What live music are you going to see tonight?

[kh1958]

This evening, Hamilton de Holanda Trio at Windmills.

[Steve Reynolds]

tonight at Roulette in Brooklyn 

Zosha Warpeha solo on hardanger fiddle followed by Michael Foster with strings 

Michael’s strings band is incredible including undervalued musicians like Webb Crawford, Rocio Sanchez & the amazing Nava Dunkelman. The wondrous Zosha is also in the ensemble. 
 

 

[ejp626]

Just saw Mike Murley with Reg Schwager & Neil Swainson at Hirut.  Very nice trio work (guitar instead of piano).  Will likely go tomorrow evening as well.

[jlhoots]

Kathleen Edwards tomorrow.

[EKE BBB]

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Jaleel Shaw is bring a band to Jimmy's in Portsmouth, NH Thursday night (2/19). Even though the club is very close to my house, I don't go to Jimmy's very often because the shows are usually pretty expensive. This show was under $40, which is pretty cheap for this venue.

[ejp626]

As mentioned before, Gary Smulyan is in Toronto, playing at the Rex with Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke.  I have a spot booked for Sat., and I will probably swing by Wed. as well, though I haven't made reservations.  Generally, Wed. and even Thurs. don't require them...

[Kevin Bresnahan]

15 minutes ago, ejp626 said:

As mentioned before, Gary Smulyan is in Toronto, playing at the Rex with Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke.  I have a spot booked for Sat., and I will probably swing by Wed. as well, though I haven't made reservations.  Generally, Wed. and even Thurs. don't require them...

I try to see Smulyan play whenever he is in my area. He's a great bari player.

[jlhoots]

1 hour ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I try to see Smulyan play whenever he is in my area. He's a great bari player.

He played here in a 2 bari. group several months ago. They were excellent.

[ejp626]

Managed to get out to see Gary on Wed. night, even though the weather was pretty lousy.  It was a very small crowd - maybe 20 people, but they played their hearts out anyway.  Will be going back on Sat. and the vibe will surely be livelier.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

On 2/16/2026 at 7:55 AM, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Jaleel Shaw is bring a band to Jimmy's in Portsmouth, NH Thursday night (2/19). Even though the club is very close to my house, I don't go to Jimmy's very often because the shows are usually pretty expensive. This show was under $40, which is pretty cheap for this venue.

I was very disappointed with the show last night. Old man rant coming... it was TOO FUCKING LOUD.

Drummer Joe Dyson was the biggest culprit. I should have known he was going to be loud when I saw that he had every drum mic'ed as well as two overhead mics over his kit. He had three times as many mics as the rest of the band combined. It made for a drum-centric sound which was not pleasurable at all. My wife hated it and she left with her left ear "shut down" for a few hours after. It was that loud. I anticipated it and closed my right ear when Dyson really started bashing the cymbals.

Other than that, the music was pretty good. Shaw's style is different. Most songs had what sounded like free improv, but more controlled. I don't want to get into the "noodling" argument again, so I will say that there were long streams of sax and Ben Street's bass floating over Lawrence Fields' piano fills and behind Dyson's cymbal crashes.

My wife has only recently started attending Jazz shows with me and she was adamant that I never buy tickets for her to see this band again and that she never wanted to see Dyson behind the drum kit.  

[kh1958]

1 hour ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I was very disappointed with the show last night. Old man rant coming... it was TOO FUCKING LOUD.

Drummer Joe Dyson was the biggest culprit. I should have known he was going to be loud when I saw that he had every drum mic'ed as well as two overhead mics over his kit. He had three times as many mics as the rest of the band combined. It made for a drum-centric sound which was not pleasurable at all. My wife hated it and she left with her left ear "shut down" for a few hours after. It was that loud. I anticipated it and closed my right ear when Dyson really started bashing the cymbals.

Other than that, the music was pretty good. Shaw's style is different. Most songs had what sounded like free improv, but more controlled. I don't want to get into the "noodling" argument again, so I will say that there were long streams of sax and Ben Street's bass floating over Lawrence Fields' piano fills and behind Dyson's cymbal crashes.

My wife has only recently started attending Jazz shows with me and she was adamant that I never buy tickets for her to see this band again and that she never wanted to see Dyson behind the drum kit.  

Isn't that the fault of the club sound man? I've seen Joe Dyson before and don't recall him being excessively loud.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

11 minutes ago, kh1958 said:

Isn't that the fault of the club sound man? I've seen Joe Dyson before and don't recall him being excessively loud.

I don't think so. Dyson was not playing with any nuance and I was close enough to not even hear what the mics were putting out of the speakers. He had a hi-hat, two crash & a sizzle cymbal and he crashed those two crash cymbals way too much,

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Next up on my show list is Jamie Baum at Scullers on March 7th. She's bringing Jaleel with her, so I'll get to see him again shortly.

The show I have on my calendar after the Baum gig is an unusual one - Randy Brecker and his wife Ada Rovati are playing at the microscopic Press Room in Portsmouth. The rhythm section are UNH faculty, and I've heard a couple of them over the years. Should be a fun night, if maybe a bit crowded. This club is general admission and likely without tables (standing room) for this show. When I saw Nels Cline there, it was packed to the gills. I was surprised the fire marshal didn't show up.