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Not to be confused with the Smooth Jazz series at the Bishop Arts District Theater. 2015 Jazz Series Larry Carlton & Althea Rene October 2, 2015 Euge Groove & Paul Taylor November 7, 2015 Paul Brown & Jessy J December 5, 2015 Lee Ritenour & Elan Trotman January 24, 2015 Rick Braun & Steve Cole March 14, 2015 Marc Antoine & Joe McBride May 2, 2015

You are on a roll.

October 28, 2015: Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Cactus Cafe, Austin October 29, 2015: Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Kessler Theater, Dallas November 3, 2015: Terence Blanchard, One World Theater, Austin November 4, 2015: Brad Mehldau Trio, Aztec Theater, San Antonio November 5, 2015: Robert Cray, Majestic Theater, Dallas November 6, 2015: Azar Lawrence with Jeff Tain Watts, Cullen Theater, Houston November 6, 2015: Bill Charlap Trio, University of Texas at Dallas November 7, 2015: Mamadou Diabate, Gourisankar, Inrajdt Banerjee, Indradeep Ghosh, Northwest Hills Church, Austin November 7, 2015: Robert Cray, Carver Center, San Antonio November 8, 2015: Robert Cray, One World Theater, Austin November 14, 2015: Rebirth Brass Band, Granada Theater, Dallas November 20, 2015: Shelley Carrol, Free Man, Dallas November 21, 2015: Anat Cohen Quartet, Walton Center, Fayetteville December 4, 2015: Pat Martino Trio, Walton Center, Fayetteville December 4, 2015: Woody Witt with Randy Brecker, Cezanne, Houston December 5, 2015: Melissa Aldana and Crash Trio, Cullen Theater, Houston December 11, 2015: Freddie King Tribute Band and Zac Harmon, Eisemann Center, Richardson December 13, 2016: Christian Scott, Tobin Center, San Antonio January 17, 2016: Edmar Castaneda, San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio January 22, 2016: Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Don Byron, McCullough Theater, Austin January 23, 2016: Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour (Ravi Coltrane, Nicholas Payton, Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders), Carver Center, San Antonio February 3, 2016: Branford Marsalis, One World Theater, Austin February 10, 2016: Charles Lloyd, Paramount Theater, Austin February 12, 2016: Charles Lloyd, Laurie Auditorium, Trinity University, San Antonio February 20, 2016: Eldar Djangirov Trio, Walton Center, Fayetteville February 26, 2015: Danilo Perez, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma March 5, 2016: Romero Guitar Quartet, University of Texas at Dallas March 12, 2016: Ellis and Delfeayo Marsalis, Dosey Doe, Houston March 18-19, 2016: Joey DeFrancesco, TCU Jazz Festival, Fort Worth March 19, 2016: Guillermo Klein Y Los Guachos, Cullen Theater, Houston March 19, 2016: Rashesh Chaurasia, Jones Hall, University of St. Thomas, Houston April 2, 2016: Joey DeFrancesco, University of Texas at Dallas April 2, 2016: Abhishek Kahin and Subrata Bhattacharya, Allen Public Library April 9, 2016: Terell Stafford, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 7-10, 2016, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans April 12, 2016: Branford Marsalis, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas April 16, 2016, SF Jazz Collective, Cullen Theater, Houston April 20-24, 2016: Festival Internationale de Louisiane, Lafayette April 22-May1, 2016: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 29, 2016: Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Octet, Walton Center, Fayetteville April 30, 2016: Kunal Gunjal, Jones Hall, University of St. Thomas, Houston May 13, 2016: Alfredo Rodriguez Trio, Carver Center, San Antonio May 28, 2016: Savion Glover and Jack DeJohnette, Carver Center, San Antonio June 3-4, 2016: Eric Gales, T Bone Walker Blues Festival, Longview July 23, 2016: Tutu Jones, Liberty Hall, Tyler

Residing in a very old strip mall in the midst of a modest residential neighborhood in South Fort Worth, the Keys Lounge must be a rather rare thing these days, an actual neighborhood blues bar. Normally, that wouldn't get me out of the house to drive 45 miles, but last night Guitar Shorty was performing there. For a number of years, Guitar Shorty lived in Houston and was a fairly regular performer in the area. A few years ago, he apparently moved to Los Angeles and has become scarce in these parts. This was part of a welcome return to Texas, including appearances in Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Denton. A truly masterful blues guitar craftsman, Shorty is 76 now, but continues as strong as ever. The Keys Lounge proved to be a fine venue, with clear and not overloud sound. As usual, Shorty delivered in his two sets.

Sam Jones, The Soul Society (Riverside mono)

Milt Buckner, Mighty High (Argo)

This evening, the Billy Hart Quartet (Mark Turner, Ben Street, Ethan Iverson) at the Fort Worth Public Library. I did not connect with this music--the drum solos were the best part.

I haven't seen James Blood Ulmer since the 1980s and would love to attend. Not sure I can make it to Austin on a Wednesday night though.

Happy birthday to You!

September 20, 2015: Guitar Shorty, Denton Blues Festival September 21, 2015: Jim Sangrey, Crown and Harp, Dallas September 22, 2015: Thundercat, Vanguard, Tulsa September 23, 2015: Thundercat, Holy Mountain, Austin September 22-23, 2015: Fieldwork, Hip Fest, New Orleans September 24, 2015: Thundercat, Studio at Warehouse Live, Houston September 24, 2015: Lila Downs, Plaza Theater, El Paso September 24, 2015: Meshell Ndegeocello, Trans-Pecos Festival, Marfa, Texas September 25, 2015: Thundercat, Alamo City Club, San Antonio September 26, 2015: Thundercat, Oaktopia, Denton September 28, 2015: Little Freddie King, Guthrie Green, Tulsa October 1, 2015: Tutu Jones, Nate's, Dallas October 6, 2015: The Thing, The Center Spot, Austin October 7, 2015: The Thing with James Blood Ulmer, The North Door, Austin October 11, 2015: Zakir Hussain, Dave Holland, Amit Chatterjee, Shankar Mahadevan, Riverbend Centre, Austin October 16-18, 2015: Lurie Bell, Kenny Neal, Lazy Lester, Little Freddie King, Walter Wolfman Washington, New Orleans Blues Festival October 18, 2015: Buena Vista Social Club, Dell Hall, Austin October 22, 2015: Al Dimeola, Majestic Theater, Dallas October 23, 2015: Al Dimeola, One World Theater, Austin October 24, 2015: Arthur O'Farrill Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Cullen Theater, Houston October 27, 2015: Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Mucky Duck, Houston October 28, 2015: Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Cactus Cafe, Austin October 29, 2015: Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Kessler Theater, Dallas November 4, 2015: Brad Mehldau Trio, Aztec Theater, San Antonio November 5, 2015: Robert Cray, Majestic Theater, Dallas November 6, 2015: Azar Lawrence with Jeff Tain Watts, Cullen Theater, Houston November 6, 2015: Bill Charlap Trio, University of Texas at Dallas November 7, 2015: Robert Cray, Carver Center, San Antonio November 14, 2015: Rebirth Brass Band, Granada Theater, Dallas November 21, 2015: Anat Cohen Quartet, Walton Center, Fayetteville December 4, 2015: Pat Martino Trio, Walton Center, Fayetteville December 4, 2015: Woody Witt with Randy Brecker, Cezanne, Houston December 5, 2015: Melissa Aldana and Crash Trio, Cullen Theater, Houston January 17, 2016: Edmar Castaneda, San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio January 22, 2016: Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Don Byron, McCullough Theater, Austin January 23, 2016: Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour (Ravi Coltrane, Nicholas Payton, Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders), Carver Center, San Antonio February 10, 2016: Charles Lloyd, Paramount Theater, Austin February 12, 2016: Charles Lloyd, Laurie Auditorium, Trinity University, San Antonio February 20, 2016: Eldar Djangirov Trio, Walton Center, Fayetteville February 26, 2015: Danilo Perez, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma March 5, 2016: Romero Guitar Quartet, University of Texas at Dallas March 12, 2016: Ellis and Delfeayo Marsalis, Dosey Doe, Houston March 19, 2016: Guillermo Klein Y Los Guachos, Cullen Theater, Houston April 2, 2016: Joey DeFrancesco, University of Texas at Dallas April 9, 2016: Terell Stafford, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 12, 2016: Branford Marsalis, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas April 16, 2016, SF Jazz Collective, Cullen Theater, Houston April 22-May1, 2016: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 29, 2016: Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Octet, Walton Center, Fayetteville May 13, 2016: Alfredo Rodriguez Trio, Carver Center, San Antonio May 28, 2016: Savion Glover and Jack DeJohnette, Carver Center, San Antonio Coming this Thursday to Fort Worth. All shows will be held monthly at 6:30 p.m. in the Gallery of the Central Library, 500 W. 3rd Street. Parking is free on the streets and in the 3rd Street garage after 6 p.m. Sept. 17: Billy Hart Quartet**Featured Performance** Drummer and bandleader Billy Hart has performed and recorded with the likes of Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter and Stan Getz. This award-winning quartet – consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson (of The Bad Plus), saxophonist Mark Turner and bassist Ben Street – is making its DFW debut.

Yesterday, I traveled to Austin for the Wobeon World Music Festival. The venue was smaller than I expected, one block off of Sixth Street. There I heard Kinobe and Global Junction. An artist from Uganda, Kinobe alternated between four instruments--kora, balaphon, endongo (Ugandan Lyre), and thumb piano). It was very gentle, lyrical music, highlighted by the leader's effortless multi-instrumental virtuosity, plus drums and keyboards. Very nice music. Then, some very intense music from guitarist Vieux Farka Toure. Leading a trio, the set was thrilling. Also featuring Julia Easterlin on vocals for a few songs, an oud player for one song, and Kinobe on kora on another. At the end, one could only say, wow, that was fantastic.

Johnny Hammond Smith with Willis Jackson, Johnny Hammond Cooks with Gator Tail (Prestige), and Blues for Tomorrow (Riverside)

Last night, Lila Downs at the House of Blues. A one block walk from my office to the House of Blues, and I find myself in Mexico all of a sudden. A few words of English are spoken, but all songs are in Spanish. Her 8 piece band is good (from Mexico, Chile, and the United States), but the first half of the concert does not appeal too much to my tastes (song selection). Things heat up for the second half, as the repertoire is more to my liking, and her rather spectacular vocal skills are fully displayed on first rate songs. A quite positive concert experience with a wonderful singer.

The Thing with James Blood Ulmer.

epistrophy arts presents The Thing with James Blood Ulmer10/07/2015 At the North Door Stay tuned for details

Last night, I attended the last part of the Bedford Blues Festival. The sun was setting when I arrived but it was still hot. An outdoor setting, but the ticket price for the limited number of seats was reasonable, so arriving late and sitting in the front row proved to be easy. First, the end of Ruthie Foster's set, who did not appeal to me. Then, the reason for my coming, Buddy Guy played a fine concert. If only he played mostly songs from his first-rate new recording, but at least he did perform one song from it, Born to Play Guitar, and it was the evening highlight, though not the only one.

Australian jazz with subdivisions? Wow, I only have a couple of LPs by the Australian Jazz Quartet on Bethleham.

Thelonious Monk, Brilliant Corners (Riverside), and Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco (Riverside).

John Coltrane, Meditations (Impulse), and Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New York (Riverside/Fontana).

You have been added to the list, right between Guitar Shorty and Thundercat!

I love that song... Oops. Different strokes....

Little Star by the Elegants. Thoroughly putrid song.

Charles Lloyd will be appearing in both Austin and San Antonio next February. Feb 10Paramount Theater, Austin, TXCharles Lloyd & Friends featuring Bill Frisell, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland & Greg LeiszFeb 12Trinity College, San Antonio, TXCharles Lloyd & Friends featuring Bill Frisell, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland & Greg Leisz

Charles Earland, Kharma (Prestige/Fantasy)

The Three Sounds, I do like, so Gene Harris is perfectly fine in my book. Oscar Peterson, not so much, mostly sonic wallpaper to me. As for bluesy jazzmen, I prefer Junior Mance.