What live music are you going to see tonight?

[king ubu]

caught Oum last night - wonderful concert, a continuous set of almost two hours

[kh1958]

Today was a rare (in Dallas) double concert day for me. Even better, both were terrific.

First, to the Allen Library for an afternoon sarod recital, with Abhisek Lahiri on sarod and Subrata Bhattacharya on tabla. That was a truly wonderful concert.

Next, from  Allen to Richardson, the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas, for the Joey DeFrancesco Trio. This proved to be far and away the best experience I've had with Joey D. First, the instrument he played, as he commented, was a 1959 Hammond B3 in amazing condition. The sound of this organ was incredible. And a further pleasant surprise was the sound of the band, which sounded like a real working band, with Jason Brown on drums and Dan Wilson on guitar. The band was really on for this concert. It far exceeded expectations.  

 

[sidewinder]

On 1 April 2016 at 8:19 AM, BillF said:

That sounds promising! At what venue?

Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton ! Bastion of the arts in the epicentre of cider-swigging yokels..

 

Edited April 3, 2016 by sidewinder

[BillF]

1 hour ago, sidewinder said:

Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton ! Bastion of the arts in the epicentre of cider-swigging yokels..

 

Well, you have a little coterie of South West-resident jazz musicians, if I'm not mistaken. Don't both Westbrook and John Surman live down that way?

[A Lark Ascending]

I think Surman lives in Norway though he came from Devon...you can still hear the wonderful burr when he talks. 

Kings of the South Seas with Tim Eriksen - Chasing the Whale (Ropery Hall, Barton Upon Humber in North Lincolnshire)

Ben Nichols – vocals, double bass, concertina (The Full English, Seth Lakeman Band, Fay Hield Band); Richard Warren – guitar, vocals (Spiritualized, Soulsavers feat Mark Lanegan); Evan Jenkins - drums, vocals (Neil Cowley Trio, Eric Clapton, Bert Jansch); Tim Eriksen - guitar, vocals (Cordelia's Dad, wonderful solo performer in his own right)

Excellent set of traditional songs and arrangements associated with the whaling industry. The core trio played the songs straight but with rock-like rhythms and spacey electric guitar providing colour as well as scrunchy foundation. Mostly songs were connected with the British South Sea trade; Eriksen brought in some from the New England tradition. Really enjoyable - foot-stomping, good join in choruses (you don't get that at an Evan Parker (or a Mahler) concert!). Small venue but a near capacity crowd loved it. We didn't get Philip Hoare doing readings who is on the programme in some events. 

Part of a tour of venues associated with the whaling trade. The previous night the concert had been on the Cutty Sark in Greenwich! Not sure what Basingstoke had to do with the whaling trade though!

Interesting venue. Ropery Hall sits right next to the Humber Bridge on the Lincolnshire side of the river, opposite Hull. A really long building that originally, as the name suggests, made ropes for ships. They've taken a segment at the northern end and turned it into an arts centre.   

[BillF]

Leap in your car and you'll just be in time for this! I can vouch for Mullen, Crosland and the venue.

http://www.sevenleeds.co.uk/event/sunday-jazz-jim-mullen-ben-crosland-trio/

[A Lark Ascending]

35 minutes ago, BillF said:

Leap in your car and you'll just be in time for this! I can vouch for Mullen, Crosland and the venue.

http://www.sevenleeds.co.uk/event/sunday-jazz-jim-mullen-ben-crosland-trio/

Think I need a rest - a couple more longhairs coming up in the week ahead. 

I like Mullen - saw a great gig by him with Dave O'Higgins about 20 years back. I can still picture their wonderful take on Ornette's 'Ramblin''. Crosland I only know from record.

I remember seeing Morrissey-Mullen around '74/'75 in Aberystwyth whilst visiting a mate. Students union - only place in the area you could get a drink on a Sunday. Packed! He also played in a short-lived rock-soul band called Kokomo in the mid-70s who I remember seeing at one of those free Hyde Park afternoon concerts - didn;t know who he was then so can't be sure he was there.  

[Utevsky]

Last night, the multi-faceted production of "Now I'm Fine" by comedian/trumpeter/composer Ahamefele J. Oluo,  It is an autobiographical suite, alternating Oluo's darkly humorous monologues with musical selections performed by a 16-piece orchestra, a string quartet, and the vocalist SoulChilde.  Oluo, who plays with the garage-jazz group Industrial Revelation, is a powerful player and writer who likes to push musical boundaries.  (I only wish there was more of his trumpet playing in this show.)

[relyles]

My eagerly anticipated outing for Thursday:

Fromm Players at Harvard

Creative Music Convergences
Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m.
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall
FREE and OPEN TO ALL! No tickets required. First come, first seated.

CONCERT I, April 7

7:30 p.m.
Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith
Nicole Mitchell | Tomeka Reid | Mike Reed

9:00 p.m.
Okkyung Lee
Steve Lehman Octet

I am not going to make it for the second day, but here is Friday's lineup:

CONCERT II, April 8

7:30 p.m.
Craig Taborn
Wadada Leo Smith + Ikue Mori

9:00 p.m.
Courtney Bryan
Tyshawn Sorey Double Trio

 

[mikeweil]

Last night we went to the local town theater to see Jan Garbarek. With him were Rainer Brüninghaus, Yuri Daniel and Trilok Gurtu. My wife wanted to see him once in her lifetime, Since Gurtu was one of my first teachers forty years ago it was easy to make me buy some tickets.

It was good, excellently rehearsed and played, but not very jazzy. Sometimes it reminded me of early Weather Report (as did Oregon, to my disappointement, when I saw them ten years ago). It didn't really touch or convince me, Gurtu was the only one who took some chances and try to interact spontaneously. It was best when he and Garbarek duetted, which ranged from free style à la Coltrane/Ali to Indian world music; the many unacompanied solo features were technically more than musically styled. Brüninghaus seems to be the un-funkiest pianist on the planet, he plays those fusion type patterns but does not really groove, nor does he swing. I had the thought of locking him in for a week with half a dozen Jimmy Rowles albums, who uses a tenth of the notes Brüninghaus plays, but swings twenty times as much ... It was all correct, but didn't really groove, only in a European, intellectual sense. The compositions were all structured like collages - are these guys all listening to film music? They knew where they wanted to go, but all the different elements of the music didn't really feel connected to me. Screaming saxophone passages, without preparing the emotions belonging to them, just technically styled. It was almost like they avoided to swing.

I wonder who will take Gurtu's torch when the time comes - the only Indian drummer to really fuse in funky off beats into Indian rhythm. I don't know of anyone else doing it this way. He encouraged me to trust my own ideas, whatever I heard in my head, I will always be grateful for that. Maybe that's where I got the idea of fusing whatever rhythmical inspiration I hear, no matter where it comes from, just like he does. 

[king ubu]

Robert Glasper tomorrow night ... not sure if anything to expect, but arriving early and catching up with a friend. 

[Leeway]

Ken Vandermark Made to Break, April 5, 2016, Songbyrd, Washington DC

KV has been putting a lot of time and effort into this group. The current tour will conclude with a new album by the group. As usual, Vandermark and associates delivered some potent playing. 

[Utevsky]

Friday night, Allison Miller and Boom Tic Boom at The Royal Room in Seattle, playing music from her new album, "Otis Was A Polar Bear."  She had a great line-up:  Myra Melford, piano; Jenny Scheinman, violin; Kirk Knuffke, cornet; Ben Goldberg, clarinets; and Haggai Cohen Milo, bass; with Miller of course on drums.

[kh1958]

This evening, Shelley Carrol at St. Paul Methodist Church. Excellent.

[Utevsky]

The Royal We:  Wayne Horvitz, keyboards; Skerik, sax; Evan Flory-Barnes, bass; Dave Abramson, drums.

[BillF]

Kenny Garrett Quintet at Band on the Wall, Manchester

[kh1958]

SF Jazz Collective at Annette Strauss Square in Dallas Arts District. A small crowd on a chilly evening at a pretty nice outdoor venue. I liked the original compositions of the group, but the "Plays Michael Jackson" part of the concert did not particularly appeal to me.

Edited April 14, 2016 by kh1958

[ejp626]

16 hours ago, kh1958 said:

SF Jazz Collective at Annette Strauss Square in Dallas Arts District. A small crowd on a chilly evening at a pretty nice outdoor venue. I liked the original compositions of the group, but the "Plays Michael Jackson" part of the concert did not particularly appeal to me.

I was wondering about that and basically was leaning against going.  It also appears that the concert here is in Massey Hall.  While this may be a historical building, it is pretty miserable as a concert venue, particularly in the cheap seats, so I have one more reason to pass.

However, it was worth suffering through the poor seating to see an 80th birthday celebration for Steve Reich.  He actually came out and did "Clapping" with either Bob Becker or Russell Hartenberger.  (Both were part of the concert but they dressed the same and looked quite similar, so I couldn't tell them apart from my seat.)

The other pieces were Tehillim and Music for 18 Musicians.  Reich didn't take part in either of these performances.  Both were quite fascinating in their own way, but I think in honor of Steve, they did an extra long version of Music for 18 Musicians!  (The base running time is 55 minutes.)  That could have been cut 10-15 minutes shorter.  But it's certainly not something you get to see every day...

[BillF]

On 4/14/2016 at 8:50 AM, BillF said:

Kenny Garrett Quintet at Band on the Wall, Manchester

Superb level of instrumental competence, but the music which blended Latin and Coltrane into a sort of easy listening just wasn't going anywhere as far as I was concerned. Went down very well with the audience in a club which presents jazz once in a 100 nights or so and where Craig Charles's disco is top favourite. Garrett had added a percussionist armed with every bit of paraphernalia you could think of who largely functioned as visual crowd entertainer.

[kh1958]

8 hours ago, ejp626 said:

I was wondering about that and basically was leaning against going.  It also appears that the concert here is in Massey Hall.  While this may be a historical building, it is pretty miserable as a concert venue, particularly in the cheap seats, so I have one more reason to pass.

However, it was worth suffering through the poor seating to see an 80th birthday celebration for Steve Reich.  He actually came out and did "Clapping" with either Bob Becker or Russell Hartenberger.  (Both were part of the concert but they dressed the same and looked quite similar, so I couldn't tell them apart from my seat.)

The other pieces were Tehillim and Music for 18 Musicians.  Reich didn't take part in either of these performances.  Both were quite fascinating in their own way, but I think in honor of Steve, they did an extra long version of Music for 18 Musicians!  (The base running time is 55 minutes.)  That could have been cut 10-15 minutes shorter.  But it's certainly not something you get to see every day...

The ratio of Michael Jackson/original compositions is about 50/50. The band was Miguel Zenon, David Sanchez, Robin Eubanks, Sean Jones, Ed Simon, Warren Wolf, and I didn't catch the bassist/drummer's names. The Shelly Carrol concert I saw the night before this actually was superior in every way.

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

The ratio of Michael Jackson/original compositions is about 50/50. The band was Miguel Zenon, David Sanchez, Robin Eubanks, Sean Jones, Ed Simon, Warren Wolf, and I didn't catch the bassist/drummer's names. The Shelly Carrol concert I saw the night before this actually was superior in every way.

SF Collective is appearing at Jazz Standard in Manhattan next Tues-Thurs, if anyone there is interested.

[jazztrain]

Just back from seeing the Bill Charlap trio.  Kenny Washington is always impressive.  

[jcam_44]

Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer last night. Wonderful way to spend a Saturday night

 

[BillF]

https://youtu.be/llZ7qBN2oG4

Gilad Atzmon/Alan Barnes.

Will be seeing them at Band on the Wall later this year.

[Royal Oak]

4 hours ago, BillF said:

https://youtu.be/llZ7qBN2oG4

Gilad Atzmon/Alan Barnes.

Will be seeing them at Band on the Wall later this year.

I just had a look at the BOTW listings - there isn't much jazz is there?  The Cookers look interesting I must say.