What live music are you going to see tonight?

[niels]

Has been a long time ago since I went to a show, but tonight I'm going to see the fantastic Han Bennink/ Ernst Glerum/ Michael Moor trio in Brebl Nijmegen.

[jlhoots]

Helen Sung Quartet

[kh1958]

Last night, Danilo Perez in Denton, with the One O'Clock Lab Band and with his own group, Panama 500. For the most part, I was bored.

 

[king ubu]

just printed out my tickets for the Brötzmann anniversary gig in Warsaw, flight on Sunday around noon ... looking forward immensely - the programme is by now somewhat more specific, at least abut the closing sets of the four nights (no music on the first night, but I'll there there nonetheless):

 

▌06.03.2016, 19:00h » 15 PLN

Screening „Rohschnitt Peter Brötzmann” (dir. Peter Sempel)
75th Birthday Party of Peter Brötzmann with Toshinori Kondo, Han Bennink, Steve Noble, Heather Leigh, John Edwards and Jason Adasiewicz

▌07.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann / Jason Adasiewicz / John Edwards / Steve Noble

▌08.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann & Heather Leigh Duo

▌09.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann / Toshinori Kondo / Han Bennink / Alexander v. Schlippenbach

▌10.03.2016, 20:30h » 80 PLN

First set: Peter Brötzmann & Han Bennink
Second set: Peter Brötzmann / Toshinori Kondo / Han Bennink / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Heather Leigh / Steve Noble / Jason Adasiewicz / John Edwards

[Steve Reynolds]

8 hours ago, king ubu said:

just printed out my tickets for the Brötzmann anniversary gig in Warsaw, flight on Sunday around noon ... looking forward immensely - the programme is by now somewhat more specific, at least abut the closing sets of the four nights (no music on the first night, but I'll there there nonetheless):

 

▌06.03.2016, 19:00h » 15 PLN

Screening „Rohschnitt Peter Brötzmann” (dir. Peter Sempel)
75th Birthday Party of Peter Brötzmann with Toshinori Kondo, Han Bennink, Steve Noble, Heather Leigh, John Edwards and Jason Adasiewicz

▌07.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann / Jason Adasiewicz / John Edwards / Steve Noble

▌08.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann & Heather Leigh Duo

▌09.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann / Toshinori Kondo / Han Bennink / Alexander v. Schlippenbach

▌10.03.2016, 20:30h » 80 PLN

First set: Peter Brötzmann & Han Bennink
Second set: Peter Brötzmann / Toshinori Kondo / Han Bennink / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Heather Leigh / Steve Noble / Jason Adasiewicz / John Edwards

As great as the whole schedule is, the last two nights are priceless.

If I could have convinced my wife of that I would be flying out this weekend.

[erwbol]

Have a great time, Ubu!

[Hardbopjazz]

This show was swinging.

The Willie Jones III Quintet.

Willie  Jones III- d, Eric Reed- p, Ralph Moore- ts, Eddie Henderson- tp, and Buster Williams- b

 

[fasstrack]

Going to a Women's jazz festival called Lady Got Chops. It is run by an old friend, bassist Kim Clarke, and I promised her I'd go. She's playing with Sheryl Bailey, a guitarist...

[alankin]

Tonight at 7:45pm.

New Klezmer Grooves: A Night of Song and Dance.
With the Dan Blacksberg Klezmer Orchestra featuring Susan Lankin-Watts.

Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel
300 S 18th St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
https://www.facebook.com/events/971084746298878/

Edited March 5, 2016 by alankin

[king ubu]

20 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

As great as the whole schedule is, the last two nights are priceless.

If I could have convinced my wife of that I would be flying out this weekend.

Yeah, agreed! Though as an ol' yurpeen I don't get to see Adasiewicz and consider Edwards/Noble one of today's prime rhythm sections, so the first night shall hopefully be just as priceless! Have seen Bennink and Schlippenbach (separately) in different contexts, but never yet Kondo!

 

14 hours ago, erwbol said:

Have a great time, Ubu!

Thanks! Just hope I won't bump into any effin' nazis ...

 

7 hours ago, fasstrack said:

Going to a Women's jazz festival called Lady Got Chops. It is run by an old friend, bassist Kim Clarke, and I promised her I'd go. She's playing with Sheryl Bailey, a guitarist...

Love Kim Clarke! Long time not heard anything by her, but with Defunkt she was great (only on record for me), and so she was when I saw her live the one time, with a Jimi Hendrix project headed by Christy Doran (g) and Fredy Studer (d), with singer Erika Stucky the fourth member ... quite a fun project, at least in concert it certainly was! (don't know the CD they released)

[kh1958]

An afternoon concert today, French guitarist Jeremy Jouve at the University of Texas at Dallas. Performing compositions by Mathias Duplessy, Toru Takemitsu, Regino Sanz de la Maza and Joaquin Rodrigo.

[BillF]

20 hours ago, Hardbopjazz said:

This show was swinging.

The Willie Jones III Quintet.

Willie  Jones III- d, Eric Reed- p, Ralph Moore- ts, Eddie Henderson- tp, and Buster Williams- b

 

Great photo!

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Jorma Kaukonen solo acoustic guitar tonight at the beautiful Shalin Liu Performance Hall in Rockport, MA.

http://rockportmusic.org/jorma-kaukonen/

I love this stage.

[T.D.]

Considering this one ("Jazzstock" in Woodstock NY) in about 10 days:

7:30 pm:  JACK DEJOHNETTE Solo Piano! in celebration of his new solo piano recording

Jack DeJohnette: http://www.jackdejohnette.com/

 

8:00 pm:  TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON's MONEY JUNGLE! with Aaron Parks (piano), Mark Shim (saxophone), Zach Brown (bass)

Terri Lyne Carrington: http://www.terrilynecarrington.com/

Don't know much about Carrington, but should be OK (I hope...). Jack on solo piano ought to be interesting.

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by T.D.

[A Lark Ascending]

At the Crucible Studio in Sheffield

Tony Kofi - alto; Alan Barnes - alto; John Turville - piano; Adam King - bass; Rod Youngs drums

Excellent evening of 'mainstream' jazz (though the couple next to me found it a bit too 'modern', a bit 'all the same' [I can recall finding jazz like that when I first heard it]). Mainly originals - blues, ballads, bossas. A really beautiful 'Isfahan' in the second half; and a playful 'If I Should Lose You' in the encore with the drummer playing eight bars and then calling in one of the others randomly to do eight; you could see the young bass player really having to rely on his reflexes but loving every minute and Turville launched into a wonderful stride passage which brought grins to all the musicians. A real sense throughout that the musicians were enjoying themselves...the audience certainly did.  

Two Nottingham lads aboard (Kofi, Turville) - what with Julian Siegel also coming from there, we'll soon be talking of the Nottingham school of jazz. 

[BillF]

1 hour ago, A Lark Ascending said:

At the Crucible Studio in Sheffield

Tony Kofi - alto; Alan Barnes - alto; John Turville - piano; Adam King - bass; Rod Youngs drums

Excellent evening of 'mainstream' jazz (though the couple next to me found it a bit too 'modern', a bit 'all the same' [I can recall finding jazz like that when I first heard it]). Mainly originals - blues, ballads, bossas. A really beautiful 'Isfahan' in the second half; and a playful 'If I Should Lose You' in the encore with the drummer playing eight bars and then calling in one of the others randomly to do eight; you could see the young bass player really having to rely on his reflexes but loving every minute and Turville launched into a wonderful stride passage which brought grins to all the musicians. A real sense throughout that the musicians were enjoying themselves...the audience certainly did.  

Two Nottingham lads aboard (Kofi, Turville) - what with Julian Siegel also coming from there, we'll soon be talking of the Nottingham school of jazz. 

[JohnS]

7 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

At the Crucible Studio in Sheffield

Tony Kofi - alto; Alan Barnes - alto; John Turville - piano; Adam King - bass; Rod Youngs drums

Excellent evening of 'mainstream' jazz (though the couple next to me found it a bit too 'modern', a bit 'all the same' [I can recall finding jazz like that when I first heard it]). Mainly originals - blues, ballads, bossas. A really beautiful 'Isfahan' in the second half; and a playful 'If I Should Lose You' in the encore with the drummer playing eight bars and then calling in one of the others randomly to do eight; you could see the young bass player really having to rely on his reflexes but loving every minute and Turville launched into a wonderful stride passage which brought grins to all the musicians. A real sense throughout that the musicians were enjoying themselves...the audience certainly did.  

Two Nottingham lads aboard (Kofi, Turville) - what with Julian Siegel also coming from there, we'll soon be talking of the Nottingham school of jazz. 

Kofi is an impressive saxophonist.  A sometime member of the World Saxophone Quartet.   I've only seen him once with his quartet and once with David Murray's Big Band.  Nowhere near enough.  

[A Lark Ascending]

I've seen Kofi a few times (including with the WSQ in Cheltenham). Most recently with Chris Biscoe's Mingus band just before Xmas. 

[A Lark Ascending]

Sam Lee at the Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds

In a UK folk world that is currently swirling in confident new talent, Lee stands out as something different again. Spends much of his time collecting songs from the traveller communities of the UK and Ireland. All the songs tonight were from such sources. A wonderful voice, heavily ornamented with wonderful grace notes. But it's the backing that takes this somewhere else - a three man support band made up of percussion, fiddle and piano/six string ukulele and Mongolian dulcimer (Lee also plays a drone box and Jew's harp). Never used to lay down a rhythm but to provide a colouristic context for the songs, very free, almost improvisatory. 

Photographs always show Lee looking very serious but he was a cheery and very engaging stage personality. You felt he'd be happy to sit and tell you about his meetings with his song sources for hours. A really distinctive talent. 

Refreshing to attend a concert with music so open to the world given the daily blasts of xenophobic bile being hurled at us in the mainstream British press at present.  

[optatio]

Tonight I will see member David Weiss with the Cookers in Kassel http://www.theaterstuebchen.de/?tribe_events=1158 -  only half an hour from here via highway!

[BillF]

Saw them in Gateshead,UK. It was a great show. Enjoy!

[Steve Reynolds]

On March 3, 2016 at 1:04 PM, king ubu said:

just printed out my tickets for the Brötzmann anniversary gig in Warsaw, flight on Sunday around noon ... looking forward immensely - the programme is by now somewhat more specific, at least abut the closing sets of the four nights (no music on the first night, but I'll there there nonetheless):

 

▌06.03.2016, 19:00h » 15 PLN

Screening „Rohschnitt Peter Brötzmann” (dir. Peter Sempel)
75th Birthday Party of Peter Brötzmann with Toshinori Kondo, Han Bennink, Steve Noble, Heather Leigh, John Edwards and Jason Adasiewicz

▌07.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann / Jason Adasiewicz / John Edwards / Steve Noble

▌08.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann & Heather Leigh Duo

▌09.03.2016, 20:30h » 50 PLN

3 sets, each one about 30 min » including 2 „ad-hoc” sets and 1 set as follows: Peter Brötzmann / Toshinori Kondo / Han Bennink / Alexander v. Schlippenbach

▌10.03.2016, 20:30h » 80 PLN

First set: Peter Brötzmann & Han Bennink
Second set: Peter Brötzmann / Toshinori Kondo / Han Bennink / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Heather Leigh / Steve Noble / Jason Adasiewicz / John Edwards

Any comments, pictures, reviews???

[king ubu]

25 minutes ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Any comments, pictures, reviews???

 

coming ... wrote a long review in German, started translating, but will take me a moment ... plenty of snapshots I took there, not sure this site will allow me to include 'em all, so I'll link it here:

http://forum.rollingstone.de/showthread.php?56960-2016-Jazzgigs-konzerte-amp-festivals&p=3585452&viewfull=1#post3585452

 

needless to say, it was effin' amazin'!

 

 

[Steve Reynolds]

I thought I saw a man named Hamid Drake

Noble, Drake and Bennink

pictures incredible

priceless experience, I'm sure 

I need to be able to explain this to my wonderful wife

 

 

[king ubu]

day one:

 

5 Nights with Peter Brötzmann - 75th Birthday Anniversary

Pardon To Tu, Plac Grzybowski 12/16, Warschau

 

 

Sunday, March 6

 

Okay, first thing I hate flying … but hey, if it's for Mr. Brötzmann! Once in Warsaw, I took the train to town, stopped at the Stalin's luvly Palace of Culture and Science (there's a tourist info counter there, and guess what, they actually had posters for the Brötzmann concerts up on the wall!). Arriving in the afternoon, I had enough time for a stroll in the dark to Umschlagplatz, from where in 1942/43 around 300'000 Jews were sent to the gas chambers, mostly in Treblinka (not sure it's been translated, but if you can, do read Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz's novel "Umschlagplatz").

 

On to the club then where Brötzmann would appear.

 

 

Turned out to be pretty small and cozy, six or seven rows of chairs, some of them fragments of plush chairs from some old movie theatre. Figured out quickly which of the dark beers available would be the one of my choice (the draft one). The name of the club, Pardon To Tu, means "sorry we're here". We got a bit of an impression about the political situation too, some angry comments about the new government, but some guys I chatted with also were strangely indifferent, i.e. the government wasn't really evil … well, let's see). The audience was pretty mixed, some guys in suits, some of your typical semi-autistic jazz nerds and lots of young people.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHi3cqFLdkY#t=14

 

On the first night, the programme consisted of the screen of Peter Sempel's movie Rohschnitt Peter Brötzmann (Germany, 2014), the director brought it in himself. The film is a bit nervous and not interested in presenting a cohesive picture of Brötzmann, his life, his career, his importance. But it was pretty attractive and sort of succeeded in telling a story nonetheless, doing so in pictures, as a kind of collage, the director being present almost continuously, asking (sometimes silly) questions and shaking his small handheld camera. There are plenty of concert excerpts to be seen, from various places including the US, UK, Germany, China and also Pardon itself, where Brötzmann has appeared multiple times. Several musician colleagues and sidemen are interviewed as well, including the guys from Full Blast, the current quartet (Adasiewicz, Edwards, Noble), Steve Swell, Paal Nilssen-Love etc. You get to see Brötzmann's home and studio in Wuppertal as well, but still, it's more like a steady (yet shaky) flow of images and glimpses, than a real statement.

 

I chatted some with Steve Noble later on, and whilst outside had a lengthy conversation with Brötzmann too – about the problem that musicians don't have enough places where to perform, the fact that many great musicians would play for hardly any money (and that he, luckily, is in a position where he doesn't need to do that). On the other hand, he stressed the importance of places to play, in order for to music to develop further – which only works in front of an audience. At that point, I had no clue yet as to how warmly his music was to be welcomed there, and how enthusiastically the young folks in the audience would react to the intense waves of sound breaking over their heads. It felt as if the music had some sort of existential meaning, rather than the nice to have quality it has for us saturated and indifferent folks in western Europe.

 

Later on – two friends from Germany taking the trip as well had joined by then, they missed the film due to a later flight – we all got a piece of the birthday cake as well.

 

 

 

Monday, March 7

 

Next morning I started exploring the city on my own, took the tram to the old town (Stare Miasto), took a lengthy walk to Ogród Saski, along the Royal Route (Trakt Królewski) down to the beginning of Nowy Świat, from where my little tour of record stores started (I had looked up four places, all close to each other, and happened over a fifth by chance). I acquired various recent releases from the [url= http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/74444-polish-radio-jazz-archives-reissue-series/]Polish Jazz Radio Archives series and some more good stuff. Also, right next to one of the shops I found the door above and had a good laugh about this … it's a short way from the Jazz Society to AA

 

As I had spent virtually all my cash by then, I looked for an ATM … and it wouldn't work! I started getting nervous, had less than 20$ left (enough for a bite and some beers at the club that night, but that was it) and had to figure out how to change that. Returned to the hotel eventually and realized my bank by default does not allow any transaction in most countries in Eastern Europe, but luckily, I could change the settings for Poland myself – and five minutes later, the ATM next to the hotel would work. Phew! Call me naïve, but who is travelling with large amounts of cash these days when he stays within semi-civilised territory?

 

 

Back to relaxed state of mind then, and back to the club. We arrived around 7 p.m. (concerts were scheduled for 8:30), the music started around 9, three sets per night had been announced, they pre-announced one set per night and stated that the others would be by various combinations of the musicians present (Steve Noble said on Sunday that this was just for the public, that they had to give out some information. Two of those fixed sets worked out as planned, the other two didn't – and the first night held a great surprise indeed!

 

 

Opening set was:

Toshinori Kondo/Heather Leigh

Leigh is an American living in Scotland, playing pedal steel – she was the one unknown to me participant in the proceedings, Kondo on the other hand was whom I looked forward to hearing most, seems he rarely can be heard outside of Japan these days. All of the others I'd already heard live: Brötzmann, Schlippenbach, Bennink, Adasiewicz, Edwards, and Noble. Kondo played an electrically amplified trumpet, its bell covered in dark varnish, plenty of pedals on the floor (just in front of me, I sat front row every night, of course!), and a box with lots of stuff built in, with which he treated his sound. Sitting so closely, I could often hear the unamplified trumpet tone in addition as well – quite fascinating indeed. Leigh I found rather boring, more a sounding board than an active participant. She played some sort of drone effects all the time, not once picking a line or anything, so the sounds she produced proved rather limited in scope – yet she did help her partners to climb to quite some heights indeed. Kondo was the first and it got clear that he was constantly listening and using her playing as a starting point for new ideas. So this first set was quite elegiac and moody – and a good opener for the festivities indeed!

 

 

The pre-announced set for this first night was the current quartet:

Peter Brötzmann/Jason Adasiewicz/John Edwards/Steve Noble

– yet earlier that night there was a surprise guest sneeking around: Hamid Drake!

Drake had been invited without Brötzmann being in the know, and it was unclear if he could really make it (they booked a flight for him that could be annulled again in case). So we got a unique and probably singular quintet with two drummers in the middle of the stage, Adasiewicz on the left of the stage, Edwards to the right of the drums, and far right, at the end of the stage (as usual) Brötzmann, who had his axes on a table. He didn’t just play his usual tenor but a silver clarinet and surprisingly, he played a bass clarinet as well (his tárogáto stood in front of him but he’d only play it the second night, actually). This set was considerably longer and the drummers obviously had a great time playing together. There was a great moment early on when Drake and Adasiewicz – Noble, Edwards and Brötzmann were already playing – looked at each other, coordinating their attack on the others. Adasiewicz used the regular mallets (often four, when one flew away three, sometimes just two), bows as strings players use them, and some kind of prepared stick he would horizontally crash down on his instrument. His playing changed from fierce sonic attacks to single-note runs, he added a lot to the proceedings, at times colouring or shading others, at other times playing more in a soloist manner (and that was the broad palette that Leigh was lacking, I found). No need to say much about John Edwards, he’s simply one of the best. And the ol’ man on the saxophone held his own effortlessly (or so it sempt) – with enormous power and his huge sound. Sometime on this or the night before I overheard him answering someone’s question: “well, Coleman Hawkins of course” – so there’s that, and of course to all with open ears, that is pretty obvious, but it bears repeating nonetheless. One night for warming up, he played the opening lick of Hawk’s solo from “Driva Man” – and the night after he kept using that motif in an altered way for several seconds in one of his improvisations.

 

 

This was music to end all music – I could have taken a plane right after and would have been deeply satisfied and full of joy. Yet that wasn’t all the night had to offer. Han Bennink got up onto the stage, lanky as ever, pants too short, grabbed the step stool actually allowing the guys to get onto the stage, sat behind one of the drum kits and started – we thought – with a quick sound check … but he wouldn’t stop no more and eventually, Jason Adasiewicz climbed on the stage again as well and they did a short duo set.

Jason Adasiewicz/Han Bennink

Props to them! Adasiewicz must have been powered out after that quintet set, but Bennink was totally undisturbed as ever … so we got to hear all the musicians save for Schlippenbach, who would only arrive the next day.