Will Calhoun Ensemble?

[Dan Gould]

Coming up in March Will Calhoun is coming to south Florida and I am curious about the jazz side of this musician, as I only know of him from his rock group Living Colour - and back in the day a little of them went a long way.

Any opinions/advice? I am sort of hoping he drives a Blakey-esque band, as the front line is supposed to be Donald Harrison and Brian Lynch, with Marc Cary on piano/keyboards.

As always thanks in advance.

[Dan Gould]

Is it the reduced traffic around the holidays or does nobody know nothin' 'bout this guy?

Bueller?

[HolyStitt]

Not much help but I saw seen him perform with jazz musicians one time with Wayne Shorter at the SF Jazz Festival in the mid 1990s in a band the included Rachel Z as well, so it was more guitar and synthesizers/ sequencer based. I don't recall being impressed by him or the band's performance.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[relyles]

His group with Marc Cary and Charnette Moffett performed this past summer as part of the Monday Night Jazz Series in Bushnell Park in Hartford. For that venue and that kind of audience, he was perfect. It was a mix of a bunch of different stuff - from straight ahead jazz on a McCoy Tyner tune - to a rocked out jam with guest electric bassist Doug Wimbish - his Living Colour band mate. Very energetic performance by top notch musicians.

[Michael Weiss]

The drummer (except for one cut) on Wayne Shorter's High Life.

[JSngry]

Coming up in March Will Calhoun is coming to south Florida and I am curious about the jazz side of this musician, as I only know of him from his rock group Living Colour - and back in the day a little of them went a long way.

Any opinions/advice? I am sort of hoping he drives a Blakey-esque band, as the front line is supposed to be Donald Harrison and Brian Lynch, with Marc Cary on piano/keyboards.

As always thanks in advance.

Those are people who generally bring interest to any context, so unless tickets are, like, crazymad baby-ransom high, I'd say that the worst outcome would be that you supported live music and just happened to hear fine players doing music you didn't really care for. And any better outcome than that, hey, enough of a win to not suck, right? And it might end up being very good, in which case, gamble pays off, chicken dinner, and all that.

[Dan Gould]

Yeah Jim, that's what I was thinking - and even though Lynch is now teaching in Miami this is my first chance to see him here (saw him only once in NYC at a Lincoln Center tribute to Blakey, so he got a few solo spots but not nearly as many as I'd expect him to get here). From the reviews I've found online of Calhoun's jazz releases, he doesn't hog the spotlight which is a plus as far as I am concerned.

I am definitely leaning toward getting the tickets (they're $40 a piece, plus fees, and we can expect two sets of about 50-60 minute's length).

Thanks everybody.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Dan Gould

[Justin V]

Dan, did you end up buying tickets? I was reminded of this thread after picking up Calhoun's Live at the Blue Note (with Bobby Watson, Terell Stafford, Orrin Evans and John Benitez) on Saturday. Based on the live album and his recent Life in This World, I'd expect a great show.