Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2013 Highlights:
- Rudresh Mahanthappa at Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox
- Kittens!
- The Pastrami Project
- A friend's subsequent recovery
- Bob Dylan at UB
- Gretchen Parlato at Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz
- Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud at Hallwalls (Hard to believe I'd never seen it before.)
- The Hold Steady at Thursdays at Canalside
- CLA's Hopkins Commencement
- I am never more aware of my citified ways than I am when the trees are taller than the buildings. (In a way, a comment that fits the whole year, if not my whole life.)
- Tim Newell as Claudius in the Shakespeare in Delaware Park Hamlet
- Todd Rundgren at Canalside. (As Captain X says, we went thinking that it might be great or it might be terrible, and if it was terrible it would still be great. It was unabashedly terrific.)
- "Just Look At It!" (For some reason the NYSBA Journal hasn't gotten back to me on this submission.)
- Alaska
- LCA in Cabaret!
Monday, May 09, 2011
To the Pete Malinverni Trio at the Albright-Knox Saturday night, the final show in Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series this season. Bruce deserves every plaudit I can think of for working this project the way he has-- I am inclined to believe that it is one of the most important cultural institutions in the region. It sprang from his forehead full-blown, and now it has acquired a world-wide reputation-- pretty impressive. Usually at the end of a season Bruce lets us in on who is coming next season, but this year we just got a teaser. Charles Lloyd went back to his label after his performance and said that the Art of Jazz audience was the best they'd played in front of on their entire tour. ECM, which already liked the series and the venue, came back with this news, and told Bruce that they have an artist who'll be playing three dates in the US next year: one in New York, one on the West Coast, and when would be good for the Albright-Knox date?
Pete Malinverni, to get back to the artist under discussion, is originally from Niagara Falls, although he is now based in New York, so he had a hometown crowd to work with, full of family, relatives and friends. He reveled in it, and put on a bright, energetic performance that was a pleasure to hear. Really, when you get right down to it there are few things that sound as great as a piano trio. The pre-concert feature was a movie: Bill Evans in Helsinki, which documented Evans and his trio playing in a Finnish living room in 1970. At one point Evans said that the trio he was working with (Eddie Gomez, bass and Marty Morell, drums) played together "like water pouring from a faucet". I'd say that Malinverni and his group (bassist Lee Hudson and drummer Eliot Zigmund-- an Evans alum) were more like a mountain brook-- bubbly and bright, and more powerful than they first appeared. The opener was a Malinverni composition based on the changes from "What is This Thing Called Love"-- Malinverni titled his piece "Good Question" and that sense of humor pervaded the entire performance.
Pete Malinverni, to get back to the artist under discussion, is originally from Niagara Falls, although he is now based in New York, so he had a hometown crowd to work with, full of family, relatives and friends. He reveled in it, and put on a bright, energetic performance that was a pleasure to hear. Really, when you get right down to it there are few things that sound as great as a piano trio. The pre-concert feature was a movie: Bill Evans in Helsinki, which documented Evans and his trio playing in a Finnish living room in 1970. At one point Evans said that the trio he was working with (Eddie Gomez, bass and Marty Morell, drums) played together "like water pouring from a faucet". I'd say that Malinverni and his group (bassist Lee Hudson and drummer Eliot Zigmund-- an Evans alum) were more like a mountain brook-- bubbly and bright, and more powerful than they first appeared. The opener was a Malinverni composition based on the changes from "What is This Thing Called Love"-- Malinverni titled his piece "Good Question" and that sense of humor pervaded the entire performance.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
To the Tord Gustavsen Trio last night, part of Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox. Because his style is quiet and contemplative Gustavsen draws comparisons to Bill Evans, but although anyone who likes Evans would probably enjoy Gustavsen the comparison falls down when you consider the way the two pianists swing-- Gustavsen's swing is elongated, and is as much about the space around the composition as it is his left hand-- a common quality among the artists on the ECM label, as Bruce pointed out in his pre-show talk. Sometimes this sort of thing can seem dry, but last night it hit me just right-- I found myself thinking about how warm and inviting this music was-- deceptively complex, another point in common with Evans, or Keith Jarrett, but also friendly, in the reserved way most of the Scandinavians I know are. If you were in Oslo on a cold night, you would be pleased to find yourself in a room where this group was playing, although the chances are it would be in a church or a small auditorium rather than a club. Even if it were in a club, you would not expect anyone in the room to acknowledge that you walked in, and you would order your drink by pointing.
It bears mentioning that this was one of only five stops in North America for these musicians, on this tour, and that they are generating a buzz that is almost louder than their music. I don't know what Bruce Eaton's secret is, but he is consistently in front of the field when it comes to bringing the best in jazz to Buffalo. Gustavsen and his trio's other stops were San Francisco, LA, and Knoxville (for the Bijou Fall Festival of the Arts), and it is pretty cool to think that the Queen City of the Lakes is on the map for musicians working at this level.
It bears mentioning that this was one of only five stops in North America for these musicians, on this tour, and that they are generating a buzz that is almost louder than their music. I don't know what Bruce Eaton's secret is, but he is consistently in front of the field when it comes to bringing the best in jazz to Buffalo. Gustavsen and his trio's other stops were San Francisco, LA, and Knoxville (for the Bijou Fall Festival of the Arts), and it is pretty cool to think that the Queen City of the Lakes is on the map for musicians working at this level.
Monday, January 28, 2013
To Rudresh Mahanthappa at Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox. Mr. Mahanthappa was supported by David Fiuczynski(g), Francois Moutin (b) and Dan Weiss (d), and was playing material from his Gamak project.
We'd seen Mahanthappa last time through with The Vijay Iyer Quartet, and knew to expect some sort of jazz-Indian fusion, but what we got this time was quite different from what Iyer played. Everyone my age probably went through a brief Indian music phase, but I'd be lying if I said that I am at all knowledgeable about it. Luckily the pre-show was sitarist Naryan Padmanabha , who ran some of it down. This provided a useful foundation for understanding some of what was happening structurally when the headliners took the stage. When I think of Indian music what my minds' ear hears is a sort of drone, but what Padmanabha talked about was the rhythmic element, and it was this which opened the door to what the quartet was doing. To my way of thinking this was more fusion than Indian-- Fiuczynski, playing a double-necked guitar, sometimes sounded like John McLaughlin, sometimes like Jeff Beck, and-- when he was working on the fretless neck, sometimes sounded a little like Jan Hammer. What made it all work was the way the band meshed. It was like a zippy sportscar-- when more power was called for it was right there.
Mahanthappa is no secret-- he is right in front of the cutting edge right now and if he is playing near you and you care at all about this music you will know about it. See him.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, February 01, 2010
To Mostly Other People Do The Killing yesterday, at Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox. Bruce had promised that we were in for something special and they were all that, a terrific blend of Ornette Coleman, traditional New Orleans jazz, hard bop, "In A Silent Way" era Miles and probably six or seven or a dozen other things that I could hear but not identify. A lot of what happens in their music seemed to be going on in between the individual sounds that each member of the quintet (drums, bass, tenor and trumpet) were making. It was fun, and charming, but also challenging, often characterized by cacophony collapsing into lyricism. I'd rank it among the top shows I've seen over the course of the 11 years Bruce has been producing this program. I love it when jazz musicians show that the form is still growing.
Monday, January 27, 2014
To Tim Berne/Snakeoil yesterday, an afternoon of avant-garde jazz that left me feeling as though I had lightning coming from my
fingertips. This was highly composed, tightly played music,
and notwithstanding some sonic resemblances to free jazz the band was was
working from a score. Great band--Oscar Noriega, clarinet and bass clarinet, Matt Mitchell, piano and Ches Smith, drums, vibes and assorted percussion. Smith's vibes had a very pleasing effect, taking things in some surprising directions. Mitchell's piano demonstrated how much room there was within each composition to move, and Noriega, a fireplug of a reedman, contributed texture to Berne's alto sound that meant that the whole was a great deal more melodic than someone walking by and just catching a snatch of what they were playing would have assumed. Granted, this sort of thing is not everyone's cup of meat, but one of the great things about Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox is that it is a room full of people who get it.An aside: Upcoming is Ambrose Akinmusire, who is, apparently, fronting the first "traditional" (trumpet, sax, piano, bass, drums) quintet the series has featured. Funny to think that we've had at least two bands come through that featured bass clarinet before we got trumpet and sax.
Monday, April 30, 2012
To the Donald Harrison Quintet Saturday night, the finale of Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox this season, and a rousing show. Harrison has tremendous range, moving from bop and post bop informed by funk and his New Orleans roots, and the band-- who were all in their 20's-- displayed formidable swing and muscle. Garaud MacTaggart singled out the bass player, Max Moran. (Jason Moran's cousin. Cool.) I was more impressed with the drummer, Joe Dyson, who kept the NOLA in the procedings throughout, and the piano player, Zaccai Curtis, who was seriously dazzling. The guitarist, Detroit Brooks, presented an interesting challenge. At first I wasn't sure what he was bringing to the proceedings, but it gradually dawned on me that he was adding swing to the rhythm section and functioning at the same time as a second lead instrument, almost like a second horn.
Monday, November 20, 2006
To Cyrus Chestnut and Kevin Mahogany last night, at Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox. We've seen Chestnut before, and you pretty much know what you are going to get with a pairing like this anyway-- the Joe Williams songbook, more or less, but that's a fine thing when it is done this well. The show was pretty off the cuff-- they'd played a set the night before, and there was very little overlap from what I can tell. Chestnut uses all the notes, baby, and Mahogany joked about how he didn't leave him anything, which prompted a story: a few years ago he was backstage at a festival in Europe where Kenny Barron and Brad Meldhu were playing a duet set. Barron came off, looking impeccable, and Mehldau followed, wet through. Someone said, "What happened to you?" and Mehldau said,"Man, Kenny Barron is kicking my ass."
Late in the set they asked if there were any requests, and got some sophisticated suggestions ("Ruby, My Dear" was one I'd have liked to have heard; they'd done "Lush Life" the night before, and I was hoping for that, as was, I'm sure, LCA). Someone suggested "Miss Otis Regrets", and then, from left field, someone else called out, "Me and Mrs. Jones". That cracked them both up. "'Me and Mrs. Jones'," Mahogany said, "Is that why Miss Otis regrets?" Then he rumbled right into it. It took Chestnut a moment to catch up, but he was right there by the time Mahogany got to "...we got a thing...". I reckon they were about halfway through it before he ran out of lyrics he remembered, and they broke up in laughter. "A lot of people don't know that my R&B runs a lot deeper than my jazz," Mahogany said, before they finished off with "Here's That Rainy Day" and "Centerpiece". It was mighty fine.
Late in the set they asked if there were any requests, and got some sophisticated suggestions ("Ruby, My Dear" was one I'd have liked to have heard; they'd done "Lush Life" the night before, and I was hoping for that, as was, I'm sure, LCA). Someone suggested "Miss Otis Regrets", and then, from left field, someone else called out, "Me and Mrs. Jones". That cracked them both up. "'Me and Mrs. Jones'," Mahogany said, "Is that why Miss Otis regrets?" Then he rumbled right into it. It took Chestnut a moment to catch up, but he was right there by the time Mahogany got to "...we got a thing...". I reckon they were about halfway through it before he ran out of lyrics he remembered, and they broke up in laughter. "A lot of people don't know that my R&B runs a lot deeper than my jazz," Mahogany said, before they finished off with "Here's That Rainy Day" and "Centerpiece". It was mighty fine.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
To The Cindy Blackman Quartet the opening show Bruce Eaton's Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz series at the Albright Knox last night, a terrific set. About midway through, struck by Ms. Blackman's athletic rhythm and pinpoint control it occured to me that most jazz performances can be described to someone who wasn't there by referencing a specific period in Miles Davis' career. Cindy Blackman drums like Tony Williams, and the sound she seems to have in mind is a blend of that electric Miles trending towards "On the Corner" funk. I think it's the first time we've heard an electric piano in the ten years this series has been running; come to find out that this was his first date with the band. I was most impressed with George Mitchell on bass, who did all the subtle things that are necessary to hold this sort of music together.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
To Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bruce Eaton's Super Bowl Program in the Hunt Real Estate Art of Jazz program at the Albright-Knox. This is the first time we've had organ jazz in the series, which is funny when you think about it. Dr. Lonnie, who is probably the most important musician working in the form today, is from Buffalo, and the city has deep roots in that sort of chitlin' circuit sound. A little organ usually goes a long way with me, but this was terrific stuff, warm and humorous, with real muscle underneath. It helped that this was a trio with guitar and drums, rather than the somewhat more conventional tenor sax-- there is a place for that, but this was more pleasing to me on a sunny Sunday after Mr. Ed's.
