What live music are you going to see tonight?

[Justin V]

On the 24th, I saw Ron Carter with Russell Malone and Donald Vega at the Bohemian Caverns in DC. I've been a fan of Carter and Malone for years but had never seen them live. I'd seen Donald Vega performing with a Juilliard group a few years ago. Vega filled the chair previously held by the great Mulgrew Miller and is definitely someone to watch.

It was a great set. Malone had a feature on 'Candlelight' as a tribute to Jim Hall that showed why he is one of the top guitarists on the scene. Carter and Malone have developed an extraordinary rapport over the years, and Vega fits right in with an often understated style and a delicate touch. Vega's bluesy extended solo on 'My Funny Valentine' was another highlight. While watching Carter play from a table in front of the stage, I found myself thinking about how much jazz history has been shaped by his hands. It's hard to describe what it is like seeing him perform in person, but with Ron Carter, you don't miss the drums. The absolute focus displayed by Carter is awe-inspiring.

The group listened intently to each other; it was something to watch Carter and Malone shift their backing of Vega on a dime or Vega to throw a snippet of a Malone phrase back at him immediately. The set provided a lot of variety between tunes, like the chamber-like counterpoint of 'Autumn Leaves' (an arrangement from Carter's The Golden Striker), an Oscar Pettiford blues that Carter took the lead on or just flat-out swing. There were also changes within the tunes themselves, like Vega's aforementioned, unexpected bluesy turn during 'My Funny Valentine' or when the group kicked up the tempo to a breakneck speed during the last tune and brought the set to a rousing conclusion.

After the set, Ron Carter greeted people and signed copies of his autobiography. Although I was intimidated to meet such a giant of the music, he was very warm, gracious and friendly. My only regret from what was a perfect night was that I didn't get tickets for both sets. I'd drive to DC to see Ron Carter again in a heartbeat, and Bohemian Caverns has a good thing going on.

Edited June 3, 2014 by Justin V

[xybert]

On Friday 6th June i saw Chick Corea and Gary Burton perform at the Wellington Jazz fest.

The whole thing was really surreal. I've never been to Wellington before, or flown domestically; landed in Wellington at about 5:00pm, in theory had plenty of time but in hindsight i wish i'd gone for an earlier flight to give me time to acclimatise to the city. Anyway, it was already getting dark, found my way to the hotel i'd be spending the night at. Show started at 8:30pm, felt at a bit of a loose end. Decided to go find the venue so there was no last minute "where the fug am i supposed to go?" shenanigans and then try to find somewhere to eat. Found the venue, didn't want to venture too far and get lost, found a burger king near by. Nothing much to do, decided to go back to the venue and just wait. People started milling in slowly, not sure if it's a Wellington thing but they all seemed a lot more dressed up than i was in my jeans and grey hoody. Felt a bit awkward waiting there alone, wasn't feeling that great to begin with; had a semi-bad head cold and cough and was feeling nervous and self conscious about coughing during the show (in the end i was okay).

Anyway, finally it was time to go in and get seated. Great seats, second row fairly close to the centre. It was very surreal, wandering around a strange city and now sitting in front of a grand piano and vibes that Corea and Burton would soon be playing.

Sorry for the ramblings. The show was amazing. They kicked off with Love Castle which was fairly high on the list of songs i wanted to hear so right from the get go i was on cloud nine. They played for about two and a half hours including an intermission. They informed us early on that this was their first time playing together for a while, but you wouldn't have known it. I was pretty much buzzing out the whole time. They played a mix of things, a lovely version of Waltz For Debbie, three or four songs from Hot House, a version of Crystal Silence that got surprisingly intense at the end, a Monk tune that i can't think of the name of but i can hum it for you, you know the one... throughout they were both relaxed and seemed to be having a lot of fun. For the final encore they did Armando's Rhumba with the two of them starting out by humourously dueting on the vibes... i figured there was a bit of practiced schtick going on, and i found an almost identical performance on youtube from 2011 (see below).

Anyway, an amazing show, i was pretty much grinning from ear to ear the whole time. Some of the best playing i've heard from either of them, so many "oooh, that hit the spot" moments throughout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRSjLkj0VMw

[BillF]

On Friday 6th June i saw Chick Corea and Gary Burton perform at the Wellington Jazz fest.

The whole thing was really surreal. I've never been to Wellington before, or flown domestically; landed in Wellington at about 5:00pm, in theory had plenty of time but in hindsight i wish i'd gone for an earlier flight to give me time to acclimatise to the city. Anyway, it was already getting dark, found my way to the hotel i'd be spending the night at. Show started at 8:30pm, felt at a bit of a loose end. Decided to go find the venue so there was no last minute "where the fug am i supposed to go?" shenanigans and then try to find somewhere to eat. Found the venue, didn't want to venture too far and get lost, found a burger king near by. Nothing much to do, decided to go back to the venue and just wait. People started milling in slowly, not sure if it's a Wellington thing but they all seemed a lot more dressed up than i was in my jeans and grey hoody. Felt a bit awkward waiting there alone, wasn't feeling that great to begin with; had a semi-bad head cold and cough and was feeling nervous and self conscious about coughing during the show (in the end i was okay).

Anyway, finally it was time to go in and get seated. Great seats, second row fairly close to the centre. It was very surreal, wandering around a strange city and now sitting in front of a grand piano and vibes that Corea and Burton would soon be playing.

Sorry for the ramblings. The show was amazing. They kicked off with Love Castle which was fairly high on the list of songs i wanted to hear so right from the get go i was on cloud nine. They played for about two and a half hours including an intermission. They informed us early on that this was their first time playing together for a while, but you wouldn't have known it. I was pretty much buzzing out the whole time. They played a mix of things, a lovely version of Waltz For Debbie, three or four songs from Hot House, a version of Crystal Silence that got surprisingly intense at the end, a Monk tune that i can't think of the name of but i can hum it for you, you know the one... throughout they were both relaxed and seemed to be having a lot of fun. For the final encore they did Armando's Rhumba with the two of them starting out by humourously dueting on the vibes... i figured there was a bit of practiced schtick going on, and i found an almost identical performance on youtube from 2011 (see below).

Anyway, an amazing show, i was pretty much grinning from ear to ear the whole time. Some of the best playing i've heard from either of them, so many "oooh, that hit the spot" moments throughout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRSjLkj0VMw

Nice report!

[relyles]

Of the bands we saw last night, three in the middle stood out.

Tarbaby featuring Oliver Lake were fine starting with Dolphy's Fire Waltz

The easy highlight was a quartet featuring Richard Davis. Cyrille was subtly wonderous and the violinist I never heard of, Aska Taneka was spectacular playing and with some gorgeous vocalizing.Angelica Sanchez was her brilliant self. A fully improvised 45 minutes with the legendary bassist sticking with the bow save for one short passage. Genius level improvising from Mr. Davis

My wife and I were blessed to be there.

I was in the center of the front row last night with my wife, who enjoyed it much more than she anticipated.

Wish I had known. I was right in back of you in the third row.

[jlhoots]

Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay

[Justin V]

On Sunday, I caught the Brotzmann/Parker/Drake trio in Buffalo (as discussed in that thread).

Last night, I caught a celebration of Milt Hinton at Oberlin. Oberlin has acquired four of Hinton's basses and his pictures and other documents. The performance featured all of the donated basses, which will be available for Oberlin students to play. The concert featured bassists Richard Davis, Rufus Reid, John Clayton, Gerald Cannon, Jerry Jemmott and Peter Dominguez, among many other bassists, as well as Oberlin faculty members Gary Bartz and Billy Hart. Three weeks ago, I never thought that I'd get a chance to see Richard Davis perform. Now I've seen him at two special events celebrating the lives of other artists (Hinton and Eric Dolphy), and I found out about both events just in the nick of time. Coincidentally, although this was my first time seeing Rufus Reid perform, he was in attendance at the Dolphy festival.

Some of the many highlights included: Richard Davis's challenging solo piece that he bowed exclusively; a bass/drums blues on which many of the bassists on hand passed the bass to the next man up in a round robin of solos (with Richard Davis dancing his way across the stage) and Billy Hart playing only Papa Jo Jones's snare drum; Rufus Reid's solo takes on Paul Chambers's 'Visitation' and Tadd Dameron's 'If You Could See Me Now'; a Bartz/Dominguez/Hart workout on 'The Shadow of Your Smile'; a Jemmott/Hart duo on Horace Silver's 'Filthy McNasty'; a John Clayton solo improvisation that morphed into 'It Don't Mean a Thing'; a solo version of 'Lately' that showed of Dominguez's dark tone on Hinton's bass; and, a finale featuring the Milt Institute students (all 25-30 of them!) in an all-bass orchestra for two songs and with Hart, Clayton, Cannon and Bartz joining them for the last song, which was a Ray Brown blues. While the highlights that I've mentioned were the jazz-oriented ones, it was a celebration of the bass and its role in jazz as well as classical (in particular, classical bassist Diana Gannett stood out).

The jovial, celebratory atmosphere, peerless lineup of musicians and excellent acoustics of Oberlin's Warner Concert Hall made it a special evening that I won't soon forget. I hope that Oberlin continues celebrating Hinton's legacy with many more concerts in the future.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Justin V

[jlhoots]

Carrie Rodriguez

[Van Basten II]

Going to see the Dr during the big jazz fest in late june.

For my part attended or rather try to attend Boneshaker (Paal Nilssen-Love, Mars Williams, & Kent Kessler). Nilssen-Love being the type of guy I'd buy a ticket no matter who plays with him.Unfortunately doors only opened at 10 pm and there was a first part prior to the main part, which wasn't much the problem except for the time but mainly the fact that it was standing only ! So it meant standing up for about 45 minutes in a rather small room with a lot of people plus the first set that lasted around 35 minutes .So I guessed that the marquee names wouldn't show at least up until 11:30. I figured out that my knees wouldn't take it or being surrounded by so manty people in such a setting wouldn't be worth it. So I opted to leave rather than watch a band while being pissed off and tired.

Yesterday was a bit more lucky saw Low,, at least I was able to sit throughout the entire gig. Barely knew about them prior to the gig except they've been around for a while and the music description in the program fitted my fancy. Pretty tough to describe their music, in a way they they kinda reminded me of the Jeff Tweedy's band à la Wilco or Uncle Tupelo but they don't sound at all like them. At best I would describe them as Gothic Americana. They are dark, melancholic but not agressive although with a bit of a groove , some of the songs featured nice harmonies between the lead singer and the drummer/backing vocalist . Fine evening..

Edited June 17, 2014 by Van Basten II

[jlhoots]

Rodney Crowell

[Van Basten II]

Saw Yasmine Hamdan from the the Only lovers Jarmusch film fame on a outside venue last night, wow ! Arab songs with an trip hop touch

For those who will visit Montreal, there's a new place to attend gigs called Café Résonance , nice old school place located in a basement low ceiling bunch of chairs that have been bought at a garage sale, nice vegan counter restaurant and a programmation that mostly features jazz, check it out.

http://www.resonancecafe.com/

Edited June 18, 2014 by Van Basten II

[Steve Reynolds]

Saw Yasmine Hamdan from the the Only lovers Jarmusch film fame on a outside venue last night, wow ! Arab songs with an trip hop touch

For those who will visit Montreal, there's a new place to attend gigs called Café Résonance , nice old school place located in a basement low ceiling bunch of chairs that have been bought at a garage sale, nice vegan counter restaurant and a programmation that mostly features jazz, check it out.

http://www.resonancecafe.com/

Great upcoming shows there - including a quartet with Rudi Mahall & Axel Doerner this Sunday!!!

Would love to see those dudes come to NYC

Plus last night was a quartet with Agusti Fernandez

[Van Basten II]

Forgot to talk about it , it was an enjoyable show, although Fernandez was not the guy that was featured the most, the set up was rather unique as the musician up front was the drummer, them the double bass player on his left the sax player and behind everyone Fernandez

[Van Basten II]

Went back to Café résonance to see Sun Rooms that features; Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Mike Reed on drums, and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass., very fine show by one of the most dynamic vibes player I had the chance to see, on the last tune he took off part of the lighting .. sets were on the short side of things around 40 minutes each, would have taken a lot more but then I ain't the one playing in the sweltering heat. , the members of the group were using their towels like tennis players after a long point as they were sweating profusely.. Music wise it was a great way to end my birthday .

Regarding the place as it was my second visit and had more time to check it out and its surroundings , as mentionned the heat will become a problem in the dog days of summer , there's an AC but it barely sputters a bit of fresh air for the lucky few near the stage , as soon as you move away the slight fresh sensation dissaprears and as you probably guessed none of the air goes to the side of the musicians. The block where the café is located has a rather seedy side as the next door place are outfits specializing in monkey greasing businesses, Montreal Sin city indeed !!!!

Edited June 19, 2014 by Van Basten II

[relyles]

Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 7:30 pm
STREET SONGS/THE ACCORDIAN PROJECT WITH MARIO PAVONE
Studio 59 - 59 Barber Street - Downtown Torrington

Mario Pavone - bass / compositions
Matt Mitchell - piano
Adam Matlock - accordion
Carl Testa - bass
Steve Johns - drums
Brass Quartet:
Dave Ballou - cornet, flugelhorn

Peter McEachern - trombone
Leise Ballou - french horn
Gary Buttery – tuba

[Leeway]

Went back to Café résonance to see Sun Rooms that features; Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Mike Reed on drums, and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass., very fine show by one of the most dynamic vibes player I had the chance to see, on the last tune he took off part of the lighting .. sets were on the short side of things around 40 minutes each, would have taken a lot more but then I ain't the one playing in the sweltering heat. , the members of the group were using their towels like tennis players after a long point as they were sweating profusely.. Music wise it was a great way to end my birthday .

Regarding the place as it was my second visit and had more time to check it out and its surroundings , as mentionned the heat will become a problem in the dog days of summer , there's an AC but it barely sputters a bit of fresh air for the lucky few near the stage , as soon as you move away the slight fresh sensation dissaprears and as you probably guessed none of the air goes to the side of the musicians. The block where the café is located has a rather seedy side as the next door place are outfits specializing in monkey greasing businesses, Montreal Sin city indeed !!!!

Nice show to celebrate you birthday! I always enjoy watching Jason A. Steamy venues are fairly common in jazz/avant music, most notably The Stone. The problem is if you run the air, you can't hear the music properly; if you don't run the air, every one starts melting. Bring hankies, I suppose. Anyway, Happy Birthday!

[niels]

Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 7:30 pm

STREET SONGS/THE ACCORDIAN PROJECT WITH MARIO PAVONE

Studio 59 - 59 Barber Street - Downtown Torrington

Mario Pavone - bass / compositions

Matt Mitchell - piano

Adam Matlock - accordion

Carl Testa - bass

Steve Johns - drums

Brass Quartet:

Dave Ballou - cornet, flugelhorn

Peter McEachern - trombone

Leise Ballou - french horn

Gary Buttery – tuba

I would be interested to hear how this show was! I love the playing of Mario Pavone, and have the Streets Songs album high on my wish list.

[relyles]

Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 7:30 pm

STREET SONGS/THE ACCORDIAN PROJECT WITH MARIO PAVONE

Studio 59 - 59 Barber Street - Downtown Torrington

Mario Pavone - bass / compositions

Matt Mitchell - piano

Adam Matlock - accordion

Carl Testa - bass

Steve Johns - drums

Brass Quartet:

Dave Ballou - cornet, flugelhorn

Peter McEachern - trombone

Leise Ballou - french horn

Gary Buttery – tuba

I would be interested to hear how this show was! I love the playing of Mario Pavone, and have the Streets Songs album high on my wish list.

In that case I will make the effort to report back. Living in CT I get to hear Pavone with some frequency. Each time it seems to be a different ensemble. In March I heard him with the Arc Trio featuring Matt Mitchell and Tyshawn Sorey. A week later was the Orange Septet with Dave Ballou, Peter McEacher,. Ellery Eskelin, Kris Allen, Mitchell and Gerald Cleaver. Last summer I was involved in presenting the Double Tenor septet. I am eyeing a few dates he has in July at Cornelia Street Cafe with two completely different ensembles. I have never been disappointed at a Pavone concert.

And by the way, Street Songs is very good. I bought it from him at the second concert in March. I did not have high expectations because I have not been overwhelmed by most of the recordings I had heard in the past featuring accordion. This recording was a very pleasant surprise. Typical strong writing by Pavone and nice overall texture to the music. Recommended.

[niels]

Thanx for the information!

[Steve Reynolds]

Went back to Café résonance to see Sun Rooms that features; Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Mike Reed on drums, and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass., very fine show by one of the most dynamic vibes player I had the chance to see, on the last tune he took off part of the lighting .. sets were on the short side of things around 40 minutes each, would have taken a lot more but then I ain't the one playing in the sweltering heat. , the members of the group were using their towels like tennis players after a long point as they were sweating profusely.. Music wise it was a great way to end my birthday .

Regarding the place as it was my second visit and had more time to check it out and its surroundings , as mentionned the heat will become a problem in the dog days of summer , there's an AC but it barely sputters a bit of fresh air for the lucky few near the stage , as soon as you move away the slight fresh sensation dissaprears and as you probably guessed none of the air goes to the side of the musicians. The block where the café is located has a rather seedy side as the next door place are outfits specializing in monkey greasing businesses, Montreal Sin city indeed !!!!

Nice show to celebrate you birthday! I always enjoy watching Jason A. Steamy venues are fairly common in jazz/avant music, most notably The Stone. The problem is if you run the air, you can't hear the music properly; if you don't run the air, every one starts melting. Bring hankies, I suppose. Anyway, Happy Birthday!

Here's hoping I Beam is not that bad Tommorow night. Forecast is a high of 80 with temperatures towards the low 70's by 8:30

First time to see Paul Flaherty on saxophones

Max Johnson bass for both sets

Mat Maneri on viola for second set

2 different drummers for the 2 trios

[Larry Kart]

Josh Berman Trio (Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly) at Constellation.

[Chuck Nessa]

Josh Berman Trio (Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly) at Constellation.

Wish I could be there. Say Hi to the guys for me.

[Van Basten II]

Went back to Café résonance to see Sun Rooms that features; Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Mike Reed on drums, and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass., very fine show by one of the most dynamic vibes player I had the chance to see, on the last tune he took off part of the lighting .. sets were on the short side of things around 40 minutes each, would have taken a lot more but then I ain't the one playing in the sweltering heat. , the members of the group were using their towels like tennis players after a long point as they were sweating profusely.. Music wise it was a great way to end my birthday .

Regarding the place as it was my second visit and had more time to check it out and its surroundings , as mentionned the heat will become a problem in the dog days of summer , there's an AC but it barely sputters a bit of fresh air for the lucky few near the stage , as soon as you move away the slight fresh sensation dissaprears and as you probably guessed none of the air goes to the side of the musicians. The block where the café is located has a rather seedy side as the next door place are outfits specializing in monkey greasing businesses, Montreal Sin city indeed !!!!

Nice show to celebrate you birthday! I always enjoy watching Jason A. Steamy venues are fairly common in jazz/avant music, most notably The Stone. The problem is if you run the air, you can't hear the music properly; if you don't run the air, every one starts melting. Bring hankies, I suppose. Anyway, Happy Birthday!

Thanks, in this place the music is way more louder than whatever delivers a bit of air , especially with the drums in front .

Saw last night in the same venue Mike Pride’s From Bacteria To Boys with Jon Irabagon, Alexis Marcelo & Peter Bitenc, Iragabon sounded more in his element than last time I saw him,.

[relyles]

Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 7:30 pm

STREET SONGS/THE ACCORDIAN PROJECT WITH MARIO PAVONE

Studio 59 - 59 Barber Street - Downtown Torrington

Mario Pavone - bass / compositions

Matt Mitchell - piano

Adam Matlock - accordion

Carl Testa - bass

Steve Johns - drums

Brass Quartet:

Dave Ballou - cornet, flugelhorn

Peter McEachern - trombone

Leise Ballou - french horn

Gary Buttery – tuba

I would be interested to hear how this show was! I love the playing of Mario Pavone, and have the Streets Songs album high on my wish list.

Nice set last night. This was the first of five dates this ensemble will be playing over the next month. I might try to catch one or more of the upcoming shows. The texture created by the brass ensemble and the two basses was very warm and slightly dark. The accordion blended well into the overall sound of the ensemble. Ballou and McEachern have several impressive solos. At times it was a little difficult to hear Testa's bass, but there were a couple of spots when the two bassists were featured that were very interesting.

Different kind of venue. It is an old church that has been converted into a setting reminiscent of an Eighteenth Century European drawing room. I was seated on a sofa directly in front of the musicians and there were a variety of parlor chairs and couches in various spots in the room. All things considered sound was solid.

[Larry Kart]

Josh Berman Trio (Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly) at Constellation.

Wish I could be there. Say Hi to the guys for me.

Sorry, I'd left the house before you posted the above. Very nice set, almost all new pieces by Josh -- quirky lyrical-elliptical and quite individual, maybe like some blend of Herbie Nichols and the Giuffre of both the first Hall-Pena and the later Bley-Swallow editions of the Jimmy Giuffre Three (if Giuffre were Jewish). Performances were uncommonly brief for this day and age, maybe 12 pieces in the the first 45 or 50 minutes. Best of all, Josh's solos were so much of and on the pieces that it has hard to tell where the pieces left off and the solos began. I think this material will be an album eventually.

[RiRiIII]

Charles Lloyd quartet with Maria Farantouri and Greek trio with lyra, el guitar and el piano, below Acropolis in Athens right now.