clifford_thornton

It gives me great pleasure to announce the second/final show of the Fall season of "So, What Do You Think?" at Tubby's in Kingston, New York on Sunday November 10, 2024: A night of solos and duos with bassist Brandon Lopez and saxophonist Steve Baczkowski in support of their forthcoming duo CD on Relative Pitch, a follow-up to last year's Matanzas (Lopez Trio feat. Baczkowski and Gerald Cleaver). I first Saw Lopez around 2013, taking things apart and putting them back together with a level of commitment that is infrequent; this was in the days of backroom gigs at the Manhattan Inn in Greenpoint, all much to the bewilderment of trust-fund onlookers. He was clearly someone to keep an eye on and I am glad to have witnessed his deep, unflagging motion ever since. His work as a grab-you-by-your-throat soloist is not without a lot of space and attuned listening; I was reminded of the first time I heard Béb Guerin take a solo on record, masterful, gutsy, and capital-R Romantic but also inventively kicking ass. Baczkowski is someone I have listened to and greatly enjoyed on recordings but not seen much in person so I'm extra pumped for the experience. Time: doors 7 hit at 8 Cost: $20 doors or $15 advance (advance tix help us gauge the evening, so buy early and often if you plan on attending) & remember all funds go to the artists! flyer remix by d.norsen -- words boosted from elsewhere below -- Brandon Lopez and Steve Baczkowski met at the fabled center for improvised and strange music in Buffalo, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts. Quick friends, they decided to test the musical waters of the Brooklyn underground. A year later, they gave a brutal performance at the Exposure Festival in Chicago, wowing listeners and critics in a show of sonic brutality not entirely devoid of tenderness. "There are musicians who leverage their instrument’s conventional vocabulary to create works of art, and then there’s Brandon Lopez." -- Dusted Magazine "undeniably bad assed, precisely executed and lucidly organized" -- The Wire Improviser/Composer Brandon A. Lopez was born and raised in Northwestern New Jersey and it was there that he cultivated a taste for left-of-center musics and subsequently dug graves. He’s had the pleasure of working with many of the world’s vanguard musicians and artists including jaimie branch, Rob Brown, Gerald Cleaver, Whit Dickey, Michael Foster, Ingrid Laubrock, Cecilia Lopez, Joe McPhee, Mat Maneri, Fred Moten, William Parker, Tom Rainey, Tomeka Reid, Dave Rempis, Matthew Shipp, Nate Wooley, and has toured and played prestigious halls, DIY basements, and festivals all across North America and the European Continent. In addition to numerous ensemble meetings and recordings he frequently plays solo and has released two unaccompanied contrabass CDs on the Astral Spirits and Tao Forms labels. He attended New England Conservatory and has received awards and fellowships through Issue Project Room, the Robert D. Bielecki Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, NYSCA, and Roulette. An interview/statement with Brandon can be read here: https://soundamerican.org/issues/thirtieth/brandon-lopez and another good one is here: https://www.wfae.org/arts-culture/2023-09-22/jazz-bassist-reshaping-the-sound-of-the-instrument Steve Baczkowski is an improviser, saxophonist, and multi-wind instrumentalist. Baczkowski began playing alto saxophone at age eight and switched to baritone by the time he was twelve. He studied music in high school at Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts and went on to studies in music, saxophone performance, literature, and ethnomusicology at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1994 to 1999. In 1999, Baczkowski became the music director of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in Buffalo, N.Y, where he has since produced and presented hundreds of concerts of contemporary music as well as numerous community-based artist residencies. His collaborators in addition to Lopez and Gerald Cleaver have included Tony Conrad, Chris Corsano, Paul Flaherty, Dredd Foole, Adam Lane, Bill Nace, Ravi Padmanabha, Rey Scott, and the groups Buffalo Suicide Prevention Unit and Buffalo Jazz Octet. This will be a fantastic evening and I really look forward to seeing you there. Pass the word to a friend. Stay well & healthy, Clifford

+1

Sweet band! Have a great hit, folks!

I had no idea that musicians like Eddy Louiss, Bernard Lubat, Jef Gilson, and Roger Guérin were involved with Les Double Six.

Donald McKyre is perhaps a nom-de-plume? I have that LP, definitely looks like Ntshoko on the back now that you mention it, but have never seen any confirmation either way.

Love this... "bigger room for his furniture, not a total remodel."

I wasn't expecting that solo piano cut on the Jazzland LP to sound so much like Satie.

had the Ashoka Suite at one point and sold it (condition issues). Would not mind having it back.

thanks. Figured Lloyd had, too. I don't really listen to Lloyd but good to know that performance is out there.

yes, back in the day a bar could call you a cab. still could, though with the presence of Lyft/Uber it's less necessary.

^ Have a nice UK mono pressing of this one.

I'll have to check that one out! Love Nistico & Strazzeri both.

1 is Mau Mau by Art Farmer & Quincy Jones, notably heard on "Work of Art." 7 is driving me crazy. Seems so familiar, very much in the BAG vein. Enjoy it immensely.

Thanks; yeah, I figured that band would've hit Slugs' at some point.

Did Jarrett play at Slugs'? Good question.

I think that these could be done as downloads and I'd be fine with it.

that's true, but the initial hype versus the delivery time ratio is a bit lopsided in my opinion.

For sure he did! Unforgettable, those solos...

oh, but that thing... it had a lot of personality and Mal made it his own.

How long do we have to wait until we identify tracks? Track one is a favorite of mine.

How about I take March for a little March Madness?

Yeah, it doesn't really bother me at the end of the day. I am more concerned about whether there's non-fill or any other pressing plant bugaboos on the vinyl. The Pookie's set was not manufactured all that well.

Slugs' piano was kinda rough (cf. the Rashied Ali Quintet at Slugs'). It is definitely out of tune.

Lucinda Childs Twyla Tharp Andy De Groat

If Dusty stocks 'em I will grab. It is a bit tiring, I must admit.