What live music did you see in 2009??

[Chalupa]

2009 Shows

01/16 - HAN BENNINK & MARSHALL ALLEN

Great duo performance at a art gallery. May come out on video.

01/29 - LOTTE ANKER / SYLVIE COURVOISIER / IKUE MORI

I really like Lotte Anker's sax playing. Unfortunately the performance was marred by Ikue Mori's electronics which were too LOUD and uninspired. I liked Mori's contributions when I saw her perform w/ Masada.

01/31 - THURSTON MOORE + MATS GUSTAFSSON Very good. Thurston provided guitar atmospherics while Mats wailed.

02/13 - PATTI SMITH This was part lecture/part musical performance in honor of the Robert Mapplethorpe's infamous photography exhibit that was banned in Cincinnati back in 1989. Patti is a great storyteller - very funny.

03/13 - MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO (Shipp, Joe Morris, Whit Dickey)

03/16 - FLOWER TRAVELIN’ BAND Original lineup that can still bring it. Unfortunately they did none of the tunes off the Satori album.

03/22 - DAVID DANIELL JACK ROSE GLENN JONES ANDY GILES 4 solo guitar sets; 2 electric, 2 acoustic. Rose's set was the last time I saw him perform live. The performance will be released in March as a bonus DVD for the "Things We Used To Do" DVD release

04/03 - BOB MOULD Leader of 80's punk band Husker Du plays solo acoustic.

04/10 - ROBYN HITCHCOCK (with Peter Buck) Robyn is the musical heir to Syd Barrett. One of the wittiest performers I've ever seen.

04/10 - BARDO POND Caught this later the same night. Loud psychedelic jams.

04/17 - AB BAARS Trio & KEN VANDERMARK with Ab Baars, tenor sax/clarinet/shakuhachi Ken Vandermark, tenor sax/clarinet, Wilbert de Joode, double-bass, Martin van Duynhoven, drums - My first time seeing Vandermark perform live. Very good but I wanted him to cut loose just a little bit more.

04/26 - TONY CONRAD & KEIJI HAINO Ugh. Very disappointing. Just could not get into Conrad at all. Haino I would like to see perform again.

05/04 - REPTET I love this band.

05/06 - PETER BROTZMANN & NASHEET WAITS another great duo performance.

05/09 - MIKE WATT AND THE MISSINGMEN (RAUL MORALES & TOM WATSON) Mike Watt playing a whole show of punk cover tunes. Awesome.

05/24 - SUN RA ARKESTRA Marshall’s Allen’s 85th BDay celebration. Not that good. Horns were off. The whole band sounded like they needed another week of rehearsals. Maybe they did a little too much celebrating before hitting the stage?

06/12 - MEAT PUPPETS Free lunchtime concert. Short show at 50 minutes. Yet another 80's rock band that is still kicks the asses of the young pups 1/2 their age.

06/12 - ODEAN POPE & SUNNY MURRAY Awful. I should have demanded a refund. Odean was great.

06/16 - ORGANISSIMO Please move to Philly already and be the house band at Ron's dream bar.

06/17 - DIRTY PROJECTORS / VIEUX FARKA TOURE / SKELETONS Great lineup. Vieux Farka Toure is Ali Farka Toure's son and is blessed w/ his father's musical ability. Dirty Projectors are one of my favorite indie rock bands - great songs and arrangements, especially the vocals.

06/19 - IRON Local Philly dance hall reggae outfit. Very good.

07/01 - SUN RA ARKESTRA Probably the best performance by the band that I've caught since Ra left for Jupiter. Amazing since they were so awful just 6 weeks earlier.

07/02 - SONIC YOUTH / THE ENTRANCE BAND Sonic Youth is still shredding eardrums wherever they go.

07/20 - TORTOISE This was my third time seeing them. I'm getting a little less enthusiastic about them. Great ensemble that needs better material, imho.

08/29 - FLAMING LIPS / EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY EITS were great and the Lips were amazing before the rain washed out their set about 30 minutes into it.

09/20 - SUNN O))) & EAGLE TWIN Sunn O))) is the scariest band in the world. They are also the LOUDEST. Doom metal

09/24 - GUNTER HAMPEL & THE EUROPEAN TRIO / KHAN JAMAL This was a great show. Unfortunately only 12 people paid to get in.

09/29 - FAUST Kraut rock. They did a two day teach-in residency. This was the performance at the end of the 2nd day. Great.

10/31 - SUN RA ARKESTRA Very good but not quite up to the heights they scaled back in July.

10/31 - DEAD MILKMEN Later the same night. 80's punkers still bringing it.

11/13 - JOHN BUTCHER / HANS KOCH + JACK WRIGHT The performance took place in an historic 17th century mansion. I need to hear more Jack Wright. Butcher was great.

11/18 - THE JESUS LIZARD One of those aforementioned 80's bands that kicks young pup's asses.

11/20 - HAMIET BLUIETT + KAHIL EL'ZABAR Another great duo show. However, it was marred by their unannounced guest - a racist veggie preacher.

11/28 - MEAT PUPPETS Full show w/ a new drummer.

12/03 - BOBBY ZANKEL’S WONDERFUL WARRIORS OF SOUND Local avant big band.

12/03 - ESPERS record release show by Philly folk rockers. They were great but I'll probably remember this show as the last time I saw Jack Rose alive. He died less than 36 hours later from a heart attack.

12/05 - BILL DIXON & with Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra Exploding Star Orchestra were great. Apparently Dixon had some problems hearing himself in the mix and pretty much laid out the whole night as a result. Alas.

12/13 – MARSHALL ALLEN, ELLIOTT LEVIN, WARREN OREE, EDGAR BATEMAN, RAY KING A one off by a bunch of local guys. Great.

I didn't realize it until I started commenting on the shows but this past year was a great one for duo performances. I saw some standout shows - really there were only two or three clunkers out of the 38 performances I caught. However, I was particularly disappointed in the shows that I had tickets for but were canceled at the last minute - Merzbow (due to fears of H1N1), Bert Jansch(health), and Butthole Surfers(lack of ticket sales) hopefully I'll get to see them all this year.

So what shows did y'all catch in 2009?

[kh1958]

It was a slow year for me, but I saw:

Lucky Peterson at Pearl on Commerce, on March 7 and July 11.

Guitar Shorty at Poor David's Pub on June 27 and at Pearl on September 11.

Eddie Turner at Pearl on Commerce on August 11.

Buddy Guy at House of Blues on October 15.

Tom Harrell Quintet at the Village Vanguard on October 30 and November 1.

Go Home (Ben Goldstein, Charlie Hunter, Curtis Fowlkes, and Dannie Amendola at Jazz Standard on October 31.

Pat Martino at Birdland on October 31.

Ron Carter Trio with Mulgrew Miller and Russell Malone at the Blue Note on November 1.

Francisco Mela Trio at the Blue Note on November 1.

Dave Burrell (solo piano) at Sandaga Market on December 12.

[BillF]

16 July Mark Nightingale/Alastair White Trombone Quintet Wigan Jazz Festival

17 July Alan Barnes/Greg Abate Quintet Wigan Jazz Festival

29 Oct RNCM Nonet, "Birth of the Cool: a Tribute" Royal Northern College of Music,

Manchester

3 Dec Jerry Bergonzi Trio Band on the Wall, Manchester

8 Dec RNCM Big Band with Alan Barnes, "The Legacy of Basie" RNCM

[jeffcrom]

This thread depressed me somewhat - it reminded me of how bad the Atlanta jazz scene is. I heard a few good local bands this year; the most impressive were the rock bands Vietnam and Purkinje Shift. As far as big names go, I had to travel 500 miles or more to hear most of them. My top shows of the year:

Atlanta - Bill Frisell; The Shaking Ray Levis (my favorite Southern-fried free improv collective)

New Orleans - The Tin Men; Evan Christopher/Tom McDermott Quartet; Society Brass Band

Copenhagen - Jesper Thilo

[Chalupa]

Here's a clip from the Sun Ra Arkestra show I saw back in July....

Edited January 5, 2010 by J.H. Deeley

[jazzbo]

One of the highlights for me was seeing WD-41 perform. (WD-41 is a duo of Willie Oterri guitar and Dave Laczko trumpet).

The other highlight was Sonny Rollins. Wow.

[relyles]

I don't get out to see even half the shows that I want to normally. There may be a couple that I am forgetting, but just going through my calendar these are the shows that I know I caught this year.

2/6 Henry Threadgill Zooid – Crowell Concert Hall, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

2/26 Kidd Jordan/William Parker/Hamid Drake – Bezanson Recital Hall, UMASS, Amherst, MA

4/3 Russell Malone Quartet – Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, Hartford, CT

5/8 Joe Lovano Nonet - Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, Hartford, CT

7/6 George Blackman Quartet/Afro Semitic Experience – Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT

7/13 Dezron Douglas-Lummie Spann Quintet/Taeko Fuqua and trio – Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT

7/20 Ed Fast & Conga Bop/Michele Rosewoman Quintessence – Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT

7/27 People Of Goodwill/Jimmy Greene-Wayne Escoffery Quintet – Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT

10/2 Mauger – Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT

10/3 Bobby Bradford Quintet feat. David Murray – Jazz Standard, NYC

10/23 Ralph Peterson Fo’tet – Polish National Home, Hartford, CT

11/13 Peter Evans Quartet – Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT

[David Gitin]

2009: I've enjoyed 'live' concerts by Roy Hargrove, Renee Fleming, Angela Hewitt, Susan Graham, Milton Nascimento, Terry Riley, Trio 3, The Third Man, Murray Perahia, Yefim Bronfman (w SF Symph), Roberta Gambarini, "A House In Bali" (Evan Ziporyn's opera), Mary Halvorson, Sarah Cahill, The Neville Brothers, Richard Thompson, Pharoah Sanders (w Zakir Hussain), Myra Melford & Mark Dresser, Marshall Allen (with Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris), Roswell Rudd (w Lafayette Harris) Elvis Costello, William Winant, Paul Dresher, Pamela Z, "La Traviata" (SF Opera w Anna Netrebko), Rova (w Joan Jeanrenaud, Lisle Ellis, Carla Kihlstedt, Thomas Lehn, Kjell Nordeson), Kristian Zimerman, Fly, Chris Potter (w Adam Rogers), Leonard Cohen, Shivkumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain, Andras Schiff, Dred Scott, Simon Shaheen, London Symph Orch (con. Gergiev), Keith Jarrett Trio, Bar Kokhba Sextet, Other Minds Festival, Zappa Plays Zappa, Claudia Villela (w Weber Iago), The Necks, Ben Goldberg (w Charlie Hunter, Ron Miles), Marcus Miller, James Moody (w Renee Rosnes), Dianne Reeves, Herbie Hancock, Keb Mo, Bill Charlap (w Ravi Coltrane, Nicholas Payton), John Abercrombie

(originally listed on Facebook. I hope the music mixture with non-jazz events doesn't disturb anyone)

[king ubu]

do you all have electronic agendas and stuff? would take me a while to compile it all AND to add the dates...

some that do come to mind:

Mary Halvorson Trio (very, very good!)

CéU (great!)

Richard Bona (total disaster!)

Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley (fantastic!)

Cesaria Evora (short but sweet)

Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet (heady, but interestinga nd towads the end when they did the Bowie homage, it got real swinging!)

Carla Bley & The Lost Chords (terrific!)

Dave Douglas Quintet (fine, but Uri Caine's quite a bore...)

Sun Ra Arkestra (a huge fun party!)

Circulasione Totale Orchestra (how nice to see Bobby Bradford in person, and how sweet his trumpet sounds!)

Roman Schwaller Quartet feat. Jimmy Cobb

BraffOesterRohrer

The Klezmatics

I guess that's about all... I posted some impressions about some of the concerts over here:

[Hardbopjazz]

Here is my list. I do keep a journal of the shows I go and see. The best show I saw in 2009 was Randy Weston 12/08/2009.

FRANK WESS 01/??/2009

RANDY WESTON 02/18/2009

LEE KONITZ 04/03/2009

SONNY ROLLINS 04/18/2009

CECIL TAYLOR 05/28/2009

GENERATIONS 07/10/2009

SONNY ROLLINS 09/25/2009

JACK WALRATH 11/05/2009

MARIA SCHNEIDER 11/28/2009

GILAD HEKSELMAN 12/02/2009

SONNY ROLLINS 12/06/2009

PETER BERNSTEIN 12/09/2009

RANDY WESTON 12/08/2009

CEDAR WALTON 12/19/2009

ARI HOENIG 12/21/2009

EDMAR CASTANEDA 12/22/2009

[Big Al]

Metallica, Sept. 28, American Airlines Center. Special for me because it was my son's first concert and we both had a blast!

Ben Folds with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Sept. 29, Dallas Museum of Art/Myerson Symphony Center. Just as enjoyable as the Metallica show but on a completely different level. I went with a friend, and had no idea what to expect. Incredible show!!!

The Greg Waits Quintet, June 17, Sandaga's. The Quintet makes its debut at this little place in the industrial section of Dallas. My next door neighbor met me there and he and I made up 67% of the audience! The piano player looked like George Carlin. Sweet show!

The Greg Waits Quartet, October 28, Scat Jazz Lounge. The first show at the FW venue made this jazz fan feel like he was at the Vanguard! This was also the 2nd show with Jim Sangrey on tenor in a pianoless quartet, and the first show with the new bassist, who did a MUCH better job than the bass player from the previous month's gig.

Technically, I didn't *see* the following gig, even though I went there fully intending to be in the audience:

The Greg Waits Quartet, September 16, Sandaga's. Jim Sangrey debuts on tenor for what was supposed to be a pianoless quartet, but was reduced to a trio when the regular bass player didn't show! Jim gives a great retelling of what happened here (scroll down to post #232). Greg and Jim, I still cannot thank you enough and am eternally grateful for letting me have my own "Sonny at the Vanguard" moment: playing upright bass in a pianoless jazz ensemble. That night was THE best night of the year for me, hands down.

[B. Clugston]

It's tough for me to get out much these days, but the one concert I saw was a memorable one: the Ganelin Trio Priority with Petras Vysniauskas and Klaus Kugel. Despite maybe 40 people in the audience and the guy introducing them introduced them as the (original) Ganelin Trio with a couple of new members, which must have irked the musicians, it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.