What live music are you going to see tonight?

[OliverM]

Tonight: Ensemble Dedalus with Michael Pisaro-Liu & Arne De Boever

[Peter Friedman]

On 3/30/2026 at 5:27 AM, Peter Friedman said:

This evening will be going to The Century Room to hear alto  sax player Tim Green perform with the University of Arizona Jazz Band. 

This concert was excellent. Tim Green played beautifully. The Big Band  played with both skill and enthusiasm.

[ejp626]

Looks like some good local talent throughout April at The Rex and Hirut. 

I see that Rez Abbasi will be at the Rex April 29-May 2, and I'll try to make at least one of those dates.  I have listened to a lot of his work when he teamed up with Vijay Iyer.  I don't think I've seen him live, but maybe he was there at one of the Chicago Jazz Fest concerts featuring Iyer.  I can't recall now though.

[bertrand]

Artemis on Sunday at Keystone Korner. Fabulous!

[kh1958]

At the 2026 Big Ears Festival: Ches Smith Clone Row; Isaiah Collier; Carlos Nino/Surya Botofasina/Aaron Shaw Trio; Nik Bartsch (solo piano); Jeff Parker Expansion Trio; Roscoe Mitchell and Tyshawn Sorey; Miles Okazaki Trickster; John Scofield Trio; Brian Marsella Trio; Kunal Gunjal; Saraswathi Ranganathan; Purbayan Chatterjee; Marquis Hill Blacktet; Hania Rani; Darius Jones Trio; Julian Lage Quartet; Either/Orchestra Plays Ethiopiques; Openness Trio.

[BFrank]

Last Tuesday, the night before I left for Knoxville, I saw Johnny Marr at the Great American Music Hall club in SF. I've seen him a number of times and he never disappoints. This one was no exception.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Tonight I'm heading to Jimmy's in Portsmouth to see Blues on the Corner: McCoy Tyner Legacy Band with Jerry Bergonzi, Benito Gonzalez, Esiet Okun Esiet & Francisco Mela. I'm looking forward to it but hope the sound guy does a better job than the last show I saw there.  

Tomorrow I'm hitting a rock show led by drummer Artimus Pyle of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame, who I have wanted to see for many years. He only plays small clubs and never seems to come further north than NH, so I'm off to the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH to see his band.

I recently watched his movie about Lynyrd Skynyrd and the plane crash, which was quite the bummer. It's not as uplifting as you'd think given the title.

[relyles]

1 hour ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Tonight I'm heading to Jimmy's in Portsmouth to see Blues on the Corner: McCoy Tyner Legacy Band with Jerry Bergonzi, Benito Gonzalez, Esiet Okun Esiet & Francisco Mela. I'm looking forward to it but hope the sound guy does a better job than the last show I saw there.  

I a going to catch them at the Side Door in Old Lyme, CT tomorrow with George Garzone instead of Bergonzi.

[Chuck Nessa]

At Hallwalls

[Kevin Bresnahan]

17 hours ago, relyles said:

I a going to catch them at the Side Door in Old Lyme, CT tomorrow with George Garzone instead of Bergonzi.

Benito Gonzalez was out of this world last night. If you haven't seen him play live yet, prepare to be amazed.

[Niko]

12 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Benito Gonzalez was out of this world last night. If you haven't seen him play live yet, prepare to be amazed.

he's impressive indeed, saw him with Pharoah Sanders in 2019... 

[relyles]

33 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Benito Gonzalez was out of this world last night. If you haven't seen him play live yet, prepare to be amazed.

I have seen live with varios groups. I am looking forward to hearing him tonight.

[kh1958]

First Weekend of New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

First Thursday:

Starting and ending the day with Mali guitar great Vieux Farka Toure (Blues Tent and Cultural Pavillion). Fantastic.

Peter Harris Presents Double Bird: Bassist Peter Harris presides over different jazz groups four nights a week at the Bayou Bar in New Orleans.

Aurora Nealand the the Royal Roses (Special Edition). I had not seen the Royal Roses since 2022 at the Big Ears Festival. This lineup featured three reed players (Rex Gregory and James Evans). Started off with an amazing composition taken from a Punch Miller piano roll. There were also Ellington and Sidney Bechet songs. Set was ecstatic.

First Friday:

Ex-Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio guitarist Jimmy James now has his own organ trio, Parlor Greens. He's a real fine guitarist and the group was quite exciting.

Wendell Brunious: In Economy Hall, but more of a swing era style small group led by New Orleans trumpet icon Wendell Brunious. This group really swung hard, with William Moten on bass and the groove master Herlin Riley on drums.

Tribute to Ragtime Piano, with David Boeddinghaus, Tom McDermott, and Terry Waldo. Each pianist played for twenty minutes. I gather Terry Waldo is the best known but Tom McDermott was the best of the three.

Adonis Rose Orchestra with Andromeda Turre: Formerly the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Excellent big band. Andromeda Turre (Steve Turre's daughter) joined on vocals for the second half of the set. She was good.

Hiromi's Sonic Wonder: Featured Adam O'Farrell on trumpet. This is Hiromi's version of a fusion band. The compositions were elaborate and her virtuosity was very impressive. Very good set.

First Saturday:

Hordes of Stevie Nicks fans descended on the Fairgrounds, making for an overcrowded mess. My schedule was light and I left early.

David Bode Big Band: A new to me saxophonist/leader. It was a solid big band, including Rex Gregory.

Mahmoud Chouki: My favorite New Orleans based Jazz musician on acoustic guitar and oud, with a band including Ricardo Pascal on saxophone and Oscar Rossignoli on piano, performed another electrifying set.

First Sunday:

Roger Lewis Baritone Bliss: Four baritone saxophonists, plus bass saxophone and drums. Started off with a dedication to Kidd Jordan. A very pleasant surprise as this set was outstanding.

Catherine Russell (interview and performance in Economy Hall): This woman is really a great vocalist.

Ron Carter Foresight Quartet: With Jimmy Greene on saxophone and Rene Rosnes on piano, at 89 Ron Carter was an ageless wonder, sounding just as good as ever. Wonderful set.

Edited April 29 by kh1958

[cliffpeterson]

Saw Charlie Ballentine and his trio last night.  Played new original music that was engaging, several standards and "Sub-Conscious Lee" and "When Will the Blues Leave".  Currently on tour. Will be in Pittsburgh tonight and Buffalo on Saturday. 

[jlhoots]

Kelly Willis - tomorrow night.

[cliffpeterson]

Last night. Bobby Previte "Second Arrow" band. Angelika Sanchez on piano and keyboards, Matt Bauder on tenor sax, bass clarinet and flute, Wendy Eisenberg on electric guitar, Jerome Harris on bass and Bobby on drums. The Local in Saugerties. New LP is out.  

[BFrank]

Looking forward to next Sunday in SF:

"Being & Becoming" with Peter Evans/Nick Jozwiak/Tyshawn Sorey + Heavy Arts Ensemble

[ejp626]

I saw Rez Abbai with his newish group at the Rex: 

Rez Abbasi - guitar

Marta Sanchez - piano

Chris Lightcap - bass

Hamir Atwal - drums

They are heading into the studio soon to record.  I actually went two nights in a row, which was probably unnecessary.  They played the same set each night (even repeating the same song from the first set to the second!), as they are still building their material.  I suppose I was expecting that they might have mixed up the occasional standards a bit more...

I picked up a couple of his CDs and had him sign Snake Charmer.

I was pretty bummed that the late night set on Sat. was cancelled due to a Toronto Hydro power outage!

Anyway, next week Don Byron is back in town, playing with a larger group this time, and I will be going next Sat.

[kh1958]

Second Weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

The first two days were shortened by bad weather.

Second Thursday:

Starting out with a first for me, opera at Jazz Fest, with OperaCreole in a rainstorm.

Helen Gillet: A typically wonderful set (solo and duo with a percussionist) from the cellist/vocalist.

Isaiah Collier: Based on his Big Ears Festival performance, I was really looking forward to this set. He had the same pianist and drummer as at Big Ears, plus a harp player and the outstanding New Orleans bassist Amina Scott. The first two songs were just as good as at Big Ears, including his grim Requiem. Then the festival abruptly closed due to weather. Very disappointing that the set was truncated.

Trumpet Mafia: In the evening, a small group version of Ashlin Parker's Trumpet Mafia at Snug Harbor. Cyrille Aimee is guest vocalist.

Second Friday:

Victor Campbell: The virtuoso Cuban pianist provides an electrifying set, with mostly Cuban jazz musicians.

Larry Sieberth Prewsents Da Groove: Larry Sieberth is a fine New Orleans based pianist, but I was expecting a misbegotten fusion project. It was the opposite, an exciting fusion band featuring David "Fuse" Fiuczynski on guitar and Danny Sadownick on percussion. The guitarist I knew played with Ronald Shannon Jackson but I had to look up the percussionist. Taylor Swift's drummer, slumming in the jazz tent.

Terrence Blanchard with Ravi Coltrane: This was a tribute to Miles Davis and Coltrane, but they only performed songs associated with Miles Davis (50s and early 60s era). For some reason, this set did not quite work for me. A focus on electric Miles would have been more appropriate for the band.

Second Saturday:

The weather was perfect for the final two days and massive crowds showed up. On Saturday, there was a cover band called The Eagles on the biggest stage, which seemed to draw a lot of people.

I on the other hand happily spent most of the day in Economy Hall.

The Paulin Brothers Brass Band. Founded in 1907.

Mark Braud's New Orleans Jazz Giants.

Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, with Dr. Michael White, Jamil Sharif, and Shaye Cohn. This set was tremendous.

Leroy Jones & New Orleans' Finest. A contemporary giant of the trumpet playing in relative obscurity in New Orleans.

Uptown Jazz Orchestra. This big band, led by Delfeayo Marsalis and playing weekly at Snug Harbor, is just fantastic, filled with hot soloists. Pandemonium ensues in the Jazz Tent.

Sacred Sunday:

Another beautiful day.

Starting out with the Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet, playing mostly arrangements of Brian Wilson compositions. This works surprisingly well.

Trumpet Mafia: Ashlin Parker's giant, trumpet-based big band, Trumpet Mafia (in recent years they have added a saxophone and trombone section), this year features Keyon Harrold as lead soloist, in a Miles Davis tribute that far eclipses the Terence Blanchar/Ravi Coltrane tribute. This covers all of Miles' eras and is a tremendously exciting set.

Jackie Venson: Making her Jazz Fest debut in the Blues Tent, probably the best and most intense live performance by her I have seen.

Lila Ike: Closing out the Fest in the small stage Cultural Pavillion for Jamaican reggae singer Lila Ike. Great vocalist. Fantastic.

On the way out, I hear the very loud end of Whipping Post by the Tedeski Trucks Band from a safe distance..

 

Edited 1 hour ago by kh1958