Favorite Live Concerts of 2012

[kh1958]

A slow year for concerts, but I managed to hear a few good ones...

Rez Abassi Trio--Cornelia Street Cafe

Edmar Castaneda--Jazz Standard

Chico Hamilton--Drom

Magos Herrera--Terraza 7

Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society--Kessler Theater

Lucky Peterson--Tuckers Blues (closed September 15)

Mike Stern--55 Bar

[PHILLYQ]

Henry Threadgill a couple days after Thanksgiving at Roulette

Buddy Guy at the World Financial Center in July

Spectrum Road at B.B. King's in June

Dr. John with a list of Louisiana music all-stars at BAM Opera House(Brooklyn) in April

There's probably a few others, but those were standouts. The prices- Threadgill, $25, Spectrum Road $40, Buddy Guy $0, Dr. John $40

Edited December 30, 2012 by PHILLYQ

[BillF]

Kristian Leth/Dave O'Higgins Quintet featuring Eric Alexander at Seven Arts, Leeds in March

[tranemonk]

Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Centennial @ Newport

Pat Metheny Unity Band - Berklee Performance Center

Pat Martino - Birdland

Looking forward to Branford Marsalis Feb @ Scullers, SF Jazz Collective @ Berklee March

[ElginThompson]

Benny Golson @ Jazz Standard NYC. Still spy and can blow.

Edited December 29, 2012 by Delightfulee

[Hardbopjazz]

Here are mine.

Frank Wess' 92 birthday celebration at Dizzy's. He can still play.

Steve Wilson Trio at the Vanguard with Renee Rosnes and Peter Washington.

Charles McPherson and Tom Harrell Quintet Dizzy's.

[ValerieB]

i've heard quite a few great concerts during the year but my very favorite was Gregory Porter at the 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival. i will never forget it and i'll bet anyone else who was there will not, given that the audience went "bonkers"!!

[jeffcrom]

John Butcher, Gino Robair, Thomas Lehn, and The Shaking Ray Levis - Barking Legs Theater, Chattanooga.

Wolter Wierbos solo (and with local boys Alembic Circle for the encore) - Railroad Earth, Atlanta

Slavic Soul Party - 529, Atlanta. Matt Moran's amazing Balkan band.

Purkinje Shift - 529, Atlanta. Three-piece instrumental "math rock" from Atlanta.

Saxopaths - Copenhagen Jazz Festival. I visited Copenhagen during the jazz festival, but that's not why I was there, and I only managed to hear a few bands. The best was a children's concert by this Danish sax quartet.

Kebbi Williams Birthday Bash - 5 Spot, Atlanta. Great show by the manic Atlanta tenor player. And this was the last time time I saw my mid-40s Buescher baritone sax. I loaned it to the guy who plays bari with Kebbi, and he managed to get it stolen a couple of days later.

Rebirth Brass Band - Maple Leaf, New Orleans. Nothing special, in a way - the Rebirth plays at the Maple Leaf every Tuesday night when they're not on tour. But I hadn't heard them for several years, and they were intense and overwhelming.

Tin Men - d.b.a., New Orleans

Rob Mallard/Andrew Barker - Bowmania, Atlanta. Two founding members of the Gold Sparkle Band reunited at the memorial concert for drummer John Bowman. It was righteous old-school free jazz at its best.

And I immodestly think that the Edgewood Sax Quartet's second and final concert in Atlanta was pretty dang good.

[Tom 1960]

Not many opportunities to see shows in my area these days. The Hudson Valley seems to have a dislike for jazz music. That said, I was able to see Kenny Barron a few months ago in a solo performance. Kenny is one of my favorite jazz pianists. I even got to meet him after thse show and have him sign my cd. Seems to be a very nice man as well.

[JETman]

Not many opportunities to see shows in my area these days. The Hudson Valley seems to have a dislike for jazz music. That said, I was able to see Kenny Barron a few months ago in a solo performance. Kenny is one of my favorite jazz pianists. I even got to meet him after thse show and have him sign my cd. Seems to be a very nice man as well.

Caramoor!

[Cyril]

Kristian Leth/Dave O'Higgins Quintet featuring Eric Alexander at Seven Arts, Leeds in March

Eric Alexander was in Amserdam too, with Vincent Herring and Harold Mabern...

--> http://bimhuis.com/g...t-harold-mabern

[Steve Reynolds]

real good year - maybe as good as 2011.....

Schweizer-Favre @ The Stone - spring

Open Loose - @ Cornelia Street - spring

Rainey-Halvorsen-Laubrock @ The Stone - spring

Mat Maneri Quintet @ Cornelia Street - April

In Order to Survive @ Vision Fest

Dunmall-Shipp-Morris-Cleaver @ Vision Fest

Han Bennink 70th Birthday concert @ Columbia University - spring

Tony Malaby's Novela @ Corneila Street - summer

Open Loose @ Cornelia Street last weekend (December 22nd) with Nahseet Waits in Rainey's seat

Travis Laplante quartet with Mat Maneri, Michael Formanek & Randy Peterson @ I-beam - Brooklyn - December

2 best shows:

Mat Maneri's Quintet with the great Kris Davis and typically beyond improvising from Mat & Randy

In Order to Survive with seminal performances from Drake & Cooper-Moore

other best individual performances:

Rainey with Open Loose in the springtime

Malaby last weekend - ended the first set with as extraordinary improvising on the tenor saxophone as this boy has (ever?!?!) witnessed

Edited January 1, 2013 by Steve Reynolds

[LWayne]

My top 10 for 2012. Great year for live shows considering I never made it to NYC:

1 Michael Formanek Quartet Windup Space-Baltimore, MD. 2 "The Great Flood"-Bill Frisell Trio Thurber Theater, Ohio State-Columbus, OH. 3 Roy Haynes" Fountain of Youth" Band New Hazlett Theater-Pittsburgh, PA 4 Brad Mehldau Trio Alte Oper, Frankfurt Germany 5 Enrico Rava Tribe Albright Knox Art Gallery-Buffalo, NY 6 The Clayton Brothers Jazz Live-Pittsburgh, PA. 7 Gregory Porter Quartet Cabaret Theater-Pittsburgh, PA 8 Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Sanctuary-Pittsburgh, PA 9 International Guitar Night Manchester Craftsmen's Guild-Pittsburgh, PA 10 Jerry Gonzalez & Fort Apache Band Cabaret Theater-Pittsburgh, PA

LWayne