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Winter Jazzfest 2015


Leeway

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At the risk of taking longer to write my report than actually experience the event, I'll move forward with my Saturday experiences. ;)

The night started with a high point, Myra Melford's Snowy Egret at Zinc, a small room; getting a seat in the crush was an achievement in itself. The band consisted of Myra, Tyshawn Sorey, Liberty Ellman, Stomu Takeishi, and guest appearance by Ben Goldberg on clarinet. IIRC, Myra said that Goldberg was filling in for trumpeter Ron Miles (??). In any event, I thought Goldberg's clarinet fit the group extremely well. Tyshawn was in top form, really bringing out the music. I love it when Tyshawn is on his game; perhaps oddly, he reminded me at times of Andrew Cyrille. For me, this was a superb set. I asked Myra when the album would be out, and she said April. I also asked her, on behalf of mjazzg, if she would be touring England with this group. She said that they planned to tour Europe in the fall, and she was trying to line up some gigs in England. She said she was thrilled to be asked that, and seemed extremely pleased about the interest. A very lovely person.

I stuck with ZInc for the next set, Mark Turner Quartet, with Avishai Cohen, trumpet, Joseph Martin, bass, and Marcus Gilmore, drums. I've never seen Turner, and don't consider myself a fan, but wanted to get a better idea of him as a musician. Mostly I was impressed with his playing, and Cohen's too, but their penchant for unison playing took a lot of the conflict, hence, drama, out of the performance. It was like admiring a perfectly manicured lawn, with not a blade of grass out of place; one yearns for a plot of wild ground, or a gnarly tree, to enhance the view. What dynamism there was provided by drummer Gilmore. Turner seems awfully tight; not much apparent joy, although he was evidently pleased with the group and the audience.

I stopped at The Cookers set, long enough to catch a couple of Billy Harper solos, but left after about 15 minutes, as the music didn't grab me. Harper though is exciting and looked great.

Next was Tomas Fujiwara & The Hookup: Fujiwara (d), Brian Settles (ts), Jonathan Finlayson (tp), Mary Halvorson (g), and Michael Formanek (b). Overall the group came off very well, but Settle continues to underwhelm me, and Finlayson is suffering from the same tightness as Mark Turner. You would think they were waiting for a dental procedure. The real deal here was Halvorson and Formanek, who work really well together, and Halvorson and Fujiwara. There was a 2 or 3 minute duo between Halvorson and Fujiwara that dropped a lot of jaws in the audience and band. Worth the ticket price just for that.

I wanted to catch a piece of the Mahanthappa set, but could not get into Minetta, so ended up at Players for Jen Shyo Solo Rites: Seven Breaths set. You might guess from the title that this is not my usual thing, but it was kind of interesting. Think Kabuki theatre meets Esalen therapy.Lots of ghosts, strange gestures, etc. Right in the middle of the performance, Jen Shyu calls out, "Whose knocking? Is there someone knocking?" Everyone figures this is just part of the performance. She asks people in the audience, and a few said they heard it. Jen Shyu calls out, "I see a face! Come in kind sir! Come in!" Turns out it was Tony Malaby! He got lost back stage, LOL. So Malaby comes in and sits in the audience.

Malaby was there because the next set was Eivind Opsvik's Overseas, with Opsvik on bass, Malaby on tenor, Brandon Seanbrook (e/g), Jacob Sacks (p), and Kenny Wollessen (d). Now this was a group dedicated to having fun; no dental treatment, but a lot of smiles. I've liked Sacks every time I've seen him. Seabrook looked like Lyle Lovett and played like Pete Townshend. Wollessen made up for that dismal performance with Courvoisier Trio I saw back in the summer. And Malaby, perhaps benefiting from Jen Shyu's "seven breaths" played like he was on top of the world. This group could bang hard but also understood nuance. A fun way to wrap up my evening.

Edited by Leeway
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The schedule for Winterjazzfest 2016 has been announced.

I.                   MARATHON - FRIDAY Jan 15 2016 SCHEDULE

The New School Tishman Auditorium - 63 Fifth Avenue (ECM Records Stage)

6:00pm David Torn solo

7:00pm Mark Turner Quartet

8:00pm Craig Taborn solo

9:00pm Avishai Cohen Quartet

10:00pm Ches Smith / Craig Taborn / Mat Maneri

11:20pm Vijay Iyer Trio

12:40am  David Virelles Mboko 

The New School Auditorium on 12th Street 66 W. 12th Street

6:20pm Roberta Gambarini

7:40pm Roy Hargrove

9:00pm James "Blood" Ulmer

10:20pm Christian McBride

11:40pm Forro in The Dark plays John Zorn

1:00am Nublu Orchestra "We play for you, Butch Morris"

 

The New School Jazz Building Glass Box Theater - 55 West 13th Street

6:40pm James Carney Sextet

8:00pm James Francies’ Kinetic

9:20pm Naytronix

10:40pm Dave King Trucking Company

12:00am Oscar Noriega Quartet

 

New School Jazz Building 5th Floor Theater - 55 West 13th Street

7:00pm Chris Morrissey's Standard Candle (w/ Mike Lewis)

8:20pm Chris Speed Trio

9:40pm Charenee Wade Group: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson

11:00pm Marc Cary's Indigenous People

12:20am Sharel Cassity & Elektra

 

Le Poisson Rouge - 158 Bleecker Street

6:20pm Joey Arias: Basic Black

7:40pm Sexmob @ 20

9:00pm Red Baraat

 

Judson Memorial Church 55 Washington Square South 

6:40pm Quarktet Burnt plays Ornette, Sunny, and Wayne

8:00pm Dayna Stephens: 3wi featuring Sam Yahel

9:20pm Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Evolution

10:40pm Sarah Neufeld & Colin Stetson

12:00am TBA

 

Subculture 45 Bleecker St 

6:00pm Matana Roberts solo

7:00pm Tierney Sutton

8:20pm Yellowjackets

9:40pm Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet

11:00pm Keyon Harrold (Revive Music Presents)

12:20am Jeff Lederer's Brooklyn Blowhard

 

 

The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR - 44 Charlton Street

7:00pm Alicia Hall Moran with Brandon Ross

8:20pm Dither

9:40pm Chargaux

11:00pm The Ex

 

The Bitter End 147 Bleecker Street (Revive Music Stage)

7:00pm Makaya McCraven

8:20pm Terrace Martin

9:40pm Slingbaum's Ravel Reimagined

11:00pm Sarah Vaughan & Clifford Brown Reimagined

12:20am KING

1:40am Mark de Clive Lowe's CHURCH

DJ Raydar Ellis spins all night

 

Greenwich House School - 46 Barrow Street (NY Hot Jazz Festival Stage)      

6:20pm Tom McDermott

7:20pm Bumper Jacksons

8:40pm Evan Christopher's Clarinet Road featuring Hilary Gardner

10:00pm Jon-Erik Kellso & The EarRegulars

11:20pm  Mike Davis' New Wonders

 

The Django at Roxy Hotel - 2 6th Ave 

6:20pm TBA

7:40pm Nicole Henry   

9:00pm TBA  

10:20pm Marika Hughes

11:40pm Eli Degibri

 

Zinc Bar -  82 West 3rd Street

6:20pm Cyro Baptista Banquet of Spirits

7:40pm James Brandon Lewis

9:00pm Yosvany Terry Quintet

10:20pm Rene Marie

11:40pm Gregorio Uribe Big Band

1:00am Pedrito Martinez

 

I.                   MARATHON - SaturDAY Jan 16 2016 SCHEDULE

The New School Tishman Auditorium - 63 Fifth Avenue (ECM Records Stage)

6:00pm Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus

7:20pm Theo Bleckmann Elegy

8:40pm Chris Potter Quartet

10:00pm Tim Berne's Sideshow

11:20pm Ralph Alessi Quartet

12:40am Ethan Iverson / Mark Turner 

The New School Auditorium on 12th Street 66 W. 12th Street

6:20pm Don Byron Quartet

7:40pm Ibrahim Maalouf

9:00pm Butler, Bernstein and The Hot 9

10:20pm OGJB Quartet w/ Oliver Lake, Graham Haynes, Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul


11:40pm Monty Alexander and The Harlem Kingston Express

 

The New School Jazz Building Glass Box Theater - 55 West 13th Street

6:40pm TBA

8:00pm Sofia Rei

9:20pm Dave King Vector Families

10:40pm Rez Abbasi's Junction

12:00am Brandon Seabrook Power Plant

 

New School Jazz Building 5th Floor Theater - 55 West 13th Street

7:00pm Reid Anderson with Andrew D'Angelo & Bill McHenry

8:20pm Jim Black Trio

9:40pm Will Calhoun Celebrating Elvin Jones 

11:00pm Shai Maestro Trio

12:20am Ohad Talmor Large Ensemble

Le Poisson Rouge - 158 Bleecker Street

6:20pm Jose James

7:40pm Takuya Kuroda

9:00pm GoGo Penguin

Judson Memorial Church 55 Washington Square South 

6:40pm Gregoire Maret and The Inner Voices with guest Jean Baylor

8:00pm No BS! Brass Band 

9:20pm   Kris Bowers 

10:40pm  Cory Henry... The Revival

12:00am Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen

 

Subculture 45 Bleecker St 

7:00pm TBA

8:20pm Frank Catalano

9:40pm Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers

11:00pm Holler and Bam with Toshi Reagon & Allison Miller

12:20am Julian Lage Trio 

The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR - 44 Charlton Street

7:00pm Kaki King

8:20pm Cyrus Chestnut's African Reflections

9:40pm Fabian Almazan w/ Rhizome

11:00pm Dawn of Midi

 

The Bitter End 147 Bleecker Street (Revive Music Stage)

7:00pm Freelance

8:20pm Maurice Brown

9:40pm Lakecia Benjamin

11:00pm Al Strong

12:20am Ben Williams & Sound Effect

1:40am Theo Croker

DJ Mark de Clive Lowe spins all night

 

Greenwich House School - 46 Barrow Street (NY Hot Jazz Festival Stage)      

6:20pm Christian Sands

7:20pm Michael Mwenso & Brianna Thomas Louis & Ella tribute

8:40pm Rhythm Future Quartet

10:00pm Tatiana Eva-Marie & The Avalon Jazz Band  

11:20pm Gordon Au's Grand St Stompers with Tamar Korn and Molly Ryan 

 

The Django at Roxy Hotel - 2 6th Ave (French Quarter Showcase) 

7:00pm Emile Parisien Quartet    

8:20pm Véronique Hermann Sambin    

9:40pm Thiefs  

11:00pm Samy Daussat "Serge Tribute"    

12:20am Sylvain Rifflet 

 

Zinc Bar - 82 West 3rd Street

7:40pm Meklit

9:00pm Tongues in Trees

10:20pm Jay Rodriguez Evolutions

11:40pm Chris Washburne's Acid Mambo Project

1:00am Late Night Jam Session

 

 

 

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