiters. But, it was very enjoyable nevertheless, as he is still playing very well, nearing the age of 80. Among other songs, he played beautiful versions of Monk's Dream and Whisper Not, and a really terrific blues song.

After a couple of Junior Mance sets, Spike Wilner at Smalls, with Joel Frahm and Ryan Kisor. This was okay but didn't really interest me.

Monday night--A first visit to the beautiful Dizzy's club, for the Francois Richard Octet with guest Mark Feldman. Other than Mark Feldman's playing, this French Canadian third steam style of jazz did not appeal to me.

After two misses in a row, I ventured to the lower east side to Nublu, for a performance by Eidvind Opsvik (a bassist) and Hakon Kornstad (tenor), with Craig Taborn on electric piano, plus a drummer. Thankfully, this turned out to be a very dynamic performance.

And then I had to go home.

[king ubu]

Will try to catch The Ex & Getatchev Mekuria on Friday, but I'm not yet sure I can make it:

http://www.taktlos.com/taktlos08-getatchew...-the-ex-guests/

Saw some songs of them on TV in a festival "best of" compilation, and they were absolutely great!

[Larry Kart]

10:00 PM at Elastic, 2830 N Milwaukee, 2nd Fl, 773.772.3616

Keefe Jackson's Fast Citizens, with Aram Shelton, Josh Berman, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Anton Hatwich, Frank Rosaly

[jlhoots]

Be Good Tanyas

[BFrank]

Just saw REM. Excellent show.

Recommended if they come to your town.

[Van Basten II]

June is finally here so it means jazz festival season starts today, things start with a bang with Glen Hall/William Hooker/Dominic Duval

Don't expect Stanley Crouch to drop by

[Van Basten II]

William Parker with Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes, Hamid Drake at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA

Should have been interesting, Brows does seem to change his personnel, last year he came up with this lineup Craig Taborn, Gerald Cleaver, William Parker

[Aggie87]

Just saw REM. Excellent show.

Recommended if they come to your town.

Twice in one year for you! Nice! I'm jealous, of course.

[BFrank]

Just saw REM. Excellent show.

Recommended if they come to your town.

Twice in one year for you! Nice! I'm jealous, of course.

HA! You're keeping track of me, Agg.

We missed part of the set in March, anyway.

[A Lark Ascending]

Monday night--A first visit to the beautiful Dizzy's club, for the Francois Richard Octet with guest Mark Feldman. Other than Mark Feldman's playing, this French Canadian third steam style of jazz did not appeal to me.

Don't these people sleep? Two days earlier I saw Feldman playing the last gig of a European tour with Sylvie Courvosier in Bath, England. The jet-set life-style of a left-field improvising musician.

[aparxa]

RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAADDDDIIIIIIIOOOOOHHHHHHEEEEEEEAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD!

Finally, I got a ticket for one of the two shows they give in the Arènes de Nîmes !

[Aggie87]

RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAADDDDIIIIIIIOOOOOHHHHHHEEEEEEEAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD!

Finally, I got a ticket for one of the two shows they give in the Arènes de Nîmes !

Don't tell Clem.

[kh1958]

Monday night--A first visit to the beautiful Dizzy's club, for the Francois Richard Octet with guest Mark Feldman. Other than Mark Feldman's playing, this French Canadian third steam style of jazz did not appeal to me.

Don't these people sleep? Two days earlier I saw Feldman playing the last gig of a European tour with Sylvie Courvosier in Bath, England. The jet-set life-style of a left-field improvising musician.

Or rehearse? The leader commented that they had just met Mark Feldman for the first time earlier in the day of the performance.

[marcello]

Monday night--A first visit to the beautiful Dizzy's club, for the Francois Richard Octet with guest Mark Feldman. Other than Mark Feldman's playing, this French Canadian third steam style of jazz did not appeal to me.

Don't these people sleep? Two days earlier I saw Feldman playing the last gig of a European tour with Sylvie Courvosier in Bath, England. The jet-set life-style of a left-field improvising musician.

Or rehearse? The leader commented that they had just met Mark Feldman for the first time earlier in the day of the performance.

Don't forget that they picked up 5 hours flying from the UK to NYC.

Ahh, the life of a jazz musician!

[Van Basten II]

RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAADDDDIIIIIIIOOOOOHHHHHHEEEEEEEAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD!

Finally, I got a ticket for one of the two shows they give in the Arènes de Nîmes !

Don't tell Clem.

You took the words out of my mouth or rather out of my keyboard.

[Elissa]

Caught Eric Reed the other night with Rodney Whitaker and Willie Jones at the Vanguard.

Edited June 5, 2008 by Elissa

[Uncle Skid]

Just got back from seeing the "Truth in Jazz Orchestra", which is an absolutely astounding local/regional big band. These guys play bi-weekly at a local bar, and are friggin' fantastic. if any Org member is passing through West Michigan, drinks are on Skid; great music is guaranteed.

Also saw rock band CAKE last week -- definitely the best rock show I've been to in years. Was in the front row, feeling (but certainly not _looking_) like I was 20 years old!

[jlhoots]

Giacomo Gates