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Tonight, to Le Poisson Rouge to see Doom Jazz (Bobby Previte and Jamie Saft). This was some rather extreme improvised music--very loud--I must say I hated the venue--the sound was not good, plus it was a standing event--the place was packed (Doom Jazz was only the unbilled opening act)--in another place, with better sound, a little less volume, and chairs, I would have really enjoyed this set. After it was over, I exited to let my ears recover a bit. Later, I caught the last set of Rene Rosnes at the Village Vanguard.

Its become my favorite club. First, it's reasonably priced--$20 admission, and you can see two or three bands, plus there's no minimum. The bookings seem to have become alot more diverse than they used to be (I think this may have to do with Spike Willner taking over in the last couple of years). It's a great place to discover new artists. The sound there is excellent--what I like about it is that only the piano is directly miked. No mikes for the horns, and they sound balanced, clear and natural. And finally, the people who work there are really nice and friendly. I definitely recommend a visit.

Yesterday, an afternoon concert at Smalls, Melissa Aldana. She has her first release on Greg Osby's label, and the label website quotes Mr. Osby's high praise of her abilities. A very young woman from Chile, she has an utterly gorgeous tenor sound--I found her to be a very compelling player. I returned to Smalls later, and caught a set by the Mike Fahn Quartet. A valve trombonist, playing with guitar, bass and drums, this was a swinging mainstream group--a nice set. Next, the Orin Evans group return--more of the same exciting music as the prior evening. Mark Gross is one fiery alto player.

Yesterday, Ivo Perelman trio at The Stone. It was Perelman's tenor, with a bassist and a cellist. I would say the set was hot, but it was actually the Stone with no functioning air conditioning that was hot. The music (part of Clean Feed Jazz Festival) was okay; I would consider seeing him live again, but I had no desire to buy any of his CDs for sale. Moving on to more comfortable surroundings, back to Smalls. In time for a couple of songs from the first group of the evening, before the main event, the Orin Evans group, with Orin Evans on piano, Mark Gross on alto, Marvin Sewell on guitar, Dwayne Burno on bass and Vince Ector on drums--I feel like lapsing into cliches--they blew the roof off the joint, the group was hot, burnin' smokin'--and it was. Fantastic two sets of music. The alto player was wonderful, Marvin Sewell played some terrific guitar, Evans is good, nice bassist--it was a great evening of music. They're at Smalls again on Saturday.

Last night, at Smalls, Noah Preminger group--with Noah Preminger on tenor, Drew Sayers (?) tenor, Frank Kimbrough on piano, John Martin on bass and Victor Lewis on drums. This was excellent music--two fine tenors who blended very well--original material, ballads, three Ornette compositions, and a Monk. Wonderful piano and drums as well. I enjoyed alot. Afterwards, I stayed to hear a bit of the next group--Josh Evans Quartet--Eric McPherson on drums I recognized--this was more in the traditional hard bop vein, but quite good--the leader sounds like a very promising trumpet player.

I saw Mark Ribot within the last year, playing solo--a soundtrack for Chaplin's the Kid. It was good, and his CD Silent Movies is too.

Saturday night once again (same percussionist tonight, but a different bassist and drummer), the Lucky and Tamara Peterson show at Tuckers--a three set extravaganza--organ grease, the funkiest keyboards on the planet, subtle lessons in blues guitar history, the most intense slide guitar this side of Elmore James (on Lucky's new Gibson flying V guitar, played through a small Marshall amp), original blues and soul songs, soul covers and popular song chestnuts made to sound fresh, special guests--all kept the small audience riveted through three long sets. Tonight's main guest was Cynthia Scott, a jazz singer on vacation apparently. A new name to me (she has a couple of Live at Birdland CDs), but she was charismatic and a fine singer and the interchange was inspiring. I had a blast, two nights in row. Now they are off to some farflung places.

Milt Jackson, Opus de Jazz (Savoy) Dave Brubeck and Jay and Kay Live at Newport (Columbia six eyes)

I would like to hear it but haven't. My one live experience with Craig Taborn was quite positive--he played electric piano with a group led by Eivind Opsvik, with Hakan Kornstad on tenor--a very pleasing concert in a small club (I liked the tenor player best though).

I received this email from Mr. Tacuma. I am extremely pleased to announce I have been awarded The Pew Fellowships in the Arts 2011. I would like to thank firstly The Creator for blessing me, my family for their support, the fans worldwide for appreciating my music, and The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage for acknowledging my work. Also check the website for upcoming summer tour dates for 2011. They will be posted soon. Peace, Jamaaladeen

I really like this one, the only drawback is that if you have Soundway's Ghana Soundz anthologies, and Analog Africa's Afro-Beat Airways, you already have 5 of the 16 songs.

Last night, after a monthlong absence, Lucky Peterson is back at Tuckers this weekend. Three long sets last night--veering from jazz to blues to soul--lots of fantastic organ, piano and guitar from Lucky. Local blues singer Gregg Smith sits in for the third set

I think this is the last year.

Jimmy Forrest--Soul Street (Prestige, New Jazz Mono, purple label)

A rare opportunity to hear Magos Herrera at this festival on July 2. http://www.magosherrera.com/ Festival Internacional de Jazz de Montreal Magos Herrera Saturday July 2, 2011 20:00hrs Scene/ Stage Rio Tinto Alcan Line up: Magos herrera.vocals Nir felder.guitar Luis perdomo.piano Hans glawishnig.bass Alex kautz.drums Rogerio Bocatto.percussion

Have no fear, the set sounds good.

he 2012 NEA Jazz Masters are: Jack DeJohnette, Drummer, Keyboardist, Composer Born in Chicago, IL; lives in Willow, NY) Von Freeman, Saxophonist Born in Chicago, IL; lives in Chicago, IL) Charlie Haden, Bassist, Composer, Educator Born in Shenandoah, IA; lives in Agoura Hills, CA) Sheila Jordan, Vocalist, Educator Born in Detroit, MI; lives in Middleburgh, NY and New York, NY) *Jimmy Owens, Educator, Trumpeter, Flugelhorn Player, Composer, Arranger Born in Bronx, NY; lives in New York, NY) *Jimmy Owens is the recipient of the 2012 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy. http://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/2012-NEA-Jazz-Masters-Announced.html

Thanks for this but I didn't pick it up until today so I've missed the opportunity to see one of my favourite jazzmen. What a shame! Anyway, The Ethan Iverson Trio were excellent at Small's, although Mr Iverson seemed a bit in awe of his sidemen (Buster Williams and Ben Riley) and stuck to standards for the early set that I watched. I guess it must be really difficult being the junior partner playing with a couple of jazz legends. Did you leave town? Henry Threadgill is actually at the Jazz Gallery tonight to Saturday. http://www.jazzgallery.org/live/ In case there is any confusion, Jazz Gallery is different from Jazz Standard. Jazz Gallery is a performance space (not a club like Jazz Standard) across from where the Half Note used to be located. Yes, I'm off to Washington DC tonight and then back to the UK on Monday. That's the way it goes with visiting New York--there's always something great just before and just after your visit.

Thanks for this but I didn't pick it up until today so I've missed the opportunity to see one of my favourite jazzmen. What a shame! Anyway, The Ethan Iverson Trio were excellent at Small's, although Mr Iverson seemed a bit in awe of his sidemen (Buster Williams and Ben Riley) and stuck to standards for the early set that I watched. I guess it must be really difficult being the junior partner playing with a couple of jazz legends. Did you leave town? Henry Threadgill is actually at the Jazz Gallery tonight to Saturday. http://www.jazzgallery.org/live/ In case there is any confusion, Jazz Gallery is different from Jazz Standard. Jazz Gallery is a performance space (not a club like Jazz Standard) across from where the Half Note used to be located.

And the latest Keystone Korner release is Pinnacle by Freddie Hubbard. http://www.resonancerecords.org/news.php?id=72

High Note has released some Todd Barkan recordings. The latest was by Jaki Byard.

Henry Threadgill is at the Jazz Gallery on Thursday. Plus the Undead Jazz Festival. http://www.undeadjazz.com/?page_id=276

Last night, the Cedric Burnside Project at Poor David's Pub. I like R.L. Burnside's music, so I attended, though with no particular expectation of how good this would be. Cedric Burnside--grandson of R.L. Burnside and the drummer in his band--opened on solo electric guitar--playing a number of songs in the style of Mississippi Hill Country Blues. He's a fine singer and pretty decent on country blues guitar, I was pleasantly surprised. Eventually, he added a backup singer, and a drummer joined the group. For the next few songs, the momentum of the set flagged a bit from the promising start. But then Cedric Burnside and the drummer traded places, so to speak, as Cedric took over the drum chair, and the drummer took over lead guitar. This effected a dramatic change in the vitality of the music--Cedric Burnside is an electric and dynamic drummer, and the new guitarist was quite effective in the Mississippi trance blues style. The rest of the set was rather fantastic--amazing the sound that just two musicians achieved. They played a mixture of original music, R.L. Burnside pieces, and just a couple of hoary blues classics (sounding rather different in this style). The meager audience of 25 or so was wildly enthusiastic. After a single long set, Cedric announced they had to drive back to Mississippi for Father's Day, so that was it.

Duke Ellington--Newport 1958 (Columbia mono, six eyes)

I bought the series from Cadence years ago. They appear to still have nine of the volumes in stock (including volume 17), for $16 each. Blue N Boogie has a wonderful complete Bird solo; the Dizzy solo is nearly complete but ends abruptly--the sound of the instruments is clear, but there is an extreme amount of surface noise on the source recording. No, the 22 CD volume set of Bird's Eyes is not complete. I don't have the succeeding CDR volumes.