What live music are you going to see tonight?

[jcam_44]

Saw Logan Richardson on Saturday. Pretty good set, only got to stay for the first one. Wasn't completely happy with the mix, guitar was way to loud. Logan was buried at times. Tommy Crane was on drums and that man was insane! 

Oh and should be going to Gavin Templeton on Wed. For his album release. He's a fantastic performer, I saw him a couple years ago with Vinny Golia and immediately bought his catalog. And as a bonus Joshua White will be on piano and he is fantastic as well. 

[kh1958]

Last night, New Orleans blues musician Chris Thomas King was rather inexplicably performing in Little Elm, Texas at a place called Rock 101. A 26 mile, though fairly easy, drive from my home, the venue turned out to be a bar/restaurant, but with a stage and decent sound. Chris Thomas King performed solo on electric or acoustic guitar and vocals--a mixture of country blues (Hard Times Killin' Floor Blues), modern blues (Hideaway), and his original material. A rather fine performance it was; I really enjoyed the set. The setting was not so great, as maybe 20 people or so were there to see Chris Thomas  King and listened attentively, while the rest of the place was populated by a loud, indifferent bar crowd.

Edited May 28, 2016 by kh1958

[jcam_44]

Was able to catch The Gavin Templeton Quartet on Wed. Best show I've seen in a loooooooong time. Blew Logan Richardson out of the water, as well as when I recently saw Greg Osby. Gavin with Joshua White on piano (absolute MONSTER), Richard Giddens on Bass and Gene Coye on Drums. Outstanding!!!!

[Chuck Nessa]

Last Friday night at Constellation in Chicago - Roscoe Mitchell Quartet with Maya Dunietz, Junius Paul and Mike Reed.

This was my first time seeing/hearing Dunietz and she played wonderfully.

[ghost of miles]

Mary Halvorson's playing in Indianapolis tomorrow night... would like to go, but not sure I'll be able to.

[Steve Reynolds]

On May 31, 2016 at 9:35 AM, ghost of miles said:

Mary Halvorson's playing in Indianapolis tomorrow night... would like to go, but not sure I'll be able to.

Looks like Thumbscrew with Formanek & Fujiwara

hope you can make it

[A Lark Ascending]

Lila Downs (Royal Festival Hall, London)

Varttina (KIng's Place, London) 

Two from the bucket list - concerts on successive nights so worth a trip.Both excellent.

Lila Downs - a bit like going to a wild party where you don't know anyone (I didn't half feel British...polite applause, clapping along on the wrong beat etc!). Huge Latin contingent in the audience going bananas from the off. A really exciting two hours with real instruments (no beat boxes etc that you get on her records in places). Tremendous voice - just as powerful live as on record, especially at the lower end. Not quite what I'm used to....this was a slick, choreographed 'show' with some cheesy cameos (an accordion 'duel') but once you suspended your disbelief, utterly compelling.

Proper review here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/lila-downs-review-mexican-american-singer-royal-festival-hall-london

Varttina - no sign of London's Finnish population (probably already deported by Boris and Nigel) and only half full which was sad as this was a beautiful concert. Just the three women (no band which they usually have) with the focus on the vocals but really nice accordion, kantele (two!) and some flute-like things. The vocals were stunning - those amazing harmonies that make their records so wonderful pulled off with pin-point accuracy. Lots of percussion in the words, yelps and screeches. All in Finnish but the introductions and hand actions gave a rough idea of the song's content. 

Both concerts made a nice corrective to the poisonous xenophobia sweeping through this sad country at present.   

 

[jlhoots]

At a surprise birthday party last night, in walks Big Al Anderson (NRBQ) who lives here in Santa Fe. He did a lovely acoustic set in the host's living room. A treat indeed!!

[kh1958]

On June 3, 2016 at 0:08 PM, A Lark Ascending said:

Lila Downs (Royal Festival Hall, London)

Varttina (KIng's Place, London) 

Two from the bucket list - concerts on successive nights so worth a trip.Both excellent.

Lila Downs - a bit like going to a wild party where you don't know anyone (I didn't half feel British...polite applause, clapping along on the wrong beat etc!). Huge Latin contingent in the audience going bananas from the off. A really exciting two hours with real instruments (no beat boxes etc that you get on her records in places). Tremendous voice - just as powerful live as on record, especially at the lower end. Not quite what I'm used to....this was a slick, choreographed 'show' with some cheesy cameos (an accordion 'duel') but once you suspended your disbelief, utterly compelling.

Proper review here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/lila-downs-review-mexican-american-singer-royal-festival-hall-london

Varttina - no sign of London's Finnish population (probably already deported by Boris and Nigel) and only half full which was sad as this was a beautiful concert. Just the three women (no band which they usually have) with the focus on the vocals but really nice accordion, kantele (two!) and some flute-like things. The vocals were stunning - those amazing harmonies that make their records so wonderful pulled off with pin-point accuracy. Lots of percussion in the words, yelps and screeches. All in Finnish but the introductions and hand actions gave a rough idea of the song's content. 

Both concerts made a nice corrective to the poisonous xenophobia sweeping through this sad country at present.   

 

Last year, I went to see Lila Downs at the House of Blues in Dallas, which is literally right across the street from my office.--it was a short walk to a total cultural transformation, it was like I had walked to Mexico City. She's definitely got a lot of power in her voice and has a good band. 

[A Lark Ascending]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

Last year, I went to see Lila Downs at the House of Blues in Dallas, which is literally right across the street from my office.--it was a short walk to a total cultural transformation, it was like I had walked to Mexico City. She's definitely got a lot of power in her voice and has a good band. 

I was amazed at the sheer enthusiasm of the crowd - she's hardly a household name here. I experienced something similar several years ago when the London Barbican put on a 50 Years of Bossa Nova concert with a host of famous Brazilian singers and players from that genre - a huge and vociferous crowd going nuts for music that gets little notice in the musical world at large here. 

Agree about the voice and the band. 

Edited June 5, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[kh1958]

Yesterday, I drove to Longview, Texas for the second day of the T-Bone Walker Blues Festival--a two hour drive from Dallas.

Clearly the people running the festival are on the rock side of the blues-rock spectrum, but the festival had two artists I wanted to see, so I made the trip.

There were two stages, an outdoor stage moved under cover due to recent prodigious rains. Basically, it was underneath a large shed suitable for farm animal shows, with sawdust covered floors. The other stage was seated and indoors, in the Maude Cobb Convention Center. The sound was pretty well done in both cases.

Starting off with the outdoor venue, I'm listening to the pride of Kilgore, Texas, a 17 year old high school girl (Ally Venable) leading a blues rock quartet. Not exactly my usual scene, but I must say this young woman is a very talented guitar player and a surprisingly effective vocalist. Her band was good too. I actually loved her set.

Shifting indoors, next we have blues-rocker Eric Gales, brother of the late Little Jimmy King. His group (bass guitar and drums) is at the start augmented by a trio of vocalists in the gospel vein. Kind of interesting and unusual in sound. After awhile the vocalists leave the stage and the focus is more on the power blues/rock trio. The bassist is in the Jaco mode, pretty good, and Eric Gales shows off his guitar chops at length. Again, not my usual genre, but if there is a better rock guitarist than Eric Gales these days, I'd like to know who it is. He generated some pretty high intensity.

So far the closest we've come to T-Bone Walker are some Chicago blues chestnuts performed by Ally Venable and Eric Gales, but next we have what is presumably the closest one can get to hearing T-Bone Walker live these days, in the person of 81 year old Roy Gaines and his Orchestra. After a couple of sets of mostly youngsters (well, Eric Gales is in his early 40s), the Roy Gaines Orchestra looked like it had been around the block a rather large number of times. A nine piece group with four horn players, they reminded me of B.B. King's group a bit. Roy Gaines is a perennial sideman originally from Texas, who actually played with T-Bone Walker, starting when he was 14 years old. I hadn't heard any of his late life leader dates, but he turned out to be an exciting performer, playing dynamic guitar in the T-Bone Walker tradition, with a taste of B.B. King. His band was terrific, very swinging, a throwback to the days when jazz and blues had less of a clear demarkation. It was a great set.

I do wonder about whether this festival will recur next year though. Attendance was not that great. That is, it looked like they were set up for an audience in the 2000-3000 range, and the actual audience looked like it was in the 500-600 range, between the two venues.

 

 

 

 

[Larry Kart]

Thursday  night at Elastic I heard two of best young players I’ve heard in a long time — Norwegian drummer Tollef Ostvang and Portuguese trumpeter (now resident in Stockholm) Susana Santos Silva.

 

 In a duo with alto and soprano saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, Ostvang (age 31) sounded something like a “free” Kenny Clarke who could read minds, remarkable fluidity of technique and a terrific sense of compositional rightness/wholeness. Not a stunningly different kind of drummer at first hearing, but I may change my mind on that — everything he played made such lovely sense.

 

Santos Silva (age 37) has superb chops, in terms of range and rapidity of note production/placement of same, and a fantastic ear for fairly busy collective playing — paired with alto and baritone saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Toby Cederburg and Tim Daisy, that’s mostly what she was up to. Her ideas were crystal clear (as was her sound) and rhythmically intense, and one felt sure she could shine in many contexts. Striking too — for all the speed, range, and power of her playing — was her utterly relaxed physical relationship to her instrument, even in what seemingly was (or would have been for most other players) top gear. She reminded me some of Herb Robertson, especially in her occasional use of mutes for essentially rhythmic rather than coloristic purposes.

 

Some Ostvang:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUuOxMYMfHY&list=PL5qgKuOqliQH_xr1ht1s4_xxXn6gJbF_H

 

 

Some Santos Silva:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gA93zC-ckQ

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ml4K8GNNj8

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmh1-5KmTX8

Though none of the above, nor the albums of theirs I bought, good as they are so far,  quite matches what I heard from them Thursday night.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

this chick corea fest at the blue note is out of control--- this must be a lot of work to prepare all these bands and music

 

Oct. 19-23 – The Chick Corea Elektric Band: Corea (keyboards), Eric Marienthal (saxes), Frank Gamble (guitar), John Patitucci (bass), Dave Weckl (drums)

Oct. 26-30 – For Miles: Corea (keyboards), Kenny Garrett (saxes), Wallace Roney (trumpet), Mike Stern (guitar), Marcus Miller (bass), Brian Blade (drums)

Nov. 2-3 – Three Quartets Band: Corea (piano), Steve Gadd (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass), Ben Solomon (sax)

Nov. 4-6 – The Leprechaun Band – Corea (keyboards), Steve Gadd (drums), Gayle Moran Corea (vocals), Steve Wilson (sax & flute), Michael Rodriguez (trumpet), Steve Davis (trombone), Eddie Gomez (acoustic bass), TBA (electric bass)

Nov. 9-10 – Experiments In Electronica: Corea (keyboards and computers), Marcus Gilmore (drums), Leading Genre-Defying Electronic Explorers (TBA)

Nov. 11-13 – Chick’s Flamenco Heart: Corea (Keyboards), Jorge Pardo (sax & flute), Niño Josele (acoustic guitar), Carles Benevant (bass), Tom Brechtlein (drums), Luisito Quintero (percussion), Flamenco Dancer (TBA), Vocalist (TBA)

Nov. 16-17 – The Chick Corea Big Band: Corea (keyboards), Erlend Skomsvoll (arranger & conductor), the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra - 13-Piece Big Band (8 horns, guitar, bass & drums)

Nov. 18-20 – Chick Corea Piano Duets: Corea performing with a different pianist each night

Nov. 22-23 – Chick Corea & Gary Burton with the Harlem String Quartet: Gary Burton (vibes), Ilmar Gavilán (violin), Melissa White (violin), Jaime Amador (viola), Felix Umansky (cello)

Nov. 25-27 – Origin II: Corea (piano), Ravi Coltrane (sax), Steve Wilson (sax & flute), Steve Davis (trombone), Carlitos Del Puerto (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums)

Nov. 30-Dec. 4 – The Music Of Return To Forever and More (Acoustic): Corea (keyboards), Ravi Coltrane (sax), Hubert Laws (flute), Avishai Cohen (bass), Lenny White (drums)

Dec. 7 – TBA

Dec. 8-12: The Music Of Return To Forever and More (Electric): Corea (keyboards), John McLaughlin (guitar), Victor Wooten (bass), Lenny White (drums)

 

[Leeway]

Universal Indian with Joe McPhee, Windup Space, Baltimore, June 8, 2016

Universal Indian: John Pikeman (ts), Jon Rune Strom (b), Tollef Ontvang (d).  Joe McPhee: pocket trumpet, plastic alto sax, alto sax. 

Two fire-breathing sets from this group that harkened back to earlier days of free jazz, with some incredibly hard blowing and very free improvisation. It always amazes me how much blues McPhee can get into the free jazz idiom. McPhee's cream-colored plastic alto was something to see (and hear), although I preferred him on the "regular" alto. An exciting evening. 

[BillF]

Teamed up with fellow Org member Sidewinder in Sale, Greater Manchester to see Lady Sings the Blues, a celebration of Billie Holiday by singer Wiseman, ably supported by Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams, Roy Williams, Brian Dee and Len Skeat.

[jlhoots]

"Tootie" Heath Trio

[Steve Reynolds]

On June 9, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Leeway said:

Universal Indian with Joe McPhee, Windup Space, Baltimore, June 8, 2016

Universal Indian: John Pikeman (ts), Jon Rune Strom (b), Tollef Ontvang (d).  Joe McPhee: pocket trumpet, plastic alto sax, alto sax. 

Two fire-breathing sets from this group that harkened back to earlier days of free jazz, with some incredibly hard blowing and very free improvisation. It always amazes me how much blues McPhee can get into the free jazz idiom. McPhee's cream-colored plastic alto was something to see (and hear), although I preferred him on the "regular" alto. An exciting evening. 

Cannot wait to see the *great* Joe McPhee on the 21st

I never take seeing these dudes live up close and personal for granted.

Very grateful for when I can see a few of the Giants Who Walk This Earth

McPhee is one of them - one of the great pure improvisors who has seemingly never run out of ideas

[OliverM]

I also feel very lucky to have seen Joe McPhee a few times in different settings in the last couple of years, and to be seing him again next August with The Thing.

Last february with Chris Corsano at the Instants Chavirés was a summit for me, McPhee was in a very playful mood on arrival and they gave a great hommage to Ornette Coleman!

 

[OliverM]

Next week will be seing Harry Partch's opera Delusion of the Fury arranged by Heiner Goebbels. Harry Partch's instruments were all recreated according to the instructions he had left, since the original ones are not functional anymore. The stage looks impressive:

[Alexander Hawkins]

Wow - beautiful!

[sidewinder]

On 10 June 2016 at 8:48 AM, BillF said:

Teamed up with fellow Org member Sidewinder in Sale, Greater Manchester to see Lady Sings the Blues, a celebration of Billie Holiday by singer Wiseman, ably supported by Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams, Roy Williams, Brian Dee and Len Skeat.

  A fine evening !  Without my sat-nav working I would still be driving around outer Metro Manchester..

From what I can gather, looks like Val Wiseman has been running that particular show since the late 80s with various lineups. Looks like the tour extends over the North and East Midlands. 

Edited June 12, 2016 by sidewinder

[Leeway]

Bill Cole Trio, Matthew Shipp Trio - Atlas Theater, Washington DC

Saw a doubleheader last night. Bill Cole's double reeds are guaranteed to wake one up. He was joined by Ras Moshe on flute, soprano sax and tenor sax, and Stephanie Griffin on viola. 

Following Bill Cole was the Matthew Shipp Trio with bassist Michael Bision and new drummer Newman Taylor Baker. I think I prefer Taylor Baker to the departed  Whit Dickey.  Matt gave his usual monster performance.

A cool surprise was when the two trios joined forces for an exciting encore, worth the price admission alone. A satisfying evening. 

[duaneiac]

Last night I attended the McCoy Tyner tribute concert at Davies Symphony Hall in SF.  The evening began with a performance of "Fly With The Wind" by Mr. Tyner himself, who received a standing ovation upon entering and exiting the stage.  He also played a number with Joe Lovano.  Then the parade of pianists began -- Marcus Roberts, Benny Green, Taylor Eigsti, Geri Allen, Kenny Barron and Chick Corea.  Each pianist played one or two numbers (Mr. Roberts and Mr. Green played a duo number on the two pianos on stage), focusing on Mr. Tyner's compositions.  Mr. Eigsti played "Effendi", Ms. Allen played "You Taught My Heart To Sing" and Mr. Barron played "Blues Back".  Mr. Corea played his "Children's Song No. 12", which he said was inspired by the playing of Mr. Tyner.  The concert ended with a duo number by Mr. Corea and Mr. Tyner.

The encore found all the pianists and Mr. Lovano back onstage together for a run through of "In A Mellow Tone".  Every one took turns in pairs on one of the two pianos, although some rather reluctantly.  At one point they had McCoy Tyner and Kenny Barron on one piano and Chick Corea and Marcus Roberts on the other.  Not great music making, but fun nonetheless.

[BFrank]

6 hours ago, duaneiac said:

Last night I attended the McCoy Tyner tribute concert at Davies Symphony Hall in SF.  The evening began with a performance of "Fly With The Wind" by Mr. Tyner himself, who received a standing ovation upon entering and exiting the stage.  He also played a number with Joe Lovano.  Then the parade of pianists began -- Marcus Roberts, Benny Green, Taylor Eigsti, Geri Allen, Kenny Barron and Chick Corea.  Each pianist played one or two numbers (Mr. Roberts and Mr. Green played a duo number on the two pianos on stage), focusing on Mr. Tyner's compositions.  Mr. Eigsti played "Effendi", Ms. Allen played "You Taught My Heart To Sing" and Mr. Barron played "Blues Back".  Mr. Corea played his "Children's Song No. 12", which he said was inspired by the playing of Mr. Tyner.  The concert ended with a duo number by Mr. Corea and Mr. Tyner.

The encore found all the pianists and Mr. Lovano back onstage together for a run through of "In A Mellow Tone".  Every one took turns in pairs on one of the two pianos, although some rather reluctantly.  At one point they had McCoy Tyner and Kenny Barron on one piano and Chick Corea and Marcus Roberts on the other.  Not great music making, but fun nonetheless.

Sounds like a great evening.

[duaneiac]

11 hours ago, BFrank said:

Sounds like a great evening.

I would say it was an enjoyable evening rather than a great evening of music.  Because there were so many performers involved, they each had to do their number or two and move right along to the next musician.  In addition to the music, though, each of the pianists spoke of their respect for McCoy Tyner and of the influence his music has had on their own music and lives.  It was nice to hear these heartfelt sentiments expressed by these artists in honor of an artist we probably all respect & admire. 

I have to admit, I was quite surprised by Mr. Tyner's appearance these days.  It's been years since I last saw him perform, but if I had passed him on the street yesterday, I never would have recognized him.  He has changed considerably from the man I first started seeing "live" some 20 years ago when he would have those 2 week long residencies at Yoshi's.  I hope his health has stabilized.  His playing on his solo number was strong, so he must still be practicing to keep his chops up.  His website shows some concert appearances scheduled for Sept. - Dec., but I really am not sure if that is for this year or perhaps left over from last year.  I'm a bit dubious if he would still have the stamina to do a full concert, based upon what I saw last night.

It was not the greatest concert I've ever been to musically (although it certainly had its fine moments), but it was a very special event and I'm glad I was able to attend.

Edited June 21, 2016 by duaneiac