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Happy birthday to you!

April 21, 2016: Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, Bass Hall, Austin April 20-24, 2016: Daby Toure, The Garifuna Collective, Festival Internationale de Louisiane, Lafayette April 22, 2016: Geri Allen: The Errol Garner Project, Donald Harrison, Jason Marsalis, Christian Scott, Aya Takazawa, Bria Skonberg, Alvin Youngblood Hart, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 23, 2016: Dejohnette Coltrane Garrison, Henry Butler, Victor Goines, Jarekus Singleton, The Garifuna Collective, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 23, 2016: Tutu Jones, Texas Musicians Museum, Irving April 24, 2016: Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Henry Butler, Terence Blanchard, Herlin Riley, Little Freddie King, The Garifuna Collective, Leroy Jones, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 23-24, 2016, Rufus Reid, MATCH, Houston April 28, 2016: Mark Whitfield Family Band, Bernard Allison, Marlon Jordan, Bill Summers, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 28, 2016: Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth April 29, 2016: Joe Lovano, Nicholas Payton, Irwin Mayfield, Astral Project, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 29, 2016: Arturo O'Farrill Latin Jazz Octet, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas April 29, 2016: Patrice Rushen, Denton Jazz and Arts Festival April 30, 2016: Buddy Guy, Jamil Sharif, Lil Buck Sinegal, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 1, 2016: Heads of State (Gary Bartz, Larry Willis, Al Foster, George Mraz), Ellis Marsalis, Walter Wolfman Washington, The Mashup with Grant Green Jr., New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 5, 2016: Carl Weathersby, Antone's, Austin May 7, 2016: Dave Burrell and Andrew Cyrille, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston May 8, 2016: Dave Burrell and Steve Swell, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston May 13, 2016: Alfredo Rodriguez Trio, Carver Center, San Antonio May 14, 2016: Peter Brotzmann, North Door, Austin May 16, 2016: Bebel Gilberto, One World Theater, Austin May 17, 2016: Bebel Gilberto, Tobin Center, San Antonio May 18, 2016: Bebel Gilberto, Kessler Theater, Dallas May 19, 2016: Carl Weathersby, Antone's, Austin May 19, 2016: Delfeayo Marsalis, Fort Worth Public Library May 21, 2016: Zac Harmon, Keys Lounge, Fort Worth May 26, 2016: Chris Thomas King, Rock 101, Frisco May 28, 2016: Savion Glover and Jack DeJohnette, Carver Center, San Antonio June 3-4, 2016: Roy Gaines, Eric Gales, T Bone Walker Blues Festival, Longview June 5, 2016: Eric Gales, Guitar Sanctuary, McKinney June 5, 2016: Hindustani Violin recital, Pandit Milind Raikar, Yadnesh Raikar, Pandit Shanties Shah, Allen Public Library June 10, 2016: Buddy Guy, Billy Bobs, Fort Worth June 11, 2016: T.N. Krishna, Dell Fine Arts Theater, Austin June 17, 2016: Joe Krown Trio with Walter Wolfman Washington, Antone's, Austin June 18, 2016: Pravin Godkhindi and Satish Tagbe, University of St. Thomas, Jones Hall, Houston June 25, 2016: Shahid Parvez, Austin July 23, 2016: Tutu Jones, Liberty Hall, Tyler, Texas August 4-7, 2016: Satchmo Summerfest, New Orleans September 22, 2016: Cedric Burnside, Antone's, Austin October 1, 2016: Niladri Kumar and Zakir Hussain, Austin October 7, 2016: Jason Moran, Monk at Town Hall, Cullen Theater, Houston October, 2016: Rakesh Chaurasia and Aditya Kalyanpur, Allen Public Library (?) December 16, 2016: Stanley Clarke, One World Theater, Austin February 3, 2017: Dejohnette Coltrane Garrison, McCullough Theater, Austin February 18, 2017: Joey Alexander, McAllister Auditorium, San Antonio College February 24, 2017: Joshua Redman, Cullen Theater, Houston February 25, 2017: Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Laurie Auditorium, Trinity University, San Antonio March 11, 2017: Marquis Hill Blacktet, Cullen Theater, Houston April 18, 2017: Cyrus Chestnut, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 22, 2017: Terence Blanchard, Cullen Theater, Houston May 5, 2017: Vijay Iyer, Cullen Theater, Houston

Bobby Hutcherson, Dialogue (Blue Note Liberty)

The recent Logan Richardson CD Shift is also an interesting release, my qualm being that on a couple of the tracks Pat Metheny's guitar sound is really irritating.

Eddie Condon's Hot Shots (X/RCA ten inch), Howard McGhee, Maggie's Back In Town (Contemporary mono) (a spectacular sounding LP), and The Birdland Stars on Tour, Volume 2 (RCA).

My mistake of memory--the Cassandra Wilson Billie Holiday tribute is not on Blue Note.

To the contrary, I wasn't expecting much from the Don Was era Blue Note, and I'm pleasantly surprised to like a number of the releases --the two Charles Lloyd releases, the Jason Moran Fats Waller disc, Cassandra Wilson's Coming Forth By Day, Terence Blanchard's E-Collective Breathless release, Marcus Miller's Afrodeezia, the new Lonnie Smith release. It seems to me he is doing a pretty decent job for this time.

Jimmy Lunceford, Lunceford Special (Columbia), and Mary Osborne, A Girl and Her Guitar (Warwick)

Jason Moran: Meet Me at MacGregor A Counter Current 16 event. Visit the Counter Current Festival web site. Presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts in collaboration with Project Row Houses and Da Camera, as part of the Jason Moran Homecoming Residency. Schedule 2:00pm | Bandwagon Trio 3:00pm | DJ Cipher 3:30pm | Bandwagon Trio with Horace Grigsby 4:15pm | DJ Cipher 4:45pm | Chris Dave and Jason Moran 5:30pm | DJ Cipher The trailblazing pianist, Jason Moran, creates a musical event in the park where he spent so many Sundays growing up in Houston. An outdoor day of live music that features, as befits a homecoming, musical guests flowing in and out of the band. As the band plays on from day into evening, the music flows, swells, recedes, unstoppable, moving like a tide overtaking the land. Special guests from Houston’s numerous music scenes – from rap to jazz to blues – will appear throughout the event. Come and go, or stay all afternoon to witness this marathon of star performances. Da Camera JAM at Discovery Green: Helen Sung Quartet Free event. No tickets required. Da Camera’s annual Jazz Appreciation Month celebration at Discovery Green kicks off with Houston native, HSPVA grad Helen Sung. Pianist/composer Helen Sung was an aspiring classical pianist before jazz intervened during undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Sung went on to graduate from the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance (at the New England Conservatory) and win the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition. Now based in New York, Sung has worked with such luminaries as the late Clark Terry, Ron Carter, Steve Turre, Wayne Shorter, and MacArthur Fellow Regina Carter. With five albums as leader, Sung’s sixth release Anthem For A New Day (2014) is her major label debut on Concord Records.

The ratio of Michael Jackson/original compositions is about 50/50. The band was Miguel Zenon, David Sanchez, Robin Eubanks, Sean Jones, Ed Simon, Warren Wolf, and I didn't catch the bassist/drummer's names. The Shelly Carrol concert I saw the night before this actually was superior in every way.

SF Jazz Collective at Annette Strauss Square in Dallas Arts District. A small crowd on a chilly evening at a pretty nice outdoor venue. I liked the original compositions of the group, but the "Plays Michael Jackson" part of the concert did not particularly appeal to me.

This evening, Shelley Carrol at St. Paul Methodist Church. Excellent.

Patrice Rushen, Before the Dawn (Prestige), and Larry Coryell, Return (Vanguard)

And if anyone is in Dallas is looking for Horo recordings featuring George Adams, Josey Records has (it's been sitting there awhile) the excellent Dannie Richmond Horo release.

Elvin Jones, New Agenda (Vanguard)

Count Basie, 1937 (Alamac), Fletcher Henderson, The Birth of the Big Band Jazz (Riverside ten inch), David Newman, Bigger and Better (Atlantic), and Junior Mance At the Top (Atlantic).

The Swinging Buddy Rich (Norgan ten inch)

New Henry Threadgill release can be ordered from Pi. Old Locks and Irregular Verbs Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill Jose Davila Jason Moran Christopher Hoffman David Virelles Roman Filiu Curtis Macdonald Craig Weinrib Buy CD Bandcamp iTunes Released Apr 2016 – Catalog #pi64 About the Album Henry Threadgills important new release Old Locks and Irregular Verbs is his heartfelt tribute to an old friend, the composer-conductor Lawrence D. Butch Morris, who passed away in 2013. He describes the work as An emotion, a thought, a feeling that I retained in my memory of Butch. Threadgill first came to know Morris a significant figure in jazz who was responsible for creating a distinctive form of conductor-led collective improvisation for large-ensemble built on a technique he called Conduction when he moved to New York in the mid-1970s from Chicago. They were subsequently members of saxophonist David Murrays Octet in the early 1980s when Morris was still best known as a cornetist. Close friends for almost four decades, they lived near each other in the East Village and were both Viet Nam War veterans, but mostly, they were fellow musical explorers who were each keen on developing his own individual creative voice. Old Locks was commissioned by and premiered at New Yorks Winter Jazz Fest in January 2014, where it was performed twice in front of rapt, overflowing audiences at the historical Judson Memorial Church. It features Ensemble Double Up, Threadgills first new band to record in fifteen years, an unorthodox instrumental combination of Jason Moran and David Virelles on pianos, Curtis Macdonaldand Roman Filiu on alto saxophones, Jose Davila on tuba, Christopher Hoffman on cello, and Craig Weinrib on drums. Threadgill, who is of course also well-known as a saxophonist and flutist, says that he has always wanted a group where he didnt have to play so that he could focus on composing and sculpting the music. The work opens an exciting new chapter in the ever evolving artistry of one of the greatest composers in modern music. Threadgill has recently continued his amazing streak of accomplishments. He was named the recipient of a prestigious Doris Duke Impact Award; released the highly acclaimed In for a Penny, In for a Poundwith his band Zooid, which the New York Times called brilliant; and helped the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), of which he is an early member, celebrate its 50th anniversary with a series of concerts culminating in a reunion of Muhal Richard Abrams Experimental Band at the Chicago Jazz Festival and the release of Jack DeJohnettes Made in Chicago, which also featured AACM mates Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell. Threadgill was also the subject of a two-day career retrospective organized by Jason Moran and held at New Yorks Harlem Stage where works stretching his entire career were reinterpreted by an all-star assemblage of musicians including Moran, Cassandra Wilson, Greg Osby, James Carter, Steve Lehman, Yosvanny Terry, Darius Jones, Henry Grimes, Liberty Ellman, David Virelles, and many others. Speaking to the festivals importance, Moran said Thread is my favorite composer of all time. African-American composers are generally honored after they have passed away, and the festival was my way of insuring that this would not be the case for Henry. But even at age 72, Threadgill is pushing forward as emphatically as ever. After 15 years developing his unique interval-based system of improvisation with his band Zooid, he takes it one step further with Ensemble Double Up. Threadgill describes the new music as an extension of Zooid. The interval stuff is already written into the composition but not as tightly prescribed. Its more based on the musicians ears so there is more room to move around. The use of two pianos vastly expands the harmonic and tonal palette, adding a much wider range of color, texture, and weight. Curtis Macdonald, who as Threadgills music copyist for the last three years has an intimate view of his compositional process says Henry demonstrates what hes creating by playing the harmonic structures on the piano so it makes sense that he has decided to add pianists to this band. Its a big shift in his approach, as there is now a new polyphonic density with a larger-than-life sonic landscape to explore. Parts One through Three of Old Locks (the entire composition is in a single movement and indexed for reference only) is a largely composed, meticulously arranged work that has all the hallmarks of Threadgills recent work: complex forms, multi-layered counterpoint, and rhythmic convolution. According to Virelles, The ensemble parts are like a maze that need to be played very precisely, with interlocking phrases throughout, keeping a very specific rhythmic, harmonic and textural relationship between all the elements. In the ensemble passages, Moran and Virelles play mostly single-note counterpoint, which Moran describes as popcorn explosions while still providing the music with its harmonic framework. Macdonald and Filiu invoke Threadgills logic on saxophones but bring their own sound; Hoffman and Davila both holdovers from Zooid provide the thrust that gives the music its most obvious connection to Threadgills recent music, while Craig Weinrib on drums drives the labyrinthine rhythms with poise. Part Four is altogether different. As Macdonald puts it, Henry deviates from his usual compositional system and composed an epic, deeply personal and emotive chorale in homage to Butch. Its hauntingly beautiful and mournful, and it left a profound effect on us from the very first time we heard it in rehearsal. According to Moran, Every time we reach the end of this piece, I’m always crying because it is an emotional moment. Threadgill has always had an affinity for funeral bands, and this becomes a powerful moment when Double Up becomes a funeral band. The movement starts off a slow dirge before turning into an elegy and finally building to a crescendo and abrupt end, a moving and poignant final remembrance. David Virelles summarizes it best: Henry is making some of the most advanced original music today. Hes at the peak of his craft, yet still very curious and completely open to all possibilities when combining sounds, and always looking to expand and learn. When listening to his music, one enters a very personal sonic world, with a very colorful, recognizable personality. I feel fortunate to be able to watch closely a consummate, original composer with a very personal language who keeps expanding and refining his craft. True to form, Threadgill is already moving ahead, adding a thirde piano to the ensemble to perform his work Double Up Plays Double Up Plus. His personal quest continues, and we are all the more fortunate for it.

The Ultimate Elvin Jones (Blue Note Liberty) and Booker Little 4 Plus Max Roach (United Artists)

You can get fairly complete listings off of the latest issue of New York City Jazz Record. http://www.nycjazzrecord.com/ Personally, I would probably go see Melissa Aldana at Smalls on April 22, and possibly the Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival at Sista's on Saturday (Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival: Vincent Chancey All-Stars with Bryan Carrott, Bertha Hope, Hill Greene, Newman Taylor Baker Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $20) (though I've never actually been to that club).

The Mingus Big Band started in 1991 (perhaps earlier). It performed one night a week, at the Fez, a basement club in the Time Café. I saw the group there many times, it was a great venue for a big band. (After the Time Café closed the band relocated to the Iridium, and now it is at Jazz Standard.) George Adams was in the early version of the band. I didn't personally see him in the band (I first saw the band there in 1992), but see link to New York Times article from September of 1991 listing personnel as including George Adams. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/26/arts/pop-and-jazz-in-review-372791.html The early versions of the band that I saw also included the trombonist Britt Woodman.

I've got most of his recordings; he was rather fantastic. In the early '90s, I was in New York a night the Mingus Big Band was performing at the Fez and was hopeful of seeing George Adams with them, so I asked the young woman at the door if George Adams would be there that night, and she said, no, they carried him out on a stretcher the prior week.

Duke Ellington, Midnight in Paris (Columbia, two eyes mono promo), and Reuben Wilson on Broadway (Blue Note Liberty).

April 15, 2016: Helen Sung, Discovery Green, Houston April 15, 2016: Maceo Parker, Antone's, Austin April 15, 2016: Chick Corea and Bela Fleck, Paramount Theater, Austin April 16, 2016, SF Jazz Collective, Cullen Theater, Houston April 16, 2016: Maceo Parker, Main Street Arts Festival, Fort Worth April 17, 2016: Jason Moran, Meet Me at MacGregor, MacGregor Park, Houston April 21, 2016: Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, Bass Hall, Austin April 20-24, 2016: Daby Toure, The Garifuna Collective, Festival Internationale de Louisiane, Lafayette April 22, 2016: Geri Allen': The Errol Garner Project, Donald Harrison, Jason Marsalis, Christian Scott, Aya Takazawa, Bria Skonberg, Alvin Youngblood Hart, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 23, 2016: Dejohnette Coltrane Garrison, Henry Butler, Victor Goines, Jarekus Singleton, The Garifuna Collective, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 23, 2016: Tutu Jones, Texas Musicians Museum, Irving April 24, 2016: Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Henry Butler, Terence Blanchard, Herlin Riley, Little Freddie King, The Garifuna Collective, Leroy Jones, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 28, 2016: Mark Whitfield Family Band, Bernard Allison, Marlon Jordan, Bill Summers, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 28, 2016: Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth April 29, 2016: Joe Lovano, Nicholas Payton, Irwin Mayfield, Astral Project, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 29, 2016: Arturo O'Farrill Latin Jazz Octet, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas April 29, 2016: Patrice Rushen, Denton Jazz and Arts Festival April 30, 2016: Buddy Guy, Jamil Sharif, Lil Buck Sinegal, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 1, 2016: Heads of State (Gary Bartz, Larry Willis, Al Foster, George Mraz), Ellis Marsalis, Walter Wolfman Washington, The Mashup with Grant Green Jr., New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 7, 2016: Dave Burrell and Andrew Cyrille, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston May 8, 2016: Dave Burrell and Steve Swell, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston May 13, 2016: Alfredo Rodriguez Trio, Carver Center, San Antonio May 14, 2016: Peter Brotzmann, North Door, Austin May 16, 2016: Bebel Gilberto, One World Theater, Austin May 17, 2016: Bebel Gilberto, Tobin Center, San Antonio May 18, 2016: Bebel Gilberto, Kessler Theater, Dallas May 19, 2016: Delfeayo Marsalis, Fort Worth Public Library May 21, 2016: Zac Harmon, Keys Lounge, Fort Worth May 26, 2016: Chris Thomas King, Rock 101, Frisco May 28, 2016: Savion Glover and Jack DeJohnette, Carver Center, San Antonio June 3-4, 2016: Roy Gaines, Eric Gales, T Bone Walker Blues Festival, Longview June 5, 2016: Eric Gales, Guitar Sanctuary, McKinney June 10, 2016: Buddy Guy, Billy Bobs, Fort Worth June 11, 2016: T.N. Krishna, Dell Fine Arts Theater, Austin June 17, 2016: Joe Krown Trio with Walter Wolfman Washington, Antone's, Austin June 18, 2016: Pravin Godkhindi and Satish Tagbe, University of St. Thomas, Jones Hall, Houston June 25, 2016: Shahid Parvez, Austin July 23, 2016: Tutu Jones, Liberty Hall, Tyler, Texas August 4-7, 2016: Satchmo Summerfest, New Orleans September 22, 2016: Cedric Burnside, Antone's, Austin October 1, 2016: Niladri Kumar and Zakir Hussain, Austin October 7, 2016: Jason Moran, Monk at Town Hall, Cullen Theater, Houston October, 2016: Rakesh Chaurasia and Aditya Kalyanpur, Allen Public Library (?) December 16, 2016: Stanley Clarke, One World Theater, Austin February 3, 2017: Dejohnette Coltrane Garrison, McCullough Theater, Austin February 18, 2017: Joey Alexander, McAllister Auditorium, San Antonio College February 24, 2017: Joshua Redman, Cullen Theater, Houston February 25, 2017: Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Laurie Auditorium, Trinity University, San Antonio March 11, 2017: Marquis Hill Blacktet, Cullen Theater, Blacktet April 18, 2017: Cyrus Chestnut, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 22, 2017: Terence Blanchard, Cullen Theater, Houston May 5, 2017: Vijay Iyer, Cullen Theater, Houston

Today was a rare (in Dallas) double concert day for me. Even better, both were terrific. First, to the Allen Library for an afternoon sarod recital, with Abhisek Lahiri on sarod and Subrata Bhattacharya on tabla. That was a truly wonderful concert. Next, from Allen to Richardson, the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas, for the Joey DeFrancesco Trio. This proved to be far and away the best experience I've had with Joey D. First, the instrument he played, as he commented, was a 1959 Hammond B3 in amazing condition. The sound of this organ was incredible. And a further pleasant surprise was the sound of the band, which sounded like a real working band, with Jason Brown on drums and Dan Wilson on guitar. The band was really on for this concert. It far exceeded expectations.