What live music are you going to see tonight?

[Steve Reynolds]

Of the people volunteering, most of them are good dudes and if it's real cold, they certainly let you hang out. Sometimes the band likes the room cleared for a sound check if it's a different band for the 10:00 set. Plus I don't want to hear the warm-up/sound check. Just an idiosyncrisy of mine. I don't want hear except what they present for the actual set of music. 

[king ubu]

had a terrific concert weekend ... already wrote up at length in german here for those that are interested ... shorter english version:

Decoy & Evan Parker - Novara (Italy) - January 30, 2016

Left Zurich in the mists, just to arrive in the even thicker mist of northern Italy's rice region - had a stroll through the lovely centre of the town in the afternoon and after pizza and a couple of beers walked out to the odd place the concert was scheduled in ... glad to see the Leslie was already turning when I got there, and that ol' hammond organ looked great indeed! Later on, warm greetings from Alex before the concert, and of course I was looking foward a lot to hearing this. It was obviously not the first time that these guys met, but it was the first time they played in this very constellation.

BAM and they're off! The quartet played a very intense, mostly pretty dense long set, energy levels were high from the git-go, the free grooves Edwards and Noble locked into or chugged along jaggedly, without ever imposing anything on the others, were quite amazing, and obviously Mr. Parker dug the wealth of offers and possibilities opened up by the band - and he dug in deeply. He stuck to tenor (Mr. Noble later told me that he'd only take one instrument when he's traveling since it got so complicated), and I just love his sound on tenor, it's really gorgeous! And Alex' organ playing with Decoy is quite something - far removed from any jazz organ clichés, often sounding more like some old analogue synthesizer I thought, yet still making very good use of the power the organ has to offer.

In the second half of the continuous set, there was this part where it sounded to me like Parker was channeling Coltrane - a mix of "sheets of sound" and lose-but-not-free early 1965, that's how it sounded to my ears ... and of course it was still all Evan Parker.

As a listener, it actually took me 10 to 15 minutes (I guess - I lost any feeling for time) to get adjusted to the music, to deal with its richness, to kind of figure out how to listen, what to pay attention to etc - there was simply too much music to pay attention to all in detail, but that made it all the more powerful and impressive.

After the concert - they closed with a great encore, maintaining the energy level, it was clear that they were here to play! - I hat chats with Edwards and at some length with Noble, very interesting at that (that's Edwards, Corrado who's one of the organisers, me, and Parker). Then I was summoned ( ) to join the gang for drinks, shook hands with Evan Parker as well, and had a lengthy chat with Alex at the bar we ended up. They were happy having their negronis (I needed a large beer first, at the venue, there was water only for the musicians, and it was packed and stuffy).

I ended up in my hotel room at 2 a.m., set the alarm clock for 7 and tried catching some sleep ... up again way too early (luckily the hotel was just across the railway station). My head was throbbing, I bought a wrong train ticked (first class ... not even sure there'd have been any first class coaches) and forgot to validate it, too - luckily there was no one checking tickets. I played Rubinstein's great recording of Mozart's piano concerto KV 491 with Krips conducting - the train ride was measured to be just long enough. Off at Milano Centrale, the impressive neo-classical/fascist main train station in Milan (have a look at it here).

Once in Milan, I had two hours, so I took a walk again, first into the centre, walking past all the homeless sleeping in front of the large and ugly business buildings. Then took a detour passing La Scala, the dome, the famous Galeria Vittorio Emanuele II etc, finally ending up at Teatro Manzoni, where at 11 a.m. the Muhal Richard Abrams Quintet was scheduled to play. There was a nice surprise regarding the line-up, with Leonard Jones (instead of Brad Jones) on bass. The others were Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Bryan Carrott (vibes), Reggie Nicholson (drums), and of course Abrams on piano.

The music was totally different from the one the night before, of course. Again, they did one long set and another fine encore - they seemed very focused. There was this typical of Chicago jazz quality of opening up spaces, letting things gradually evolve and waiting what was going to happen. More like options opened rather than options used - some of them were used of course, but it was most fascinating to observe which ones, what turns the performance took etc. All the musicians had their solo spots, and one of the most beautiful moments happened when after Leonard Jones' bass solo - deep, full-bodied, reverberating sound - the master joined in on piano again. But in the end, Finlayson (without ever showing off) and Carrott were the main attractions as soloists, and I might have enjoyed hearing a bit more by Abrams himself. On the other hand, no matter who was actually soloing, it all bore the handwriting of the leader of the group. For the encore, they showed up one by one, Carrott starting off just playing with his four sticks in the air and then gradually approaching his vibes from its sides, finally ending up the keys (or whatever these plates are called).

Then I had some antipasti with Corrado (the guy on both pics above) and some of his friends, but had to quit before they started ordering main dishes as I had an appointment with Claudio Fasoli, which turned out very nice and interesting indeed - we switched some of his albums (I'd been in touch a few weeks back about a bronzed/semi-unplayable disc of his, "Land", with Kenny Wheeler and JF Jenny Clark, then managed to obtain a perfect copy from another guy in Germany and created another copy for Mr. Fasoli, which he happily accepted - he had sent me his best copy of the album before, but it turned out to be quite similar to the two I already had ...) - either way, I asked him some questions (how did he end up playing jazz and the like) and it was wonderful to see how someone his age and of his pedigree can still be so much of a fan and so enthusiast about all things jazz! He really adores Lee Konitz, and hearing Lee, after having gotten acquainted with NO and Chicago trad jazz initially, was what prompted him to become a jazz musician himself. He also mentioned that he, as well as Franco d'Andrea and Enrico Rava (roughly the same age, all three) were entirely self-taught, and that he actually plays without any pressure on teeth and lip ... no idea how that would work, but the results he gets prove him right, that's for sure!

So yeah, that's the *short* version ... I get carried away. As I couldn't take any useful pictures from my seat at the MRA concert, here's one more from Decoy & Parker:

[Chuck Nessa]

Thanks for the report.

[Steve Reynolds]

Wonderous. Thanks so much.

I'm going to find out how to get pictures posted on the board so I'll send some of my pictures of recent shows along - except there will be no pictures of me!!

[king ubu]

Thanks - glad some bother to read it

Next up: Mulatu Astatke on Saturday night, again with Alex on keys!

Uploading pics is quite easy - the bigger part is storing them somewhere first (I'm using photobucket), then you just have to get the URL from where the pic is stored and use the "Insert other media" button, pick "Insert image from URL" and paste that URL there.

[Steve Reynolds]

I'm working on it but I'm very technically challenged. I just downloaded the photobucket app. I do have a few close up photos of my favorites that I hope to share. My recents favorites are Mary, Ingrid & Tom or the duel drummers, Billy Mintz & Randy Peterson (with Malaby, Gerstein & Formanek)

Yeah Baby!!

[Steve Reynolds]

[Chuck Nessa]

congrats.

 

[Leeway]

Those are some cool photos, Steve.  Thanks. 

[Steve Reynolds]

Thanks, Leeway

I hope this gives some a bit of perspective of what it is like to be so close. The bottom picture is taken about 3 or 4 feet from the great Joe McPhee. I had to lean back to get most of him in the picture. 

I will wait for someone who is curious who doesn't know to ask who/what the band is with the white bearded dude. I know a couple of you know but please don't tell. 

I might now tell the really incredible story of that night if Clifford approves. What you think, Mr. Allen?

[king ubu]

Nice!

Thanks for sharing! 

[A Lark Ascending]

Evocative pictures, Steve. 

I share your preference for small venues like that (regardless of the type of music being performed). I've only been to a stadium once - you'd not get me back even if you promised me the Beatles doing Revolver.

[kh1958]

That looks like the Corneila Street Cafe and The Stone.

[Steve Reynolds]

51 minutes ago, kh1958 said:

That looks like the Corneila Street Cafe and The Stone.

Correct

care to guess the band with the pink drums?!?!

[kh1958]

3 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Correct

care to guess the band with the pink drums?!?!

Santa on saxophone?

[paul secor]

Thanks for the photos, Steve.

[Steve Reynolds]

28 minutes ago, kh1958 said:

Santa on saxophone?

He lives in Connecticut. Born 1948, I believe. Plays the two horns as shown in the 2 pictures. Don't answer, Leeway

[jlhoots]

Looks like Joe Maneri - but he wasn't born 1948 & he's dead.

 So - I don't know.

[bluenoter]

1. I'll bite. The white bearded dude bears a superficial resemblance to Mat's late, great papa. Who is it? Edit: I had to put this post aside and didn't see that jlhoots had already noted that resemblance.

2. Of course I recognize a few people in your pics, but I could use brief IDs in general.

3. Congratulations from me too!

4. Please post a pic of yourself sometime, or PM me one. Getting to meet you at some show in NYC seems to have incurred a multiyear delay.

Edited February 3, 2016 by bluenoter

[Steve Reynolds]

OK

a few shows above

Tamarindo w/Malaby, Formanek & Waits

a couple/three photos of Malaby's Apparitions band with Ben Gerstein on trombone, Formanek w/Billy Mintz and Randy Peterson on drums - front to back

Hamid Drake & Ramon Lopez - duel drummers of Turbine

Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark & Mat Maneri

Tom Rainey & Mary Halvorson (Ingrid missing off to the right!)

and 2/4ths or 3/4ers of Dragonfly Breath

Weasel Walter on drums with Paul Flaherty on tenor & alto and Steve Swell on the trombone (C. Spencer Yeh missing on the right!)

[jlhoots]

Paul Flaherty & Joe Maneri - separated at birth & by about 20 years!!

[A Lark Ascending]

Tim O'Brien at the Greystones, Sheffield

First stumbled on O'Brien headlining a night at the Cambridge Folk Festival with his sister and band 20 years back and have more or less kept up with his records since.

Wonderful performer able to charm a crowd all by himself for a couple of hours (with some vocal help from his partner on a few songs). Bluegrass slanted Americana - songs from that tradition and originals. Superb guitarist (he talked at length about Doc Watson, a big influence). Also played mandolin and, best of all, scratchy/scrapey old time fiddle. Delightful concert played to an enthusiastic sell out audience. 

[king ubu]

11 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Looks like Joe Maneri - but he wasn't born 1948 & he's dead.

 So - I don't know.

that was just what I thought

[A Lark Ascending]

Malija - Liam Noble (piano); Mark Lockheart (saxophones); Jasper Hoiby (bass) at Bonnington Theatre Nottingham

Beautiful concert from this UK jazz super group (I know, jazz is a small pond and British jazz even smaller, but...). Intricate original compositions - not the standard circling of 12 or 16 bars but a real sense of variation being written into the music. Then, improvising that didn't just happen with the soloist in the spotlight - Noble in particular seemed to be in constant flux even when Lockheart was to the fore. Reminded me of (and almost certainly inspired by) the Giuffre trios of the 50s and 60s.

All carried out at a quiet to moderate volume which allowed all the instruments to be heard in a beautiful acoustic. The word 'energy' gets bandied about in approval to a lot of jazz; well this group are in a different area. Passion, yet, but they never felt the need to flex their chest wigs. A shoe-in for ECM, I'd have thought (though Edition records seem to be colonising that area quite nicely in the UK).

On tour all over the UK in the next few months. Highly recommended.    

Edited February 5, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[king ubu]

Mulatu Astatke last night, at Moods in Zurich, Switzerland (my home town ... well not quite, but I grew up 25 km outside of it) -- great that Alexander Hawkins (who's playing piano and keys) had me put on the guest list (almost didn't work out), as some 80 minutes before the concert, there were huge queues already and it was so sold out, they had to send people away again!

Either way, the line up was: Mulatu Astatke (vib, perc, wurlitzer), Byron Wallen (t), James Arben (ts, fl), Alexander Hawkins (p, keys), Danny Keane (cello), Neil Charles (b), Tom Skinner (d), Richard Olatunde Baker (perc).

Guess Astatke himself was really the weakest link of a fantastic band that was really tight from the git-go although it took two or three tunes for the room to really start moving. They did one continuous set that turned out to be really long (didn't check the time, but it must have been around 100 minutes) and by the end, the place was cooking. I enjoyed the solo contributions by all the guys a lot, most notably Wallen on trumpet (he had several spots) and Danny Keane on cello. Arben was terrific on tenor, for one long solo he built and built and ended up kinda chanelling the great Gétatchèw Mèkurya. Alex had just one real piano solo but he made the most out of it, later on he was heard prominently on keys (they should have brought in a real B3, but the stage was crowded already). The rhythms by all were really tight, not just the hook-up of Charles/Skinner/Baker (with the cello meshing in, too), but the keys and vibes and horns as well. So I ended up enjoying it as much for the group effort it was as for the contributions by each of the musicians on stage.

Had another chat with Alex afterwards and he kindly signed some CDs for me, too (and had Charles and Skinner sign the trio disc from last year, which I like a lot ... the other one I brought along is maybe my favourite of his, the solo album "Song Singular").