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Joshua Redman Elastic Band


Ed S

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At a club called the Tralf (formerly the Tralfamadore Cafe - a Buffalo institution for some time)

Looking forward to it. Those of you familiar with the demise of my marriage, some good news - I'm taking a female companion. :party:

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I just passed Joshua Redman on the street in my neighborhood here in DC. I did one of those "that guy looks familiar" things, then I realized who it was and figured he must be in town.

Turns out he's playing the 9:30 club tonight. I can't make it, but I saw him on his last trip through town with his Elastic band and it was a good show.

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  • 5 months later...

I saw Joshua and the Elastic Band at Blues Alley in Washington, DC over the weekend. Great fun. The best part of the concert to me was having the chance to hear Sam Yahel play live. He was amazing. I'd mostly heard him as a sideman on recordings and I didn't realize how much of the organ/keybooard tradition of progressive rock he brings to his playing. This resulted in great solos from Yahel as well as interesting ensemble playing and good duets with Joshua and with the guitarist.

I was at the first set on Friday night which included:

Sweet Nasty

Mantra #5

Nine Lives (tune written by a friend of JR, didn't catch the name)

Untitled Yahel piece

Make Sure That You're Sure (Stevie Wonder tune)

News from the Front

Double Jeopardy

Edited by HWright
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Who was the guitarist?

I'll have to check my notes and tell you tomorrow. It was listed on the ad for the show in the Post, but isn't on the Blues Alley website. What I can tell you right now is he looked to be under 30 and appeared to be a white guy with black hair with bangs.

Edited by HWright
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Glad you enjoyed the show, Henry. I saw the first Elastic Band (Redman, Yahel and Blade) at the Egg in Albany right after "Elastic" was released. I wasn't terribly impressed by Redman himself at the time, but Yahel is a major, major talent. He was doing the more "prog" oriented keyboard work at that show. The other treat for me was seeing Brian Blade, who is a serious mofo...

Edited by Alexander
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I'm not familiar with Moreno. What did you think of him?

Joe, I'm not a musician, but I thought he was good, although he didn't steal the show in the way that Yahel did.

Here's a piece from a few years ago that I found that shows his picture and tells a little about his background:

http://www.jazzhouston.com/news/words.jsp?pKey=1&key=547

Guitarist Mike Moreno at the Jazz Gallery, Review

by Andrew Lienhard

Jul 18th, 2003

Guitarist Mike Moreno at the Jazz Gallery, New York, NY, July 17th, 2003.

Personnel: Mike Moreno (gt), Rodney Green (dr), Aaron Goldberg (p), Derek Nievergelt (b), Kris Bauman (ts).

Mike Moreno is becoming a hot item on the New York jazz scene. His agile guitar playing has attracted the attention of major artists such as Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Greg Osby, and Kenny Garrett. In fact, by the end of last year the buzz on Mike had grown so strong that he received those once in a lifetime calls from Watts and Garrett on the same day. But Watts got to him first, snatching up one of the dates Garrett had set aside for rehearsals. He recalls "even that was hard to turn down, but it was still cool getting both calls on the same day". In the end everything worked out. Watts flew him to Boston; Garrett booked him for the saxophonist's annual New Year's gig at Sweet Rhythm.

Besides a busy gig schedule, Mike can be heard on several albums from up and coming players like trumpet sensation Jeremy Pelt, R&B vocalist Bilal, organist Jesse Chandler and fellow Houstonian, pianist Robert Glasper.

Jazz Gallery Show

Thursday's performance at the Jazz Gallery demonstrated that Moreno is at once a masterful composer, with a sense of sophistication that belies his age, and an extraordinary improviser. Perhaps these two qualities are related, though it is rare to see an artist excel at both. Despite the band's limited rehearsal time, the intricate and mesmerizing compositions were masterfully executed. Indeed, Mike and his seasoned band mates transcended the music's challenges allowing the audience to savor the fluid characteristics of his writing. The tune "Between The Lines", for example, would be a standout track on any album, as would his grooving "Road Song" (not to be confused with the Wes Montgomery standard).

At the same time, the level of playing was extraordinary. As Mike took command of the first solo, he set the standard for the evening. Devouring one chorus after another, his solos were both exciting and maturely crafted, not merely vehicles for bravado or technique. Moreno’s phrasing is impeccable, his time flawless and his ideas utterly endless. These qualities were particularly apparent as he electrified the musician-heavy audience on Joe Henderson's classic "Isotope".

The rest of the band proved just as sensational. Pianist Aaron Goldberg, who has worked in both Joshua Redman's quartet (his classmate from Harvard) and drummer Al Foster's trio, scorched the room's Baldwin grand. Using a rich rhythmic palette to construct exciting solos, his interplay with drummer Rodney Green was so delightful, that had the rest of the band dropped out the music wouldn’t have suffered a bit. Goldberg has several albums out as a leader, in addition to his sideman credits with Redman, Foster and Mark Turner.

Drummer Rodney Green has the most extensive resume of anyone in Mike's band, having toured and recorded with Diana Krall, Eric Reed, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Christrian McBride, Herbie Hancock, Greg Osby and many, many others. One only needs to hear him to understand why. Bassist Derek Nievergelt from Terence Blanchard's band was understated but grooving. Saxophonist Kris Bauman whose beautiful tone is reminiscent of Mark Turner, synced perfectly with Moreno on the complex melodies before launching into his own expansive solos.

Mike will be appearing later this month at the Jazz Gallery with John Ellis, Charlie Hunter's saxophonist and a Monk Competition finalist. He'll also be appearing this month at Sweet Rhythm (formerly Sweet Basil) with trumpeter and Mingus Big Band member Jeremey Pelt.

Keep your eyes open for all of these guys. They're no doubt going to be a big part of jazz's next chapter.

Edited by HWright
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