Tom Storer

Funny, I was just listening to Sphere earlier. I used to see them in the 80's, one of the great groups of the period. Barron also had a wonderful quintet back then featuring Eddie Henderson, John Stubblefield, Rufus Reid and Victor Lewis. He's made so many top-notch records, both as sideman and leader...

I was an avid Mad reader from the mid-60's until the early 70's, at which point, around age 14, I switched to the National Lampoon.

Haven't heard the record, but I certainly hope not. ;-)

*CLASP*

There's so much good Joe Williams. There's one from 1985 I'm partial to, called "I Just Want To Sing." Another great one from his later years was "Every Night: Live at Vine St.", where he does "Everyday I Have the Blues" to the tune of "All Blues."

?? The club's site lists Swallow, not Finck. Maybe you googled and got a page from last year? Anyway, I got the CD, but I'm traveling and don't have time to listen to it. Will report later.

So how did you like it?

I've seen Alvin Queen live several times in Paris. He makes a band hop, all right. Great drummer. He used to play with Tommy Flanagan's trio when the regular drummer couldn't make the date, and played Flanagan's detailed arrangements like he had devised them himself. Not sure where he's based--Berlin?

Well, that explains why that trio will be touring Europe this summer... I plan to see them in late July. And now that I'm aware of the CD, I'll pick that up right quick.

I saw him not long ago with Mark Murphy in Paris. They sounded great together. R.I.P.

I resemble that remark!

I'm curious about how you would define "maturity of concept." What makes a concept mature or not mature?

Saw the Cookers in Paris in February and they lived up to their name! What a band.

Well, yeah, except that viewpoint was only prevalent for a relatively brief period. Jazz musicians have never stopped "indulging in popular tastes." There was a period of maybe ten or, maximum, fifteen years when the "young lion" Marsalisite thing was trying hard to take over the world, but since then? Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride and many, many others have played jazz/funk concoctions with sincerity, and some success, and those named are only the famous ones (famous in jazz terms). Jazz/hiphop has perhaps not been explored to the same extent, now it looks like people are going there too. It's nothing new, really.

It's 35+ years for me. No idea how many concerts. I'd guess around 500. I've forgotten the most memorable ones.

Larry Harlow is a famous musician? What does he play?

So if I understand correctly, some of you see ads when you log into the Organissimo forums? I don't.

Now there's a man with class. I've been listening a lot to that quintet lately, both live and in the studio. What a summit they reached.

That's what I thought.

March 4, 2012: Larry Goldings Trio. Duc des Lombards, Paris. Larry Goldings, Hammond B3 organ; Peter Bernstein, guitar; Bill Stewart, drums. Last time I saw this trio it was billed as the Peter Bernstein Trio. I guess they take turns. This is a hard-swinging group. Bernstein's lines are beautifully clear and sure and elegant, whereas Goldings goes a bit further out, often whimsically, at the organ. Stewart takes care of business, always calm on the surface as he stokes the flames. They played a mix of standards, such as "Sweet and Lovely" and "Milestones", and originals.

I figure I'll use this blog to keep track of concerts I see, and who knows what else. January 22, 2012: Wynton Marsalis. Duc des Lombards, Paris. (Pure coincidence that my blog starts with Wynton. I'm neither a cheerleader nor a knee-jerk basher.) Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Hervé Sellin, piano; Bruno Rousselet, bass; Jeff Boudreaux, drums. I took advantage of a hastily announced visit by Wynton M. to the tiny Duc des Lombards club in Paris last night. It's been a long while since I've bought any of Wynton's CDs, but this sounded like the right context to see him in: up close and personal in a small club, accompanied by a local trio. And sure enough, it was thoroughly enjoyable. Hervé Sellin is a fine mainstream pianist and he and Wynton apparently know each other well and have done this before. They were having fun with each other. Bruno Rousselet was solid. Jeff Boudreaux, a Louisiana native now based in France, sounded like a Dixieland/swing drummer given his relatively uncomplicated and rudimentary playing. No flash, but he was swinging, if in an old-fashioned kind of way. The material was unsurprising: nice standards ("What is This Thing Called Love," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "All of Me," "Lady Be Good" as the encore), Wynton's party piece "Cherokee," plus "Saint James Infirmary" featuring Wynton's vocal chorus, and "Saint Louis Blues." Nor was Wynton's playing surprising: he's a consummate showman and used his large bag of tricks on the trumpet to entertain the ears in a warm and relaxed, living-room-like atmosphere. It was easy to forget about the jazz wars and just enjoy an engaged, swinging set with its fair share of trumpet acrobatics. February 2, 2012: Mark Murphy. New Morning, Paris Mark Murphy, vocals; George Mesterhazy, piano; Andy Hamill, bass; Mark Fletcher, drums This was my first time seeing Mark Murphy. I had never really heard what was so great about him, based on admittedly not much listening. So I decided to check him out live, and it turned out to be a great idea. Murphy is around 80 and age has of course taken its toll on his instrument, but he makes up for it with crazy imagination, his swing, his musicality, and his sheer joy in performance. He was just up there having a ball. The trio with him was perfect for him. One thing about the top jazz singers is that they always have a strong, improvising drummer. Mark Fletcher was in that role; no idea who he is, but he was doing it. Excellent jazz. And somebody was filming it! Witness: My Foolish Heart. February 6, 2012: Mark Turner Quartet. Duc des Lombards, Paris Mark Turner, tenor sax; Avishai Cohen, trumpet; Joe Martin, bass; Marcus Gilmore, drums at the Duc des Lombards, Paris Superb concert. Turner's lines are very cerebral, in my view; that is, he doesn't use many traditional jazz devices based on blues and swing. But he's intensely lyrical nonetheless and has a magnificent tone, clean and pure but very warm and strong. There was great alchemy with the still undersung trumpeter Avishai Cohen, one of my favorites of the current crop. Joe Martin is a stalwart of many New York bands, with good reason. Marcus Gilmore is ridiculously gifted as a drummer. This quartet is a regular thing but Turner apparently has no recording contract at present, so it risks going undocumented. Boo! February 24, 2012: The Cookers. New Morning, Paris Billy Harper, tenor sax; Craig Handy, alto sax & flute; David Weiss, trumpet; Eddie Henderson, trumpet; George Cables, piano; Cecil McBee, bass; Billy Hart, drums No false claims in the group title, they cooked. There was one problem that marred the concert somewhat, which was that it was uncomfortably loud. There were probably about 150 people in a club that seats 300 when it's jam-packed to the rafters, and given their energy, if they had played completely unamplified one would have heard the music perfectly clearly. Instead the blaring amplification made it hard to hear the organic unity of the rhythm section. This is not the first time this has happened to me at the New Morning. In addition, one could see from the musicians' gestures to the soundboard that their onstage monitors were not high enough. But the music itself was great. Solid and satisfying four-horn arrangements of original tunes, particularly by Harper, McBee and Cables, committed and energetic solos by all. Henderson in particular stood out for me for his imaginative soloing, and the others were no slouches. David Weiss, who served as the MC, had some fierce and crackling choruses. But I'm above all delighted to have caught the rhythm section of Cables, McBee, and Hart. They were flying. Monsters, all of them. A great night. March 3, 2012: Laurent de Wilde/Laurent Coq. Auditorium de la Cité de la Musique, Paris. Laurent de Wilde, piano; Laurent Coq, piano. This hour-long concert was at the end of a two-hour colloquium where the two pianists and some journalists and musicologists talked about Thelonious Monk's music. Then the pianists played Monk tunes, first de Wilde, then one piece with the two of them together (on two pianos), then Coq. Both are excellent musicians, but my preference went to Laurent Coq, who seemed more individual and inventive. March 5, 2012: Chris Potter Quartet. New Morning, Paris. Chris Potter, tenor sax, soprano sax; David Virelles, piano; Joe Martin, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums The New Morning was packed with young musicians who had come out to be wowed by Potter and co. Potter is a serious virtuoso and promptly wowed the house. Complex music played with deep virtuosity by all. Highly satisfying.

Yeah, that would be it, at the Cité de la Musique. Doesn't seem that long ago! I brought a friend who is pretty new to jazz and he said he thought Bley sounded a lot like Keith Jarrett sometimes.

On his Facebook page he mentions that he'll be touring with Kevin Eubanks this summer.

I saw Bley last year. He played beautifully, a fantastic solo concert, but was walking slowly and with difficulty. I guess this was before the hip replacement, so maybe that will help him get out more.

Could you be thinking of Joseph Daley's Earth Tones Ensemble recording, Seven Deadly Sins? That's the one! No wonder I couldn't find it.