omer avital ed palermo renÃ© urtreger michael brecker - The New York ...

Jan 2, 2015 - SEAMUS BLAKE - MIKE RODRIGUEZ - REUBEN ROGERS - OBED CALVAIRE · THU-SAT JAN ...... Pianist Aaron Goldberg

JANUARY 2015—ISSUE 153

YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENE

NYCJAZZRECORD.COM

specia f e at u l re

BEST O 2014 F

ICP ORCHESTRA not clowning around OMER AVITAL

ED PALERMO

RENÉ URTREGER

MICHAEL BRECKER

Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin To Contact: The New York City Jazz Record 116 Pinehurst Avenue, Ste. J41 New York, NY 10033 United States Laurence Donohue-Greene: [emailprotected] Andrey Henkin: [emailprotected] General Inquiries: [emailprotected] Advertising: [emailprotected] Editorial: [emailprotected] Calendar: [emailprotected] VOXNews: [emailprotected] Letters to the Editor: [emailprotected]

JANUARY 2015—ISSUE 153 New York@Night Interview : Omer Avital Artist Feature : Ed Palermo On The Cover : ICP Orchestra Encore : René Urtreger Lest We Forget : Michael Brecker LAbel Spotlight : Smoke Sessions VOXNEWS

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Staff Writers David R. Adler, Clifford Allen, Fred Bouchard, Stuart Broomer, Katie Bull, Tom Conrad, Ken Dryden, Donald Elfman, Brad Farberman, Sean Fitzell, Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, Alex Henderson, Marcia Hillman, Terrell Holmes, Robert Iannapollo, Suzanne Lorge, Marc Medwin, Robert Milburn, Russ Musto, Sean J. O’Connell, Joel Roberts, John Sharpe, Elliott Simon, Andrew Vélez, Ken Waxman Contributing Writers Duck Baker, Brian Charette, Brad Cohan, Phil Freeman, George Kanzler, Mark Keresman, Ken Micallef Contributing Photographers Roberto Cifarelli, George Council, Peter Gannushkin, Lars Jönsson, Alan Nahigian, Bert Saraco, Jack Vartoogian

nycjazzrecord.com

In Memoriam Festival Report CD Reviews Special Feature: Best Of 2014 Miscellany Event Calendar

4 6 7 8 10 10 11 11 12 13 14 28 43 44

by brian charette by ken dryden by clifford allen by ken waxman by alex henderson by marcia hillman by katie bull by andrey henkin

As a society, we are obsessed with the notion of “Best”. Of course, others’ opinions are like deer; we all try not to hit them when we are driving on the highway. But there is something to acknowledging hard work and the winter months often make one nostalgic. To that end, this first issue of 2015 includes our perennially popular feature: the “Best of the Year” in jazz. Peruse our center spread for TNYCJR’s top picks in an array of categories, plus 100 honorable mentions (visit our website for the top five original album cover art entries). On a sadder note, we also include a list of all those lost from the jazz world in 2014 (pg. 12). But we linger only briefly on what has passed in lieu of what is new before us. January brings an always-welcome appearance of the ICP Orchestra (On The Cover) as part of the Winter Jazzfest; two nights apiece by bassist Omer Avital (Interview) at Jazz Standard in support of his new Motéma Music release and big band leader Ed Palermo (Artist Feature) at Iridium; a rare stateside appearance by French pianist René Urtreger (Encore) at Dizzy’s Club; and a tribute to the late Michael Brecker (Lest We Forget) at The Appel Room. Best friends, best bets, best buys. We’re doing our best and that’s all anyone can do...

2 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

2751 Broadway NYC, NY (btw 105th & 106th Streets) www.smokejazz.com 212.864.6662 JAN. WEEKENDS

JANUARY 2015

JAN. WEEKNIGHTS

JAN. ’ROUND MIDNIGHT

M 1/5

THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND

PATIENCE HIGGINS’ SUGAR HILL QUARTET

Tu 1/6

MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET

JOHNNY O’NEAL & FRIENDS

W 1/7

FLEURINE

Th 1/8

ALLAN HARRIS

M 1/12

THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND

Tu 1/13

MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET

W 1/14

GEORGE BURTON QUARTET

SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH

Th 1/15

ALEXIS COLE

M 1/19

THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND

Tu 1/20

MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET

W 1/21

AKUA DIXON QUARTET - CD RELEASE

Th 1/22

CYNTHIA SCOTT

JIMMY COBB BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

M 1/26

THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND

1/30, 1/31 & 2/1

Tu 1/27

MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET

W 1/28

SIMONA PRIMAZZI QUARTET

Th 1/29

GREGORY GENERET

1/2, 1/3 & 1/4

JD ALLEN QUARTET

JD Allen [ts] Victor Gould [p] Gregg August [b] Rudy Royston [d]

1/9 & 1/10

BARTZ, WILLIS, WILLIAMS & FOSTER

Gary Bartz [alto sax] Larry Willis [p] Buster WIlliams [b] Al Foster [d]

1/11

SMOKE SESSIONS RECORDS & MCKENNA GROUP PRODUCTIONS PRESENT

ORRIN EVANS

“Liberation Blues” Quintet (7pm), New Trio w/ Lil’ John Roberts (9pm) & the Captain Black Big Band (10:30pm)

1/16, 1/17 & 1/18

A TRIBUTE TO “THE MIGHTY BURNER”

Freddie Hendrix [tp] Eric Alexander [ts] Bob DeVos [gtr] Mike LeDonne [B-3] Greg Rockingham [dr]

1/23, 1/24 & 1/25

Peter Bernstein [g] Jimmy Cobb [d] + special guests

BILL CHARLAP TRIO

Bill Charlap [p] Peter Washington [b] Kenny Washington [d]

JAM SESSION

JAM SESSION HOSTED BY THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND

ANNETTE ST. JOHN & HER TRIO

Sets at 7, 9 & 10:30pm FRI & SAT ’ROUND MIDNIGHT SETS also at 11:45PM & 12:45AM MON at 7 & 9pm only MON Jam Session starts at 10:30pm SUN Brunch sets at 11:30am, 1:00pm & 2:30pm

NEW YORK @ NIGHT Mezzrow, barely three months old, is the latest hardhitting jazz club to mushroom in Manhattan’s West Village, a long narrow subterranean room with uneven brickwork and stucco, exposed plumbing, a 1923 Steinway M piano and a good-old-fashioned record player spinning vintage vinyl platters between shows. A perfectly appropriate venue for the likes of Peter Bernstein, who opened his first of two solo guitar sets (Dec. 9th) with Irving Berlin’s “They Say It’s Wonderful”, followed by Thelonious Monk’s “Pannonica” and Tommy Dorsey’s theme “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”, before really hitting his stride on a masterfully arranged and executed version of John Lewis’ “Django”. He maintained this momentum over Noël Coward’s “Someday I’ll Find You”, a soulful stroll through Andy Razaf-Don Redman’s “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You?”, a samba-fied version of the Charlie Parker vehicle “Star Eyes” enhanced by tangy idiosyncratic chord voicings and long-limbed singlenote phrases, and then the 1928 standard “If I Had You”. After getting downer and dirtier on Gene Ammons’ “Woofin’ and Tweetin’”, a blues with tasteful dynamic shifts and longer-than-usual pauses between phrases, he wrapped with Osvaldo Farrés’ “Tres Palabras”, moving from spacious open-string minor chords to dense sound-clusters and back, segueing to a “That’s all folks!” ditty that juxtaposed climbing chromatic ‘calls’ with atonal ‘answers’. —Tom Greenland

PHOTO BY ALAN NAHIGIAN

George Council/PoeticElegancePhotography.com

H istoric meetings can be happenstance. A late cancelation led James “Blood” Ulmer to invite Marc Ribot to join him at City Winery (Dec. 9th). They only shared the stage for a couple songs, but permutations of the blues (in cry if not form) were well displayed. Ribot opened acoustic, playing a stream-ofconsciousness medley of standards, eventually landing on “Ghosts”, finding the gospel and the grunge in Albert Ayler ’s tune. A Mississippi John Hurt song was followed by a couple of pieces from his Silent Movies and a Frantz Casseus arrangement of Ludovic Lamothe’s “Sobo”. He and Ulmer joined together in John Coltrane’s “Dearly Beloved”, Ribot carrying the theme on electric while Ulmer played thick washes on a hollow-body electric. Ulmer then kicked off his own “Street Bride” with a flangey ramble. They wandered for a while, eventually ceding to soloist/accompanist orthodoxy and finding a beautiful balance. Ulmer played a couple of obscure old tunes (introduced with reverence but without attribution) and his own “Dead Presidents” and “Rock Me, Baby”, name-checking B.B. King and Eric Clapton, then one of his best-loved songs, “Are You Glad to Be in America?” He closed with a nice laughing blues and encored with a new song about Ferguson, intoning, “You can’t kill a man with his hand in the air.” During a week when protests about police violence were building in the city, the song rang as true as the sustained notes from his big blonde guitar. —Kurt Gottschalk

Peter Bernstein @ Mezzrow

Marc Ribot & James “Blood” Ulmer @ City Winery

Saxophonist and sculptor Terry Adkins, who died last W rapping February at the age of 60—just weeks before his work was shown in the Whitney Biennial—combined music, sculpture and other media into installations he called “recitals”. George Lewis’ memorial concert for Adkins similarly bridged acoustic and electronic music with projected images and videos and the members of the Ensemble Pamplemousse moving throughout the St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University (Dec. 2nd). Like much of Adkins work, the hour-long concert, under the name “A Recital for Terry Adkins”, was at once performance, installation and ritual. The open-form composition recalled the best of Lewis’ work over recent years. Flute, gong and violin moved through the space and up to the gallery while cello, organ and drums remained stationed near the altar. Recordings of Adkins playing bells and bass drums panned across the room and were mirrored by drummer Andrew Greenwald. Piercing piccolo lines from Natacha Diels flew around like a trapped bird. The huge pipe organ, played by David Broome, added atmosphere, sometimes like the muffled bass of a downstairs dance club, other times more like interference tones, not entirely noticed but very present. Sampled voices drifted in and out of the electronic mix: “Great black music”, “certain contrapuntal elements”, “resisted arrest”. Lewis’ work is very much about how space is filled and with a space as beautiful as the 1907 chapel, the gradual filling of it was breathtaking. (KG)

4 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

up a 150-gig, 43-country tour with his Unity Group at Blue Note (Dec. 2nd), guitarist Pat Metheny condensed his stadium-sized marathon show into an hour-long, club-friendly format. Beginning alone on a double-necked harp-guitar, hammering lefthand bass notes while plucking arpeggios with his right, Metheny was soon joined by tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Ben Williams and drummer Antonio Sanchez for “Come and See” and “Roofdogs” (both from their eponymous debut CD on Nonesuch), songs that quickly revealed the musicians’ collective chemistry and individual lyricism, the latter tune delivered on an outré-toned guitar synthesizer and climaxing in a fusillade of notes. Metheny swiftly switched to acoustic-electric guitar for 80/81’s “The Bat”, a lushly chorded ballad with beautiful falling bends, then ripped right into Song X’ “Police People”, an uptempo Latin piece featuring a boisterous solo from Sanchez, punctuated by the combo’s stop-time accents. After a brief pause to catch his breath, Metheny introduced multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi, the group’s newest member, before cueing two numbers from their latest album, Kin (←→): the title track and “On Day One”, the former a rather ponderous, computer-mediated soundscape; the latter, initiated with a loose-limbed free-blow, boasting a masterful melody and solo from Metheny. His obligatory encore featured a medley of hits performed solo on acoustic guitar. (TG)

If jazz is, along with football (soccer) and love (sex), one of the international languages, then free jazz is a dialect, a way in which musicians of different countries, backgrounds and ages can communicate with common purpose. It’s touching, really. But it’s not all flowers (fleurs) and kittens (kätzchen). Sometimes you get the quartet that appeared at JACK (Dec. 15th): avant garde legends saxophonist/trumpeter Joe McPhee (Poughkeepsie via Miami, 75) and bassist William Parker (Brooklyn via The Bronx, 62) in partnership with tenor saxophonist John Dikeman (Amsterman via Wyoming, ~31) and drummer Onno Govaert (The Netherlands, ~27), two-thirds of the Cactus Truck trio. Over the course of a 50-minute set, Dikeman and Govaert provided the youthful vim, Parker the rhythmic vigor and McPhee (solely on alto saxophone) the sage advice, listening intently, coming in with architectural statements and then dropping back out. The first quartet piece was 20 minutes of full-on squall, the foursome breathing fire together; the second (but third tune) was its bombastic equal over 12 minutes. McPhee sat out the last number, a 12-minute long Chicago-style saxophone trio (full of tomatoes, peppers and a pickle in a poppyseed bun). The most interesting piece was when Dikeman and Govaert deferred to their elders, exulting in a five-minute masterclass as McPhee and Parker played a palate-cleansing five-minute improv, less melodic than rhythmic, Parker’s rich bounce understandable to all. —Andrey Henkin

“I’m pretty old school, ain’t I?” a smiling Andy Bey

Peter Gannushkin/DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET

remarked ironically before scatting a fluidly swinging tag to his ever-so-hip reading of “Take The ‘A’ Train”, an appropriate coda to the Ellington medley that opened his final set at the venerable revitalized Harlem nightspot Minton’s (Dec. 13th). Seated solitarily on stage at the club’s gleaming baby grand piano, Bey started the show (in his words) “just noodling a little bit” at the keyboard, spinning out lyrical lines before slowly intoning the words “I’m nobody’s fool, I’m playing it cool” repeatedly, then launching into “Satin Doll”, his full-bodied baritone, bared within his slow spare piano accompaniment, investing deep meaning into each phrase. He brightened the tempo a bit for “Sophisticated Lady” and then pulled out all the stops on his freewheeling take on “‘A’ Train”. A dreamy rendition of “My Heart Stood Still”, which opened with the seldom-sung verse, was a commanding lesson in dynamic control, his lagging behind-the-beat-thenback recitation of the lyric both poignant and hopeful. Two topical originals, “The Demons Are After You” and “Being Part Of What’s Happening Now”, and the witty “Dog Eat Dog” elicited knowing approval from a crowd that included Mayor and Mrs. Bill de Blasio. An apt “Autumn In New York”, followed by a burning “A Night In Tunisia”, fired up the crowd, which refused to allow the singer to leave before a series of encores, which included a stirring “Someone To Watch Over Me”. —Russ Musto

John Dikeman/William Parker/Onno Govaert/Joe McPhee @ JACK

Andy Bey @ Minton’s

F usion as a genre was maligned pretty much from the start—traditionalists didn’t like it and it was accused of outliving its usefulness only a few years after emerging from racks of keyboards and electric bass cabinets. This meeting of jazz complexity and rock intensity has been known to bring out the worse in some but Polish violinist Michał Urbaniak has spent some five decades refining and perfecting his particular approach. His playing has an icy edge to it, differentiating him from peers like Jean-Luc Ponty or Jerry Goodman, and his composing mixes tropes established by bands like the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever with the lessons he learned under the tutelage of famed Polish composer Krzysztof Komeda. At Drom (Dec. 14th), Urbaniak led a pickup band organized for him by Ornette Coleman bassist Al MacDowell, who manned the stadium-ready rhythm section with drummer Mike Flythe. There were two keyboardists: Yayoi Ikawa as the melodicist, Pete Drungle providing sounds from space. Guitarist Abdule Zhuli spent most of his time comping while blues-jazz tenor saxophonist Roger Byam doubled Urbaniak’s leads and offered the occasional solo. With that many people soloing, the pieces were long but the mostly-Polish-speaking audience loved every earblurring moment. Fusion doesn’t prize subtlety—there was little on display and each tune did devolve into a similar groove in the middles—but the virtuosity that has kept fusion going was there for the taking. (AH)

Celestial harp tones enveloped the Abyssinian Baptist Church as harpist Brandee Younger opened the landmark Harlem cathedral’s jazz vespers concert (Dec. 19th) with a solo recital of “The Lord’s Prayer” hymn, a fitting start to a powerfully spiritual program celebrating the music of Alice Coltrane, together with the pioneering harpist’s son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. Bassist Dezron Douglas’ measured ostinato and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts flowing cymbals announced the opening strains of Coltrane’s “Journey In Satchidananda”, with harp and soprano sax soon entering, combining in a lyrical etherealism, giving way to dramatic solo expressions that segued seamlessly into a steadily intensifying “Blue Nile”. Harp and bowed bass introduced “Jagadishwar” in India-influenced cadences, with Watts’ toms underpinning deeply soulful tenor. “Gospel Trane”, featuring bopping saxophone and harp solos, gave way to a beautiful Younger-Douglas duet, Charlie Haden’s “For Turiya”. The quartet rendered moving performances of John Coltrane’s “Dear Lord” and Younger ’s “He Has A Name (Awareness)”, harpist and saxophonist soloing with unrestrained passion on the former and meditative introspection on the latter. The pair spelled Douglas and Watts to play duo on Stevie Wonder ’s “It’s Magic”. Then bass and drums were featured with Younger on “Rama Rama”, the three soloing mightily before Coltrane rejoined them to close with “The Creator Has A Master Plan”. (RM)

W H AT ’ S N E W S The JazzConnect Conference will take place Jan. 8th-9th at Saint Peter’s Church, leading into the annual APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters) Conference. The theme of this year’s JazzConnect Conference is “Strength Through Community” and will include 12 workshops and 5 plenary sessions. For the complete schedule of events and to register, visit sites.google.com/site/jazzconnect2014. The APAP Conference will include a number of jazz showcases. For the complete schedule and to become a member and register for the conference, which takes place Jan. 9th-13th at the New York Hilton Midtown Manhattan Hotel, visit apap365.org. The nominees for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, to be awarded in a ceremony next month, have been announced. Nominees in relevant categories include Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Wild Heart—Mindi Abair (Heads Up International); Slam Dunk—Gerald Albright (Heads Up International); Eponymous—Nathan East (Yamaha Entertainment Group); Jazz Funk Soul—Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb, Everette Harp (Shanachie); Bass & Mandolin—Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer (Nonesuch). Best Improvised Jazz Solo: “The Eye Of The Hurricane”—Kenny Barron, from: Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio (Whaling City Sound); “Fingerprints”— Chick Corea, from Trilogy (Chick Corea Trio) (Concord Jazz); “You & The Night & The Music”—Fred Hersch, from Floating (Fred Hersch Trio) (Palmetto Records); “Recorda Me”—Joe Lovano, from The Latin Side Of Joe Henderson (Conrad Herwig Featuring Joe Lovano) (Half Note); “Sleeping Giant”—Brad Mehldau, from Mehliana: Taming The Dragon (Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana) (Nonesuch). Best Jazz Vocal Album: Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro—Billy Childs (Masterworks); I Wanna Be Evil—René Marie (Motéma); Live In NYC— Gretchen Parlato (Obliqsound); Beautiful Life—Dianne Reeves (Concord); Paris Sessions—Tierney Sutton (BFM Jazz). Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Landmarks—Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band (Blue Note); Trilogy—Chick Corea Trio (Concord); Floating—Fred Hersch Trio (Palmetto); Enjoy The View—Bobby Hutcherson, David Sanborn, Joey DeFrancesco Featuring Billy Hart (Blue Note); All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller—Jason Moran (Blue Note). Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: The L.A. Treasures Project—The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (Capri); Life In The Bubble—Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band (Telarc); Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project— Rufus Reid (Motéma); Live: I Hear The Sound—Archie Shepp Attica Blues Orchestra (ArchieBall); OverTime: Music Of Bob Brookmeyer—The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (Planet Arts). Best Latin Jazz Album: The Latin Side Of Joe Henderson—Conrad Herwig Featuring Joe Lovano (Half Note); Eponymous—Pedrito Martinez Group (Motéma); The Offense Of The Drum—Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (Motéma); Second Half—Emilio Solla Y La Inestable De Brooklyn (Emilio Solla Music); New Throned King—Yosvany Terry (5Passion). Best Instrumental Composition: “Last Train To Sanity”—Stanley Clarke, from Up (Mack Avenue); “Life In The Bubble”—Gordon Goodwin, from Life In The Bubble (Telarc); “Recognition”—Rufus Reid, from Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project (Motéma); “Tarnation”—Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, from Bass & Mandolin (Nonesuch). Best Arrangement, Instrumental: “Beautiful Dreamer”—Pete McGuinness, from Strength In Numbers (Summit); “Get Smart”—Gordon Goodwin, from Life In The Bubble (Telarc); “Guantanamera”—Alfredo Rodríguez, from The Invasion Parade (Mack Avenue). Best Arrangement, Vocal: “All My Tomorrows”—Jeremy Fox, from With Love: Arrangements For Some Of My Favorite Singers (Jazzbill); “Goodnight America”—Vince Mendoza, from Songs From The Movie (Rounder); “New York Tendaberry”—Billy Childs, from Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (Masterworks); “Party Rockers”—Gordon Goodwin, from Life In The Bubble (Telarc); “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?”—Pete McGuinness, from Strength In Numbers (Summit). For more information, visit grammy.com. A lawsuit has been filed by the son of Chet Baker against the production company planning a film about the late trumpeter/ vocalist. Paul Baker claims that Robert Budreau reneged on a planned collaboration with his mother as well as screenplay approval. The suit seeks $5 million in damages. As part of the new film Altman, which celebrates the life of the late director Robert Altman, whose filmography includes the jazz-inspired Kansas City, keyboard player John Medeski recorded Altman’s song “Let’s Begin Again” with vocalist Rachael Yamagata, bassist Jesse Murphy and drummer Ben Perowsky. The World Music Institute has appointed Par Neiburger as Artistic Director and named Cynthia McVay Acting Executive Director. For more information, visit worldmusicinstitute.org. Submit news to [emailprotected]

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

photo by Roberto Cifarelli

I NTERVIEW

OMER AVITAL by brian charette

Bassist

Omer Avital: My parents are musical. I started messing around with friends, singing in some places. When I was 10, I started playing classical guitar. My brother had a guitar that he had stopped playing and it was just hanging on the wall. My mom saw that I was singing and that I liked the guitar and started asking around where I could study. She took me to the conservatory where we lived, which had a very good program for classical music. Now they have a great jazz program...everyone who plays jazz goes there. After three years I got accepted to Thelma Yellin High School for the Arts as a classical guitarist.

musicians play for the first time, it was magic. They seemed like people with a higher understanding. When I went to my first jazz guitar teacher, I didn’t know anything and he seemed a little bummed (laughs). Then I brought my bass and we started to play chord charts for songs like “Night and Day” and “Summertime”. After a while I started to study with Carlos Ben-Ari. He was the main bass guy and had a bunch of students in my hometown [of Giv’atayim]. He asked me what I wanted to learn and I said I wanted to study jazz. He got me into everything. He also had a guitar ensemble that needed a bassist. I got a folder of 40 standards that I had to prepare. I made up basslines for each song and it wasn’t that hard. When I tried it with the band, it was OK, but soloing was like jumping into a swamp. I remember it was the most terrible feeling not knowing how to solo or thinking, “Where am I?” To help me out, Carlos gave me cassettes of Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins that I started transcribing. It was really step by step. I wasn’t rushed into it. I learned a little here, a little there. I believe that’s how life works. Eventually I started doing Sonny, a little bit of Miles, maybe “Bags’ Groove” and I realized they were all doing a lot of the same stuff.

TNYCJR: Do you still play guitar?

TNYCJR: When did upright start for you?

OA: I still play some guitar. I can read well. When I came to the school I was with all these heavy guys who were practicing all the time and it really brought my music to another level. I realized that I liked rock and jazz more and I was getting into a rock band that needed a bassist so I bought a bass. I started collecting lots of instruments. I got a Casio keyboard. I was interested in industrial music, punk, everything ‘80s. I was playing in a few rock bands, surrounded with lots of different music. When I was into punk I was wearing all black (laughs). I grew up in a mix. My dad is from a Moroccan family and my mom is Yemenite.

OA: At some point, I took the upright. When you are young you are loose and into trying things. I was starting to get into the scene. I had my own band senior year and I took the bass home because I played it on one of the school recitals. I remember feeling it was hard but it really resonated with me. It felt good and had a richer sound than the electric. I started to study with another great bass teacher, Emil Ram. He was in NYC and played with [pianist] Barry Harris. He knew his system and was my big guru. We would have fourhour lessons. After a year of studying with Emil, I started to get into Michael Brecker, Jaco Pastorius and Steps Ahead. I was playing a lot in Tel Aviv. I was transcribing and starting to get bebop...the logic of it. Big band into bebop was a big chunk of music for me. For me it was all connected.

Omer Avital was one of the first young jazz phenoms to come to NYC from Israel in the jazz renaissance of the early ‘90s. He quickly became a central figure at thenvery-new NYC jazz club Smalls, where he led a popular sextet for many years. He has worked with numerous jazz luminaries, including Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman. This month, he celebrates his new Motéma Music release, New Song, at Jazz Standard. The New York City Jazz Record: How did you start to play music?

TNYCJR: What was that like? Was it uncommon? OA: For me to play classical European music with my background was uncommon. I’m not going to get into the more political or social aspects... TNYCJR: Of course, but let’s just say you took some heat for it. OA: Yeah. Back then it was more divided and I was a bit confused. I got into everything. I was exposed to both cultures very much. I got a strong European foundation from my studies and I had an ear for the folk music. My dad liked all kinds of music. The American sound was always there. My dad was a great swing dancer so I started to hear a lot of the swing rhythm; early rock and big band, anything he could dance to. Swing was always there for me. From my father I got the love of music. When I saw jazz

TNYCJR: So how did you come to New York? OA: I realized at a point I had to do the groundwork and really learn bebop. I quit the army and came to New York to attend The New School. I ended up in the East Village for about ten years. I was gigging, getting to know people. It was an amazing time. The scene was very good. I was all about playing every night. TNYCJR: Tell me about the four-horn band you had at Smalls. OA: My first gigs as a leader were at Smalls in 1995. That was my first band. Jason Lindner ’s big band started a year before. There was a real community:

6 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Mark Turner was around...Myron Walden. The people started to really respond. I started to write music for the group very organically and slowly. We had a great concept. I was in many other groups at Smalls too. I would play Tuesdays, Thursdays and late Fridays. Monday with Jason’s band. I was basically there all the time. My bass was there. It was a workshop for me... Playing at a place like Smalls feels like exactly what I was meant to do. It’s the essence of the feeling and the people that go there know. It’s a free environment, a great place. The soul of Smalls is still the same as it used to be in the beginning. In ‘96 we got a nice write up in The Times and people started to talk about us.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 54)

BERT SARACO / COURTESY OF CUNEIFORM RECORDS

ARTIST FE ATURE

ED PALERMO

Recommended Listening: • Ed Palermo—Eponymous (Vile Heifer, 1981) • Ed Palermo Big Band—Ping Pong (ProJazz, 1988) • Ed Palmero Big Band—Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (Astor Place, 1996) • Ed Palmero—Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance (Cuneiform, 2005) • Ed Palermo Big Band—Eddy Loves Frank (Cuneiform, 2008-09) • Ed Palermo Big Band—Oh No! Not Jazz!! (Cuneiform, 2011-14)

by ken dryden Mention Ed Palermo and the first thing that comes to mind is the music of Frank Zappa. Already a working jazz professional during college in the mid ‘70s, Palermo recorded or performed with a number of stars, including Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Tony Bennett and Mel Tormé, besides leading his own groups. But his career began to soar soon after Zappa’s death in December 1993, when he started arranging and playing the music of Zappa for his big band. Palermo was obsessed with music from an early age. “It started with The Beatles. I saw them on Ed Sullivan and my two older brothers [Nick and John] and I were enraptured. We checked into the British Invasion bands: Procol Harum, Traffic, John Mayall. Nick started bringing different types of music into our house. Frank Zappa’s humor piqued my interest at first, but as I listened to it more, I noticed some incredibly beautiful music beneath the lyrics. When I was in ninth grade and saw Zappa live, that sealed the deal for me. Nick tried to get me into jazz, but that didn’t take until college.” Although Palermo played both tenor saxophone and guitar in high school, he admits that he wasn’t that skilled since he didn’t take private lessons. Things changed when he entered DePaul University in Chicago. He explained, “I knew that I’d have to start practicing and that I couldn’t make a living as a rock ’n‘ roll saxophonist, I had to learn to play jazz. I immersed myself, listening to Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods and Jackie McLean. My high school grades were bad, but DePaul accepted me because my brother went there the year before.” Palermo became a serious student and did well at the university. While at DePaul, Palermo checked out local jam sessions in the city, eventually finding work for his small group. Palermo recalled, “By my junior year I was pretty busy. I met Kenny Soderblom, a woodwind player who was established in the jingle world. He got me great gigs like live performances with Tony Bennett, Perry Como and recording sessions. At this point I was a tenor player and really into jazz. I wanted to play with Horace Silver or Elvin Jones’ band. I was playing in the style of Dave Liebman, Michael Brecker and the post-Coltrane guys. But when I got to New York, people like me were a lot closer to their dreams than I was! I started jamming and it took me a year before I got work with Tito Puente’s band, who I played with for three years. During the day I would go to the library and take out LPs to study classical scores. I was already writing and composing in college, but I wanted to arrange for a large ensemble. Once I went to hear Woody Shaw at the Village Vanguard, where he had four horns and a rhythm section. I put together a ninepiece band of young musicians. [Pianist] Dave Lalama was a mentor to me. I jammed with him a lot and we became good friends. He was more into bebop and I wanted to do something modern like Liebman’s Lookout Farm. I started arranging then called Dave with questions. I would record my rehearsals on

cassette, then sit for hours listening, trying to figure out what was right and wrong, totally trial and error. I started arranging big band stuff after a friend’s suggestion. I was doing door gigs for a long time.” When Frank Zappa died in 1993, Palermo decided to do a concert of Zappa music. “I wrote some charts over the next two months and we played The Bitter End. Usually unknown big bands outnumber the audience in New York City, but it got out on the internet and it was swamped when we played Zappa. We moved to The Bottom Line and played there often over the next nine months.” Palermo continues to arrange Zappa songs, with around 300 charts in his vast book. There are a number of reasons for Palermo’s success interpreting Zappa’s music. Many jazz fans of his generation are also devoted Zappa collectors who enjoyed Zappa’s writing and arranging for big bands in 1972 and 1988. The leader has had success fleshing out brief Zappa themes like “Toads of the Short Forest” and “Twenty Small Cigars” while he also shares Zappa’s affinity for sneaking in surprising song quotes into his arrangements. Palermo has emulated Zappa’s playing of long medleys without stopping for a break in concert, though he covers songs in depth rather than just minute or two snippets in an Ellington-like “Let’s knock out a bunch of hits at once for the casual fan” medley. A number of Zappa sidemen have guested with Palermo on recordings or gigs. The leader notes, “[keyboard player] Mike Keneally said that, ‘Besides playing with Zappa, playing with you is the only thing that does it for me.’ [Saxophonist/vocalist] Napoleon Murphy Brock said that my band is the dream that he’s had his whole life because he used to be a big Stan Kenton fan. Now he gets to do arrangements I’ve specifically written for him. [Guitarist] Denny Walley guested with my band in Sweden and [vocalist] Ray White has sung with us.” Palermo has written a number of originals over the years and devoted one-half of his recent two-CD set On No! Not Jazz!! to them, yet he only sparingly plays his compositions on gigs. “I don’t have any burning desire to play my own material for audiences. Even with the Zappa charts, I’m doing shorter versions so I can go on to do the next new arrangement. I created a mash-up medley with a reharmonized swing version of ‘God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen’ that leads into Zappa’s ‘Lumpy Gravy’, with the sax player soloing on the changes to ‘What Is This Thing Called Love?’. Then we combine Dizzy Gillespie’s ‘Things to Come’ and ‘Bebop’, with the melodies on top of one another. I don’t like playing the melody then have someone soloing over its changes, that’s been done to death.” There’s no shortage of music for future releases, as Palermo notes, “I have two to three CDs of music ready to go.” v For more information, visit palermobigband.com. Palermo’s big band with guests Napoleon Murphy Brock and Rob Paparozzi is at Iridium Jan. 17th-18th. See Calendar.

JSnycjr0115

12/10/14

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icp orchestra not clowning around by clifford allen

J anuary 1, 2015 will mark the 48th anniversary of Dutch improvised music collective Instant Composers Pool (ICP). It’s quite difficult to imagine playing partnerships lasting ten years, let alone just under 50. Granted, with recent health developments keeping longtime pianist Misha Mengelberg from playing, the sole remaining constant from the beginning is drummer Han Bennink. ICP was founded in 1967 by Bennink, Mengelberg and reedplayer Willem Breuker to present recordings and concerts under the umbrella of collective, creative improvisation that was as free to bring in Monk, Ellington and Herbie Nichols as it was avant garde performance and rugged group interplay. In addition to Bennink, the current ensemble, ICP Orchestra, consists of reedplayers Tobias Delius, Michael Moore and Ab Baars, trumpeter Thomas Heberer, trombonist Wolter Wierbos, violinist/violist Mary Oliver, cellist Tristan Honsinger and bassist Ernst Glerum. Not all of the ICP musicians are Dutch; Moore, Oliver and Honsinger are expatriated Americans while Heberer is from Germany and splits his time between New York and Europe and Delius was born in England. This multinational ICP is certainly nothing new in the group’s history—Honsinger first appeared with the group in the late ‘70s and at various points the pool has been drawn from German, English, Danish, South African and Japanese musicians. Looking at a roster of contributors 30 or 40 years ago, one might encounter such free music luminaries as John Tchicai, Steve Lacy, Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof, Toshinori Kondo, Derek Bailey and Alan Silva. Bennink is a tall, ruddy-complexioned and silverhaired character—he doesn’t mince words about the trials and tribulations of keeping the ICP relatively intact over five decades and the combative fulcrum that was, in part, the juice of the ensemble during that time and was a real reflection of an uneasy (“terrible!”) relationship between the drummer and Mengelberg. The two began performing together in the early ‘60s, which eventually led to auspicious sideman work with Eric Dolphy in 1964. The ICP was in part founded as a label; imprints like Artone, CBS, Philips-Fontana and Relax had released documents of new Dutch jazz, but those situations dried up quickly. As Bennink notes, “the first person that made his own LPs [in European free music] was Peter Brötzmann. Breuker knew Peter and that’s how I got to know Peter. We had contact with all of them, English, German, Belgian, French... we were the first European Union avant la lettre!” Between 1967 and Breuker ’s 1974 departure, the ICP released 15 LPs documenting a variety of solo and group activities, with covers often silkscreened or hand-stamped and usually based on Bennink’s designs. A couple of rather offbeat packages were part of this approach, including a double-LP of Breuker ’s music housed in a replica chocolate box. Bennink studied visual arts (also, Mengelberg was briefly associated with the Fluxus movement and neo-Dada) and his intricate, gestural whimsy shows it: “For me improvising and visual art are the same—I had a drawing table at home and when I was tired of

drawing, I turned around and played the drums!” Post-1974, the group continued to release records, including collaborations with Italian free improvisers on Live: Soncino (AdLib/ICP, 1979) and a 1982 tour of Japan (Japan-Japon, ICP/DIW)—“with a chair always left open for Breuker or Brötzmann,” as Bennink puts it. By the time the ICP issued a commemorative boxed set in 2012 documenting 45 years of the collective, the catalogue numbered 50 releases and few stones were left unturned—the end product includes 52 discs, two DVDs, a lavish book of photos by Peter Boersma, a diagram of Mengelberg’s “camel-chair” set piece and a box designed by Bennink. The current ICP ensemble lineup has remained nearly unchanged for almost 20 years, which is an extreme rarity; as Heberer relates, “According to Misha, finding the right mix of personalities for the ICP took decades. It’s true, we are all very distinct in the way we are and play; however, I consider it to be like an utopian democracy—we are all very different, nevertheless creating something together while all participants have a ton of respect for each other.” Heberer joined the group in 1993, after performing Mengelberg’s music as part of the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra in 1987. Moore is another long-term conscript, who has been with the group since 1981 and first recorded on Japan-Japon. “I was already playing with Han and [cellist] Ernst Reijseger and I think that Han suggested to Misha that I might be compatible. The first tour I was a part of was to Japan, with Brötzmann and Keshavan Maslak also playing saxophone. I learned some things real quick. Any long lasting and enjoyable musical relationship is a treasure. This one is a living organism of which I am a part and which I am committed to. I think that a large part of what sustains the group is the amount of freedom we have individually, along with the fact that there is no leader.” The ‘utopian’ democracy of the ICP is somewhat unique. While Bennink might these days appear to be directing from the drumkit—his relentless swing, openness and physically comedic (but always structured) approach is that arresting—there is no true leader. The ICP is uniformly a collective where all the participants bring compositions and ideas to the table. As a unit they have a clear identity honed through decades of playing, writing and improvising, with new ideas given life yet retaining an utmost respect for the collective’s history. Baars relates, “I was invited to join ICP Orchestra in 1984. I knew and had heard the ICP many times before and I knew most of the musicians and had been working with some of them in different organizations. But the ICP was a dream orchestra for me and to be asked for that, wow! Misha is my biggest inspiration up to this day. For me the most important ingredient is the ‘Misha Question Mark’. Misha never took anything for granted and was open (or not) to all sorts of (non-) material, (non-) suggestions, (non-) ideas and chaos. On the other hand the specific group sound is getting more unique and refined. Coloring and blending, working on the sound is also a ‘work in

8 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

progress’—it’s like a fluid.” All of the ICP members were chosen by Mengelberg and Bennink for their independent work and what possibilities they might bring to the table. As Moore puts it, “we rarely talk about the music we play. We talk about anything else, including other music, but there are no discussions after the gig. I am very glad to work in a situation where there are no clear-cut taboos, where the rules are made to be broken and where there is no best way to perform a piece. This is very traditional—jazz has always been about making stuff up.” Delius characterizes the group’s nature even more simply, stating, “the band’s strength and charm comes from the differences in personalities. I think we all have diverging interests, aesthetics and methods and enjoy bringing these into our performances…what I hope will always remain is that however arranged a piece may be, we are always open to it going somewhere completely different. I think we all pay a lot of attention to detail. Timbre, phrasing, you name it. So every slight nuance has immediate consequences in how the music proceeds. Trust is therefore very important.” What is also extraordinarily rare in this music is that a large ensemble with this much history continues to tour regularly. All of the musicians speak fondly of the group’s manager, Susanna von Canon, who organizes international tours from behind the scenes and crosses hurdles, which, in her words, “are becoming increasingly Sisyphean.” They have been touring in the US since 1999 (and not just the major cities—this writer saw them many times in Texas), invariably with support from the Dutch government, though subsidies are increasingly hard to come by. Though the international jazz scene has to fight its own homogeneity continually, as Moore puts it, “as outsiders we do not have to conform to anyone’s idea of ‘what jazz is’ or be commercial in any sense.” The lasting imprint of the ICP is clearly that of a group that is outside any sort of mainstream (even the avant garde has one), yet easily accessible through a landscape of contrasting or complementary personalities and an environment of trust. After all, when Baars finishes one of his laconically tough tenor solos, the drum cue one expects might not be there. What to do but figure something else out? v For more information, visit icporchestra.com. ICP Orchestra is at Le Poisson Rouge and members take part in Round Robin Duets at Judson Church, both Jan. 9th as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar. Recommended Listening: • Instant Composers Pool— Groupcomposing (ICP, 1971) • ICP Tentet—Tetterettet (FMP-ICP, 1977) • ICP Orchestra—Two Programs: Performs Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk (ICP, 1984/86) • ICP Orchestra—Jubilee Varia (hatOLOGY, 1997) • ICP Orchestra—Oh, My Dog! (ICP, 2001) • ICP Orchestra—East of the Sun (ICP, 2014)

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ENCORE

RENÉ URTREGER by ken waxman N early

60 years on, French piano jazz master René Urtreger is probably still best-known internationally as part of the Miles Davis quintet that recorded the universally praised soundtrack and subsequent LP of Louis Malle’s film Ascenseur pour l’échafaud in 1957. But Urtreger, 80, who this month plays his first-ever New York gig as a leader, has had a celebrated and farranging career in his home country. One of France’s original modern jazzmen, who cut his first LP as leader at 21 (Joue Bud Powell, Barclay), Urtreger has over the years played with countless jazz stars, worked with a variety of artists, composed film and theater music and was honored as Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur in 2010. “The movie and the soundtrack became so famous that I guess it’s rather normal for not-curious people to not dig further,” says Urtreger of his international near-obscurity. Urtreger, who now resides in Mortagneau-Perche in Normandy (“I was born in Paris; I am a 100% pure Parisian, but I don’t like what Paris has become now,” he explains), isn’t bothered by this ignorance after all these years. However he points out that what isn’t well known is that the soundtrack date was just part of a two-year close association he had with Davis at the time. “I first met Miles Davis in ’56 when we played all the major European cities as The Birdland Tour. We started the night with my trio, with Christian Garros on drums and Pierre Michelot on the bass, then we played with [tenor saxophonist] Lester Young in quartet and then with Miles in quartet and at the end, they joined us for the last tune as a quintet. By the way, the second part of that show was Bud Powell playing solo piano and the Modern Jazz Quartet ended the night. When [Davis] came back in ’57 to play with [drummer] Kenny Clarke, promoter Marcel Romano put together this band adding the young [tenor saxophonist] Barney Wilen [and Michelot]. We played

at Le Club Saint-Germain every night for a long time and it was incredible experience to play every day with Miles. The ’57 tour was rather smaller than ‘56’s, but we took the time to record the soundtrack.” Although Urtreger and Davis would later meet frequently when the trumpeter played Paris (“I remember a wonderful dinner in Paris with Paul Chambers, Wynton Kelly, John Coltrane and Jimmy Cobb,” he reports), that was the extent of what the pianist describes as “a very important experience for me.” Still, he hardly needed the Davis imprimatur for a jazz career that was already blossoming. Urtreger began studying classical music from when he was 5 until he was 18 and became a professional at 19, after winning a national jazz contest. During 1953 he also became house pianist at Paris’ Blue Note club, backing the likes of tenor saxophonist Don Byas and trumpeter Buck Clayton. Although he initially worked with musicians from the Swing Era, he insists “I never played swing music although I admired musicians from this era, from Lester Young to Art Tatum. I was a bebop kid playing and paying my dues with elders. My music and most important influence was Charlie Parker and of course Bud Powell. Later playing with Lee Konitz or Miles Davis was way more into my idiom and language. Today, of course, although my music is coming from bebop, it has evolved so much that I feel this expression is quite meaningless.” Although the pianist’s talents were recognized by awards such as Prix Django Reinhardt de l’Académie du Jazz in 1961, what he describes as “the up and down life of a jazz piano player” led him to take on other work during the ‘60s and ‘70s. He accompanied pop singers such as Claude François and Sacha Distel and also composed soundtracks for films directed by Claude Berri and René Féret. Pop stars like François and Distel have since died and as for his experience with film scoring, all Urtreger will say is “in France most of the people working in movie industry don’t understand anything about music.” The pianist continued recording jazz with contemporaries such as drummer Philly Joe Jones and guitarist Jimmy Gourley, finally returning to jazz full time in 1977, eventually working with the likes of

Konitz and Sonny Stitt, as well as younger local musicians such as tenor saxophonist Sylvain Beuf and bassist Yves Torchinsky. The latter has been part of the pianist’s groups for the past 20 years while drummer Simon Goubert is a regular substitute for the drummer in Urtreger ’s long-established trio. Both will accompany him in New York. Ironically, while he often works in Europe, the only stateside performance Urtreger has given was in Los Angles in 2007. “I still believe in the American dream,” he avers. “America is the birthplace of jazz music, even if this music is now universal. And I’m still fascinated by the country that invented the art [to which] I have devoted all my life.” Although he has never played in New York, he has visited the city often, one time catching up with the scene from jazz baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, a Parisian acquaintance. Today, as benefits an octogenarian, he says: “I play less than before. I play mostly now for pleasure. At a certain age, you want only to play for the best, only shows that I am sure I will enjoy. One of my most memorable memories of this last summer was playing four-handed piano with the great Chick Corea.” After almost 60 years as a professional jazz musician, Urtreger still insists, “jazz doesn’t have the place it deserves in the society. And I do think that people like Parker, Monk, Miles made way better music than the music that is played now everywhere.” Meanwhile his New York performance is part of his other desire. As he says simply: “I want only to share my music.” v

that was evident on the albums they recorded. Michael’s appreciation of music other than jazz led to sessions with a long list of non-jazz artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren, George Clinton, Lou Reed and John Lennon. Indeed, the fact that Brecker ’s résumé included everyone from Chet Baker and Chick Corea to Aerosmith shows just how eclectic his musical tastes were. In July 2014, Randy was interviewed for the liner notes for reissues of some Diana Ross albums that The Brecker Brothers played on during the ‘80s. As he saw it, the fact that The Brecker Brothers were capable of playing instrumental jazz one minute and collaborating with an R&B/pop star like Ross the next reflected their Philly upbringing. “Philly was a melting pot for different styles of music,” he said, noting that many of the musicians at Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s souloriented Philadelphia International Records came from jazz backgrounds. In his view, “jazz and R&B/soul were coming out of the same fountain” in Philly back then. In the ‘80s, Michael was a member of the allstar fusion band Steps Ahead (which also included, among others, guitarist Mike Stern, keyboardist Eliane Elias and drummer Peter Erskine). However, the first album under his own name didn’t come until 1987, when he recorded Michael Brecker for Impulse Records. In the late ‘90s he joined with fellow saxophone colossi Dave

Liebman and Joe Lovano to form Saxophone Summit, which released one album, Gathering of Spirits, on Telarc in 2004. He went on, in addition to all his activities as a sideman, to record ten more albums as a leader, the last of which was Pilgrimage (Heads Up, 2006). Although the quality of his playing didn’t suffer, Brecker was quite ill when Pilgrimage was recorded. In addition to leukemia, he had been suffering from a rare blood disorder called Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). He had received a partial stem cell transplant in 2005 and 2006 and his health seemed to be improving but Brecker took a turn for the worse and died Jan. 13, 2007 at the age of 57. v

For more information, visit rene-urtreger.fr. Urtreger is at Dizzy’s Club Jan. 14th. See Calendar. Recommended Listening: • René Urtreger—Joue Bud Powell (Plays Bud Powell) (Barclay—EmArcy/Gitanes Jazz, 1955) • Miles Davis—Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Fontana, 1957) • René Urtreger/Pierre Michelot/Daniel Humair— Hum! (Carlyne/Vega, 1960) • René Urtreger Quartet—Masters (Carlyne Music-Universal, 1987) • René Urtreger—Move (Black & Blue, 1995) • René Urtreger—Onirica (Sketch, 2000)

LEST WE FORGET

MICHAEL BRECKER by alex henderson

Michael Brecker went down in history as one of the most influential tenor saxophonists of the ‘70s, ‘80s and beyond. His big, distinctive tone influenced countless saxophonists in fusion and postbop, from the “five Bobs” (Bob Mintzer, Bob Sheppard, Bob Malach, Bob Franceschini and the late Bob Berg) to Donny McCaslin, Bill Evans, Chris Potter and Joe Lovano. Yet Brecker ’s influence was not limited to jazz and he was held in high regard by many R&B and rock musicians as well. Born in Philadelphia on Mar. 29th, 1949, Brecker (who also played the soprano saxophone as a secondary instrument) came from a city famous for its contributions to both jazz and R&B. One of his main influences on the tenor was a North Carolina native who had a strong Philly connection: John Coltrane. Brecker ’s recognizable tone also owed a lot to Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter. Brecker was in his early 20s when he played alongside his older brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker (b. 1945, Cheltenham, PA), in the fusion band Dreams; in 1975, they formed their own band, The Brecker Brothers. The Breckers never claimed to be jazz purists and

10 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

For more information, visit michaelbrecker.com. A Brecker tribute is at The Appel Room Jan. 20th. See Calendar. Recommended Listening: • Randy Brecker—Score (Solid State-Blue Note, 1969) • Hal Galper Quintet—Children of the Night (Double-Time, 1978) • Pat Metheny—80/81 (ECM, 1980) • Michael Brecker—Eponymous (MCA/Impulse!, 1986-87) • Horace Silver—A Prescription for the Blues (Impulse!, 1997) • Saxophone Summit—Gathering of Spirits (Telarc, 2004)

L ABEL SPOTLIGHT

SMOKE SESSIONS by marcia hillman

It all began with the neighborhood watering hole, Augie’s Jazz Bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. When its owner Augusto Cuartas hit on hard times and had to close in 1998, current owners Paul Stache and Frank Christopher took over but were unable to reopen the club under the old name. However, in the meantime, screenwriter Paul Auster had written the screenplay for the 1999 movie Smoke in which there was a character based on the former owner, so Stache and Christopher chose that as the name for the new club, which opened in April of 1999. In the years that Smoke has been operating, there have been changes in the decorations, addition of a state-of-the-art sound system and reputation as a supper club as well as doing a Sunday jazz brunch. But the room is still the same size, seats 50 people at tables, has stools at the long bar and a wonderful feeling of intimacy. The headliners that have appeared at Smoke include Hank Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Frank Wess, Benny Golson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Ron Carter, Jane Monheit, Roy Hargrove and Christian McBride, among others. There is also a history of groups that have recorded albums live at the club over the years. Fastforward into 2014 with the logical evolvement of Smoke Sessions, the club’s own recording label. The first CD releases consisted of pianists Eric Reed’s

For All We Know David Hazeltine

The Original Mobb Jimmy Cobb

Groovewise, Orrin Evans’ Liberation Blues, David Hazeltine’s For All We Know, Cyrus Chestnut’s Midnight Melodies and Harold Mabern’s Right On Time; drummers Jimmy Cobb’s The Original Mob and Louis Hayes’ Return of the Jazz Communicators; and saxophonists Javon Jackson’s Expression and Vincent Herring’s The Uptown Shuffle. “I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that the club should have its own label,” reflects Stache. “And I’ve wanted to capture the same good sound quality we get in the club.” Retaining his preference for the “old fashioned way”, Stache launched the label with a 500-copy collector ’s edition 200-gram vinyl LP that samples four selections from four initial label releases (Vincent Herring Quartet on “Elation”; David Hazeltine Quartet on “My Ship”; Javon Jackson Band on “Think On Me”; and Harold Mabern on “To You”). This unusual label launch item is one of the things differentiates this label from others. All of the releases are produced using vintage techniques and audio paths, which deliver an analog sound. Stache explains: “There is a warmth that is gotten that you don’t achieve with the digital approach, capturing the live sound that you would get in a club.” In addition to this philosophy, Stache takes a different approach regarding preparing for the recording sessions. “I book the groups into the club for three nights even before going into the studio. It’s not really a rehearsal, but it does give the artists the opportunity to work out the songs and arrangements while getting important feedback from a live audience.” So far, feedback from the label’s artists about label

Right On Time Harold Mabern

operations has been favorable. Herring comments, “I loved the way Paul and Frank transformed the place from Augie’s. It could not be better, not only physically but also in the way they treat musicians. So when they asked me to record, I felt honored. I love the professionalism they display both in running the club and on the recording end.” Trombonist Steve Davis (who has known Paul, Frank and their partner Damon Smith since the inception of Smoke Jazz Club—even before when it was still Augie’s), remarks “We’ve been friends for years, so it was an easy, logical fit for me to sign with the label. There’s always been a great rapport between Paul and Frank, the entire staff at the club and the musicians. So doing a record date together was a pleasure. Everything was first-class…they get a great sound in the studio as they do live at the club. Paul is a terrific engineer and has great ears for the music. Also the label made it possible for me to hire a truly allstar band for our J.J. Johnson Tribute. We had a blast…I feel great about the music and am really excited about this project.” Trombonist Steve Turre also adds his kudos: “I have worked with Paul Stache for many years while performing at the club. He has applied the same integrity and regard for quality to the record label as he has with the presentation and quality of ‘real jazz’ in the club. It has been a pleasure to work with him on my own project Spiritman coming out in March.” The label has a small staff and according to Smith, who calls himself an associate producer and general manager, “Paul Stache is president and Frank

The Uptown Shuffle Vincent Herring

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 54)

Liberation Blues Orrin Evans

VOX NEWS

A Joyous Revolt on a Foggy Day by katie bull “That

dance? The jazz dance? Ah, the dance! The dance of Life was ending,” wrote author John F. Matheus in his beautiful 1925 award-winning short story “Fog”. Matheus captured the life force impulse of jazz, setting it on a train ride fraught with racial prejudice in overt-tones. He took readers over a bridge that cracked as the train descended into a blindingly foggy river. The plunge, however, awakened all survivors to their in-common humanity. The fog soon lifted on the evolved riders, in more ways than one. In the increasingly dehumanized 21st century the singers highlighted here are some of the Best Of 2014; they are awake to the jazz dance of life and their music is evolved. Andy Bey’s album Pages From An Imaginary Life (Savant) is a deeply grounding instant classic. Bey’s guiding torch of sonic truth is raw, unguilded and essential. His music is a tender antidote to the hype of our disjointed times. Enter jazz goddess René Marie, parading as a human. Her 2015 Grammy-nominated Eartha Kitt tribute I Wanna Be Evil (Motéma) is a blast of raw energy. At 54Below last month Marie sang with incomparable depth of gut, grit and heart. In her

everyday life she is an active advocate for the homeless. Another VOXNews ‘regular ’ is now a Grammy nominee in the Best Arrangement: Instrumentals and Vocals categories; quadruple threat trombone-playing vocalist, arranger and bandleader Pete McGuinness will capture your heart with Strength In Numbers (Summit). Comparisons have been made to Chet Baker ’s sound, but McGuinness has a voice all his own. Another wizard is exploratory Swiss vocalist, composer, bandleader and human beatboxer Andreas Schaerer, whose album Hildegarde Lernt Fliegen: The Fundamental Rhythm of Unpolished Brains (Enja/ Yellowbird)—and Arcanum (Intakt), a duo with percussionist Lucas Niggli—embodies a pioneering earthy-yet-wild, unpredictable vocal vision. Schaerer is keeping it unreal and has Perpetual Delirium just out on BMC Records. Spun of kindred cloth, fantastic Polish experimental singer Grzegorz Karnas offers a completely realized trio album, Vanga (BMC Records), a solidly grooving, fluidly swinging odyssey outside the box of tradition, yet clearly rooted somewhere in ‘there’. Karnas’ remarkably wide resonant range and entirely original scat chops are nothing short of breathtaking. And speaking of chops, veteran poet Steve Dalachinsky must be mentioned for the incredible improvisational simpatico he displays with saxophone great Dave Liebman on their album The Fallout of Dreams (RogueArt). Dalachinsky’s poetic intensity

forges sharp personal images that rise and fall in a sonic flood of percussive onomatopoeia. “The true spirit of jazz is a joyous revolt from convention, custom, authority, boredom, even sorrow – from everything that would confine the soul of man and hinder its riding free on the air.” (J.A. Rogers, Jamaican-American self-taught historian, author and journalist). The list goes on with many beautiful albums “riding free”: Orphéon Célesta’s Cuisine Au Jazz (Frémeaux & Associés), Dee Daniels’ Intimate Conversations (Origin), Cyrille Aimée’s It’s A Good Day (Mack Avenue) and Curtis Stigers’ Hooray for Love (Concord). Some of the best albums of 2014 can be heard live in January: Beat Kaestli’s Collage (Francophone) at Bar Next Door (Jan. 19th) and Brianna Thomas’ You Must Believe In Love (Sound On Purpose) at Minton’s (Jan. 11th). Catherine Russell’s Bring It Back (Jazz Village), to be featured at the Winter Jazzfest (Jan. 10th), is a do-not-miss event. Russell brings down the house. Also check out fiery trumpet playing vocalist/ composer Bria Skonberg (Jan. 10th) and hybrid-arts singer, actor, movement artist Jen Shyu (Jan. 9th), to name only a few of the many vocalists appearing on the festival roster, which takes place at several West Village venues (Jan. 8th-10th). Get ready for a month of full, joyous, liberating jazz emersion. Take the plunge; be changed as you enjoy the changes.v

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

I N MEMORIAM

WILL CONNELL, JR.

IN MEMORIAM 2014 JEAN KESTEMAN BERND KÖPPEN SID KYLER GILLES LAHEURTE ROB LANGEREIS BRIAN LEMON JOHNNY LEWIS NORMAN LEYDEN LUKAS LINDENMAIER GUY LONGNON MIMI LORENZINI PHIL MASON JACK MASSARIK PETER MASSINK JOHN MCCLURE RICHARD MCDONNELL LLOYD MICHELS DAVID MOODIE JOE MUDELE IDRIS MUHAMMAD ERIC OFFNER JOHN ORE RIZ ORTOLANI ALAIN PALIZEUL ANDRÉ PAQUINET ALLYSON PAUL RALPH PENLAND ARMANDO PERAZA ERNEST PETCH MILJENKO PROHASKA ÉRIC PRUD’HOMME DAVID REDFERN LULU REINHARDT EDDIE “GUAGUA” RIVERA GEORGE ROBERTS ALFONSO ROGG JOHNNY ROTELLA PETE RUSSELL AARON SACHS SIMO SALMINEN JOE SAMPLE BOBBY SCHMIDT JIMMY SCOTT ERIC SCRIVENS ROBY SEIDEL RENATO SELLANI GREG SERGO IGOR SHIROKOV UPALAPPU SHRINIVAS HORACE SILVER LENNIE SOGOLOFF BUD SPANGLER MIKE STEWART KATHY STOBART STEPHANIE STONE FRANK STRAZZERI FRED STURM CARLOS EMILIO MORALES TABARES MARY ELLEN TANNER JACQUES THOLLOT TREBOR TICHENOR SHEILA TRACY IZUMI UCHIDA SAM ULANO BERNIE UPSON FRANK VINCENT THILO VON WESTERNHAGEN GENE WALKER HENRY P. WARNER KENNY WHEELER CHRIS WHITE TERRY WHITNEY PATTI WICKS JOE WILDER ERNIE WILLIFORD GERALD WILSON HERB WONG GEORGE YOSHIDA SAUL ZAENTZ

by andrey henkin

JOE BONNER (April 20, 1948— November 21, 2014) The postbop pianist’s career as a leader began in the mid ‘70s with albums on Muse and then a couple of decades with SteepleChase after earlier sideman work with Pharoah Sanders, Richard Davis, Roy Haynes, Azar Lawrence, Billy Harper and Woody Shaw. Bonner died Nov. 21st at 66.

photo by alan nahigian

BILLY ADAIR FRANK E. ADAMS SR. JOHNNY ALLEN PAUL ASH VIC ASH GIL ASKEY JEAN-JACQUES AVENEL JACKY AZÉMA ALICE BABS STEVE BACKER AMIRI BARAKA GARY BENSON ALAN S. BERGMAN DICK BERK ACKER BILK JOHN BLAKE MIŠA BLAM JOE BONNER CHARLIE BOURGEOIS IOLA BRUBECK CLIFF BRUNZELL STU BUCHANAN JANO BUCHEM MIKE BURNEY YVONNE BUSCH ANDRÉ BUSH SID CAESAR JACKIE CAIN ROY CAMPBELL MILTON CARDONA BUDDY CATLETT PAT CHARTRAND SAM COENEGRACHTS ANDRÉ CONDOUANT WILL CONNELL RUSS CONNOR PIERRE CULLAZ OLAV DALE SPANKY DAVIS PACO DE LUCIA VAL “EDDY” DECASTRIS ALAN DOUGLAS PETE DOUGLAS ARTHUR DOYLE KENNY DREW JR. FRANKIE DUNLOP BILLY EDWARDS TEDDY EHRENREICH FOXXY FATTS LIONEL FERBOS ART FERGUSON KING FLEMING MED FLORY ERIC FONTES JEFF FRIEDMAN DÉSIRÉ GADEAU GIORGIO GASLINI RICK GEE TOMMY GILL MARTHA GLASER BOBBY GORDON JOHNNIE GRAY TIM GREEN CHARLIE HADEN AL HAREWOOD TIM HAUSER PAUL HAWKINS WAYNE HENDERSON FRED HO FRIGGI HOFFMANN PAUL HORN BRIAN INNES NAOHIRO IWAI DANIEL JACKSON JAN JARCZYK HERB JEFFRIES DIONNE JEROUE WARREN “PORGY” JONES RONNY JORDAN LEIGH KAMMAN

ACKER BILK (January 28, 1929— November 2, 2014) The British clarinetist came out of the trad scene, spent decades leading his own bands, released well over a hundred albums under his own name and was named an MBE in 2001. Bilk died Nov. 2nd at 85.

Will Connell, Jr., a reedplayer who came out of the

West Coast sphere of Horace Tapscott in the ‘60s and went on to become a fixture in a number of NYC-based ensembles, died Nov. 19th from complications from surgery, just weeks before he was to have a four-day residency at The Stone. He was 75. Connell was born November 1938 in Los Angeles. He attended Dorsey High School, preceded by Eric Dolphy and followed by Azar Lawrence, and entered the U.S. Airforce upon graduation. It was there that he built upon an interest in music originally sparked by his father, an amateur violinist who took the young Connell to jazz concerts during the ‘40s-50s. In an interview conducted by Ed Hazell for the NoBusiness Records reissue of the complete recordings of Commitment, Connell remarked that his desire to play music stemmed, in part, from wanting “to aid human evolution on some kind of broad scale.” After returning to a racially polarized Los Angeles after the army, Connell began working with pianist Horace Tapscott’s Union of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension musicians’ collective and Pan African People’s Arkestra Big Band. Connell’s time with the band was documented on a CD included with Steven L. Isoardi’s The Dark Tree: Jazz And Community Arts In Los Angeles (University of California Press, 2006). In addition to playing, Connell was the band’s copyist, which led to similar work for a wide array of artists, from Stevie Wonder to Simon & Garfunkel. In 1975 Connell relocated to New York towards the end of the Loft Jazz period and his recording career began, first with the 1976 Blue Note album Chico Hamilton And The Players. Two years later, Connell (playing alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flutes) was part of the collective ensemble Commitment, alongside stringplayer Jason Kao Hwang, bassist William Parker and drummer Zen Matsuura. The band released one album on Flying Panda, featuring two of Connell’s compositions; their discography would expand with the 2010 NoBusiness reissue, which added a previously unreleased 1983 concert from the Moers Festival. They ceased to perform a year later but reunited in 2011 to celebrate the NoBusiness release. The partnership with Parker had begun with Connell as part of the bassist’s Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra from the ‘70s onwards. Connell later recorded with the groups of trombonist Steve Swell, bassist Alan Silva and saxophonist Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre and worked as a copyist for Ornette Coleman, David Murray and the World Saxophone Quartet. His most recent project was Sadhana, a quartet co-led with French horn player Vincent Chancey. He had no albums as a leader. Describing himself to Isoardi, Connell said: “I’m a weird combination of a very straight arrow young guy and an old salt.”

12 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

BUDDY CATLETT (May 13, 1933— November 12, 2014) The bassist and erstwhile saxophonist, while only apparently having one album under his own name, was a steady recording and touring artist since the late ‘50s, working with Quincy Jones, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald and more recently the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. Catlett died Nov. 12th at 81. CARLOS EMILIO MORALES TABARES (November 6, 1939— November 12, 2014) The Cuban guitarist was a founding member of the 18-piece big band Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna and the legendary AfroCuban jazz-fusion group Irakere. Tabares died Nov. 12th at 75.

F ESTI VAL REPORT

KRAKOW JAZZ AUTUMN

Lars Jönsson

by stuart broomer

Barry Guy

P oland’s Krakow Jazz Autumn (Sep. 28th-Nov. 23rd)

is a special event, a festival without compromise. Its long form is a performance series spreading through the fall; its short form is a single, concentrated final week largely focused around a single ensemble and its permutations, this year Barry Guy’s Blue Shroud Orchestra. All but the largest concerts take place at Alchemia, the basement club that has become a landmark for free jazz as a result of director Marek Winiarski’s visionary programming. The ninth edition began raucously in September with The Ex & Brass Unbound, the Dutch anarchopunk band’s expansion including saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark, who would appear again in the double-trio of The Thing + DKV; their long-time mentor Peter Brötzmann played in another intercontinental band with vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and British drummer Steve Noble. Along the way there were subtler touches as well, including Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii’s Kaze, Dutch saxophonist Ab Baars in two different bands and a solo concert by French bassist Joëlle Léandre. Barry Guy’s Blue Shroud Orchestra, the 14-piece band created to perform the English bassist’s Blue Shroud, gathered for the final week from Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and America, some members meeting for the first time, then spent the next three days rehearsing the piece eight hours a day, only to spend each night in three sets of small ensemble improvisations, getting to know one another ’s musical personalities at the granular level. The musicians were drawn from Guy and partner/baroque violinist Maya Homburger ’s diverse worlds of jazz and contemporary classical, free improvisation and period instrument performance, all possessed of remarkable skills and a willingness to test and extend them in fresh contexts. Over 20 different groupings would appear between Agustí Fernández creating a storm of original sound in the piano’s interior to begin Tuesday’s program and the final quintet on Thursday, which expanded the Aurora trio of Guy, Fernández and drummer Ramon Lopez with trumpeter Peter Evans and mercurial Greek singer Savina Yannatou. In between one encountered a range of stunning musical voices, from the solo pieces by Homburger on baroque violin and Irish composer/classical guitarist Ben Dwyer to a remarkable group of saxophonists whose reputations are only beginning to reach beyond Europe: Michael Niesemann has the formerly rare capacity to play both fire-breathing free alto and virtuoso baroque oboe d’amore; Torben Snekkestad’s doubles are just as unusual: in addition to tenor and soprano, he plays a reed-trumpet hybrid that sounds like a roar from the

dawn of time. The young Julius Gabriel plays ferocious baritone while Per Texas Johansson doubles tenor and clarinet. In addition to various duos and trios, they performed as a quintet, the fifth member Michel Godard, a virtuoso of the tuba and the medieval serpent, sounding on the latter like a modern trombonist. The violist Fanny Paccoud, another ancient music specialist, played skittering free improvisations in assorted ensembles while another incongruous component of this assembly—the two contrasting drummers, Lopez, loose and unpredictably propulsive, and Lucas Niggli, a demon of precision—performed as a duo and in a quartet with Fernández and Evans. This unique collection of musicians and their compound skill sets were matched together for a special vision, one crisscrossing past and present, combining seemingly contrary views, voices and methodologies to create a new kind of composition, one that reached beyond collage to a polysemous musical discourse, born at once in a score and the accelerated evolution of free improvisation. The debut of the 75-minute Blue Shroud brought these contrasting virtuosities together. Inspired by Picasso’s Guernica, Guy named the piece for the blue shroud that was placed over a tapestry copy at the UN building during Colin Powell’s 2003 declaration of war against Iraq. As vast as Picasso’s painting, Guy’s work is equally ambitious, a great musical meditation on the horrors of war and the quest for compassion. Constructing songs on poems by Irish poet Kerry Hardie, Guy employed methods ranging from atonality and Spanish flamenco to a gorgeous chorale of highpitched reeds, contrasting lyrical passages with bursts of violent energy and lacing passages of free improvisation through and over both, with Yannatou singing text in four languages, blending formal declaration with speaking in tongues. One uncanny component was the dramatic inclusion of pieces by the 17th century composer H.I.F. Biber and Bach, images of compassion and respite, beautifully realized and continuous with Guy’s own lyrical episodes. It’s a major work, bridging musical chasms, and should be widely heard. The next night the festival’s two patterns, the extended and the concentrated, came together, with Vandermark making his third festival appearance in two months and Guy making his fifth in as many days, the two creating a joyous explosion of free energies in which the latter cycled through tenor, clarinet and baritone, employing circular breathing and multiphonics in dialogue with the former’s rapidly shifting mix of bowed, plucked and drummed flurries. Sounds and moods ranged from the calm didgeridoo depths of baritone to the piping overlay of clarinet overtones, from Guy’s forceful, laconic melodies to the compounding, sliding lines of his prepared bass. That final week also included performances with outstanding Polish improvisers. The trio led by Dominik Strycharski creates a certain bucolic anticipation by mere mention of his flutes, but they’re blown like saxophones (including a bass recorder that might be fashioned of PVC pipe) and amplified like rock guitars. The band could be called The Flute Thing, its microscopic themes squealing, roaring and exploding, all driven along by Ksawery Wójciński’s throbbing bass and Paweł Szpura’s roiling drums. The very last night mixed ancient and modern, like Guy’s Blue Shroud in miniature, as koto player Michiyo Yagi, drummer Tamaya Honda and alto clarinetist Wacław Zimpel traversed a path from traditional Japanese music to hard-edged, John Coltrane-like forays into modal jazz, driven along by Honda’s mastery of Elvin Jones-like polyrhythms and Yagi’s raw-edged attacks on her traditional zither, all surmounted by Zimpel’s own complex flights. It was a fitting end to a festival that insists on making new connections. v

Fri, Jan 02 Sat, Jan 03 Sun, Jan 04 Tue, Jan 06 Wed, Jan 07 Thu, Jan 08 Fri, Jan 09 Sat, Jan 10 Sun, Jan 11 Mon, Jan 12 Tue, Jan 13 Wed, Jan 14 Thu, Jan 15 Sat, Jan 17 Sun, Jan 18 Mon, Jan 19 Tue, Jan 20 Wed, Jan 21 Thu, Jan 22 Fri, Jan 23 Sat, Jan 24 Wed, Jan 28 Thu, Jan 29 Fri, Jan 30 Sat, Jan 31

IRABAGON FEST: JON IRABAGON TRIO 9PM & 10:30PM Mark Helias, Barry Altschul IRABAGON FEST: JON IRABAGON TRIO 9PM & 10:30PM Mary Halvorson, Nasheet Waits IRABAGON FEST: JON IRABAGON QUARTET 8:30PM Luis Perdomo, Yasushi Nakamura, Rudy Royston CHRISTIAN COLEMAN CD RELEASE: COOPER RIDGE 8:30PM Jon Irabagon , Broc Hempel, Sam Minaie YOOSUN NAM QUINTET 8PM Keisuke Matsuno, Carlo De Rosa, Kyumin Shim, Jesse Simpson NOAH GARABEDIAN 9:30PM Curtis Macdonald, Kyle Wilson, Anna Webber, Kenny Warren, Alex Ritz BEN FLOCKS TRIO 8:30PM Martin Nevin, Matt Wilson REVERSE BLUE 8PM Mary Halvorson, Chris Speed, Eivind Opsvik, Tomas Fujiwara TOMAS FUJIWARA TRIO 9:30PM Ralph Alessi, Brandon Seabrook MICHAEL BLANCO QUARTET 11PM John Ellis, Kevin Hays, Clarence Penn TERRY VAKIRTZOGLOU 6 pm Glafkos Kontemeniotis, George Maniatis PETROS KLAMPANIS, GREEK WHAT? 9PM & 10:30PM Gilad Hekselman, Jean-Michel Pilc, John Hadfield Maria Manousaki, Gokce Erem, Peter Kiral, Colin Stokes PATRICK CORNELIUS OCTET 8:30PM Jason Palmer, John Ellis, Michael Fahie, Miles Okazaki, Fabian Almazan, Peter Slavov, Clarence Penn CONTAGIOUS SOUNDS: DEL SOL STRING QUARTET 8:30PM - Vicky Chow, host Kate Stenberg, Petr Masek, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates NEU3 8:30PM Michael Blake, Mark Helias, Scott Neumann ANDREW D’ANGELO TRIO 8:30PM Ingebrigt Håken Flaten, Nasheet Waits TOM CHANG QUARTET 8:30PM Quinsin Nachoff, Sam Minaie, Nate Wood GILAD HEKSELMAN + SZR 9PM & 10:30PM Glenn Zaleski, Rick Roasto, Colin Stranahan YARD BYARD: THE JAKI BYARD PROJECT 8:30PM Jamie Baum, Adam Kolker, Jerome Harris, Essiet Okon Essiet, George Schuller THE HERRERA GONÇALVES BOCCATO TRIO 8:30PM Magos Herrera, Vitor Gonçalves, Rogerio Boccato Special Guest, Edmar Castañeda JOHN RAYMOND’S “ROOTS” TRIO 8PM Gilad Hekselman, Colin Stranahan PABLO MASIS QUARTET 9:30PM Andrew Gould, Or Bareket, Austin Walker DAVID COOK QUINTET 8PM John Ellis, David Cook, Matt Clohesy, Ross Pederson GREG DIAMOND QUINTET 9:30PM Stacy Dillard, Mike Eckroth, Peter Slavov, Henry Cole CHES SMITH QUARTET 8:30PM Jonathan Finlayson, Mat Maneri, Stephan Crump COLIN STRANAHAN 9PM & 10:30PM Pete Rende, Joe Martin DAN WEISS TRIO 9PM & 10:30PM Jacob Sacks, Michael Formanek MOSTLY OTHER PEOPLE DO THE KILLING 8:30PM Jon Irabagon, Ron Stabinsky, Moppa Elliott, Kevin Shea BRAZIL EXPRESSIONS FEST: RUBENS SALLES GROUP 8:30PM - Billy Newman, host John Clark, Jeremy Viner, Leco Reis, Kenny Grotowski, Kavita Shah BRAZIL EXPRESSIONS FEST: MAURICIO ZOTTARELLI 9PM - Billy Newman, host Itaiguara Brandão, Oriente Lopez, Alex Brown, Jorge Continentino ROGÉRIO BOCCATO QUARTETO 10:30PM Nando Michelin, Dan Blake, Jay Anderson BRAZIL EXPRESSIONS FEST: BILLY NEWMAN SEXTET 9PM Michael Attias, Ben Holmes, Eric Schugren, Leco Reis, Vanderlei Pereira SANFONYA BRASILEIRA 10:30PM Vitor Gonçalves, Eduardo Belo, Vanderlei Pereira

For more information, visit en.kjj-festiwal.pl

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

CD REVIEWS

Eponymous Dálava (Sanasar) by Brad Cohan

Packing serious heft in the guitar department is Aram

Bajakian, a wizard on the six-string who defies genres like Marc Ribot, shreds like the late, great D. Boon of punk legends Minutemen and exudes the deep Downtown jazz and experimental vibes of frequent collaborator John Zorn. The hybrid of Bajakian’s influences was crystallized on 2014’s There Were Flowers Also in Hell, a boundary-hurdling sonic exploration of Jewish music, blues, Armenian folk and punk rock. For Bajakian’s second revelatory sprawl in one year, he’s once again navigating a left-field spectrum but going in the opposite direction. Pairing with wife/ vocalist Julia Úlehla under the Dálava moniker and supplemented by violinists Skye Steele and Tom Swafford and bassist Shanir Blumenkranz, the forwardthinking quintet produces an exquisitely constructed set of Moravian folk songs. Dálava undertakes a daunting mission, boldly taking Czech folk melodies transcribed by Ulehla’s great-grandfather and emerging with hauntingly sublime chamber-folk soundscapes spotlighted by Úlehla’s towering and subtle operatic voice and Bajakian’s protean sensibilities. From the inaugural refrain of Bajakian’s percolating glockenspiel, screeching strings and Úlehla’s arresting voice, impeccably delivered in Czech on “Ach, bože muj”, it is obvious that Dálava’s aesthetic is not rooted in jazz but in traditional old world tales complete with a modernist, experimentally-minded take. Nails-onchalkboard violins and thunderous feedback-drenched bursts courtesy of Bajakian ooze from ghostly avantmetal salvo “Hory Hučá” and rustic barnburner “Mamičky”. While Úlehla’s electrifying vocalizations serve as the perfect counterpoint to the noise explosions and rhythmic complexities, Dálava also aces sparse bluesy shuffles (“A Ty Moja Najmilejší”; “Ej, Lásko, Lásko”) and tender lullabies (“Milá Má”). In Dálava and as life partners, Bajakian and Úlehla are indeed kindred spirits. For more information, visit arambajakian.com. Aram Bajakian is at The Stone Jan. 2nd. See Calendar.

Tristan Perich: Surface Image Vicky Chow (New Amsterdam) by Kurt Gottschalk

Tristan Perich is an exhaustive mapper of a very small

world. The terrain he inhabits is 1-bit electronics and compared to that the fashionable world of 8-bit chip music is fertile soil. While the chip-musicians have more or less the flexibility of an antique video game in their tonal control, Perich reduces his electronic sources to 1-bit tones, essentially that of a digital alarm clock. He doesn’t even have variation in relative amplitude, only the density and succession of grouped tones. Think of it as an orchestra of doorbells. Perich is also an

extraordinary composer and his strongest works are sonatas for electronics and acoustic instruments. He has composed for percussion, strings, guitar, toy pianos, reeds and voice, set against his digital crickets, creating complex webs of counterpoint between rich acoustic voices and simple electronic ones. Surface Image is one of Perich’s most successful projects to date. Scored for solo piano—played wonderfully by Vicky Chow—with 40 channels of electronics, the hour-long piece goes through a surprising amount of dramatic shifts in dynamic. Piano and electronics alternately rise and recede, giving a series of different shapes to the sound while for the most part keeping in tandem tempo. There are bits of noise and silence and, more than that, a lot of sheer beauty. Perich doesn’t just use the differences between the sound sources, he studies them and then, ultimately, sets them aside. The contrast is compelling but the piece could be played by piano and string orchestra (Tristan Perich unplugged?) without losing what actually makes the music work. In the end, Surface Image is a fine composition, the novelty of the instrumentation just, as it were, on the surface.

an easy swing and relaxed mood rare in improvised music, almost mainstream jazz that’s been drained of any formal redundancy. Cleaver, possessing the rare and ideal combination in a drummer of close listening and subtle aggression, moves simultaneously with his partners, as if his drums and cymbals are somehow linked to all the strings, triggering and triggered by them. Rather than revisiting an earlier identity, the quartet stakes out new and vital ground, making this a recent highlight in improvised music. For more information, visit cleanfeed-records.com. Morris is at The Stone Jan. 2nd and Greenwich House Music School Jan. 22nd. See Calendar.

For more information, visit newamrecords.com. Chow is at The Stone Jan. 2nd and Miller Theater Jan. 27th. See Calendar.

Balance Joe Morris Quartet (Clean Feed) by Stuart Broomer

Guitarist Joe Morris has been leading a quartet since

1993, when the band first assumed form with violinist/ violist Mat Maneri and the Boston-area rhythm section of bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton. By 1999 the rhythm section consisted of bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Gerald Cleaver and the group produced two brilliant sessions, the studio CD Underthru and live At the Old Office. After that the band went through a radical mutation, with saxophonist Jim Hobbs as the second lead voice. For Balance, Morris has returned to the original format with Maneri and the final form of that quartet with Lightcap and Cleaver, a combination with a very special chemistry. In his liner note, Morris identifies Balance as the third of a series of CDs associated with the visual arts, this one concerned particularly with sculpture, a subject that includes for Morris, “expressing the experience of encountering the energy of precariousness...which [Richard] Serra called ‘the tendency to overturn.’” The conjoined notions of reunion and balance might suggest a kind of musical high-wire act, but the members of the quartet handle the challenges of this densely woven, vital music with aplomb. Morris mentions that he “brought particular melodic and phrasing ideas for myself but didn’t give them to the other musicians.” The results testify to the guitarist’s organizing skills and the band’s ability to generate and respond to new material. The quartet is, in an essential sense, a string band, a group in which three of the members are linked to a degree by sonority and phrasing and where even the differences between picking, plucking and bowing may provide necessary friction and contrast or be undermined by invention and sheer technique. Often rapid-fire, even-toned lines diverge, criss-cross, intersect and spiral together with a kind of telepathic precision. The medium-tempoed “Substance” achieves

14 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

R e c o m m e n d e d n e w r e l e a s e s

• Akalé Wubé—Sost (Clapson) • De Beren Gieren & Susana Santos Silva— The Detour Fish (Live in Ljubljana) (Clean Feed) • EarRegulars—The EarRegulars (gen-ERIK) • George Gee Swing Orchestra— Swing Makes You Happy (Rondette Jazz) • Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian— Hamburg ’72 (ECM) • Mostly Other People Do the Killing— Hannover (Jazzwerkstatt) • Evan Parker/Paul Dunmall/Tony Bianco— Extremes (Red Toucan) • Gianluigi Trovesi—The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (CAMJazz) • Ken Vandermark—Nine Ways To Read a Bridge (Not Two) • Nate Wooley/Dave Rempis/ Pascal Niggenkemper/Chris Corsano— From Wolves to Whales (Aerophonic) Laurence Donohue-Greene, Managing Editor • Erik Hove Chamber Ensemble— Saturated Color (s/r) • Je Suis!—Ça va? (Umlaut) • Rob Mazurek & Black Cube SP— Return The Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost (Cuneiform) • Roscoe Mitchell/Scott Robinson— Tone Ventures (ScienSonic) • Sam Newsome—The Straight Horn of Africa - A Path To Liberation (The Art of the Soprano, Vol. 2) (Some New Music) • Paal Nilssen Love Large Unit—Erta Ale (PNL) • Bobby Previte—Terminals (Cantaloupe Music) • Radius/Fred Lonberg-Holm— Just Outside the Door (Hazel Jazz) • Reto Suhner/Fabian M. Mueller— Schattenspiel (Between The Lines) • The Thing with Thurston Moore— Live (Trost) Andrey Henkin, Editorial Director

Live at the Bird’s Eye Jon Davis Trio (TCB) No Kiddin’ Jon Davis Duo (featuring Gianluca Renzi) (Wide Sound Jazz Prod.) by Terrell Holmes

Add the name Jon Davis to the short list of must-hear pianists. And use a pen, not a pencil, because based on the chops he displays on a couple of new albums, he’ll be on that list for a very long time. Davis showcases his expansive stylistic vocabulary and adroit improvisational skill on Live at the Bird’s Eye, recorded at the Basel, Switzerland jazz club in December 2013. A veteran Swiss rhythm section of bassist Isla Eckinger and drummer Peter Schmidlin complete his excellent trio, igniting the pulse and underscoring Davis’ dynamic restlessness. Davis skims stones around melodies and uses muscular block chords, flowing arpeggios and brisk internal dialogue to construct harmonically opulent solos on Herbie Hancock’s “Driftin’” and “Just In Time”. Fats Waller ’s “Jitterbug Waltz” has a “My Favorite Things” feeling and the version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s lovely “Zingara” suggests its bossa nova pedigree without being shackled to it. The trio’s ballad rendition of “My Ideal” is a veritable blues-print and Davis’ irresistible “Too Good for Words” has a sharp evergreen scent right down to its title. As if to underscore Davis’ reverence for standards, the closing tune on Live at the Bird’s Eye, “When Lights Are Low”, also appears on No Kiddin’, a splendid studio duet with bassist Gianluca Renzi. From the first notes of Thad Jones’ “Three and One”, Davis’ articulate narratives and Renzi’s take-no-prisoners pizzicato have a hand-in-glove simpatico as they invigorate a diverse roster of songs. Renzi conjures a funky sax-like tonality on Duke Ellington’s “Star-Crossed Lovers”, which contrasts nicely with Davis’ pensive, gospelinflected musing at the top. Another contrast occurs in the songwriting. Davis shows his composing prowess again on the title cut and “This Joker Is a Smoker”, a pair of exhilarating sprints that start at musing tempo and build to breakneck speed with neither man missing a beat. Renzi, on the other hand, takes a more measured approach with the waltz “A Song for Sabrina”, which is enhanced by the exquisite vocal quality of his instrument. As many different ways as “Bemsha Swing” has been played, Monk would have dug the

outré 7/2 meter that they put on it. The tune skips over cracks in the sidewalk as much as it swings. Davis and Renzi’s voices blend beautifully on George Shearing’s lively “Conception” and “I’ll Remember April”. “Isn’t She Lovely” is a standard of a different stripe and struts like a man showing off his fine woman in front of his buddies instead of a proud papa’s anthem to his newborn daughter.

for example during the flute/harpsichord-dominated “Fleur De Lis” and “My Tiny Butterfly”, one of several tracks where the ensemble is augmented by a children’s school choir. The program ends on a lovely quiet note: “Santa Fe”, a duet between Rifflet’s limpid clarinet and Eve Risser ’s piano. This is a unique tribute, which, while taking liberties with the source material, still remains a respectful tribute to this venerated outsider.

For more information, visit jondavismusic.com and tcb.ch. Davis and Renzi are at Knickerbocker Bar and Grill Jan. 2nd-3rd. See Calendar.

For more information, visit jazzwerkstatt.eu and jazzvillagemusic.com. Irabagon is at Cornelia Street Café Jan. 2nd-4th as a leader, Jan. 6th with Christian Coleman and Jan. 28th with MOPDtK, Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar Jan. 5th and Bar Next Door Jan. 31st. See Calendar.

UNEARTHED GEM Hannover Mostly Other People Do The Killing (Jazzwerkstatt) Perpetual Motion: A Celebration of Moondog Sylvain Rifflet/Jon Irabagon (Jazz Village) by Robert Iannapollo

Mostly Other People Do the Killing (MOPDtK) was a happy conflation of four individuals (leader/bassist Moppa Elliott, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, drummer Kevin Shea and since-departed trumpeter Peter Evans) with similarly skewed musical outlooks. The band continues into its 11th year as a revamped septet, with Hannover, its second live album (ninth overall), released on the heels of the much-discussed Blue, a ‘re-reading’ of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. While that album definitely has its point to make, it’s Hannover that is really what this band was all about. Recorded at the Jazz Club in that German city, the band is in their element. It’s a typically brash, energetic set, a trawl through some of their memorable tunes with a couple of new ones thrown in, strung together in medleys, sometimes superimposed atop each other, to great effect. Everything one expects from this iteration of the band is here: the tricky themes; abrupt tempo shifts; freewheeling collective improvisations; the sneaky electronics that filter through (courtesy of Shea); and tributes to Pennsylvania towns by Elliott (at least six). The set concludes with an exceptional, manic “A Night In Tunisia”, marked by lengthy unaccompanied interludes from Irabagon and Evans. It shows that this band could teach an old standard new tricks. Too bad they didn’t use one “N” in the title; that would have been a seventh tribute to a Pennsylvania town. All members of MOPDtK are involved in various side projects, with Irabagon perhaps the most prodigious. In addition to 11 records as leader (or co-leader), he’s an inveterate collaborator, a part of Barry Altschul’s 3Dom Factor and Jon Lundbom’s Big Five Chord, to name just two. On Perpetual Motion, he works with French reedplayer Sylvain Rifflet on a tribute to the music of American composer/street musician Moondog, performed with members of Rifflet’s band Alphabet at the 2013 Parisian Banlieues Bleues Festival. This is a liberal reworking of Moondog’s compositions, allowing for extemporization on the material, breathing new life into much of it. The group focuses on both familiar pieces (“Bird’s Lament”, “Oasis”) and lesser-known works. Among the latter is “Black Hole”, a highly unusual orchestral work with a gong as its base. Here a prepared piano functions in that role and the guitar and horns take the place of the orchestra. The two saxophone players and Phil Gordiani’s guitar add a visceral charge, which is not always evident in Moondog’s own interpretations. It’s also notable on “Oasis”, “From The Jazz Book No. 2” and Irabagon’s impassioned solo on “Maybe” . But this is countered by moments of folkish beauty and whimsy,

BBC Jazz for Moderns Tubby Hayes Band (Gearbox) by Duck Baker

As many readers know, Tubby Hayes was a brilliant tenor saxophonist who was also adept on flute and vibraphone, as well as a handy tunesmith and arranger. He is one of maybe a dozen or so figures listeners that assume British jazz of the ‘50s-60s was not worthy of serious attention need to hear and in terms of sheer instrumental brilliance he was probably the most impressive of the lot. Unlike most of these players, Hayes did garner some attention in the U.S. during his lifetime (193573), owing to trips to New York in 1961 and 1962, which produced two excellent records in the company of top-flight American players (Clark Terry, Roland Kirk, James Moody, etc.). He made some club appearances on those occasions that received very positive reviews. His British discography is extensive and includes many sessions of him leading small groups or with the rewarding quintet he co-led with fellow tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott. He also managed to lead a few big band dates (such as the classic 100% Proof). Often these were groups assembled specifically for BBC radio broadcasts, as was the case with the 1962 performance heard here. This record was first released by the thennewly-fledged Gearbox label in a limited edition in 2009 and it is great to see it back in print, still on 180-gram vinyl, with excellent liners by Simon Spillett and absolutely stunning sound (Gearbox works hard for its reputation as an audiophile label). This was fairly early in Hayes’ career as a big band leader, but his arrangements are solid and feature daring, interesting touches (the way the harp and French horn are used or the muted-trumpet/flute lead on “Early Morning Afterthoughts”, for example). In addition to Hayes’ fine soloing on tenor and, on “Down In The Village”, vibraphone, we get to hear most of the bandmembers, at least briefly, and the overall standard is quite high, with trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar and pianist Gordon Beck deserving special mention. Highly recommended for Hayes fans and also to such modern big band devotees as have an appreciation for audiophile vinyl. For more information, visit gearboxrecords.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

G L O B E U N I T Y : U R U G U AY

Between Loves Florencia Gonzalez (ZOHO) Strange Ways Diego Piñera (Challenge) Octeto Gonzalo Levin (Whatabout Music) by Tom Greenland

Lying south of Brazil and east of Argentina, Uruguay, the second smallest country in South America, contains a vibrant musical culture rooted in tango, candombe, milonga and other indigenous styles. A trio of young expat artists brings this heritage to their latest jazz projects. Tenor saxophonist Florencia Gonzalez, born and raised in Montevideo, the nation’s capital, trained in Boston at Berklee and New England Conservatory and now makes her home in New York. Between Loves, her ZOHO debut, is a collection of original compositions and arrangements for sextet, along with a cover of Hugo Fattoruso’s “Hurry”. Inspired by Uruguayan traditions, Gonzalez fuses her myriad experiences into organic hybrids. “The One Who Never Was” is a candombe with a three-tonic harmonic cycle à la John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”; “Chacarera for Greg” is informed by country dances like the malamba and features pianist Luis Perdomo skillfully negotiating tricky rhythmic shifts between two- and three-feels; and “Woman Dreaming of Escape”, an homage to Juan Miró’s eponymous painting, is a tango with heterophonic horn chorales. Gonzalez doesn’t solo often, but her deft liquescent touch is memorable on “Hurry” and the title track. Drummer Diego Piñera, also from Montevideo, now resides in Berlin, where he recorded Strange Ways, Vol. 54 of Köln-based Jazz Thing magazine’s “Next Generation” series. Like Gonzalez, he trained at Berklee, as well as conservatories in Leipzig and Havana. The all-original album is a quartet effort (tenor saxophone, piano, bass and drums), the final track augmented by classical string quartet. Most of the tunes are based on straight eighth-note rhythms in odd meters, often modulating between—or even within—sections. The title cut shifts among six- and seven-beat groups, almost like a double-time version of Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage”, before settling into 4/4 swing. The group’s sound is enhanced by Peter Ehwald’s taut tenor work and a fine soprano solo on “More Work” and Tino Derado’s flexible piano. Generally restrained, they loosen up a bit on “NY Session”, with positive results. Reedplayer Gonzalo Levin is, like Gonzalez and Piñera, a Montevideano, now active on the Barcelona scene. Octeto features his arrangements for a five-horn frontline (four saxophones and trumpet) with rhythm section. Levin’s arrangements make full use of the wind instruments, combining them in lush, complex chorales, swelling background pads and shouting tutti sections or else juxtaposing them in contrapuntal ‘back talk’, horn-against-horn. All of this movement is in support of and an extension of compelling solos by individual musicians, as on “Añoranzas Montevideanas”, where Miguel “Pintxo” Villar ’s rough-hewn tenor tone climbs over quavering background horns, or on “Evolución”, where Levin and Villar stage a tenorto-tenor tête-à-tête. For more information, visit zohomusic.com, challengerecords.com and whatabout-music.com

Ramshackle Serenade Larry Goldings/Peter Bernstein/Bill Stewart (Pirouet) by Mark Keresman

O rganist Larry Goldings may be the successor to the mantle of the late great organ icon Larry Young. Both are drenched in jazz tradition but have inclusive styles that make them difficult to pigeonhole. Superficially, Ramshackle Serenade is full of the ingredients of classic organ jazz sessions but takes more chances with the form, extending it in subtle and satisfying ways. Opener “Roach” is a solid, simmering slow-burn— the form of the tune is a blues, Goldings wrenching a seething tone of gospel-tinged waves from his Hammond. Guitarist Peter Bernstein makes with some piquant Kenny Burrell-ish twang and drummer Bill Stewart thunders judiciously—imagine if Jimmy Smith were going for Cecil B. DeMille-like levels of grandeur. The bluesy vibe continues with Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Luiza”—the wistfulness of its bossa nova origins borne by Bernstein’s graceful, nearly crystalline plucking. The guitarist’s “Simple As That” is an invigorating hardbop workout with Goldings’ sheets-of-sound (not so much a torrent of notes but in terms of massiveness) and the author’s lithe questing. The title track evokes the spacious jamming Young did with guitarist John McLaughlin, albeit without rockist overtones. Goldings and company convey a very elastic mellow vibe, gradually building, swinging all the while. Bernstein peppers his cooking with deft thorny dissonances and Stewart crackles like a storm a-brewing. This set is an exemplar of contrasts: relaxed while not being truly mellow; soulful and earthy without really being soul-jazz stylistically; cerebral without any dryness or ponderousness. While these lads don’t strictly play the blues form, the blues is never far from their collective hearts. They are not merely keeping the organ jazz fires burning, they are starting their own conflagration, one to warm our hearts and minds. For more information, visit pirouet.com. Bernstein is at Dizzy’s Club Jan. 2nd-4th, The Quaker’s Friends Meeting House Jan. 8th as part of Winter Jazzfest and Smoke Jan. 23rd-25th with Jimmy Cobb. See Calendar.

excursions across whatever terrain takes their fancy. All pay keen attention to nuance and detail, distinguishing this program of five improvised pieces. On the opening “Slake”, Wooley starts with a display of extended trumpet techniques, in which whistles and rustling pops gradually give way to more fluid exclamation, before being goosed by Rempis’ muttering alto. That playful spirit also permeates the ensuing interaction, in which they swap roles as Wooley deploys some avant cavalry bugle, until shifting into indeterminate sounds, beeps and susurrations. “Serpents Tooth” opens and closes with circular breathed drones; in between, Rempis explores the alto’s overtones to create insistent variations, before letting go to become mellifluous and verbose, while Wooley pursues his unbroken line accompanied by Niggenkemper ’s growling lower register. On “Stand Up For Bastard”, a panoply of abstraction prolongs tension, from saxophone stutters to whirring motors on drumheads. When grumbling bass fashions a rolling gait, fuelled by roiling drum rolls, the horns percolate upwards into a resolution of animated shrieks. A similar feel of restraint saturates “Count Me Out”, where Wooley strikes anchor with a repeated trumpet phrase while Rempis emotes. “Swingin’ Apoplexy” might pass as a ballad in less rowdy company; lines interweave like smoke trails, leading to a pleasingly ruminative duet between resonant woody bass and lyrical muted trumpet. Those echoes of traditional forms are what elevate this set above the standard improv album. For more information, visit daverempis.com. Wooley is at The Stone Jan. 3rd, Judson Church Jan. 10th as part of Winter Jazzfest, Ibeam Brooklyn Jan. 23-24th with Harris Eisenstadt and Jan. 30th. See Calendar.

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From Wolves to Whales Nate Wooley/Dave Rempis/Pascal Niggenkemper/ Chris Corsano (Aerophonic) by John Sharpe

Combining talent from the New York and Chicago improvised music scenes, From Wolves to Whales offers a cutting-edge timbral exchange interspersed with unreconstructed free jazz hollers. While that summary calls to mind the expected characteristics of main protagonists trumpeter Nate Wooley and alto saxophonist Dave Rempis, respectively, they each prove equally adept on the other ’s supposed turf. Add in bassist Pascal Niggenkemper and drummer Chris Corsano and you have a quartet equipped for

16 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

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Szpilman Uri Caine (Multikulti Project) by Sean O’Connell

Breaking Borders #1 Anders Koppel/Kenny Werner (Tiger) Illuminations: Living Room Recordings #1 Benjamin Koppel (with Jean-Michel Pilc) (Tiger) by Ken Dryden

W ładysław Szpilman is not a household name in the The Koppel family’s musical roots are deep, starting

For more information, visit multikulti.com. Caine is at The Stone Jan. 3rd and SubCulture Jan. 9th as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar.

LISA HILTON HORIZONS

“One of the finest composers working in jazz today.” -Ken Franckling/JazzNotes

with J.D. Allen, Ingrid Jensen, Rudy Royston, Ben Street

Debuting new music: 1/11/2015 Weill Hall@Carnegie Hall carnegiehall.org/Box Office at 57th & 7th Horizons is available soon at: Amazon/iTunes/CDBaby & LisaHiltonMusic.com Distributed by SDCD. Photo: Steven Lippman

with the Danish classical composer Herman D. Koppel. Keyboardist Anders Koppel co-founded the psychedelic rock group Savage Rose with his late brother Thomas; the band remains active and now includes his son Benjamin on saxophone. Anders has also written classical music, chamber works, concerti and ballets. Anders Koppel plays Hammond B-3 on Breaking Borders #1, his duo meeting with pianist Kenny Werner, which consists of 39 minutes of improvisations. Because of the diverse interests of both musicians, their performances defy easy categorization, though there is plenty of the “sound of surprise”, as the late critic Whitney Balliett coined. Opener “Wednesday Morning” draws from rock, classical, film music and jazz. “On Second Thought” blends brooding organ with darting, often playful piano. “Movement” is a dissonant affair, with a stairstep-like theme that continues to build tension. “Blue” sounds like mood music from film noir scored to a dramatic turning point in the movie. “Five Haiku Poems” consists of distinctive improvisations within a three-plus-minute timeframe, each standing on its own, though the abrasive, eerie fourth theme stands out among the group. “All the Best” is a dramatic, bittersweet ballad, with Werner’s moody piano showing a classical influence. Benjamin Koppel has already amassed a considerable resumé of his own. He has recorded numerous CDs as a leader for Cowbell Music with veterans like Phil Woods, Paul Bley, Charlie Mariano, Kenny Werner, Alex Riel and many more. Illuminations: Living Room Recordings #1 was recorded in Koppel’s living room in duo with the formidable pianist JeanMichel Pilc. While the music at times has the feeling of being improvised, some of the compositions by the leader were inspired by the 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud. Koppel adapts his distinctive sound to the needs of each work while Pilc is an alchemist anticipating the perfect accompanying line. The lush, effusive ballad “Watching the Children Dream” is an early highlight. “La Nuit D’or”, penned by Anders Koppel, has a haunting air suggesting a sense of loss. “School Strike” is whimsical with divergent lines by Koppel and Pilc. The captivating “Free Falling” incorporates Pilc’s whistling and tapping the piano strings to back Koppel at first, then takes shape as a powerful postbop performance. The centerpiece of the album is the eight-part “Suite For Rimbaud”: “Phrases” is a miniature dirge-like theme to introduce the suite; “After the Flood” is marked by staccato piano chords and emotional alto sax; “Seascape” is a lonely ballad with the cadence of the piano resembling the passage of time without the presence of a loved one; “Morning of Drunkenness” blends humor and a bit of discomfort with its combination of dissonance and unison lines, utilizing creative use of space and tempo changes. The sole standard is a stark, powerful interpretation of George Gershwin’s “Summertime”, which is anything but sentimental or predictable. For more information, visit tiger-music.com. Kenny Werner is at The Stone Jan. 6th-11th. Jean-Michel Pilc is at The Stone Jan. 9th, Cornelia Street Café Jan. 10th with Petros Klampanis, Somethin’ Jazz Club Jan. 11th, Dizzy’s Club Jan. 14th, ShapeShifter Lab Jan. 24th and Smalls Jan. 28th with Tony Moreno. See Calendar.

photo by whit lane and marylene mey

United States. Beyond the work of Chopin, very little Polish music has made its way into the piano benches of American homes. But Szpilman’s story is familiar to many whether they realize it or not, as his struggle to survive during the Holocaust in war-torn Poland was the basis for the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist. Besides being an interpreter of classical music, Szpilman was also a composer, who wrote grand orchestral works, film music and children and pop songs. Pianist Uri Caine interpreted seven of Szpilman’s tunes at the Tzadik Poznań Festival last summer with bassist Ksawery Wójciński and drummer Robert Rasz, two tasteful and sensitive accompanists. The waltzing “Nie Wierzę Piosence” opens the album with a bounce, Rasz’ heavy sticks encouraging a pointed solo from Caine, who embraces the rhythm, pounding out a clumpy but persistent left-handed lead. “Deszcz”, which translates to rain, features succinct high-register notes from the piano dancing with a faint Latin-ish drum backing. Midway through the tune, Caine strings along a music box twinkle that would fit nicely on Bill Evans’ mantle before the band returns to a spacious but meaty swing. “Do Widzenia, Teddy”, a tune about a jazz trumpeter, features a wonderfully chaotic bass solo weaving in and out of Caine’s boisterous accompaniment. Squeaky toys and a prominent bow open the nonSzpilman original “Szpilman Fantasy”, a nearly 10-minute collective improvisation from the group and departure from the more swinging earlier material, busying itself with a rhythm-less clattering. The ghost of Evans’ “Peri’s Scope” briefly surfaces and the band wanders back into a goofy stride before a very concise ending covering all grounds. Familiarity with Szpilman’s work is not a requirement to enjoy this album. This is simply a great trio record from a pianist who consistently delivers.

bill frisell

birth of the american orchestra jan 9–10 • 8pm Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

bill frisell: when you wish upon a star music from film & television jan 16–17 • 7pm, 9:30pm With Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang, Thomas Morgan, Rudy Royston, and Petra Haden

duke, dizzy, ‘trane & mingus: jazz titans jan 29–31 • 8pm Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

family concert: who is billie holiday? feb 7 • 1pm, 3pm • jazz for young people ® Aaron Diehl and Charenee Wade share the music and stories of Lady Day with your family

jazz at lincoln center

Venue Frederick P. Rose Hall Box Office Broadway at 60th CenterCharge 212-721-6500

jazz.org

Lead Corporate Sponsor of Jazz for Young People® The Jazz for Young People® Family Concert is funded through the generosity of Mica and Ahmet Ertegun.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

Imagine Bill O’Connell And The Latin Jazz Allstars (Savant) by Marcia Hillman

H ere’s a Latin-flavored, relaxed, feel-good offering from pianist Bill O’Connell and the Latin Jazz AllStars, consisting of Steve Slagle (alto and soprano saxophones), Conrad Herwig (trombone), Luques Curtis (bass), Richie Barshay (drums) and Richie Flores (with whom O’Connell has been working for over 20 years) on percussion. Jazz and Latin rhythms have been a natural combination for as long as anyone can remember. O’Connell is well-versed as a pianist in both genres and so, for his 11th album as leader, he has chosen to display his talent as a writer with a selection of seven compositions plus two familiar pieces (John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Ann Ronnell’s “Willow Weep For Me”) all in Latin rhythms (e.g., mambo, cha cha, rumba, etc.). O’Connell’s tunes are melodic in nature, always featuring some very interesting chord changes and always with a Latin beat. His songs come off positive in nature, the first track “Optimism” (title and all) setting the tone. Even the slow and bluesy “Missing Mr. Berrios”, a goodbye to his close friend, percussionist Steve Berrios, which includes soulful solos by Herwig and Slagle, is not a dolorous musical statement. There are bop-oriented uptempo pieces like “Stepping Stones” (with rousing trades between piano and drums) and “Jigsaw” (with exciting conversations between drums and percussion). The track “25 Years” (an homage to O’Connell’s wife and inspired by their 25th wedding anniversary trip to Machu Picchu) has a beautiful lyrical melody and a moving alto solo. O’Connell’s treatment of “Imagine” is done with some fascinating chord reharmonization and is a standout display of his piano mastery. “Willow Weep For Me” turns up in a perfectly fitting cha cha rhythmm with Flores’ congas in the spotlight. There are lots of delightful moments on this CD. The mood is intimate and happy, the musicians have ample room to shine and the songs are melodic and easy on the ears. “Who could ask for anything more?” For more information, visit jazzdepot.com. O’Connell is at Birdland Jan. 6th and Somethin’ Jazz Club Jan. 9th. See Calendar.

of this admittedly talented and creative duo. For this is just Charlie Hunter ’s seven-string electric guitar and Scott Amendola’s drum kit; their sound is fairly consistent across the stylistic boundaries and genres encompassed by their repertoire. The Cars represent rock to the duo, rock distilled but still propelled by rock ’n’ roll rhythms, from the get-down drums of “Bye Bye Love” (not The Everly Brothers song) and Bo Diddley beat of “Candy O” to the loping shuffle of “Double Life” and triplets feel of “Good Times Roll”. Hunter plays with some reverb and more than a bit of twang and the duo’s approach is basically spare, making no attempt to create a larger band sound. The twang is more pronounced on the Hank Williams songs, with Amendola often favoring brushes. The mood is often elegiac, especially on the slow waltz “”I’m So Lonely I Could Cry” while “Cold Cold Heart” is fetchingly jaunty, crisp not frigid. “Your Cheatin’ Heart” wrings out the sentiments with sighing, twangy guitar. The Duke Ellington tracks are less evocative of the source, more about the duo than the songs. They miss the mystery of “The Mooche”, displaying the limitations of the straightahead twangy guitar approach, and fall short of the mood in “Mood Indigo”, although “Rockin’ in Rhythm” is a clever reduction of the band score. The Cole Porter section is the most varied and a fitting tribute to that composer, from the theatrical “Ace in the Hole” and early R&B vibe of “Too Darn Hot” to a royally funereal “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye”; “Miss Otis Regrets”, featuring some rare guitar filigrees; and a languid, captivating “Anything Goes” finale. For more information, visit charliehunter.com. Hunter is at Rockwood Music Hall Jan. 8th-9th. See Calendar.

JON DAVIS DUO featuring Gianluca Renzi

celebrating new release

No Kiddin’

The Cars, Hank Williams, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington Charlie Hunter/Scott Amendola (s/r) by George Kanzler

F ive tracks devoted to four artists apiece—The Cars, Hank Williams, Duke Ellington and Cole Porter—from a wide spectrum of American music, this album was originally conceived of and released as four separate EPs. Taken alone, they represent concise miniatures, musical snapshots of the featured artists. Together, they expose the limited nature of the musical approach 18 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

January 2nd-3rd 9:45 pm-2:00 am Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 33 University Place

JONDAVISMUSIC.COM

Live at The Breeding Ground Brandee Younger 4Tet (s/r) by Russ Musto

Rarely employed as a lead instrument in mainstream

jazz, the harp has nonetheless proven to be an engaging voice in the music via both Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. On her debut disc as a leader, Brandee Younger shows herself to be a most worthy successor to those two artists with a program paying homage to her predecessors, expanding upon their foundations to give the chordophone a distinctly modern sound. Leading a versatile ensemble of Dezron Douglas (basses), E.J. Strickland (drums) and Chelsea Baratz (tenor saxophone), Younger opens with two numbers from Ashby’s groundbreaking ‘60s catalogue. Richard Evans’ “Soul Vibrations” takes an exotic turn with Strickland laying down an East Indian-sounding beat and Douglas playing a dramatic electric bassline under Younger and Baratz’ harmonized lead melody. Ashby’s “Wax and Wane” begins with the leader playing in the instrument’s lower register, sounding much like a Delta blues guitar over galloping electric bass as Baratz stretches out with a powerful guttural tone. Younger proves herself to be a skilled composer with three original songs, beginning with “The Essence of Ruby”, an emotional piece that evinces romance and melancholy within a decidedly funky atmosphere, rousing an impassioned solo from Baratz. She is replaced by Stacy Dillard on soprano for “Hortense”, a rhythmic outing with stellar solos by both the saxophonist and leader. “Respected Destroyer” starts off powerfully with Baratz back on tenor, but soon softens into an appealing melody, which inspires moving statements from both the saxophonist and composer. Ashby is again celebrated with a reading of her “Games” and Alice Coltrane is fêted on her own “Blue Nile”. Younger ’s “He Has A Name (Awareness)” also exhibits the powerful spiritual influence of the latter ’s music, with Dillard on soprano, who remains for the exciting closer, pianist Stanley Cowell’s “Effi”. For more information, visit brandeeyounger.com. Younger is at The Bitter End Jan. 9th as part of Winter Jazzfest, Town Hall Jan. 13 as part of a Charlie Haden tribute and Minton’s Jan. 25th. See Calendar.

Wiring Trio 3 + Vijay Iyer (Intakt) by Phil Freeman

In these parlous times, the question of how to bring new listeners to jazz keeps many musicians awake nights. The liner notes to this album, written by the late Amiri Baraka and published posthumously, begin in a manner so hilariously unhelpful in this regard they can almost be seen as trolling from beyond the grave. “If you want to hear real music not some kind of shallow ‘entertainment’ this is your number,” writes Baraka. Admittedly, he then describes the players—

alto saxophonist Oliver Lake, pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille—as “four great musicians trying to change your world”, which is nice, but the positioning of jazz as ‘real music’ in fundamental opposition to ‘entertainment’ has been precisely the problem since at least the ‘60s. As the joke goes, people don’t like jazz, they appreciate it. But there’s much to like here—indeed, the opening cut, “The Prowl”, is pure entertainment, a kind of modal strut driven by Workman’s thunder-stick bass work and Iyer ’s bricklayer chords. In a similar vein, the quartet sway like dancing bears through pianist Curtis Clark’s “Chiara” and the disc’s closing track, “Tribute to Bu”, begins as a drum solo, but Lake enters two minutes in, briefly turning it into a ferocious duo. Iyer contributes a lot to the album, most notably the three-part, 18-minute “Suite for Trayvon (And Thousands More)”, which for much of its running time has a mournful, marching cadence suited to its dedicatee, making its faster, harder-swinging section feel like an outburst of justified rage. The album falls short in its more abstract moments, as on “Synapse II” and “Willow Song”; the way Lake chews through his lines on the latter track recalls David S. Ware’s ability to sledgehammer a ballad into the ground, but without the late tenor saxophonist’s airplane-hangar-sized tone. Ultimately, Wiring is at its best the closer it comes to embracing conventional melody and being, yes, entertaining. For more information, visit intaktrec.ch. Trio 3 is at Minetta Lane Theatre Jan. 9th as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar.

Perilous Architecture Daniel Blacksberg Trio (NoBusiness) by David R. Adler

Trombonist Daniel Blacksberg is one of Philadelphia’s bright lights: an in-demand klezmer player, member of Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Orchestra and partner in the experimental projects Archer Spade and Electric Simcha, among others. Perilous Architecture is his second outing in a trombone-bass-drums setting, following up the 2010 NoBusiness session Bit Heads. There’s a balance of openness and coherence in Blacksberg’s music with bassist Matt Engle and drummer Mike Szekely that is never less than striking. Written themes emerge and still seem somehow offthe-cuff; later they return to close out the pieces in a way that could almost be called traditional. That’s the way with much ‘free’ music: there’s more structure than is obviously apparent and Blacksberg has a way of heightening that tension, prompting trio interplay that is elbow-jabbing yet subtly shaded. “Arc of Circling Bodies” starts the session with low multiphonic trombone growls that end up becoming a formal element, alternating with a more precise theme from the full trio. “Filament and Void” takes wide leaping intervals as its starting point and seems to have a more defined harmonic plan, despite its blustery moments. “Roar of Mankind” is more aggressive still, but it carries that thread of a theme, that inescapable logic at the heart of Blacksberg’s work. In purely instrumental terms, “Scapegrace” is Blacksberg’s best trombone on Perilous Architecture and also Engle’s most satisfying bass feature. Is there the slightest hint of Thelonious Monk’s “In Walked Bud” lurking in the main motive? In any event, there’s a sense of swing and groove, however camouflaged, and

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a rousing polyphonic passage toward the end that sets this track apart. “Blind Tracery” features Engle prominently as well, arco all the way through, and the piece seems to calm the waters, with a beautifully executed drop in volume in the final minutes. “Almost Negotiable”, the closer, might be called the party track—quicker, riffier, agitated, more staccato. A distant though discernible echo of klezmer? Possibly, though Blacksberg plays doom metal too. The trio gives a strong sense of his musical breadth, even as it hews to a specific Loft-jazz aesthetic. For more information, visit nobusinessrecords.com. Blacksberg is at ShapeShifter Lab Jan. 9th. See Calendar.

Blues and Reds Hush Point (Sunnyside) by Elliott Simon

Blues and Reds is the sophomore release from Hush Point, a quartet that eschews piano and its chordal outspokenness for a ‘cool-er ’ and quieter sound. The session is fronted by trumpeter John McNeil and alto saxophonist Jeremy Udden, who, despite the hushed approach, maintain a certain swagger anchored by Aryeh Kobrinsky’s bass and drummer Anthony Pinciotti’s brushes. It is an evolution from East Coast Cool (Omnitone, 2006), McNeil’s paean to saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and trumpeter Chet Baker, which mixed in riskier individual and joint improvisations. McNeil and Udden play off of and with one another at an exceedingly high level and the improvisations are stellar, not in ways that will blow you away with speed, cacophony or flash but with tension and control. Functioning as a whole, the band makes up for what it lacks in punch with its fetchingly cocky coolness. This is not easy to do in any context but with this instrumentation, which leaves no room for error, it is even more difficult. Five of these tunes were composed by Udden, four by McNeil and one by Kobrinsky. McNeil’s “Grounds for Divorce”, with its joint horns that evolve into

countermelodies and opening brush and basswork, is emblematic of how they develop a whole by tightly fitting together interlocking constructions. There are actually quite a few offerings like “Wu Wei” and the uptempo “HDMB” that swing but not overtly. The title cut presents variations and presumably improvisations in fairly linear fashion on a repetitive theme. The horns, despite trying, never seem able to shake the refrain’s grip due to the rhythm section’s control while “Petit Moineau” draws a European tinge from meaty arco bass and dark waltzy time. As on last year ’s selftitled debut, the quartet remains true to the birthright of its cool but on numerous occasions raises its voice. For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com. This band is at ShapeShifter Lab Jan. 9th. See Calendar.

Vermillion Tree 3 d: Tomasz Dąbrowski/Kris Davis/Andrew Drury (ForTune) by Ken Waxman

Ad-hoc groups made up of players from many countries are an accepted part of improvised music. What’s more significant is a CD like Vermilion Tree, where the disparate trio members create as if they’re in a long-time relationship. The session came about from

time spent in New York by Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski, who hooked up with local drummer Andrew Drury and pianist Kris Davis. The result is a kaleidoscope of 14 tunes, mostly group compositions, except for five by the trumpeter and one by Drury. Some are duos; at around one minute each, a few merely express one thought. The track that allows the most extensive interaction is Drury’s “Modules/Moduły”. With motifs developed at different speeds, the exposition depends on weighted equilibrium between Dąbrowski and Davis; the latter moves from agitated triplets and single note puffs to plunger upturns, paced all the while by galloping swirls and key clinking. Drury limits himself to the odd swizzle cymbal scratch here and he’s similarly self-effacing on the remainder of the session. In contrast Dąbrowski is front-and-center throughout. He brings a sense of uncompromised swing to even muted solos and can push aside sophistication to snarl if needed. Dąbrowski’s “Mattock Phrasemonger/ Przemądrzała Motyka” is a ballad, calmly built out of placid notes, but with occasional pinched blasts revealing a biting undercurrent. Davis’ low-frequency strums are almost soothing, but her tougher key thrusts keep the line animated. The leader ’s “Ruddy Rudi/ Rudy Rudi” is unabashedly swinging jazz, advanced solidly by Drury’s pseudo-martial beat. Taut or touching, Vermilion Tree can appeal to the musical tree hugger as well as the tree hacker. Since this sapling was planted in 2012 though, a CD highlighting the trio’s subsequent growth would be welcomed. For more information, visit for-tune.pl. Davis is at SubCulture Jan. 9th as part of Winter Jazzfest. Drury is at Ibeam Brooklyn Jan. 31st with Ras Moshe. See Calendar.

ICP ORCHESTRA

WINTER JAZZFEST - JANUARY 9TH, 7:45 PM LE POISSON ROUGE

TH E N E

JAZZ R YORK CITY BEST OF E CORD 2014

ICPORCHESTRA.com THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

MPS: REFOREST THE LEGEND Kaleidoscope & Horizons Lisa Hilton (Ruby Slippers Prod.) by Donald Elfman

CLASSIC RELEASES FROM THESE GREAT MPS ARTISTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN AN EXQUISITE 25 TITLE COLLECTOR’S EDITION CD RE-ISSUE SERIES JOE PASS THE ELVIN JONES JAZZ MACHINE PATRICK WILLIAMS MONTY ALEXANDER SUN RA AND HIS INTERGALACTIC RESEARCH ARKESTRA HANK JONES JOE HENDERSON COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA FREE ORBIT THE SINGERS UNLIMITED ART VAN DAMME BILLY TAYLOR TRIO ROLAND KOVAC IRA KRIS DIETER REITH PEDRO ITURRALDE PACO DE LUCIA MICHAEL NAURA QUARTETT JONNY TEUPEN CHICK COREA RON CARTER BILLY HIGGINS GEORGE SHEARING ALBERT GOLOWIN FRIEDRICH GULDA JIM HALL VOLKER KRIEGEL ROB MCCONNELL ALPHONSE MOUZON STEPHANE GRAPPELLI & THE DIZ DISLEY TRIO LIONEL HAMPTON Once a Mecca for Oscar Peterson, George Duke, and a host of talented young musical discoveries, MPS is today undergoing a spectacular revival. Though a number of MPS recordings have been released in CD format by Polygram/Universal, and more recently by Promising Music, MPS’s Villingenbased tape machines ultimately went offline in 2004. Now, after ten years of resounding silence, son of MPS founder Brunner-Schwer, Matthias, and long-time jazz-crazed colleague Friedhelm Schulz have revived this unique Black Forest institution with newly prepared masterings, many of them in their original analog presentation.

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With its extensive reissue projects, Edel Kultur is proud to once again make the treasure-trove of the MPS catalogue available on a wider basis. MPS Records’ 21st century ALSO AVAILABLE NOW renaissance will VIA THE MPS REVIVAL: include recordings in the highest fidelity via premium LP and CD versions, and in selected cases, as analog tapes—and lest we forget that the entire catalogue will finally be available digitally for the first time ever.

These recordings showcase the ever-evolving compositions and expressive playing of pianist Lisa Hilton. The tunes—Hilton’s own or the intelligently adapted covers—all have melodic communication at their core and are reflective of the artist’s feel for people and the world. Kaleidoscope seems to take in a whole realm of jazz writing, from traditional to modern, soulful to more minimalist and indistinct. “Bach/Basie/Bird Boogie Blues Bop” is a seamless trio piece reflecting a firm grounding in music history, inventive improvisation and creative writing. Hilton lays down a ‘simple’ blues line à la Basie but is soon contrapuntally swinging courtesy of bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen adds a quiet heft to another Hilton original, “Simmer”, a tune that hearkens back to the best of the Blue Note days, Allen playing with a gorgeous, soulful enthusiasm. This music is understated in the very best sense; Hilton’s playing and comping are definitive yet quietly and beautifully subtle. “When I Fall Love” is an intriguingly romantic and syncopated amble—Bill Evans and then some—through the past while Hilton brings the same sense of romance to the hymn-like cadences of Adele’s “One and Only”. Tradition, adventure, color, communication and simplicity continue to inform Hilton’s work on her latest outing Horizons. Allen is on hand again, but so is the lyrical Sean Jones on trumpet and flugelhorn. Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer ’s “Moon River” retains its wonder but somehow the song has never sounded so spiritually inspired. Jones’ flugelhorn is striking and complemented by an equally ravishing Allen and Hilton. From Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite, Hilton has extracted “Sunset and the Mockingbird” and it is rich with Duke’s compositional luster: elegant and bluesy. Bassist Gregg August and drummer Rudy Royston invest this gem with their own colors. There are surprises here. Hilton has created a smartly appropriate arrangement of “Gold on the Ceiling” by The Black Keys. It’s hard as a rock but lithely opened up by this sterling trio. Hilton is a dynamic soloist who understands form and architecture; the music is artfully constructed but delivers an affecting punch. All of the music comes from a palette full of basic elements that take on new dimensions when blended like this. For more information, visit lisahiltonmusic.com. Hilton is at Weill Recital Hall Jan. 11th. See Calendar.

The Now Aaron Goldberg (Sunnyside) by Fred Bouchard

Sometimes an album quietly worms its way into your

consciousness, without warning, pretense or fanfare, and makes itself right at home in your headset.

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The Now does just that: its hummable tunes, dashing turnarounds and relaxed, canny pacing curled up in a cozy corner of my cerebellum. Its irresistibility manifests itself by nudging my zygomaticus major and longus capitis muscles to smile and nod. It’s easy listening, with admirable twists. Pianist Aaron Goldberg and his trusty trio of verylong-time colleagues Reuben Rogers (bass) and Eric Harland (drums) have carved another netsuke of koans for set perfection: limpid sambas mined from prime sources; spring-water ballads; sprinklings of piquant spice from Haiti and Goldberg’s “E-land”. The trio parses the yin and yang of ‘50s bop with a tip-toe take of Charlie Parker ’s “Perhaps” (a touch of John Lewis counterpoint) and a lock-hand dash of Warne Marsh’s “Background Music”, bookending another breathedeep samba, Cascaso-Novelli’s “Triste Baía Da Guanabara”. Goldberg’s touch is gossamer, melodic invention unerring, lines endlessly speckled with rhythmic variation: triplets or arching grouplets (Toninho Horta’s “Francisca”) phrases in parallel versus contrary motion and add-a-note stretchers (“One’s A Crowd”). Rogers and Harland go hand-in-glove for these straightfaced sleights, swapping imaginatively looping fours. All ends with a sweet paean to loved ones departed; “One Life” briefly echoes “If I Fall In Love” then blossoms as a showcase for guest Kurt Rosenwinkel’s ethereal guitar, unfurling graceful passes of the matador ’s cape (or ‘hands’ here) making elegant lines that sound (kinda) like the theremin and whale song cadenzas. Goldberg’s wry Zen aphorisms serve as track haikus. For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com. This project is at Jazz Standard Jan. 15th-18th. See Calendar.

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WITH A SONG IN MY HEART Antonio Ciacca Trio with Paul Gill and Pete Van Nostrand

Sweet Lou’s Blues Sweet Lu Olutosin with Antonio Ciacca Quintet Sweet Lu Olutosin - vocals Antonio Ciacca- piano Tivon Pennicott - sax/flute jeremy pelt - trumpet Mike Karn - bass Jerome Jennings - drums

WORKSHOPS

nycjazzworkshop.com pianist, composer, and arts administrator Antonio Ciacca offers a wide range of workshops throughout the world, covering such topics as jazz piano, composing and arranging, big band coaching, and music business. Drawing on Antonio’s singular talents and wide industry knowledge, these workshops are highly recommended for artists of all ages and skill sets.

Guitar in the Space Age! Bill Frisell (OKeh) by Tom Conrad

G uitarist Bill Frisell’s formative years were the early ‘60s. To participate fully in the euphoric nostalgia of Guitar in the Space Age!, you must be of Frisell’s generation, or close. You must be able to remember hurtling down a two-lane highway while Duane Eddy’s “Rebel Rouser” knifed into the summer air from the dashboard speaker of your AM radio. Frisell plays a Fender Telecaster throughout. It was the instrument most responsible for establishing (around 1957, give or take) the electric guitar ’s dominance over American popular culture. He does songs that were once as important to him as songs can only be to an impressionable teenager. Surfer grooves (The Chantays’ “Pipeline”, The Astronauts’ “Baja”) are embedded in his history. So are the urban blues (Junior Wells’ “Messin’ with the Kid”) and country pickers (Merle Travis‘ “Cannonball Rag”). Frisell transcends nostalgia by subjecting this music to a freewheeling jazz sensibility. The ensemble here is his long-term base trio of bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen, plus Greg Leisz, mostly on pedal steel. The original arrangements of the tunes are reimagined, magnified and set free. “Tired of Waiting for You”, as sung by The Kinks, was a simple, pretty ditty; Frisell and Leisz turn it into vast sonorous clouds and splashing rain, as Wollesen, deadpan, subdivides the beat. Pete Seeger ’s “Turn, Turn, Turn” offers no improvisation, just an extravagant two-guitar inundation of the melody, in waves. And who knew that “Rebel Rouser”, born as a stark, belligerent, twanging riff, could be a thoughtful ballad and then glide into a gentle boogie? But the track to die for is “Surfer Girl”, the first song Brian Wilson ever wrote. It starts with its familiar dreamy, floating languidness. Gradually Frisell and Leisz transform The Beach Boys’ postpubescent fantasy into something oceanic and engulfing, all rapturous harmonies and brilliant lights. Additional versions of “Surfer Girl” have probably become unnecessary. For more information, visit okeh-records.com. Frisell is at Town Hall Jan. 13th as part of a Charlie Haden tribute and The Appel Room Jan. 16th-17th. See Calendar.

and Allison Miller (drums). Even with this talented crew, it is Presgrave’s playing that predominates— forceful, steady, driving. The Asian Suite tunes (“Along the Path”, “Where East Meets West (Macau)”, “Harbor Lights (Hong Kong)” and “Asakusa View (Tokyo)”) are moderate uptempos featuring bright melodies and infectious rhythms, pushed forward by the unswerving pulse of Miller ’s drumming. They’re similar in mood and feel and beg for a backstory: What is it about Asian cityscapes that inspires Presgrave’s imaginative musical ideas? Maybe not required for enjoyment but inquiring minds want to know! By contrast, the tunes in The French Suite are more diverse. The first two, “Colors of Collioure” and “Bird of Céret”, lay back and swing a bit, before the edgy, confrontational “You Just Never Know”. The only blues tune on the disc, “Blues for a Rainy Night”, is a moody, noir-ish ballad, which precedes “Place Picasso”, a busy, optimistic uptempo that sounds like a busy metro stop. The French Suite ends with a vocal tune, “Bird of Céret (The Story)”, with lyrics written and sung by singer MJ Territo. (Spoiler alert: The bird is actually a romantic interest in the south of France— another intriguing backstory.) Taken together, these two suites hint at the global appeal of jazz: whether its Asian cityscapes or French mountains, jazz is the soundtrack. Understanding Presgrave’s recording in this way, the final cut, “Our Hope for the Future: Universal Freedom”, a jaunty tune in three, takes on a certain significance. Music like Presgrave’s can span continents and bridge cultural divides...perhaps. It’s a nice thought. For more information, visit metropolitanrecordsnyc.com. Presgrave is at Jazz at Kitano Jan. 22nd. See Calendar.

January 13th Mike Longo’s NY State of the Art Jazz Ensemble with vocalist Ira Hawkins January 20th Dave Chamberlain’s Band of Bones

Along the Path Linda Presgrave (Metropolitan) by Suzanne Lorge

her new release, pianist/composer Linda Presgrave presents two suites of compositions based on geographic themes: The Asian Suite, with four tunes, and The French Suite, with six. Each tune begins with a discrete musical idea and includes several long solos by Presgrave or her skilled band of Harvie S (bass), Stan Chovnick (soprano saxophone), Todd Herbert (tenor saxophone), Vincent Herring (alto saxophone)

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January 27th Lena Bloch and Group New York Baha’i Center

53 E. 11th Street (between University Place and Broadway) Shows: 8:00 & 9:30 PM Gen Adm: $15 Students $10 212-222-5159 bahainyc.org/nyc-bahai-center/jazz-night

We Won’t Forget You (An Homage to Shirley Horn) Dena DeRose (HighNote) by Joel Roberts

This is a tribute album that makes a lot of sense. Shirley Horn, who passed away in 2005, has clearly been a major influence on Dena DeRose as a singer, pianist, bandleader and arranger. While no one sings in as quiet and hushed a manner as Horn did, DeRose has a reserved, gentle approach reminiscent of the elder vocalist. Like Horn, DeRose has also mastered the extremely difficult art of self-accompaniment and has led a successful and long-running trio. The repertoire on We Won’t Forget You is drawn from throughout Horn’s career, which started in the late ‘50s, was interrupted by a long sabbatical and reached its pinnacle with a series of well-received albums and long-overdue acclaim in the ‘90s. Mostly, these are ballads and standards, though many of them are not particularly well known. Horn was famous for playing ballads at a glacially slow pace, somewhat like two of her musical heroes, Ray Charles and Miles Davis. While DeRose doesn’t imitate Horn, she’s certainly in no rush on tunes like Kermit Goell-Fred Spielman’s “You Won’t Forget Me” (featuring the leader on B-3 organ and notable for being the first #1 album in Horn’s career) and Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart’s “You’re Nearer”. A handful of uptempo tracks are also featured, including a surprisingly rousing version of Johnny Mandel’s usually maudlin “A Time for Love”, highlighted by guest Jeremy Pelt’s impressive trumpet solo. Along with the superb rhythm team of bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson, fixtures with DeRose for many years, there are also fine contributions from a pair of saxophonists: Eric Alexander (tenor) and Gary Smulyan (baritone). For her part—again like Horn—DeRose has the rare ability, as both a vocalist and pianist, to swing gently, a much tougher feat than swinging hard. We Won’t Forget You serves as a valuable reminder of Horn’s subtle and sophisticated artistry and, for those who have yet to discover DeRose, a great introduction to one of Horn’s most important disciples. For more information, visit jazzdepot.com. DeRose is at Birdland Jan. 22nd-24th. See Calendar.

Molly Ryan

“...worldly wise beyond her years, wonderfully gentle and lyrical…” - Will Friedwald, Wall Street Journal

Swing Era Songbird

UPCOMING Schedule 1/10 Greenwich House Music School 7:30 p.m. www.winterjazzfest.com 1/12 Rainbow Room 6:00 p.m. www.rainbowroom.com 1/21 The Rum House 9:30 p.m. www.edisonrumhouse.com 1/26 Rainbow Room 6:00 p.m. www.rainbowroom.com

for Performances, Bookings & Recordings, visit mollyryan.com

A Way A Land of Life Jason Ajemian/Tony Malaby/ Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor (NoBusiness) Scorpion Eater Tony Malaby TubaCello (Clean Feed) by Ken Micallef

A few years ago, when Joe Lovano couldn’t make his regular gig with drummer Paul Motian at the Village Vanguard, club owner Lorraine Gordon approved of Tony Malaby and Mark Turner as Lovano’s replacements. What Gordon may have thought was that Tony Malaby is many saxophonists in one, a torrid titan of a tenor player who plays as gritty as Coleman Hawkins one moment and as free as the wind the next. Malaby displays his musical mettle on two recent recordings, one his own, the other led by bassist Jason Ajemian. Ajemian is a frequent collaborator on the Chicago scene; he’s released four albums but A Way A Land of Life should bring him wider recognition. Ajemian’s leadership and compositions enable and focus his musicians, inspiring them to tackle fully free sections, duos and tightly-knit ensemble arrangements with gusto. A Way A Land of Life is that rare recording where the musicians play as one, but also play with rare communal flow. Performed with longtime compatriots Rob Mazurek (cornet) and Chad Taylor (drums), the album establishes its colorful identity on “White Light”, Malaby and Mazurek mutually contorting like argumentative birds. Ajemian and Taylor provide timeteasing support throughout that is emphatically elastic. Malaby plays both corrosively and contemplatively on “In The Imaginarium”. Ajemian’s solo in “Living the Sky” provides a respite of calm, as does the closing track, “That When You Come, We Die”, performed with a sense of composure bordering on the celestial. Malaby’s TubaCello quartet with tuba player Dan Peck, cellist Christopher Hoffman and drummer John Hollenbeck improvises on broader material that is also more otherworldly in design. “This band has a different type of gravity that playing with a bassist simply doesn’t have. I just want to be embedded in that and be in the middle,” Malaby has said. With a drummer/ percussionist as strong as Hollenbeck, everyone’s game rises a notch, allowing the leader in particular to go for musical broke. Hollenbeck plays trashcan percussion in the fluttering “Bearded Braid”, Malaby croaking like a disturbed morning dove as tuba utters dance-like growling notes. “Buried” recalls old school Chicago swing set afire, Malaby repeating a bluesy phrase as Hollenbeck swing/stalks and cello bobs; Malaby paints engrossing, historic imagery here, like David Murray juking mad in a New Orleans brothel. “Trout Shot” takes yet another turn, Hollenbeck hitting his floor tom in a sparse cadence as Malaby and Hoffman trade interweaving scrawls, all giving way to swashbuckling brushwork and scattershot inside jokes. The lovely title track closes the album, Malaby showing his gentle side, practically mewing soft notes to swooning cello. With Malaby you’re never sure what you’re going to get, but he is surely capable of delivering it all. For more information, visit nobusinessrecords.com and cleanfeed-records.com. Malaby is at The Players Theater Jan. 10th with Eivind Opsvik as part of Winter Jazzfest, JACK Jan. 12th, Town Hall Jan. 13th as part of a Charlie Haden tribute, Barbès Jan. 15th and Ibeam Brooklyn Jan. 30th. See Calendar.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

Flying Over Rio Harry Allen’s All-Star Brazilian Band (Arbors) by Andrew Vélez

H arry Allen is among the most gifted straightahead

tenor saxophonists to emerge since Scott Hamilton. Flying Over Rio, featuring Allen’s All-Star Brazilian Band, opens with Jobim’s “Double Rainbow”, a combination of jazz bossa nova and a waltz, simultaneously totally modern and classily classical. Introduced by Nilson Matta’s bass, vocalist Maucha Adnet lends the dark sound of her appealingly weathered voice to the lilting melody. Previously she and Allen recorded the excellent set Eu Nao Quera Danca and their ease together is smoothly evident. It’s followed by a masterful, light rendition of Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart’s 1929 gem “A Ship Without a Sail”. Allen eases in with a tenor sound as liquid as it is lovely; in the upper register he can evoke Stan Getz and in the lower Ben Webster, though he is no copycat. And accompanied by pianist Klaus Mueller and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca on brushes, the swaying rhythms are totally captivating. There is some lovely interplay between Allen and Guilherme Monteiro’s guitar on “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes”. Once upon a time John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins owned this tune until it was taken over by the bossa community. On this instrumental Da Fonseca’s drums are an explosion of shooting stars in a rediscovery of the familiar work. Performing “The Girl From Ipanema” strictly as an instrumental lends a different feel to the familiar Jobim tune. Introduced gently by Monteiro’s inventive rhythms, Allen’s dreamy long lines are punctuated by the occasional boppish toot, Mueller again lending shining support. The exquisite “Bonita” is another opportunity to appreciate why Adnet is a singer of choice for Jobim pieces. She is a less-is-more singer, peerlessly rhythmical even as she rests her sandsprinkled voice lightly on the melody. With Mueller and Allen subtly backing her, they make something blissful out of this lesser-known song. In music and in performance this is a totally refreshing flight over Rio. For more information, visit arborsrecords.com. Allen is at Mezzrow Jan. 30th-31st. See Calendar.

Landscape Peter Leitch (Jazz House) by Alex Henderson

Born and raised in Canada but living in the city since

1983, veteran guitarist Peter Leitch is a fixture on the Manhattan jazz scene, an enjoyably consistent player with a bop-oriented approach. He is in fine form on Landscape, a June 2014 date recorded two months before his 70th birthday. The melodic but swinging Leitch leads an intimate trio with bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Steve Johns, partners of his since the ‘80s, and the three enjoy a friendly rapport on warm

performances of material that ranges from Thelonious Monk’s “Nutty”, Kenny Barron’s “Sunshower” and John Hicks’ “Hicks’ Time” to Cole Porter ’s “You Do Something to Me” and David Raksin’s ballad “Laura”. Raksin wrote the latter for the classic film noir starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb and, coincidentally, the film was released the same year Leitch was born: 1944. Another highlight of Landscape is Walter Booker ’s “Book’s Bossa”, an appealing, Brazilian-flavored piece the late bassist brought to Donald Byrd’s 1967 Slow Drag session for Blue Note. Drummond performs an inspired solo, acknowledging Booker ’s contributions to the instrument. Leitch performs some of his own compositions as well, including the relaxed title track, contemplative “Penumbra” and bluesy “Tutwiler”, named for the Mississippi Delta town where W.C. Handy said he heard the blues for the first time. Although 9 of the 13 selections are trio performances with Leitch on electric, he switches to acoustic and plays unaccompanied on the aforementioned “Tutwiler” and introspective versions of Richard A. Whiting’s “Louise” and the traditional “Londonderry Air”, a.k.a. “Danny Boy”, typically heard in Irish/Celtic settings, but here transformed into a bop ballad. One hears traces of Joe Pass when Leitch is playing electric, but the influence becomes especially strong on these tunes. This solid effort demonstrates that after many years Leitch is still on top of his game. For more information, visit peterleitch.com. Leitch is at Walker’s Sundays. See Calendar.

alterations are rhythmic; odd and unusual meters abound, and in bassist Herwig Hammerl and drummer Alfred Vogel, Madsen has found a rhythm section that is up to the demands he puts on them. Both are members of the Austrian based Collective of Improvising Artists; hence the name CIA Trio. Things do seem a little cluttered at times, but that’s a minor caveat, especially given the complexity of the charts. This writer listed it as the best tribute record of the year and is still smiling about the 7/8 reimagining of “Heartbreak Hotel”. For more information, visit playscape-recordings.com

(CD REVIEWS CONTINUED ON PAGE 30)

“Bill o’Connell’s Imagine is an improvisational gumbo of originals and standards, Killer!” - Brent Black.

CD Release show Bill o’Connell and The latin Jazz allstars Birdland, 315 w. 44th street Tuesday, Jan. 6th, sets 8:30 & 11 pm

Bill o’Connell-piano, steve slagle-sax, Conrad herwig-trombone, luques Curtis-bass, adam Cruz-drums, Roman Diaz-congas

NEW RELEASE

AVAILABLE JAN 20th. Elvis Never Left The Building Peter Madsen’s CIA Trio (Playscape) by Duck Baker

G iven the strength of his resumé and his ability and originality, it seems surprising that pianist Peter Madsen isn’t better known. He has been at it for 30 years and worked with an impressive list of jazz masters, from Stan Getz and Don Cherry to Thomas Chapin. His 2003 release, Sphere Essence: Another Side of Monk, stands as one of the best Monk tribute records by a pianist. Could he make an equally strong impression with another homage to a very different sort of musical icon, who would have turned 80 this month but died(?) at 42 in 1977. In fact, readers familiar with Sphere Essence will note some similarities in approach immediately. Madsen likes to find unusual approaches that allow him to get different angles on the music, which include everything from playing inside the piano to long introductory sections seemingly almost unrelated to the material at hand. With Monk, this made for a welcome freshness, but in the case of Presley it seems even more necessary; after all, the songs here were not written by a jazz genius but by a near-random selection of rock and pop writers (though to be fair, Lieber & Stoller and Doc Pomus were hardly chopped liver) and straight versions would be impossibly straight. Never fear: Madsen not only finds unpredictable ways into the tunes, he completely reharmonizes them and adds clever bassline tags and isorhythmic hooks that take them thousands of miles from Memphis or Nashville (though his sly evocations of Floyd Kramer on “Devil in Disguise” show that he’s not forgetting where the music came from). But the most notable

26 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Red Garland Trio

with Philly Joe Jones & Leroy Vinnegar

Swingin’ On The Korner

Live at Keystone Korner

A collection of all previously unissued recordings of the great jazz pianist, Red Garland, recorded live in concert at San Francisco’s Keystone Korner. With virtuoso bassist, Leroy Vinnegar, and drum legend, Philly Joe Jones. Sixteen tracks and over 150 minutes of captivating piano trio recordings from one of jazz’s most important and unsung heroes in an exhaustive package built to celebrate Garland’s artistry. ALSO AVAILABLE FROM ELEMENTAL MUSIC:

JIMMY GIUFFRE’S 3 & 4 NEW YORK CONCERTS

Selected as one of the “BEST UNEARTHED GEMS (2014)” according to The New York City Jazz Record. Featuring Joe Chambers, Richard Davis, Don Friedman & Barre Philipps. Recorded at Judson Hall & Wollman Auditorium, New York City, September 1965 / May 1965.

AVAILABLE AT ALL MAJOR ONLINE RETAILERS Distributed by: INgrooves / www.ingrooves.com

Or.Anunci Garland+Guiffre 80x152.indd 1

19/12/14 10:25

BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

DIEGO BARBER & CRAIG TABORN—Tales (Sunnyside) BILLY CHILDS—Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (Sony Masterworks) TOM HARRELL—TRIP (HighNote) ANNE METTE IVERSEN’S DOUBLE LIFE— So Many Roads (BJU Records) STEVE LEHMAN OCTET—Mise en Abîme (Pi) RUFUS REID—Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project (Motéma Music) WADADA LEO SMITH—The Great Lakes Suites (TUM) WALTER SMITH III—Still Casual (s/r) YOSVANY TERRY—New Throned King (5Passion) DAVID VIRELLES—Mbókò: Sacred Music for Piano, Two Basses, Drum Set and Biankoméko Abakuá (ECM) -David R. Adler Jason Adasiewicz’s Sun Rooms—From The Region (Delmark) The Bad Plus—The Rite of Spring (Sony Music) ARAM BAJAKIAN—There Were Flowers Also in Hell (Sanasar) Jacques Coursil (with Alan Silva)— FreeJazzArt (Sessions for Bill Dixon) (Rogue Art) Sylvie Courvoisier Trio—Double Windsor (Tzadik) Wayne Horvitz— The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble (Songlines) Orphéon Célesta—Cuisine au Jazz (Fremeaux & Associes) Gunter “Baby” Sommer/Michel Godard/ Patrick Bebelaar—Three Seasons (HGBS) Steve Wilson/Lewis Nash—Duologue (MCG Jazz) Torbjörn Zetterberg— Och Den Stora Frågan (Moserobie) -Laurence Donohue-Greene ARAM BAJAKIAN—There Were Flowers Also in Hell (Sanasar) NELS CLINE/JULIAN LAGE—Room (Mack Avenue) JON IRABAGON—It Takes All Kinds (Jazzwerkstatt) JEAN LOUIS—Uranus (Coax) DARIUS JONES—The Oversoul Manual (AUM Fidelity) MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD + NELS CLINE— Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2 (Woodstock Sessions) SAM NEWSOME—The Straight Horn of Africa—A Path To Liberation (The Art of the Soprano, Vol. 2) (Some New Music) ERIC REVIS—In Memory Of Things Yet Seen (Clean Feed) BRANDON SEABROOK—Sylphid Vitalizers (New Atlantis) AKI TAKASE/ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH— So Long, Eric! (Homage to Eric Dolphy) (Intakt) -Andrey Henkin

BOXED SETS

LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND THE ALL STARS— Columbia and RCA Victor Live Recordings (Mosaic-Columbia/RCA Victor) MILES DAVIS—Miles at the Fillmore (Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3) (Columbia-Legacy) MATS GUSTAFSSON NU ENSEMBLE— Hidros 6 - Knockin’ (Not Two) PETER KOWALD—Discography (Jazzwerkstatt) GEORGE LEWIS—Keeper of the Flame (Storyville)

REISSUES

JOHN CARTER/BOBBY BRADFORD QUARTET— Flight for Four (Flying Dutchman-International Phonograph) Mestre Cupijó e Seu Ritmo—Siriá (Analog Africa) SAM RIVERS—Contrasts (ECM) HAL RUSSELL NRG ENSEMBLE + CHARLES TYLER— Generation (Nessa) ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH—Payan (Enja)

LATIN RELEASES

ROBIN JONES’ LATIN UNDERGROUND— Seven Stops to Heaven (SLAM) ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA—The Offense of the Drum (Motéma Music) ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ— The Invasion Parade (Mack Avenue) EDWARD SIMON & ENSEMBLE VENEZUELA— Venezuelan Suite (Sunnyside) MARK WEINSTEIN—Latin Jazz Underground (ZOHO)

VOCAL RELEASES

Andy Bey—Pages From An Imaginary Life (Savant) Katja Cruz (feat. Oliver Lake)—Hexaphone (The Cosmology of Improvised Music) (Rudi Records) Darius Jones—The Oversoul Manual (AUM Fidelity) Andreas Schaerer’s Hildegard lernt Fliegen— The Fundamental Rhythm of Unpolished Brains (Enja/Yellowbird) Brianna Thomas—You Must Believe in Love (Sound on Purpose)

THE NEW YORK CI LARGE ENSEMBLE RELEASES

ANGLES 9—Injuries (Clean Feed) SATOKO FUJII ORCHESTRA NEW YORK—Shiki (Libra) WAYNE HORVITZ— The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble (Songlines) ICP ORCHESTRA—East of the Sun (ICP) JC SANFORD ORCHESTRA— Views from the Inside (Whirlwind)

DEBUTS

PETER BRENDLER—Outside The Line (Posi-Tone) EARL MCINTYRE—Brass Carnival & Tribute! (s/r) BRANDON SEABROOK—Sylphid Vitalizers (New Atlantis) BRIANNA THOMAS—You Must Believe in Love (Sound on Purpose) J.J. WRIGHT—Inward Looking Outward (Ropeadope)

TRIBUTES

THE BAD PLUS—The Rite of Spring (Sony Masterworks) JACQUES COURSIL (WITH ALAN SILVA)— FreeJazzArt (Sessions for Bill Dixon) (Rogue Art) CHARLIE HUNTER/SCOTT AMENDOLA— The Cars, Hank Williams, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington (s/r) RUSS JOHNSON—Still Out To Lunch! (Enja/Yellowbird) AKI TAKASE/ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH— So Long, Eric! (Homage to Eric Dolphy) (Intakt)

UNEARTHED GEMS

JIMMY GIUFFRE 3 & 4— New York Concerts (Elemental Music) CHARLIE HADEN/JIM HALL—Eponymous (Impulse!) KEITH JARRETT/CHARLIE HADEN/PAUL MOTIAN— Hamburg ‘72 (ECM) CHARLES LLOYD—Manhattan Stories (Resonance) ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH TRIO— First Recordings (Trost)

ORIGINAL ALBUM ARTWORK

Ibrahim Electric—Rumours From Outer Space (ILK) David Krakauer—The Big Picture (Pounding Table) Michael Schiefel—Platypus Trio (BMC Records) BRANDON SEABROOK—Sylphid Vitalizers (New Atlantis) Stéphane Spira—In Between (Jazzmax)

HONORABLE MENTIO

Juhani Aaltonen—To Future Memories (TUM) • Jason Ajemian/Tony Malaby/Rob Mazurek/Chad Taylor—A Way A Land of Life (NoBus Piero Bittolo Bon’s Lacus Amoenus (feat. Peter Evans)—The Sauna Session (Long Song) • Black Top—#One (with special guest Steve Willi Michael Blake—Tiddy Boom (Sunnyside) • Paul Bley—Plays Blue (Oslo Concert) (ECM) • Itamar Borochov Quartet—Outset (Realbird) • George Cables—Icons & Influences (HighNote) • Michael Carvin—Flash Forward (Motéma Music) • Philip Catherine/Martin Wind—New Folks François Courneloup—Noir Lumière (Innacor) • Jeremiah Cymerman/Nate Wooley/Evan Parker—World of Objects (5049 Records) • Nils Davidsen— Double Trio De Clarinettes—Itinéraire Bis (Between The Lines) • East-West Collective—Humeurs (Rogue Art) • John Edwards/Mark Sanders/John Tilb Farmers By Nature—Love and Ghosts (AUM Fidelity) • Agustí Fernández/Barry Guy/Ramón López—A Moment’s Liberty (Maya) Tomas Fujiwara Trio—Variable Bets (Relative Pitch) • Georg Graewe—Stills & Stories (Random Acoustics) • Frank Gratkowski/Achim Kaufmann/Wil Mary Halvorson/Michael Formanek/Tomas Fujiwara—Thumbscrew (Cuneiform) • Billy Hart Quartet—One Is The Other (ECM) • Alexander Ibrahim Electric—Rumours From Outer Space (ILK Music) • Ideal Bread—Beating The Teens: Songs of Steve Lacy (Cuneiform) • In Achim Kaufmann/Robert Landfermann/Christian Lillinger—Grünen: Pith & Twig (Clean Feed) • Kirk Knuffke/Jesse Stacken—Five (SteepleChase) • John La Barbera Big Band—Caravan (Jazz Compass) • Ingrid Laubrock Octet—Zürich Concert (Intakt) • Azar Lawrence—The Seeker (Sunny Led Bib—The People In Your Neighbourhood (Cuneiform) • Wadada Leo Smith/Bill Laswell—The Stone: Akashic Meditation (MOD Harold Mabern—Right on Time (Smoke Sessions) • Made To Break—Cherchez La Femme (Trost) • Branford Marsalis—In My Solitude (Live at Grace Matt Nelson—Lower Bottoms (Tubapede) • Mario Pavone—Street Songs (Playscape) • Ralph Peterson Fo’tet Augmented—ALIVE at Firehouse 12, Vol. Tom Rainey—Obbligato (Intakt) • Adrian Raso/Fanfare Ciocărlia—Devil’s Tale (Asphalt Tango) • Red Trio/Mattias Ståhl—North and The Red Dave Rempis/Joshua Abrams/Avreeayl Ra—Aphelion (Aerophonic) • Alex Riel/Stefan Pasborg—Drum Faces (Stunt) • Jason Roebke Catherine Russell—Bring It Back (Jazz Village) • John Russell/Ståle Liavik Solberg—No Step (Hispid) • Akira Sakata/Giovann Jim Self/Hollywood 12—‘Tis the Season Tuba Jolly! (Basset Hound Music) • Matthew Shipp Trio—Root of Things (Relative Pitc Marianne Solivan—Spark (Hipnotic) • Sound & Fury—Pulsacion (Ektro) • Chris Speed Trio—Really OK (Skirl) • Vinnie Sperrazz Tarbaby (with Oliver Lake & Marc Ducret)—Fanon (Rogue Art) • Trio 3 + Vijay Iyer—Wiring (Intakt) • Mark Turner Quartet—Lathe of Heaven (ECM)

ITY JAZZ RECORD BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 BEST OF 2014 CONCERTS OF THE YEAR

WAYNE ESCOFFERY QUARTET David Kikoski, Gerald Cannon, Lewis Nash ) Smoke, January 4th HENRY THREADGILL ENSEMBLE Jason Moran, David Virelles, Curtis Macdonald, Roman Filiu, Christopher Hoffman, Jose Davila, Craig Weinrib Winter Jazzfest, Judson Church, January 11th VINCE GIORDANO & THE NIGHTHAWKS Town Hall, February 12th THE REAL AMBASSADORS Peter Martin, Yolande Bavan, Roberta Gambarini, Russell Graham, Robert Hurst, Brian Owens, Ulysses Owens, Jr. Vivian Sessoms, Ty Stephens, James Zollar ) Dave Brubeck Festival, The Appel Room, April 12th RYAN KEBERLE BIG BAND Living Legacy Project Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College, May 19th KRIS DAVIS CAPRICORN CLIMBER Mat Maneri, Ingrid Laubrock, Eivind Opsvik, Tom Rainey The Stone, June 29th RALPH ALESSI BAIDA QUARTET Jason Moran, Drew Gress, Nasheet Waits Birdland, September 6th KURT ROSENWINKEL QUARTET Aaron Parks, Orlando Le Fleming, Allan Mednard Village Vanguard, September 14th MARK TURNER QUARTET Avishai Cohen, Joe Martin, Justin Brown Jazz Standard, September 20th THE BAD PLUS PLAYS SCIENCE FICTION Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, Dave King, Tim Berne, Ron Miles, Sam Newsome Skirball Center, October 23rd —David R. Adler

MUSICIANS OF THE YEAR

NELS CLINE (guitar) BILL LASWEll (electric bass/producer) CHARLES LLOYD (saxophone/flute) MARK TURNER (saxophone) ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH (piano)

ONS - NEW RELEASES

Marc Ribot solo The Stone, February 1st Remembering Marian McPartland Kenny Barron, Tony Bennett, Chris Brubeck, Barbara Carroll, Bill Charlap, Bill Crow, Bill Dobbins, Jerry Dodgion, Jon Faddis, Michael Feinstein, Nneena Freelon, Eddie Gomez, Doug Kassel, Mike Kaupa, Grace Kelly, George Mraz, Bria Skonberg, Helen Sung, Jon Weber 92nd Street Y, March 20th Colin Stetson with Dianne Berkun-Menaker, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, et. al. Ecstatic Music Festival, Merkin Concert Hall, March 22nd Wadada Leo Smith/Bill Laswell The Stone, April 22nd Andrew White Quartet Wade Beach, Steve Novosel, Nasar Abadey The Jazz Gallery, April 26th HenRy Butler/Steven Bernstein and The Hot 9 Eric Lawrence, Michael Blake, Doug Wamble, Charles Burnham, Doug Wieselman, Brad Jones, Donald Edwards The Cutting Room, July 16th Masada Quartet John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron Village Vanguard, September 6th Kenny Barron/Dave Holland Birdland, October 23rd Steve Wilson/Lewis Nash The Jazz Gallery, November 22nd BRANDEE YOUNGER AND RAVI COLTRANE Dezron Douglas, Jeff “Tain” Watts Abyssinian Baptist Church, December 7th

MICHAËL ATTIAS QUARTET Aruán Ortiz, John Hébert, Nasheet Waits Cornelia Street Café, January 5th JULIAN LAGE/NELS CLINE Rockwood Music Hall, January 8th TOM BLANCARTE SOLO “Snugs Series” at 61 Local, February 23rd PETER EVANS TRIO Ron Stabinsky, Cory Smythe The Firehouse Space, March 9th BLADERUNNER John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Dave Lombardo Le Poisson Rouge, May 4th TOMAS FUJIWARA TRIO Ralph Alessi, Brandon Seabrook Barbès, July 13th NELS CLINE/JIM BLACK The Stone, August 5th YOUN SUN NAH/ULF WAKENIUS Blue Note, September 16th ERIC MCPHERSON David Virelles, John Hébert, Trevor Todd SEEDS, November 5th MICHAEL BLAKE’S TIDDY BOOM Frank Kimbrough, Ben Allison, Jeremy “Bean” Clemons Jazz at Kitano, November 12th —Andrey Henkin

—Laurence Donohue-Greene

LABELS OF THE YEAR

CLEAN FEED (cleanfeed-records.com) ECM (ecmrecords.com) INTAKT (intaktrec.ch) RELATIVE PITCH (relativepitchrecords.com) SUNNYSIDE (sunnysiderecords.com)

VENUES OF THE YEAR

Cornelia Street Café (West Village) Dizzy’s Club (Upper West Side) “Snugs Series” at 61 Local (Cobble Hill) The Stone (Alphabet City) Village Vanguard (West Village)

siness) • Matt Bauder and Day in Pictures—Nightshades (Clean Feed) • David Berkman—Live at Smalls (feat. Tom Harrell) (smallsLIVE) iamson) (Babel) • Daniel Blacksberg Trio—Perilous Architecture (NoBusiness) • Johnathan Blake—Gone, but not Forgotten (Criss Cross Jazz) • James Brandon Lewis—Divine Travels (OKeh) • Oguz Büyükberber/Simon Nabatov/Gerry Hemingway—Live at the Bimhuis (TryTone) s (ACT Music) • Jimmy Cobb—The Original Mob (Smoke Sessions) • Marco Colonna/Agustí Fernandez—Desmadre (Fonterossa/Jambona Lab) —Noget at Glæde Sig Til (ILK Music) • Roger Davidson—Temple of the Soul (Soundbrush) • Kris Davis Trio—Waiting For You To Grow (Clean Feed) bury—A Field Perpetually At The Edge Of Disorder (Fataka) • Ensemble 5—The Summary of 4 (Leo) • John Escreet—Sound, Space and Structures (Sunnyside) • Free Nelson MandoomJazz—The Shape of Jazz to Come/Saxophone Giganticus (RareNoise) • Frontton—Alternating Flows (Unit) lbert De Joode/Okkyung Lee—Skein (Leo) • Barry Guy New Orchestra—Amphi, Radio Rondo (Intakt) • Mary Halvorson—Reverse Blue (Relative Pitch) Hawkins Ensemble—Step Wide, Step Deep (Babel) • John Hollenbeck/Alban Darche/Sebastien Boisseau/Samuel Blaser—JASS (YOLK Music) Trio—Defining Moment (s/r) • Indigo Mist—That The Days Go By and Never Come Again (RareNoise) • Je Suis!—Ça va? (Umlaut) • David Krakauer—The Big Picture (Pounding Table) • Jonas Kulhammar/Espen Aalberg/Torbjörn Zetterberg—Basement Sessions, Vol. 2 (Clean Feed) yside) • Daunik Lazro/Benjamin Duboc/Didier Lasserre—Sens Radiants (Dark Tree) • Daunik Lazro/Joëlle Léandre—Hasparren (NoBusiness) D Technologies/Incunabula) • Wadada Leo Smith—Red Hill (RareNoise) • Lukas Ligeti/Thollem McDonas—Imaginary Images (Leo) Cathedral) (OKeh) • Roscoe Mitchell/Scott Robinson—Tone Ventures (ScienSonic) • Mostly Other People Do the Killing—Hannover (Jazzwerkstatt) . 2: Fo’ n Mo’ (Onyx) • Pharoah & The Underground—Spiral Mercury (Clean Feed) • Radius/Fred Lonberg-Holm—Just Outside the Door (Hazel Jazz) Stream (NoBusiness) • Joshua Redman—Trios Live (Nonesuch) • Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things—Second Cities: Volume 1 (482 Music) Octet—High/Red/Center (Delmark) • Joris Roelofs—Aliens Deliberating (Pirouet) • Ted Rosenthal Trio—Rhapsody in Gershwin (Playscape) ni di Domenico—Iruman (Mbari Musica) • Saxophone Summit—Visitation (ArtistShare) • Sekstons—Eponymous (Multikulti Project) ch) • Matthew Shipp—I’ve Been To Many Places (Thirsty Ear) • Ches Smith and These Arches—International Hoohah (ForTune) za—Apocryphal (Loyal Label) • Bob Stewart Connections—Mind the Gap (Sunnyside) • Aki Takase La Planète—Flying Soul (Intakt) ) • Anna Webber—Simple (Skirl) • Frank Wess—Magic 201 (IPO) • Sebastian Zawadzki/Mariusz Praśniewski/Radek Wośko—Tåge (Multikulti Project)

(CD REVIEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26)

Children of the Sun Joe Sample & NDR Big Band (PRA Records) Eponymous Charlie Haden/Jim Hall (Impulse) Song for Quintet Kenny Wheeler (ECM) by Tom Greenland

Annual obituaries always bring a twinge of sadness. In jazz, an improvised artform created by unique musical personalities, the loss is especially deeply felt when these distinctive presences pass on. In 2014, three important jazz-makers—keyboardist Joe Sample, bassist Charlie Haden and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler— left behind memories and legacies when the last notes of their final performances faded away. Joe Sample, best known for his work with The Jazz Crusaders, recorded Children of the Sun in 2011 in Hamburg with the NDR Bigband, with Steve Gadd on drums. His compositions were inspired by a 1995 gig on St. Croix, when he was struck by how Middle Passage slaves (referred to by the album’s title) suffered severe oppression in the midst of a Caribbean island “paradise”. The tracks span a number of rhythmic genres—funky shuffles, calypso, ballads, cha-cha, a jazz waltz, rock, AfroCuban—with sophisticated contrapuntal arrangements by Jörg Achim Keller, “I Wanna Go Home” and “Creole Eyes” being standout examples. Two distinct stylists emerge through the mix: trombonist Nils Landgren, a bluesy plungermuted growler, and raspy-toned tenor saxophonist Sebastian Gilles. Sample’s loose phrasing and Gadd’s laid-back timekeeping provide a foil for the highly disciplined NDR team. Jim Hall and Charlie Haden, who together inspired generations of outwardly-bound guitarists and bassists, are well represented on an unearthed gem documenting a duo bill at the 1990 Montréal International Jazz Festival, when both were in the prime of their musical health. The set begins tentatively, each man checking the other ’s pulse over Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing”, finding common ground on Haden’s “First Song”, going deeper on Ornette Coleman’s disjointed blues “Turnaround” and especially the gradually recognizable “Body and Soul”, where Hall’s zigzagging phrases are balanced by Haden’s terraced counterlines. Hall’s 6/8 calypso “Down From Antigua” and swinging “Big Blues” are also highlights, featuring sotto voce strumming and forward-leaning harmonies, the latter notable for Haden’s elastic pedal tones. The set closes with Haden’s “In the Moment”, a more experimental outing enhanced by extended techniques. Trumpeter Kenny Wheeler was equally comfortable in the milieux of muscular postbop and cosmic free-improv, his work preserved on a wealth of seminal recordings as leader and collaborator. Songs for Quintet is his gentle swan song for ECM, a relaxed date (although the track “1076” recalls a younger, more boisterous side of his playing) setting his compelling original melodies against guitarist John Parricelli’s undulating accompaniment and tenor saxophonist Stan Sulzmann’s rough-voiced lyricism. Group empathy and a shared ethos are exemplified on the bent tones and fractured melody of “The Long Waiting”, martial tango “Sly Eyes”, shadowed bluesriffing of “Old Time”, trance-inducing “Pretty Liddle Waltz” and through-composed “Nonetheless”. For more information, visit prarecords.com, impulse-label.com and ecmrecords.com

The Great Lakes Suites Wadada Leo Smith (TUM) Red Hill Wadada Leo Smith (RareNoise) The Nile Wadada Leo Smith/Hardedge (Hardedge) by Brad Cohan

Renegade trumpeter, composer and improvising visionary Wadada Leo Smith’s journey has spanned a jaw-dropping arc eclipsing four decades and bearing creative fruit that barely can be touched upon in this space. Smith’s trailblazing beginnings helped pave groundbreaking niches in avant garde jazz still reverberating to this day. 2012’s lavish civil rightsbased testimonial Ten Freedom Summers was, arguably, his crucial touchstone. The conundrum is how does Smith follow up a Pulitzer Prize finalist in music? Never content, Smith has uncorked three(!) multifarious recordings featuring two antithetical super-groups and a minimalist, sound-deconstructing duo. On a similarly grand scale as Ten Freedom Summers is Smith’s conceptual opus The Great Lakes Suites, a mammoth two-disc ode to each of the five Great Lakes and an honorary sixth (“Lake St. Clair”). Enlisting with Smith is a cast of heavyweights: multi-instrumentalist Henry Threadgill, longtime bass cohort John Lindberg and ace drummer Jack DeJohnette. The results are an epiphany of spectacularly colorful and breathless interaction. The 22-minute “Lake Michigan” is as epic and vibrant as the body of water from which it takes its name, a tour de force pitting Smith’s fierce trumpet against or partnering with Threadgill’s alto and flute in bobbing, weaving and dancing solo duels and magical back-and-forth dialect. As Smith and Threadgill effortlessly dig deep with mellifluous euphoria, in-the-pocket pros Lindberg and DeJohnette direct the melodic, big band-esque pulsations with aplomb. From hard-swinging bop (“Lake Huron”) to funky thump downs (“Lake Superior”), this superb quartet lays down an off-the-cuff looseness with lasereyed focus. While Smith is credited with all the compositions on The Great Lakes Suites, Red Hill is a collaborative effort. Three-quarters of sludgy metal-blues outfit Slobber Pup—Jamie Saft (piano; Fender Rhodes), Joe Morris (switching from guitar to upright bass duties here) and Bálazs Pándi (drums)—unite with de facto leader Smith to equal the intensity, urgency and majestic breadth of The Great Lakes Suites, but aesthetically, they explore the polar opposite. The quartet—in a habitual state of deep conversational give-and-take—journey into mystical, thoughtprovoking improvisational realms on six sonically sprawling tracks. But for these avant garde savants, it’s no noisy free-for-all. Instead, the foursome create feathery vistas, Smith’s piercing wails and subtle lyricism and Saft’s bluesy speed-fingering and abstract caresses and pangs taking center stage while the rhythmic heartbeat of Morris’ beefy plucks and bowon-strings scrapes and Pándi’s metal-flavored frenetic brushes, crashes and thuds huddle to form a mindnumbingly organic resonance. The Nile—a partnership that brings Smith together with the elusive “sound designer” Hardedge—probes ghostly, minimalist percolations that wouldn’t be out of place at a noise festival. Blood-raw and primal soundscapes are yielded (so much so the listener can decipher Smith’s grunts and heavy breaths) on the four-track, 53-minute undertaking, which finds Hardedge’s knob-twiddling electronics abuse mounting an ominous wall of jarring dissonance. Despite its title, the 17-minute-and-change “Signs and

30 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Symbols of Humanity” and, conversely, the 15-minuteplus “Civilization of Barbarism” envision a nightmarish dystopia. As Smith unleashes a torrent of caustic highnote squeals and pensive mediations, Hardedge sculpts a grinding assault of fragmented belches, creaks and barks not easy on the ears but a revelatory amalgam of soundwaves. At 73 years young, Wadada Leo Smith continues to confound minds and ears with this trifecta of very disparate releases. For more information, visit tumrecords.com, rarenoiserecords.com and facebook.com/Hardedge2. Smith is at The Stone Jan. 25th. See Calendar.

Evil Fingers HDRS (Gligg) by Kurt Gottschalk

Improvised music generally gets its energy from the tension of different personalities meeting for a common purpose. They give and they take, each in his or her own way, but—generally (we hope and assume)— toward some shared, unspoken goal. Compatibility, in other words, is important but commonality, not necessarily. It’s rare, in fact, to hear a group as likeminded as cellist Tristan Honsinger, trumpeter Axel Dörner, guitarist Olaf Rupp and percussionist Oli Steidle, who each contribute an initial to HDRS. Honsinger is likely the best-known member of the group. A member of the venerable ICP Orchestra, he had a longstanding relationship with guitarist Derek Bailey and has worked with Cecil Taylor, Dutch punk band The Ex and British post-punk band The Pop Group. Dörner, a remarkable and versatile musician, who has worked with the Fred Van Hove’s ‘T Nonet, Globe Unity Orchestra and Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Orchestra, has matched the volume of The Ex and the considerably lesser volume of Keith Rowe. Lesser known is acoustic guitarist Olaf Rupp, although the remarkable records he made with Joe Williamson and Tony Buck under the name Weird Weapons might be the strongest precedent for the particular groupthink at play here. Steidle, who keeps steady pulses and rattles throughout the proceedings, has worked with Aki Takase, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Peter Brötzmann, to name only a few. The band came together in 2013, when this live recording was laid down, but is playing dates in Germany to support the record this month and whatever they do on stage, they’ll likely do it as a united force. On record they play sustained, tonal passages and, more often, fast flurries of percussive attack, rarely letting the focus land on any one instrument. But if one were to focus one’s attention in any particular direction, it might be toward Rupp. While he’s technician enough to lay down the occasional, jazzy comping, his big strokes and pointillistic plucking do much to propel the group’s music. That music is abstract but makes uniform sense. The unaccustomed ear might not enjoy it but (unlike some free meets) would likely still get that the players are working together. The part that doesn’t make sense is the spoken non-sequiturs on Roman Polanski and missing objects. Which is just as well—one wouldn’t want too much sense being made. For more information, visit gligg-records.com. Tristan Honsinger is at Le Poisson Rouge Jan. 9th with ICP Orchestra as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar.

Strength Energy Imagination Dorothy Donegan (Storyville) Candlelight Lady Dexter Gordon (SteepleChase) by Terrell Holmes

A lustrum has passed since the jazz world lost drummer Ed Thigpen (1930-2010). Thigpen lived in Copenhagen from 1974 until his death and in that time he worked around that city with other jazz greats. In 1980 Thigpen and Danish bassist Mads Vinding backed pianist Dorothy Donegan at Jazzhus Slukefter in Copenhagen, included on Strength Energy Imagination, a reissue of two concerts. Donegan was an ivory alchemist who fused styles from boogie-woogie to Beethoven to create her own exuberant alloy. Playing with her was challenging because she had so much energy and imagination. Donegan, through medleys, tries to squeeze as much of the Great American Songbook into the set as possible. A benign contempt for lyrics—she earnestly tramples “Pennies from Heaven”, “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You”— and abrupt changes on changes are a by-product of this compression. Thigpen isn’t sure when to come in at the beginning of “Out of Nowhere/Sweet Lorraine/Send In the Clowns”; his brushes whisper tentatively beneath Donegan’s hill and dale intro. But he navigates these harmonic riddles to establish a perfect tempo and texture, and emphasizing coherence over pyrotechnics. On “Edmund Thigpen’s Gospel”, a contrafact of “Down by the Riverside”, he’s just starting to warm up as the song fades out. Six years earlier Thigpen joined fellow ex-pats, saxophonist Dexter Gordon and pianist Kenny Drew, with Vinding once more, at the Montmartre Jazzhus in Copenhagen for a set released recently under Gordon’s name as Candlelight Lady. Long Tall Dexter always played it cool and straight. His phrases on chestnuts like “Old Folks” and “There Is No Greater Love” might have been long but he always ended them with a period, not an ellipsis or a semicolon. So all Thigpen needed to do here was, like a good quarterback, sit comfortably in the pocket. The vibe is relaxed from Vinding’s first notes on Gordon’s “The Rainbow People” and Thigpen is more sure-footed. He supports Gordon’s bluesy sax on “Sticky Vicket” with crisp cymbal and snare shots. “Montmartre” shows where he was headed on “Edmund Thigpen’s Gospel”. He’s aggressive right out of the box on this sprint with a fierce opening salvo and towards the end plays a vigorous solo as if to unleash all of the energy he had conserved throughout the set. For more information, visit storyvillerecords.com and steeplechase.dk

Not that she sounds just like him—not at all. But Bloch has absorbed the approach of Konitz and fellow traveler Ted Brown and the man that helmed likely the first totally ‘free’ session, iconic pianist Lennie Tristano. Bloch has the cool, lithe, vibrato-less mode of Konitz down, but it’s what she does with it that counts. Feathery is not any sort of throwback to the oftmaligned West Coast Sound of the ‘50s. If anything, Bloch has another ‘50s icon providing inspiration: Ornette Coleman. Like him, the feeling of the blues is infused in her playing along with a sense of dry angularity—her solos don’t ‘go’ as some of the jaded of us might expect yet they are impeccably logical and always have that sense of forward impetus. The band of guitarist Dave Miller, bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Billy Mintz is perfect for her. They give her compositions plenty of room—concise and free of clutter or extraneous notes, that’s the ticket—and play well as a unit. Brown is spare and soulful, Mintz is crisp and Miller ’s guitar has a peculiar crackle to it, a spare way of playing that lets the strings truly resonate, almost making a listener feel inches from the guitar. He doesn’t so much accompany Bloch as is a voice alongside hers. While most of this platter is somewhat pensive and ruminative in mood, “Featherbed” is a welcome break, proving (for those needing it) that Bloch can roar straight-up bebop with the best of them, the band whipping up a merry storm behind her. While it is a cliché to end reviews this way, it fits: Bloch is a talent to watch, building upon the innovations of Konitz, Brown and Tristano in a singular manner. For more information, visit thirteenthnoterecords.com. Bloch is at Bar Chord Jan. 21st and NYC Baha’i Center Jan. 27th. See Calendar.

236 West 26 Street, Room 804 New York, NY 10001 Monday-Saturday, 10:00-6:00 Tel: 212-675-4480 Fax: 212-675-4504 Email: [emailprotected] Web: jazzrecordcenter.com LP’s, CD, Videos (DVD/VHS), Books, Magazines, Posters, Postcards, T-shirts, Calendars, Ephemera Buy, Sell, Trade Collections bought and/or appraised

Feathery Lena Bloch (Thirteenth Note) by Mark Keresman

Tenor saxophonist Lena Bloch is a likely ‘heir ’ to the throne of that still-thriving captain of cool, Lee Konitz. 32 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Also carrying specialist labels e.g. Fresh Sound, Criss Cross, Ayler, Silkheart, AUM Fidelity, Nagel Heyer, Eremite, Venus, Clean Feed, Enja and many more

Variable Bets Tomas Fujiwara Trio (Relative Pitch) by John Sharpe

Tomas Fujiwara already helms one outfit, The Hookup—well-regarded among the pantheon of contemporary drummer-led ensembles—but he looks likely to add a second with the new trio unveiled on Variable Bets. While the quintet hews closely to Fujiwara’s charts, he takes a different tack with the trio, linking compositions with passages of group improvisation. Of course this approach boasts a long pedigree stretching back to Don Cherry’s Complete Communion, via Anthony Braxton and others, but in Fujiwara’s hands the improvisations assume equal prominence with the thematic material. The trio creates an attractive organic feel to the proceedings, handling Fujiwara’s cryptic charts loosely so that they emerge from the flow as if by accident before returning without jarring transitions. What’s equally impressive is that all eight pieces were captured live in concert and in an unbroken stream at the Brooklyn club Barbès in September 2013. Fujiwara steers from behind the traps, balancing bristling rumble and percussive coloration, which makes his excursions into precise meter all the more exciting when they arrive. Fujiwara wields his chops with

restraint, opening “Harp Ran Blond” with a conversational drum tattoo and taking a quietly potent outing on the anagrammatically titled “Lord Sumo”. Trumpeter Ralph Alessi achieves his impact not through in-your-face virtuosity, but through careful attention to timbre and note placement. Although best known for his work in inside settings, he demonstrates an inspiring free sensibility. However far out the context, he retains a slippery lyrical streak, enjoying a minor key trumpet lament on “The Comb” before the cut builds in intensity and diverges into three-way soloing. Guitarist Brandon Seabrook acts as the wildcard; his effects-strewn contributions nonetheless promote ingenious musicality and perpetuate the inner logic of each track. He also makes effective use of silence, notably on “Insomniac’s Delight”, where he subjects a nagging riff to constant minor revision and ornamentation. All three combine to deliver a great listen full of depth, understated power and cohesion. For more information, visit relativepitchrecords.com. This band is at Cornelia Street Café Jan. 9th. See Calendar.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

2014

BEST OF

NEW RELEASES HONORABLE MENTIONS MARY HALVORSON/MICHAEL FORMANEK/ TOMAS FUJIWARA “Thumbscrew” IDEAL BREAD “Beating The Teens - Songs Of Steve Lacy” LED BIB “The People In Your Neighbourhood”

CUNEIFORM ARTISTS IN NYC THIS MONTH THE CELLAR AND POINT January 8-10 - Winter Jazz Fest ANTHONY PIROG WITH MICHAEL FORMANEK AND CHES SMITH January 8-10 - Winter Jazz Fest ED PALERMO BIG BAND January 17 and 18 - Iridium

2015

NEW RELEASES Sonic Halo Tineke Postma/Greg Osby (Challenge) by Ken Dryden

Tineke Postma has been one of the rising stars among European saxophonists over the past decade, though recently she has been dividing her time between Amsterdam and New York City. She honed her skills at the Manhattan School of Music with David Liebman, Dick Oatts and Chris Potter. Since her debut recording she has had a steady output as a leader. Postma is equally skilled on both alto and soprano and this meeting with her former mentor Greg Osby, who also doubles on both instruments, is a dream come true for her. The rhythm section for this session is made up of Matt Mitchell (piano and Fender Rhodes), in-demand young bassist Linda Oh and drummer Dan Weiss. Both leaders contributed originals for the date and a challenge for listeners is trying to identify the respective saxophonists, made more difficult by the similarity of their approaches. Postma’s ominous “Sea Skies” is an infectious pairing of two sopranos, with plenty of fireworks in their overlapping lines. Osby’s jagged, constantly shifting “Facets” features alto and soprano. Postma’s “Source Code” casts a pensive spell with the two altos and an introspective piano solo. Osby’s “Where I’m From” is a gorgeous ballad combining nostalgia and a tinge of sorrow. The lush soprano with harmony by the alto creates a magical blend, complemented by sparse, deliberate piano. Postma’s turbulent “Nine Times a Night” is marked by its tense rhythmic undercurrent and explosive solos. Osby’s loping “Bottom Forty” has a sauntering, funky flavor beneath its fiery sopranos. Postma’s angular “Melo” showcases the rhythm section in the introduction, with percussion accents keeping things deliberately off-kilter beneath the paired altos. The sole chestnut of this session is the alto saxophonists’ intriguing abstract reworking of “Body and Soul”, which remains on the periphery of its chord changes. This provocative outing demonstrates the tremendous growth of Postma and the continued mastery of veteran Osby.

THE KANDINSKY EFFECT Somnambulist

HENRY KAISER & RAY RUSSELL The Celestial Squid

MIKE OSBORNE Dawn

SOFT MACHINE Switzerland 1974

SCHNELLERTOLLERMEIER X

cuneiformrecords.com cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com Buy these and thousands of other interesting releases at our online store: waysidemusic.com

For more information, visit challengerecords.com. This project is at The Jazz Gallery Jan. 9th. See Calendar.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

With a Song in my Heart Antonio Ciacca Trio (TwinsMusic) I Remember Cedar David Hazeltine (Sharp Nine) The Mike Longo Trio Celebrates Oscar Peterson Live Mike Longo (CAP) by Marcia Hillman

DUANE EUBANKS QUINTET THINGS OF THAT PARTICULAR NATURE SSC 1390 - IN STORES 1/20/2015

ubanks had known and collaborated with drummer, Eric McPherson, for a number of years. McPherson helped forge a relationship with saxophonist, Abraham Burton. It wasn’t until Burton invited Eubanks to sit in on a gig that featured bassist, Dezron Douglas and pianist, Marc Cary that the trumpeter truly felt at home with a group. Eubanks knew that he wanted to perform with these musicians, as their energy and love for each other was obvious, as McPherson, Burton, and Cary had been playing together for nearly 20 years, and it came across to audiences.

AARON GOLDBERG THE NOW

SSC 1402 - IN STORES 1/20/2015 with

ERIC HARLAND drums REUBEN ROGERS bass

n his new release The Now, Goldberg reunites with bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, the virtuoso rhythm team going all the way back to his 1998 debut Turning Point. On their fifth outing together, the trio foregrounds a central truth about the art of playing jazz: that no two performances will be the same because the music is created, in Goldberg’s words, “in the dynamic plane of the present.” iTunes.com/AaronGoldberg iTunes.com/DuaneEubanks www.sunnysiderecords.com

The jazz piano trio has been a staple in NYC nightclubs, bars and lounges for the longest time. Anywhere there is a venue with room for a piano wanting jazz along with its eats and drinks, the piano trio has been on the menu. The beauty of the formation gives each musician plenty of room to shine in their solos and the opportunity to listen carefully to each other ’s improvisations. Here are three of the best with new releases. Pianist Antonio Ciacca, along with bassist Paul Gill and drummer Peter Van Nostrand, offers a collection of six Great American Songbook favorites and three originals on With a Song in my Heart. It is immediately obvious that the members of this trio have that magical, musical connection, having worked together for the past seven years. As a player, Ciacca demonstrates a happy, light, swinging touch that will bring a smile to the listener. As a composer, he writes melodically and bases his tunes on famous songs (i.e., the melody of “It’s About Time” stems from the harmonics of “Just In Time”). When it comes to the familiar selections, two Cole Porter favorites stand out: “It’s All Right With Me” and “You Do Something To Me”. The former in uptempo displays Ciacca’s ability to swing alongside driving bass and an exciting drum statement. The latter features Ciacca playing the verse out of tempo and then gliding into a medium groove for the chorus along with some drum tap-dancing. Another highlight is a hardly-ever-done fully arco solo from Gill on the original “It’s About Time”. With I Remember Cedar, pianist David Hazeltine has chosen to tribute one of his major influences, the late Cedar Walton. According to the liner notes, Hazeltine was “trying to incorporate aspects of Cedar ’s style since 1974.” Hazeltine and his bandmates, bassist David Williams and drummer Joe Farnsworth, are heard playing nine Walton compositions and the familiar “Over The Rainbow” (which Walton once played at a club for Hazeltine and his wife, who were celebrating their birthdays). Walton’s compositions are all melodic, reflecting the way he played piano and Hazeltine interprets them here with the same solid authority. The trio formula works well here with all players receiving fairly equal time for individual interpretation. Farnsworth shows off his skill at playing melody on “Simple Pleasure”, dances delightfully on “Martha’s Prize” and delivers a Latinflavored highlight on “Fiesta Español”. Williams is impressive throughout and in solo spots on “Martha’s Prize” and “Dear Ruth”. Other notable tracks are the uptempo “Holy Land” and the bop-oriented “Cedar ’s Blues”. The Mike Longo Trio’s offering is another tribute album—this one to Oscar Peterson, with whom Longo spent an intensive six months in private study in the ‘60s. The songs played on this one are all Great American Songbook items associated with Peterson from his albums. The recording by the trio (completed by bassist Paul West and drummer Ray Mosca) was done live at the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium of the NYC Bahai Center; Longo’s liner notes state that there “was no rehearsal so everything you ear is totally improvised…I simply showed up with a list of songs and started blowing”, illustrating the connection between the players and also their individual talents.

34 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Longo’s style is of the ‘less is more’ variety, but his mastery of the instrument is also a lesson in how to build a solo—a perfect example of which is on his rendition of “Always”. West plays a lyrical bass with outstanding work on “A Child Is Born” and “Yesterdays”. Mosca also stands out with a strong connection to Longo via appropriate drum fills and musical conversing Add to this threesome of trio albums the impossibly hard-to-define energy that all NYC-based musicians seem to possess and you have a most enjoyable package with which to treat your ears. For more information, visit twinsmusicny.com, sharpnine.com and jazzbeat.com. Ciacca is at Measure Jan. 1st-3rd, 12th-17th, 24th and 26th-31st. Hazeltine is at Saint Peter’s Jan. 14th. Longo is at NYC Baha’i Center Jan. 13th. See Calendar.

In Motion Manuel Valera and New Cuban Express (Criss Cross Jazz) by George Kanzler

Cuban music and jazz have been intertwined at a complex level ever since the island gave us such musicians as Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo Sandoval over three decades ago. Cubans have been in the forefront of a new AfroLatin jazz that goes beyond montuno and simple, static harmony to one that embraces bebop and postbop advances. At 34, Manuel Valera is part of the latest vanguard of Cuban expatriate jazz musicians, a pianist as influenced by Bill Evans and Chick Corea as Chucho Valdés. The core of his New Cuban Express may be fellow Cubans— saxophonist Yosvany Terry, drummer-percussionists Ludwig Afonso and Mauricio Herrera—but it also includes the American guitarist Tom Guarna and expatriates Alex Sipiagin (trumpet) from Russia and Hans Glawischnig (bass) from Austria. Although infused with rich tropical polyrhythms, Valera’s program is surprisingly diverse in tempo and time signatures. After an opening nod to traditional AfroCuban jam session protocols with a modern twist, “Descargando”, it invokes everything from Cuban makuta and abakua rhythms and bolero to pieces pitting four against three and employing a reverse image 9/8. The one cover, among eight originals, is a Cuban bolero, “No Puedo Ser Feliz”, with a tender, beseeching melody (reminiscent of “Somewhere in the Night”) achingly voiced by Terry’s evocative alto sax, followed by a spare, lyric piano solo before a vampy, descarga coda. Original highlights include a concertolike “Preamble”, a long solo piano intro morphing into a cascading ensemble theme and solos over a montuno rhythm from piano and soprano sax; “Bantu” in a makuta rhythm with Valera’s Fender Rhodes evoking memories of Eumir Deodato’s CTI albums from the ‘70s; and a bolero-like “Para Emiliano”, also with Fender Rhodes, an undulating theme giving way to guitar and piano solos before accelerating rhythms spark bright solo exchanges by trumpet and soprano sax. There’s a rhythmic and creative flow to this album reflecting that this is a working band, easily united in combining the leader ’s ensemble intentions with strong, individual solo moments. For more information, visit crisscrossjazz.com. Valera is at Smalls Jan. 5th and Zinc Bar Jan. 9th with Dafnis Prieto as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar.

Things of that Particular Nature Duane Eubanks Quintet (Sunnyside) by Phil Freeman

Trumpeter Duane Eubanks, younger brother of trombonist Robin and guitarist Kevin, hasn’t made an album as a leader in well over a decade. For this one, he’s assembled an impressive band: tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton, keyboardist Marc Cary, bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Eric McPherson. Vibraphonist Steve Nelson guests on two tracks. The compositions are all Eubanks originals, save a version of Mulgrew Miller ’s “Holding Hands”; the trumpeter served in the pianist’s band for years, beginning in the ‘80s. The first track, “Purple, Blue and Red”, was originally recorded on drummer Jeff Williams’ 2001 album Another Time while the closing cut, “Slew Footed”, is a reworking of a piece from Eubanks’ last disc under his own name, 1999’s Second Take. Nearly all the compositions are strongly focused on melody and structured like songs rather than formal or technical exercises. The sole exception is the stuttering, funky “Dance With Aleta”. It would be easy for a singer to deliver lyrics on almost any track here. This is an ideal setting for a player like Eubanks, whose solos tend toward the lyrical and have a vibrant energy, particularly on ballads. In some ways, his playing—

and the overall sound of the group—recalls Woody Shaw’s albums of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s: highlevel music with a muscular, contagious energy. Everyone he’s hired to back him is on his level: Burton blows hard, but never goes all the way out into honking and splattering; Cary’s touch on the piano is as deft as it is strong; Douglas and McPherson swing hard, but are just as capable of turning a ballad into a softly wafting mood piece. Things of that Particular Nature isn’t a revelation—nobody here’s trying to reinvent the wheel. But with its focus on melody and its relative concision (6 of its 10 tracks are under five minutes long; three of them are under four), it offers great pleasure to most any jazz fan. For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com. This project is at Smalls Jan. 29th. See Calendar.

Crimen Sonoro Troker (s/r) by Elliott Simon

Crimen Sonoro puts punk, funk, metal, industrial, hip-

hop and Mariachi music as well as several jazz subgenres into its musical cement mixer to produce one of the most intense fusion releases of last year. Troker hails from Mexico and this sextet is well versed

36 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

in music from both sides of the river. The nod to Sam the Sham on “Tequila Death” is priceless and their execution as they quickly change tempos and meld genres is flawless. This is music to stir the slain, in a jazzy sort of way, and the intensity that bassist Samo González, drummer Frankie Mares and turntablist DJ Zero create is the powerful core of most of these tunes. Trumpeter Gilberto Cervantes and saxophonist Arturo Santillanes stray across lots of borders, dwelling on the Mexican traces just enough to add salsa ripples to an already intense mix, while keyboardist Christian Jiménez can create cheesy Farfisa or crushing Nine Inch Nails soundscapes. The band is well connected and can accelerate and brake hard without any ragged edges and because of the horn/heavy metal contrast the songs do not devolve into noise. Opener “Stranger” has the horns riffing off an intense onslaught and “Príncipe Charro” uses similar contrasts to introduce the prince and his horse in style. All is not a raving onslaught, however, and the session expertly employs complexity, modern jazz soloing, electronica and even some quiet moments. This enables the band to create the intrigue inherent in deadly “Arsenic Lips”, beautiful and sexy engagement with a mysterious “Femme Fatal”, a varied trip through the “Underworld” and wonderful expression of the various shades inherent in “Claroscuro”. Somehow Troker is able to create a disciplined and compact highenergy sound from a variety of influences that, until Crimen Sonoro, have not been very well acquainted with each other. For more information, visit en.troker.com.mx. This band is at Bowery Electric Jan. 10th as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar.

s/1 Luc Ex’ Assemblée (Red Note) by Ken Waxman

Event Horizon Peter Evans/Sam Pluta (Carrier) by Fred Bouchard

Although many of Dutch bassist Luc Ex’ affiliations have been with rock-jazz oriented groups, Assemblée is an unabashed jazz project, for which he composed a set of distinctive originals, given added heft by featuring American drummer Hamid Drake, the closest thing to a percussion insurance policy that exists. Fellow Netherlander Ab Baars and German Ingrid Laubrock complete the lineup. Even though each mostly plays tenor saxophone, there’s no emulation of the dueling tenor tradition embedded in hardbop or free jazz. Instead, Laubrock and Baars, both of whom have put in time as sidefolk and bandleaders in many contexts, work out equitable responses to Ex’s lines that cunningly promote individual expression. Despite verbose titles “The Unexpected Death of a Fortune Teller” and “When the Demiurge Looks in the Mirror”, for instance, the creations are in reality relaxed lopes, where unison reed breaths are moved along chromatically and almost effortlessly by Ex’ ringing string strokes and Drake’s open backbeat. When, on the other hand, the horns crack, shave and otherwise shatter their phrases into tiny pieces, as on “Expanding for Aye” or the final “Mutated Square Dance”, sparse rhythmic undertones from bass-string motifs and cymbal pops subtly ripen into straightforward grooves. Solid jazz time sense is still asserted on the almost fully deconstructed “The Road” and when Baars brings out his shakuhachi and Laubrock her soprano saxophone on “Primates Travel by Train”. The cornucopia of reed vibration on the first piece quickens into a steady pulse; the wind whistles and sighs of the second are railroaded into a 21st Century variation of classic locomotive-reflecting rhythmic swing when Ex and Drake finally join the action. Unfazed by labels and nationalities, Ex has assembled an exemplary quartet whose free music variant of rhythmic swing deserves more exposure.

This album pairing electrified trumpet with laptoppery sounded much clearer and present played in its $20 LP format on a quality stereo system than the $5 download on a tinny MacBook Pro, even through a Beats headset. Improved channel separation and widened dynamic range helped distinguish between the sounds/roles of Peter Evans’ trumpet and Sam Pluta’s programming, the latter probably not including trumpet manipulation and filtering. While the trumpet seldom sounded ‘trumpet-like’ (except for a rare Lester Bowie-like blat) it still fairly consistently showed (what sounds to be) wind-like plosive air attack and natural (frequently avian) audio effects. With the LP, the question of ‘Where does laptop end and horn begin?’ no longer nags the confused listener. These are nip-n-tuck duets. On the title track, Pluta posits a bed of edgy nervous energy fields where Evans enters in a Conlon Nancarrow-quick cadenza of leaps and echo effects. Bird-like squawks and smooches battle high-frequency beeps and static and engagingly frenetic heron toots rise over marshy furze. Over loop patterns, horn approximates ruffed grouse wing flutter, goose honks and Wadada Leo Smith-esque slowdowns to sustain and zero fadeout. “Dark Matter” opens a dead-slow yawp over a void on which Evans inserts flutter-tongued whispers, remotely trumpet-like, which accelerate into superrapid REM flashes. Pluta’s ice-crystal shower collides with Evans’ humpback whale’s alert cries, which, in speedy solo cadenza, gradually approximate trumpet timbres. Towards the end, Evans ‘hits’ some serious blats reminiscent of Bowie and Pluta ends it with a few seconds of generator-like wobblies. The title “Gateway To Another Dimension” conjures up Sun Ra and his Arkestra before you even hear a single note and again after hearing a few. There’s more dynamic variability, volume and texture than on ‘Side A’. In two minutes, things speed up infinitely into a grand pause (black hole?). Then the two voices wrench into ‘another dimension’ with shrill brassy sforzandi fading into insect-like tremolos and spacy boo-bam hits. The central section ramps up with desultory sonic materials, including the following (randomly identified) elements: amplified valve bounces; old-fashioned squishes à la Russian electronic music composer Vladimir Ussachevsky; rail-like grunts (eventually accelerating into singularity); halfsecond delay chases; accelerating bee-buzzes fading into quietly chattering cicadas. The final third hits as near-normal trumpet repeats descending thirds and flutter-tongued sustains, surrounded by a flattening tire. A coda begins with ‘obligatory drum solo’ in the form of dry-conga hits, then trumpet jabs trading twos, ones, closing with a blubbering hurt. Over 3 tracks and 40 minutes, the main tempo marking would probably be allegro (quarter note = 120) and the sound generally acrid to acidic. I imagine the players had as much head-scratching joy executing these sounds as this reporter did trying to describe them. Long live experimentalism.

For more information, visit lucex.nl/cms/rednote. Ingrid Laubrock is at Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar Jan. 5th and Ibeam Brooklyn Jan. 30th. Ab Baars is at Le Poisson Rouge Jan. 9th with ICP Orchestra as part of Winter Jazzfest. Hamid Drake is at Roulette Jan. 17th with William Parker. See Calendar.

For more information, visit carrierrecords.com. Evans is at The Stone Jan. 18th as part of The Pleasures Of A Normal Man. Pluta is at Ibeam Brooklyn Jan. 30th. See Calendar.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

Primavera Sara Serpa & André Matos (Inner Circle Music) by Suzanne Lorge

Primavera, from singer/pianist Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos, is 14 tunes featuring shimmering vocals, austere guitar accompaniment and simple, layered harmonies. The lean arrangements complement Serpa’s vocals perfectly, neither intruding nor obscuring the singer ’s delicate, fast-paced vocalese or her carefully articulated lyrics. She sings in her native Portuguese and in English, using text drawn from poets like Alberto Caeiro (“O Guardador de Rebanhos” and “A Realidade das Coisas”) and e.e. cummings (“Earth”) and by singer Jeanne Lee (“Vanguard”, inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s short story “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”). The duo excels at combining pure sounds—vowels, strings, words, horn, keys, breath—and creating soothing, inspiring musical sketches. On the opening title cut, Serpa shows off her skill as an imaginative melody-maker. She doubles her voice on a line that alternates between legato and percussive phrases, exploring both the higher and lower vocal registers, repeating phrases in some sections and leaping to surprising intervals in others. By contrast, with “Se Me Va La Voz”, by Argentinian pianist Guillermo Klein, Serpa delivers a straightforward rendition of the folksy jazz tune and on Ran Blake’s “Vanguard” she almost speaks the artsong melody like a monologue. The shifts in color from tune to tune are subtle; you’ll want to listen several times to catch the many nuances. Matos is an emotive player who makes full use of space without losing the rhythmic center of the tune. His compositions (“Tempo”, “Rios” and “Garden”, for example) are contemplative, musing and modern; when he joins with saxophonist Greg Osby—on “Choro”, for example—the soloist is free to move into dissonance but always returns to Matos’ clear harmonic structure. It’s an amiable musical relationship that hints at something deeper. Likewise with Serpa: the two musicians play off of each other symbiotically and synergistically and the tunes on the CD, taken together, offer a snapshot of where the duo are in their combined artistry.

including Miles Davis, and earn him a contract with Blue Note Records during the label’s heyday. But after making a handful of well-received U.S. albums in the late ‘50s-early ‘60s, he largely faded from public view, save for a few brief reappearances in the ‘70s. Although he’s still living in New York in his 80s, little has been heard from Reece for decades. A new multi-disc set offers fans a chance to delve deeper into Reece’s fascinating story. The collection features everything the trumpeter recorded as a leader, on both sides of the pond, between 1954-62. The five discs include six albums made under Reece’s name, notably his three Blue Note releases, as well as a handful of EPs, sideman gigs and obscurities. The early discs, recorded in London, feature fairly straightahead bebop sessions, with solid turns by Reece and other top British artists such as saxophonists Joe Temperley, Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes, all well played but with few surprises. But over the next few years, there’s a noted growth in Reece’s sound, more command, more risk-taking and a growing interest in world music. By the time he makes his debut for Blue Note in 1958 with Blues in Trinity, a session recorded in London, he’s a fully-formed artist easily capable of holding his own with American stars like fellow trumpeter Donald Byrd and drummer Art Taylor. The album features mostly Reece’s evocative originals, as well as inventive readings of standards like Monk’s “’Round About Midnight”. He followed that release with a move to New York and two more Blue Note sessions: Star Bright, with the peerless rhythm section of Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Taylor, with label stalwart Hank Mobley (tenor sax); and Soundin’ Off, a quartet date with Taylor, pianist Walter Bishop Jr. and bassist Doug Watkins. Both albums are hard-swinging efforts combining Reece originals with familiar fare like “Yesterdays” and “Our Love is Here to Stay” and fit neatly within the well-honed Blue Note style of the era. Despite positive critical feedback, however, the albums failed to sell and Reece’s tenure with the label ended. Reece pushed ahead though and recorded perhaps his most personal, most forward-looking album, Asia Minor, for the New Jazz label in 1962. In the company of Joe Farrell and Cecil Payne (saxophones), Hank Jones (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Charli Persip (drums), Reece explored Eastern-tinged melodies and more experimental compositions as never before. What happened next? Why didn’t Reece achieve the success and notoriety of some of his no-moretalented peers? It’s difficult to say, but this rewarding set offers the best overview available of the important contributions he made to jazz during his peak years. For more information, visit acrobatmusic.net

For more information, visit innercirclemusic.net. Serpa and Matos are at Greenwich House Music School Jan. 29th. See Calendar.

Still Out To Lunch! Russ Johnson (Enja/Yellowbird) by Kurt Gottschalk The Complete Recordings 1954-62 Dizzy Reece (Acrobat Music) by Joel Roberts

Jamaica-born trumpeter Dizzy Reece, who turns 84 this month, is an enigmatic figure in jazz history. A fine hardbop player who emerged on the British jazz scene in the late ‘40s-early ‘50s, his talents were strong enough to gain the attention of jazz fans and peers in America,

2014 was a good year for Eric Dolphy. 50 years after his death and the release of Out to Lunch!, his greatest record, a number of reinterpretations of his work (the process which keeps jazz’ blood coursing) made their way to the market, discs by pianists Aki Takase and Alexander von Schlippenbach, saxophonist Silke Eberhard and, discussed here, trumpeter Russ Johnson‘s Still Out to Lunch!. Out to Lunch! is an oddly stark record, almost

38 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

sanitized, a quality that may point to Dolphy’s background in classical music but which has led some critics to charge it sounds unrehearsed. Indeed, trumpeter Ed Armour had quit Dolphy’s band just before the recording (saying he didn’t like the music) to be replaced by Freddie Hubbard—no doubt a better fit for Dolphy’s unusual compositions—so maybe the band wasn’t quite ready when they went into the studio. Or maybe the album truly would have marked a new direction for Dolphy, even for jazz. Dolphy’s album runs hot and cold at the same time. It doesn’t swing exactly but the potential of swing is in there. And it’s that potentiality that keeps it from being heard as chamber music. The brilliant composer and noise-maker Otomo Yoshihide’s ninepiece New Jazz Orchestra rerecorded the album in 2005, adding electronics and bringing out the tensions and dissonances in the original. Johnson focuses on the other side of the equation on Still Out to Lunch!. With a stellar band (alto saxophonist Roy Nathanson, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Brad Jones and drummer George Schuller), Johnson brightens—one might argue he lightens—the original, bringing out the jazziness of the tunes. The knotty complexities are still there; Johnson just makes the colors more vivid. The fuller arrangements and warmer playing give it, for better or worse, a more palatable feel than the original, with graceful piano playing standing in for Bobby Hutcherson’s blocky, rhythmic vibraphone, nestling the tunes cozily in the pocket. The high point comes with the loping “Straight Up and Down”, a searing alto intro seeming to inspire the band to dig its fingers deep into strong, unison statements of the theme. For more information, visit enjarecords.com. This band is at Judson Church Jan. 9th as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar.

BMC CD 207 Michael Schiffel Platypus Trio

BEST ORIGINAL ALBUM ARTWORK OF 2014

BMC CD 214

BMC CD 212

BMC CD 210

Andreas Schaerer meets ARTE Quartett & Wolfgang Zwiauer Perpetual Delirium

Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, Tim Ries, Robert Hurst, Rudy Royston Climate Change

Viktor Tóth Arura Trio The Present / Szemed Kincse

BMC CD 216

BMC CD 215

BMC CD 209

Gueorgui Kornazov „Horizons” Quintet The Budapest Concert

Trio Kontraszt Grencsó - Tickmayer - Geröly

Grzegorz Karnas Trio feat. Miklós Lukács Vanga

THE NEW YORK CITY

JAZZ RECORD BEST OF 2014

THE HUNGARIAN JAZZ LABEL

Distribution: allegromediagroup.com

Walking on Water Vic Juris Quartet (SteepleChase) by Ken Dryden

A veteran of many decades on the jazz scene, guitarist

Vic Juris has a versatile sound touching on many styles. This studio meeting includes trumpeter Tim Hagans (who has included Juris in his Norbotten Big Band for a number of years), in-demand veteran bassist Jay Anderson and talented drummer Anthony Pinciotti. Young aspiring guitarists should focus on Juris’ ability to put together an attention-grabbing set, blending brilliant originals with jazz songs infrequently recorded and an intense workout of a standard. Opening this date is the guitarist’s “Mama Luke”, a hip blues with a funky swagger. Fireworks occur throughout the quartet’s interpretation of Ornette Coleman’s “Law Years”, the leader achieving a brittle sound reminiscent of John Scofield. The mood quickly shifts with Juris’ mellow, lyrical ballad “Walking On Water” as Hagans’ thoughtful, vocal-like muted trumpet conveys the message without words. Juris switches to acoustic guitar for his easygoing ballad “Newtown”, sans Hagans. While there is a folk nuance to the piece, his intricate guitar line infuses with a brilliant improvisation in the understated setting. Fats Navarro’s classic bop theme “Nostalgia” isn’t as popular these days, but its infectious melody makes for sparkling interplay between Juris and Hagans’ muted horn. In Juris’ capable hands, Sam Rivers’ “Cyclic Episode” still sounds very modern a halfcentury after it was written. The quartet’s fresh look at the oft-recorded warhorse “All the Things You Are” not only omits the frequently used introduction added by Dizzy Gillespie, but plays around the edges of its theme in an intense workout, only hinting at its theme as they are wrapping the performance. For more information, visit steeplechase.dk. Juris is at Blue Note Jan. 20th-25th with Larry Coryell. See Calendar.

Down For The Count John Webber Quartet (Cellar Live) by Marcia Hillman

Down For The Count marks the debut recording of bassist John Webber as a leader playing guitar and there is definitely nothing down about it. Recorded live at The Unity Center in New York City with a studio audience, Webber is joined by Harold Mabern (piano), Nat Reeves (bass) and Joe Farnsworth (drums), plus a guest appearance by tenor saxophonist George Coleman on two tracks (including his own “Big G Blues”), offering a collection of mostly original Webber compositions combined with a couple of standards. Webber has stated that if he’s “leading the gig, I prefer to play guitar, but as a sideman, bass is my thing.” His guitar playing is a single line flow of melodic ideas with a tendency towards less is more— though he can do flashy runs if desired. His writing is

lyrical, with melodies that are memorable and singable. The first track, Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein’s “Love Look Away”, leading off with a drum fanfare, immediately signals a swinging approach. This is followed by the title track (a Webber original), which has a melody sounding deceptively like a scale exercise, but far more interesting because of the chord changes. Webber starts this track unaccompanied and is then joined by the rest of the group. The ballad “This Love Of Mine” is also done with an up feeling even though it is a torch song, Webber delivering a quiet, thoughtful reading. Another original, “Minor March”, is also on the up side even though the minor notation seems to indicate otherwise. Because of the intimate nature of the guitar and especially since it is the featured instrument, this album sends out a wonderfully relaxed message. And since it has a live audience, that energy between players and listeners adds to that relaxed feeling. The small group format allows space for all the players. Reeves, who hands in solid support throughout, provides a driving solo on “Minor March”. Mabern’s mastery shines on all tracks, especially on the opener. Farnsworth is not only a time keeper but is one of the small community of drummers able to play a melody on his instrument and he is given a lot of opportunity to show off his talent, featured on many of the tracks in trades with both guitar and piano. For more information, visit cellarlive.com. Webber is at Smoke Jan. 1st with Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern, The Quaker’s Friends Meeting House Jan. 8th as part of Winter Jazzfest and Mezzrow Jan 7th-9th. See Calendar.

Imaginary Cities Chris Potter Underground Orchestra (ECM) by George Kanzler

Saxophonist Chris Potter ’s Underground Orchestra is

modest in size, only 11 musicians, but produces a surprisingly full, panoramic sound. Potter has composed imposing pieces for it, reaching way beyond the frames of standard jazz tune structures. The centerpiece is the four-part title suite; a half-century ago, it would have been categorized as Third Stream music, but now such incorporations of classical and other genres into jazz are common enough to have broadened the perception of jazz itself. The Underground Orchestra is built on a core of Potter ’s Underground quartet but while that band featured Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes, here he sticks to piano; other quartet members are guitarist Adam Rogers and drummer Nate Smith. Added to the orchestra are mallet player Steve Nelson; electric bass guitarist Fila Ephron; acoustic bassist Scott Colley, plus a string quartet. “Lament”, the opening track, serves as a prelude to the central suite, a lush ballad introduced by the string quartet and tenor sax before the ensemble brings it to fruition under a lyrical Potter solo. “Imaginary Cities” develops material through four movements, a recognizable theme appearing in various guises and shifting tonal colors and tempos throughout, as a motif for solos and in ensemble combinations. Momentum builds not only within each movement, but also through the suite: “Dualities (Part 2)” springing pizzicato strings in a much faster tempo than the first part; “Rebuilding (Part 4)” following up a rubato-dominated “Disintegration (Part 3)” with hiphop rhythms and a steadily building orchestral head of

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steam that encapsulate the largely fulfilled heroic ambition of the suite. Potter’s plangent sound is more individual and personal than ever. Three final tracks solidify his prowess: “Firefly” and “Sky” both elaborate showcases for his tenor sax and the orchestra; “Shadow Self” a bass clarinet feature with Potter shadowed by the strings when they are not creating riffs and rhythms behind him. At first a bit overwhelming, Imaginary Cities makes an indelible impression, which should last long after other “orchestral” jazz projects fade from memory. For more information, visit ecmrecords.com. This project is at Jazz Standard Jan. 27th-Feb. 1st. See Calendar.

IN PRINT

Records Ruin The Landscape David Grubbs (Duke University Press) by Kurt Gottschalk

This short, enjoyable book by guitarist and Brooklyn College Associate Professor of Contemporary Music David Grubbs is an argument from the outset. The title, paraphrased from a John Cage lambasting of recorded music, is loaded to say the least. Grubbs aligns himself with Cage’s claim that recording music doesn’t just dilute it, it somehow destroys it, but for better or worse doesn’t much stick to the battle plan through the book’s 165 pages. The book begins and ends with poet/provocateur Kenneth Goldsmith and much of the middle is consumed with Cage, so the scope is fairly narrow. Goldsmith is the founder of the UbuWeb archive, which hosts free avant garde music, film and poetry without concern for permissions, making himself a willful scapegoat for download culture and a model for the need for better avenues of music distribution. Cage famously said that he prefers the sounds of Manhattan traffic to recorded music, although he also participated in the commercial recording of his music. Grubbs seems to fall into traps laid by both of these divisive, charismatic figures. It’s a bit hard to find a thesis in the book. Grubbs wants to argue against recordings making permanent something created spontaneously. He gives the example of learning an album by British guitarist Derek Bailey, another famous naysayer of recordings. Over repeat listens, improvisation is made concrete. He then quotes Jim O’Rourke (never identifying him as a former bandmate), saying that the music is so complex it can’t be understood on a single listen, that the art is only served by repeat listens. It all gets a bit muddy, but is a fun read. Grubbs references a Buddhist parable included in a brochure published by the British free improv group AMM in 1970. In it, a man complains about a tree on his property that isn’t good for fruit or lumber. A second man asks why he is troubled by the tree having no use. The members of AMM—who at least in their early days were unhappy with the way they were presented on record—used the story as an argument against people saying their music was pointless. Grubbs’ book, likewise, may not really have a use but it can still be appreciated. For more information, visit dukeupress.edu

The Jazz City Workshop Marty Paich (Bethlehem-Verse Music Group) Four Horns and A Lush Life Various Artists (Bethlehem-Verse Music Group) by Fred Bouchard

Marty Paich, who would have turned 90 this month (he died at 70 in 1995), was a minor force in West Coast jazz in the ‘50s-60s. Here we find his edgy, decorative piano prominent in Bethlehem sessions from November 1955. Pacing is fast and furious, rough around the edges: think one-take wonders in three-minute (78 RPM or 45 RPM) format. Tunes are all Tin Pan Alley or jazz standards, with one original each thrown in. The Jazz City Workshop is Paich’s lean, sextet blaring his charts with the grumpy trombone of Herbie Harper as lone horn and Larry Bunker’s vibraphone as a lanky frontline mate. These charts today sound hokey, the band often rushing the beat fueled by bongos and traps, with a touch of Les Baxter mai-tai Polynesian. Gritty notes by “Symphony” Sid echoing gumshoe Dashiell Hammett and paste-up cover art complement earthy takes on “Autumn Leaves” and finger-poppin’ “Serenade in Blue” and “Them There Eyes”. Four Horns and A Lush Life is arranger Russ Garcia’s slightly more studied session—with Paich neatly plunking several peppy solos—offering a dozen hearty, four-square meat-and-potatoes charts for a veteran trombone section. Harper is back, joined by saucy stalwarts Frank Rosolino and Tommy Pederson, with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson fingering his valves. The richer recording resembles four warm fuzzy-bears belting out standards (“Dancing on The Ceiling”, “Lover Come Back To Me”) and earnestly schmaltzy ballads in vibrato-laden chorale style (“Lush Life”, “Boy Next Door”, “But Beautiful”). Bassist Red Mitchell adds bottom and drummer Stan Levey thrust. Fans of breezy California bop can thank Verse Music for exhaustive reissuing, documenting minor sessions for tiny audiences. The preserved original packages sport cheesy graphics and toss-off liners, but—like the music—ooze oodles of sunny personality. For more information, visit bethlehemrecords.com

Animism Tanya Tagaq (Six Shooter) by Kurt Gottschalk

Inuit singer Tanya Tagaq is clearly at a turning point with her new album—that being, a point at which she can either take a turn or keep doing the same thing. No doubt the biggest singer ever to come out of the Nunavut Territory in northern Canada, her concerts— most often with violinist Jesse Zubot and drummer Jean Martin—are prolonged improvisations, evocative while rarely straying from form. That tack was captured on her 2012 live album Anuraagtuq. What that album, or the previous Auk / Blood, didn’t do, however, was define her unusual work, something the new Animism seems very much intended to do. Tagaq’s performances are heavily rooted in her

heritage. Her dymaic vocals make heavy use of Inuit throat singing—similar in technique to the betterknown Tuvan throat singing, but used in storytelling rather than spiritual practice. Tagaq becomes characters in her wordless performances and those characters more often than not are non-human animals. She sings in rhythmic grunts and pitched panting, groans and screams. Animism (recorded with Martin and Zubot) breaks the hourlong exploration into digestible chunks while advancing her as a songstress. Certain tracks seem intended to appeal to a more adventurous pop audience. Opener “Caribou” could easily win over Björk fans while anthemic “Fight” might invite the Mike Patton crowd (both singers with whom Tagaq has worked in the past). But the abstract cuts (which easily outnumber the songs) benefit from a more focused approach as well. While in concert we can imagine the scenes of predators and ice that might be going through her head over an hour ’s time, here we can see them with her, in vignette form. Such titles as “Rabbit”, “Howl” and “Damp Animal Spirits” spell out the scenes while the music leaves plenty to the imagination. Even still, Tagaq’s stories are usually static scenes. We get the storm and we get the chase but they’re just settings for sound. It would be interesting to see Tagaq cast in something larger than her own imagination, to see how someone else might use her talents. But at this moment, she’s released a second record worthy of her own unusual abilities. For more information, visit sixshooterrecords.com. Tagaq is at Joe’s Pub Jan. 12th. See Calendar.

Mythology Matt Brewer (Criss Cross Jazz) by George Kanzler

Bassist Matt Brewer has assembled a sextet of strong, individualistic voices for his leader debut. His seven original pieces are atmospheric, creating impressionist soundscapes ranging from a portrait of Georgia O’Keefe’s small town in New Mexico to evocations of the sea, islands and literary allusions. Favoring slower, even languid, tempos and subtle, pastel colors, Brewer employs Lage Lund’s guitar and David Virelles’ piano as supple enhancements to the harmonies rather than hard-comping or rhythmic instruments. Mark Turner ’s tenor saxophone is paired with Steve Lehman’s alto, more often in contrast or tandem than in unison, and the beat is held down by the inventively freewheeling yet always rhythmic drummer Marcus Gilmore. There are hints of bossa nova in the soft chords and snaky, weaving saxes in the theme of “Abiquiú”, about that New Mexico town, as well as a pattern—a long, engaging ensemble section of melody and embellishments giving way to solos and additional ensemble choruses—that will repeat throughout the album. Here it is pizzicato bass that emerges first in a spare solo, followed by a burbling, tangy alto sax over rhythm eventually joined by tenor sax asides before the theme returns. “Rose Hill” evokes the sea with swelling harmonies over repeated, wave-like chords from piano and guitar, which also create the feel of gentle undulatation on “Moorings”. Darting and weaving saxes enjoy a sustained prelude on “Fighting Windmills” before a straight eighth rhythm kicks in for a unison sax theme to usher in a piano solo, ensemble vamps and a short unison coda. “Joya”, a ballad feature for Turner, is aptly described by Brewer as having an

“anxious and dark” melody. The title tune features alto sax in a complex, concerto-like shifting aural canvas. The one cover, Ornette Coleman’s “Free”, is also the only uptempo piece, a tour de force for the saxes in a fiendish unison line and tandem solo exchanges. Brewer has accomplished that rare feat of fashioning a unique ensemble sound and vision while allowing ample space for individual voices. For more information, visit crisscrossjazz.com. Brewer is at Somethin’ Jazz Club Jan. 13th with Hermon Mehari, Smalls Jan. 14th-15th with Lage Lund, The Jazz Gallery Jan. 17th with Aaron Burnett and The Stone Jan. 23rd-24th with Vijay Iyer. See Calendar.

ON SCREEN

My Coma Dreams Fred Hersch (Palmetto) by Ken Dryden

Fred Hersch has long been an activist educating the

public about the threat of AIDS. The pianist was HIV-positive for an extended period before the fullblown disease developed, then a major health episode caused him to be admitted to a hospital, where he was put into a medically induced coma for two months as doctors worked to save him. After a grueling rehab of several months, Hersch told writer/director Herschel Garfein of dreams he recalled from his coma and his desire to create a work that incorporated music and theater. Coma Dreams blends Garfein’s deft treatment of Hersch’s remarks, plus those of his partner Scott, adding spoken transitions, all deftly delivered by actor/ singer Michael Winther, who speaks in both roles and as an impartial observer, in addition to his moving vocals. Hersch wrote the music after the script was completed, even embracing comical variations of the stereotypical movie where a physician discusses the patient’s chances, only to be interrupted by a phone call. His score covers a lot of musical ground, ranging from melodic ballads (especially the haunting recurring theme “The Knitters”) to edgy avant garde, bop and classical, though its course seems as unpredictable as Hersch’s medical battle. A superb, versatile pianist, Hersch is accompanied by a crack orchestra including bassist John Hébert and drummer John Hollenbeck, trumpeter/flugelhornist Ralph Alessi, trombonist Bruce Christianson, reedplayers Bruce Williamson and Adam Kolker, plus a string quartet highlighted by violist Joyce Hammann’s engaging solo. The musicians make Hersch’s dream come alive, buoyed by Garfein’s deft staging (which includes animation both on a backdrop and sometimes superimposed onto the video) and Winther’s immersion into his demanding roles. Videotaped in front of a live audience, this engrossing work defies being categorized as either jazz or musical theater. Bonus material includes interviews with Hersch and several of the principals. For more information, visit palmetto-records.com. Hersch is at Village Vanguard Jan. 13th-18th and 20th-25th. See Calendar.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

B OXED SE T

Nine Ways To Read a Bridge Ken Vandermark (Not Two) by Stuart Broomer

Ken Vandermark is one of the most prolific figures in contemporary music, leading multiple bands and participating in even more. He’s explored the repertoire of the historical avant garde extensively— from Jimmy Giuffre to Joe Harriott—and done a remarkable job of documenting his own music, from the Vandermark 5 to the Territory Band. Over the past 20 years he has become a central figure in free jazz. Nine Ways To Read a Bridge is a celebration of Vandermark’s 50th birthday. The set documents another dimension of his work: ad-hoc free improvisation outside the bounds of such regular bands as Double Tandem, the trio with drummer Paul Nilssen-Love and reedplayer Ab Baars. Vandermark has been working in free improvisation with increasing frequency, most often in Europe, and he covers a remarkable range of aesthetics and approaches in the six CDs that make up this collection, each devoted to a different duo or trio. Each is a

journey toward a unique creation, music-making at its purest and most demanding. Pianist Agustí Fernández is among Europe’s most creative free improvisers, a magnificent technician who has pushed the expressive potential of the piano’s interior as far as it has yet been revealed. Whether it’s strummed and scraped strings or dazzling end-to-end keyboard flurries, the Barcelona pianist’s work here is virtually orchestral, surrounding and pressing Vandermark’s lines in a remarkable display of duet playing that sometimes foregoes detailed interaction for the sheer sweeping passion of their lines. If the piano is a traditional stand-in for an orchestra, Christof Kurzmann’s electronics might be a contemporary one. Kurzmann creates fields around Vandermark, sometimes picking up and matching his sonorities. The two create new ground on “Krakow index point 2”, with Vandermark matching potent R&B tenor à la Gene Ammons to the spacey backdrop. Two CDs follow in which Vandermark plays duets with crucial early influences and long-time collaborators. The CD with Joe McPhee on pocket trumpet and reeds produces the most traditional music of the set, a deeply felt summoning of spirits. “Milwaukee 4” has the air of a particularly intense spiritual while “5” and “6” match Vandermark’s raw baritone ostinatos with McPhee’s soulful blues exhortations on alto. Guitarist Joe Morris had a singular impact on Vandermark’s musical development in Boston and they have a taste for high-speed freebop, so fast that they create phantom tertiary lines between them on the long and often playful dialogue that opens their meeting. The close interplay is just as effective when

they dial it back to free ballad tempo on “Chicago 3”. The final two CDs are devoted to meetings with sharply contrasting, long-standing duos. First up are drummer Paul Lytton and trumpeter Nate Wooley, who can create powerful music with a minimalist rattle of tom-tom and bleat of trumpet. A key passage here begins as a kind of round initiated by Wooley, which Vandermark picks up and carries forward on baritone, generating tremendous heat in a formal way that can suggest some of the counter-thematic improvisations of Albert Ayler. The music’s freedom springs from constant shifts in direction, creating the sense of a large, shared canvas in which numerous modes of production arise. The final CD has Vandermark in concert with percussionist Eddie Prévost and pianist John Tilbury, the duo version of AMM, the improvising ensemble that the former has helmed for almost 50 years. An AMM performance is as beautifully still and abstract as the music of Morton Feldman, a particularly demanding form of collective improvisation that seems to massage silence. Vandermark enters wholly into the special sonic architecture in which AMM specializes, at one point matching his upper register clarinet sounds to Prévost’s cymbals in the transcendence of traditional sonic identities towards which this music moves. What makes this set so remarkable is its consistency, both in its creativity and its empathy. Vandermark and his partners are wholly committed to collective invention and the partnerships work whether their shared histories are long or short. For more information, visit nottwo.com. Vandermark is at Judson Church Jan. 10th as part of Winter Jazzfest. See Calendar.

Cobi Narita Presents

OPEN MICS RESUME JANUARY 9TH, 2015 EVERY FRIDAY 7:30 TO 10:30 PM OPEN MIC/JAM SESSION Open Mic/Jam Session for Singers, Tap Dancers, Instrumentalists, Poets - hosted by Frank Owens, one of the most gifted pianists you will ever hear! Our Open Mic is one of the best of the Open Mics happening in New York & elsewhere, with the incomparable pianist Frank Owens playing for you. An unmatchable moment in your life! As a participant, or as an audience member, you will always have an amazing time, one you will never forget! Don’t miss! Admission: $10

Pearl Studios, 519 8th Ave, 12th Floor cobinarita.com 42 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

M ISCELLANY ON THIS DAY by Andrey Henkin

Groove Blues Gene Ammons (Prestige) January 3rd, 1958

This album by tenor saxophonist Gene

Ammons came at the end of a decade when he had started strong, with a number of releases, and finished in prison for drug charges. This was one of only four sessions Ammons made in 1958 and featured his “All-Stars”: Jerome Richardson (flute) John Coltrane (on alto saxophone!), Paul Quinichette (tenor saxophone), Pepper Adams (baritone saxophone), Mal Waldron (piano), George Joyner (bass) and Art Taylor (drums). Waldron wrote three tunes to go with “It Might as Well Be Spring”.

Turning Point Lonnie Smith (Blue Note) January 3rd, 1969

Before

he became a doctor, Lonnie Smith was a blues-drenched organist in the Blue Note fold. This was his second album for the label, after a 1966 Columbia debut and 1968’s Think!. One of five tracks (“People Sure Act Funny”) is a typical organ trio with Melvin Sparks (guitar) and Leo Morris (drums). The rest is horn-heavy sextet with Lee Morgan (trumpet), Bennie Maupin (tenor saxophone) and Julian Priester playing two tunes by the leader (“Slow High” and the title track), soul song “See Saw” and The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”.

Blues for myself Tete Montoliu (Ensayo) January 3rd, 1977

Reemergence Art Davis (Interplay) January 3rd, 1980

Lightsey to Gladden Kirk Lightsey (Criss Cross) January 3rd, 1991

pianist Tete Montoliu had a steady career, recording albums as a leader in his native Spain in the late ‘50s and work under the leadership of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Kenny Dorham, Archie Shepp and Dexter Gordon in the ‘60s. By the time of this session, he was recording almost exclusively as a leader. This trio set was waxed in his hometown of Barcelona and features the leader’s tunes, Jimmy Heath’s “Jimmy’s Tempo” and a couple of standards played with the pianist’s longtime rhythm section of Eric Peter (bass) and Peer Wyboris (drums).

In a career that began in 1958 with Max Roach and included work with Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Jordan, Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard and many others, the late bassist Art Davis could be excused for not having much time to record as a leader. This is one of only a handful of albums under his name, a traditional piano trio with younger bandmates pianist Hilton Ruiz (28 at the time) and drummer Greg Bandy. Davis wrote three of the five tunes for the date, the others Minnie Ripperton’s “Lovin’ You“ and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”.

This is an interesting album in that it is

Blind

a pianist (Kirk Lightsey) celebrating a drummer (Eddie Gladden) born in the same year (1937), his bandmate from saxophonist Dexter Gordon’s band of 1980-82 (Gladden had been working with Gordon since 1971). The old friends are joined on this date by the multi-generational band of Marcus Belgrave (trumpet), Craig Handy (tenor saxophone and flute) and David Williams (bass) for a program of one Lightsey original, one piece by Handy, two by drummer Lawrence Williams and some jazz standards.

BIRTHDAYS January 1 †Al McKibbon 1919-2005 †Milt Jackson 1923-99 †Helmut Brandt 1931-2001 Sonny Greenwich b.1936 †Susannah McCorkle 1946-2001 Chris Potter b.1970 James Shipp b.1980 January 2 †Nick Fatool 1915-2000 †Arthur Prysock 1929-97 Noah Jarrett b.1978 January 3 †Preston Jackson 1902-83 †Herbie Nichols 1919-63 Musa Kaleem b.1921 †Geezil (Harolde) Minerve 1922-92 †John Jenkins 1931-93 †Motohiko Hino 1946-1999 James Carter b.1969 January 4 †Frankie Newton 1906-54 †Joe Marsala 1907-78 †Slim Gaillard 1916-91 †Frank Wess 1922-2013 Al Dreares b.1929 John McLaughlin b.1942 Eugene Chadbourne b.1954 Alex Cline b.1956 January 5 †Wild Bill Davison 1906-89 †Lennie Hastings 1927-78 Dizzy Reece b.1931 Chuck Flores b.1935 Myra Melford b.1957

January 6 †Bobby Stark 1906-45 †Keith Christie 1931-80 †Danny Moore 1941-2005 Barry Altschul b.1943 Adam Larson b.1990

January 11 †Wilbur De Paris 1900-73 †Tab Smith 1909-71 †Bob Enevoldsen 1920-2006 †Osie Johnson 1923-66 †Cal Massey 1927-72

January 7 †Henry “Red” Allen 1908-67 †Chano Pozo 1915-48 †Keg Purnell 1915-65 †Sam Woodyard 1925-88 †Kenny Davern 1935-2006 †Eldee Young 1936-2007

January 12 †Trummy Young 1912-84 †Jay McShann 1916-2006 †Guy Lafitte 1927-98 †Ronald Shannon Jackson 1940-2013 Ernst Bier b.1951 Jane Ira Bloom b.1955 Ivo Perelman b.1961 Ingrid Jensen b.1966 Gene Lake b.1966

January 8 †Wendell Culley 1906-83 †Bobby Tucker 1923-2007 Bill Goodwin b.1942 Thurman Barker b.1948 Marilyn Mazur b.1955 Dan Tepfer b.1982

January 16 †Irving Mills 1884-1985 Aldo Romano b.1941 January 17 †Big Sid Catlett 1910-51 †George Handy 1920-97 †Cedar Walton 1934-2013 †Ted Dunbar 1937-98 Billy Harper b.1943 Pheeroan akLaff b.1955 January 18 Don Thompson b.1940 Al Foster b.1944 Steve Grossman b.1951 Clark Gayton b.1963 Dominic Lash b.1980

January 13 †Quentin Butter Jackson 1909-76 †Otis Johnson 1910-94 †Melba Liston 1926-99 †Joe Pass 1929-95 Bill Easley b.1946 Eero Koivistoinen b.1946

January 9 †Kenny Clarke 1914-85 †Jimmy Maxwell 1917-2002 †Betty Roche 1920-99 †Roger Guerin 1926-2010 Bucky Pizzarelli b.1926 †Carson Smith 1931-97 Malcolm Cecil b.1937 January 10 †Haywood Henry 1913-94 †Buddy Johnson 1915-77 †Max Roach 1924-2007 †Willie Dennis 1926-65 †Allen Eager 1927-2003 William Parker b.1952 Mike Stern b.1954

January 19 †JR Monterose 1927-93 Horace Parlan b.1931 Hod O’Brien b.1936 Phil Wilson b.1937 †Sam T. Brown 1939-77 Joe Magnarelli b.1960

January 14 †Jimmy Crawford 1910-80 †Billy Butterfield 1917-88 †Joe Muranyi 1928-2012 †Kenny Wheeler 1930-2014 Grady Tate b.1932

January 20 Jimmy Cobb b.1929 Valery Ponomarev b.1943 †Chuck Domanico 1944-2002 Andy Sheppard b.1957 Jeff “Tain” Watts b.1960 Tatsuya Nakatani b.1970

January 15 †Gene Krupa 1909-73 †Artie Shapiro 1916-2003 †Bob Maize 1945-2004 Baikida Carroll b.1947

January 21 Steve Potts b.1945 Lou Grassi b.1947 Kevin Norton b.1956 Jason Moran b.1975

January 22 †Juan Tizol 1900-84 †Teddy McRae 1908-99 †JJ Johnson 1924-2001 †Teddy Smith 1932-79 †Jean-Louis Viale 1933-84 Alan Silva b.1939 Eberhard Weber b.1940 Maarten Altena b.1943 Michal Urbaniak b.1943

January 26 †Stephane Grappelli 1908-97 †Alice Babs 1924-2014 Dick Nash b.1928 Benny Golson b.1929 Aki Takase b.1948 January 27 †Oran “Hot Lips” Page 1908-54 Jimmie Smith b.1938 Bobby Hutcherson b.1941

January 23 †Benny Waters 1902-98 †Django Reinhardt 1910-53 †Teddy Napoleon 1914-64 †Scoops Carry 1915-70 †Ray Abrams 1920-92 †Marty Paich 1925-95 †Curtis Counce 1926-63 Harold Ousley b.1929 Gary Burton b.1943 Andre Hayward b.1973

January 28 †Ronnie Scott 1927-96 Buddy Terry b.1941 Bob Moses b.1948 Kent Kessler b.1957 Lorenzo Sanguedolce b.1975 January 29 †Arnold Ross 1921-2000 †Ed Shaughnessy 1929-2013 †Frank Assunto 1932-74 †Derek Bailey 1932-2005 †Jeff Clyne 1937-2010 †Jeanne Lee 1939-2000

January 24 †Avery Parrish 1917-59 †Jimmy Forrest 1920-80 †Joe Albany 1924-88 Lennie McBrowne b.1933 †Bobby Scott 1937-90 †Julius Hemphill 1938-95 Marcus Printup b.1967 Duane Eubanks b.1969 January 25 †Wellman Braud 1891-1966 †Truck Parham 1913-2002 †Floyd Smith 1917-82 Barbara Carroll b.1925 †Antonio Carlos Jobim 1927-95 Alexis Cuadrado b.1971

January 30 †Roy Eldridge 1911-89 †Bernie Leighton 1921-94 †Ahmed Abdul Malik 1927-93 †Tubby Hayes 1935-73 †Tony Levin 1940-2011 Ralph Lalama b.1951 January 31 †Bobby Hackett 1915-76 Garnett Brown b.1936 Frank Ricotti b.1949 Per Zanussi b.1977

MIKE STERN January 10th, 1954 The only thing stern about this Boston-born, Washington-DCraised guitarist is the commitment to his craft, supposedly practicing for three hours every morning, no matter what time he went to bed. An alumnus of the Berklee School of Music alongside such other guitar heroes as Pat Metheny and John Scofield, Stern got his major exposure playing on Miles Davis’ 1981 live album We Want Miles and then Man with the Horn and Star People. His credits are vast, with such players as Jaco Pastorius, Michael Brecker, Jim Hall, Bob Berg, Tom Harrell and others and his leader discography includes more than 15 entries for Atlantic during the ‘80s-90s and Heads Up International since the middle of last decade. Stern is married to fellow guitarist Leni Stern. (AH)

CROSSWORD 1

By Andrey Henkin

ACROSS

DOWN

When we were young String player C. Spencer What most jazz musicians are What John Dankworth, André Previn and George Shearing have in common 11. Blue Note Records founder 13. Jazz cat retort 14. Waller or Navarro 17. He visited planets with John Coltrane 20. This PA Univ. holds the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection 21. RCA affiliate that released ‘70s albums by Mike Westbrook and Keith Tippett 22. Pianist Yamamoto 23. Pat Martino’s doppelganger on Baiyina

2. Late Indonesian saxophonist Joop 3. What kind of portrait Mingus painted in three colors 4. “Quick” song by Steve Lacy from 1975’s Esteem 5. Drake who leads Bindu 7. It published Richard Cook and Brian Morton’s Guide to Jazz Recordings 8. M in ECM? 10. NZ Jz. Fest. 12. Keyboard player Jason 15. College course prefix for classes where jazz is typically taught 16. Where Wes Montgomery’s Full House was recorded 18. Danish drummer Morten 19. Gilbert of Jazzcorner.com

1. 6. 8. 9.

visit nycjazzrecord.com for answers

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

CALENDAR

Thursday, January 1

• John Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit: Ikue Mori, Jim Pugliese, Frank London, Kenny Grohowski, Craig Taborn, Gyan Riley, Mauro Refosco and guests The Stone 8 pm $25 êDee Dee Bridgewater Iridium 8, 10 pm $45-60 êThe Bad Plus: Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, Dave King Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 êJohn Coltrane Festival: Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Sextet with Jeremy Pelt, Vincent Herring, John Webber, Joe Farnsworth Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $45 • Richard Bona’s Mandekan Cubano with Dennis Hernandez, Rey David, Osmany Paredes, Luisito Quintero, Roberto Quintero Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 • Chris Botti with Geoffrey Keezer, Richie Goods, Billy Kilson, Andy Ezrin, Ben Butler, Sy Smith, George Komsky, Caroline Campbell Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $75 • The Birdland Big Band Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 êTaylor Eigsti/Mark Turner Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Joel Press Quartet with Michael Kanan, Neal Miner, Fukushi Tainaka; Santi Debriano Quartet with Ralph Lalama, Roni Ben Hur, Tommy Campbell; Nick Hempton Band with Tadataka Unno, Dave Baron, Dan Aran Smalls 6, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Pedrito Martinez Group SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • Alex Brown Trio Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Or Baraket Trio with Alon Albagli, Rajiv Jayaweera Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • Saul Rubin Zebtet Fat Cat 10 pm • Space Short Cut: Kyoko Kitamura, Daniel Carter, Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic; Art Bailey, Kirk Knuffke, Rene Hart, George Schuller Spectrum 7:30, 8:30 pm êBoss Tenor: Oscar Noriega, Chris Speed, Matt Pavolka Barbès 10 pm $10 • Jason Prover Sneak Thievery Orchestra Radegast Hall 3 pm • New Orleans Jazz Brunch—The Music Of Louis Armstrong: “Hot Lips” Joey Morant and Catfish Stew Lucille’s at B.B. King’s Blues Bar 1:30 pm $25 • Fukushi Tainaka Trio; Champian Fulton Quartet The Garage 12, 7 pm

Friday, January 2 êPeter Bernstein Quartet with Brad Mehldau, Greg Hutchinson and guest Christian McBride Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 êJon Irabagon Festival: Jon Irabagon, Mark Helias, Barry Altschul Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 êJohn Coltrane Festival: JD Allen Quartet with Victor Gould, Gregg August, Rudy Royston Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 êJack Wilkins Trio with Andy McKee, Mike Clark Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 • Ai Murakami with Sacha Perry, Tyler Mitchell; Dmitry Baevsky Quintet with Joe Magnarelli, Jeb Patton, David Wong, Joe Strasser; John Marshall Quintet with Grant Stewart, Tardo Hammer, David Wong, Phil Stewart Smalls 4, 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 êJon Davis/Gianluca Renzi Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 • Shai Maestro Trio with Jorge Roeder, Nate Wood ShapeShifter Lab 8:15 pm $15 • Bombay Rickey; Gato Loco Drom 7:30 pm $15 • Sean Schulich’s Phunky Phloot and Alpha Mosaic BAMCafé 9 pm • Jared Gold/Dave Gibson Band Fat Cat 10:30 pm • Zach Brock Quartet with Lage Lund, Matt Penman, Obed Calvaire Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village 8, 10 pm • Tom Dempsey Trio with Ron Oswanski, Dion Parson Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • The Hot Jazz Gang: Charlie Caranicas, Michael Hashim, Alex Goodman, Trifon Dimitrov Lucille’s at B.B. King’s Blues Bar 6:30, 9 pm $25 • Claire de Brunner, Carol Liebowitz, Maryanne de Prophetis; Phil Sirois, Maryanne de Prophetis, Mark Flynn Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30, 9:30 pm $10 • The Broken Robots: Jack Daniel, Stelios Michas, Francesco Marcocci, Mike Sutton, Leala Cyr, Hailey Niswanger, Dan Blake, Ambe Julia WhyNot Bistro 11 pm • Masami Ishikawa Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Nick Moran Trio; Dre Barnes Project The Garage 6, 10:30 pm • John Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit: Joe Morris, Marty Ehrlich, Vicky Chow, Tim Keiper, Trevor Dunn, Aram Bajakian, Shanir Blumenkranz, Annie Gosfield, Francisco Mela and guests The Stone 8 pm $25 êDee Dee Bridgewater Iridium 8, 10 pm $45-60 êThe Bad Plus: Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, Dave King Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Richard Bona’s Mandekan Cubano with Dennis Hernandez, Rey David, Osmany Paredes, Luisito Quintero, Roberto Quintero Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $35 • Chris Botti with Geoffrey Keezer, Richie Goods, Billy Kilson, Andy Ezrin, Ben Butler, Sy Smith, George Komsky, Caroline Campbell Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $75 • The Birdland Big Band Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Pedrito Martinez Group SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • Aquiles Navarro Duo Tcheser Holmes Silvana 6 pm • Jocelyn Shannon Jazz Quartet Shrine 6 pm

Saturday, January 3 • Eco-Music Big Band: David Taylor, Jay Rodriguez, Earl McIntyre, Zack O’Farrill, Adam O’Farrill Joe’s Pub 7 pm $16 • Alexis Cole Quartet with John di Martino, David Finck, Kenny Hassler Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 • Victor Prieto Forro Project Terraza 7 10:30 pm $7 • Rome Neal’s Banana Puddin’ Jazz Nuyorican Poets Café 9:30 pm $15 • Jeb Patton Trio; Raphael D’lugoff Quintet; Greg Glassman Jam Fat Cat 7, 10 pm 1:30 am • Ben Eunson Trio with Matt Clohesy, Kush Abadey Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Judd Nielsen with Solomon Hicks, Austin Williamson BAMCafé 9 pm

• Virgil Gadson and Friends with Jazzmeia Horn Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $10 • Jordan Klemons Trio with Jeff Dingler, Josh Bailey; Brothers of Contrapuntal Swing: Jimmy Halperin, Larry Meyer, Dave Frank, Bill McCrossen, George Hooks Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9 pm $12 • Richard Clement Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm êPeter Bernstein Quartet with Brad Mehldau, Greg Hutchinson and guest Christian McBride Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 êJon Irabagon Festival: Jon Irabagon Trio with Mary Halvorson, Nasheet Waits Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 êJohn Coltrane Festival: JD Allen Quartet with Victor Gould, Gregg August, Rudy Royston Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 • Larry Ham/Woody Witt; John Marshall Quintet with Grant Stewart, Tardo Hammer, David Wong, Phil Stewart Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 êJon Davis/Gianluca Renzi Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 êJohn Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit: Uri Caine, Ned Rothenberg, Kenny Wollesen, Charles Bernstein, Sofia Rei, Nate Wooley, Steve Swell, Ilhan Ersahin, Ron Anderson and guests The Stone 8 pm $25 êThe Bad Plus: Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, Dave King Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Richard Bona’s Mandekan Cubano with Dennis Hernandez, Rey David, Osmany Paredes, Luisito Quintero, Roberto Quintero Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $35 • Chris Botti with Geoffrey Keezer, Richie Goods, Billy Kilson, Andy Ezrin, Ben Butler, Sy Smith, George Komsky, Caroline Campbell Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $75 • The Birdland Big Band Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Taylor Eigsti/Mike Moreno Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Pedrito Martinez Group SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • Ioanna Isagari Silvana 6 pm • Larry Newcomb Quartet; Adam Rongo Trio; Akiko Tsuruga Trio The Garage 12, 6, 10:30 pm

Sunday, January 4 • Johnny O’Neal Trio with Luke Sellick, Charles Goold; Joe Magnarelli Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Jessica Jones/Tony Jones; The Low Strung Duet: Charlie Burnham/Marika Hughes WhyNot Bistro 7, 8:30 pm $10 • Brandon Bain with Ben Paterson, Devin Starks, John Davis, Wayne Tucker, Tivon Pennicott Minton’s 5:30, 7, 8:30 pm $10-20 êPeter Leitch/Jed Levy Walker’s 8 pm • Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Fat Cat Big Band; Brandon Lewis/Renee Cruz Jam Fat Cat 6, 8:30 pm 12 am • Chris Flory Trio Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 • Darwin Nogueira Measure 8 pm • Duo Kodra: Coralie Lonfat/Sandra Weiss and guest Sean Ali; Constance Cooper/ Blaise Siwula with guests ABC No-Rio 7 pm $5 • Proof of the Pudding: Laura Garcia, Pratyusa Mukherjee, Hannah Worscheh, Caitlin Kropp, Stephanie Addenbrooke, Eleanor Woodward, Michelle Yancich, Helen Caldwell, Meredith Derecho, Kate Anstreicher, Victoria Marks, Helen Zhao, Laurel Lehman, Sarah DiMagno, Erica Kocher Somethin’ Jazz Club 7 pm $15 êPeter Bernstein Quartet with Brad Mehldau, Greg Hutchinson and guest Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 êJon Irabagon Festival: Jon Irabagon Quartet with Luis Perdomo, Yasushi Nakamura, Rudy Royston Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 êJohn Coltrane Festival: JD Allen Quartet with Victor Gould, Gregg August, Rudy Royston Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 • John Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit: Josh Rubin, Tyshawn Sorey, Ava Mendoza, Zeena Parkins, Ches Smith, Erik Friedlander, Jon Madof, Anthony Coleman, Eyal Maoz and guests The Stone 8 pm $25 êThe Bad Plus: Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, Dave King Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Richard Bona’s Mandekan Cubano with Dennis Hernandez, Rey David, Osmany Paredes, Luisito Quintero, Roberto Quintero Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 • Chris Botti with Geoffrey Keezer, Richie Goods, Billy Kilson, Andy Ezrin, Ben Butler, Sy Smith, George Komsky, Caroline Campbell Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $75 êKalabalik: Raoul Björkenheim, Anders Nilsson, Gerald Cleaver Downtown Music Gallery 6 pm êDuchess: Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner, Melissa Stylianou with Jeff Lederer Birdland 6 pm $20 • Matthew Health Band Silvana 6 pm êMatt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts Saint Peter’s 5 pm • Ben Monder solo Barbès 5 pm $10 • Janis Siegel The Requinte Trio with Nanny Assis, John di Martino Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $35 • Fay Victor Trio with Kenny Wessel, Ratzo Harris North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm • Michika Fukumori Trio; David Coss Quartet The Garage 11:30 am 7 pm

Monday, January 5 • Deborah Davis Benefit For The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $25 • Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra with Sean Jones Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 êMingus Big Band Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 êOrrin Evans Captain Black Big Band Smoke 7, 9 pm $9 êJon Weber’s From Joplin to Jarrett Metropolitan Room 7 pm $20 • Manuel Valera Trio with Hans Glawischnig, E.J. Strickland; Ari Hoenig Quartet with Gilad Hekselman, Orlando Le Fleming, Shai Maestro; Spencer Murphy with Tivon Pennicott, John Chin, Lawrence Leathers Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20 êVincent Chancey, Ingrid Laubrock, Josh Sinton; Jeremiah Cymerman, Jon Irabagon, Joshua Rubin Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 8:30, 9:45 pm $10 êDeborah Latz Trio with Zach Brock, Ray Parker Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Hot Club De France Measure 8 pm • Zack Foley Quartet with Jesse Elder, Chris Tordini, Shirazette Tinnin; Michael Martin Trio; Will Mac Quartet Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9, 11 pm $12 • Marla Sampson Duo Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Howard Williams Jazz Orchestra The Garage 7 pm

44 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

• David Zakarian Quintet • Dmitry Strelianny

Silvana 6 pm Shrine 6 pm

Tuesday, January 6 êMonterey Jazz Fest On Tour: Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Gerald Clayton Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 êAnimal Crackers: Kenny Werner, Dan Blake, Jorge Roeder, Richie Barshay The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 • Kurt Rosenwinkel New Quartet with Aaron Parks, Eric Revis, Allan Mednard Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 êBill O’Connell and the Latin Jazz All-Stars with Conrad Herwig, Steve Slagle, Luques Curtis, Adam Cruz, Richie Flores Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $30 êHelen Sung Quintet with Seamus Blake, Mike Rodriguez, Reuben Rogers, Obed Calvaire Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 êMatt Mitchell Quartet with Chris Speed, Chris Tordini, Dan Weiss The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $15 êMadeleine Peyroux City Winery 8 pm $45-60 • Art Lillard’s Heavenly Big Band Iridium 8, 10 pm $25 êThe Minton’s Players Minton’s 7, 8:30, 10 pm $10-20 • Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra with Herlin Riley Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 • Riley Mulherkar’s Birth of the American Orchestra Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 • Michael Bates Quartet with Donny McCaslin, Ben Monder, Jeremy “Bean” Clemons Korzo 9, 10:30 pm • Christian Coleman Quartet with Jon Irabagon, Broc Hempel, Sam Minaie Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • Spike Wilner Trio; Smalls Legacy Band: Frank Lacy, Stacy Dillard, Josh Evans, Theo Hill, Ameen Saleem, Kush Abadey; Kyle Poole and Friends Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 12:30 am $20 • Saul Rubin; John Benitez Fat Cat 7, 9 pm • Bryn Roberts/Lage Lund Mezzrow 8 pm $20 • Kevin Wang Trio with Rick Rosato, Adam Arruda Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Lili Añel; Ansel Matthews ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15 pm $10 • Billy Test solo Jazz at Kitano 8 pm • Nelson Salgado Trio with Kevin Suwandhi, Sandy Winarta; David Zakarian Quintet with Braden Smith, Gabriel Chakarji, Aron Caceres, Antoinne Pierre Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9 pm $12 • Akira Ishiguro Trio Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Gypsy Jazz Caravan Radegast Hall 8 pm • Joe Pino Quartet The Garage 7 pm • NanJo Lee Jazz Trio; Michael Veal/Bennett Paster Silvana 6, 8 pm êJon Weber’s From Joplin to Jarrett Joplin Metropolitan Room 7 pm $20 • Hot Club De France Measure 8 pm • Tom Blatt Project Shrine 6 pm • Tony Lewis Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15

Wednesday, January 7 êGeorge Cables/John Webber Mezzrow 9 pm $20 êMarcus Roberts’ Modern Jazz Generation with Jason Marsalis, Rodney Jordan,

Ron Westray, Marcus Printup, Stephen Riley; Joey Alexander Dizzy’s Club 7, 9:30 pm $35 • Riley Mulherkar’s Birth of the American Orchestra Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 êKen Peplowski Quartet with Ehud Asherie, Katie Thiroux, Matt Wilson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $30 êChant: Kenny Werner, Billy Drewes, Gilad Hekselman, Johannes Weidenmueller, John Hadfield The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êFrancisco Mela Trio with Camila Meza, Linda Oh An Beal Bocht Café 8, 9:30 pm $15 êMichael Bates Trio with Michael Blake, Jeremy “Bean” Clemons SEEDS 8:30 pm • Fleurine Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 êAri Hoenig Trio Terraza 7 9 pm $7 • The Well Tempered Quartet: Brian Charette, Spike Wilner, Behn Gillece, Anthony Pinciotti; Sam Anning Quintet with Nadje Noordhuis, Alex LoRe, Can Olgun, Rajiv Jayaweera Smalls 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Raphael D’lugoff; Groover Trio; Ned Goold Jam Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am • Kenneth Salters’ Haven with Tivon Pennicott, Matt Holman, Aki Ishiguro, Brad Whiteley, Spencer Murphy WhyNot Bistro 9 pm • Ellynne Rey Quartet with Bennett Paster, Willard Dyson Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • Yoosun Nam Quintet with Keisuke Matsuno, Carlo De Rosa, Kyumin Shim, Jesse Simpson; Noah Garabedian with Curtis Macdonald, Kyle Wilson, Anna Webber, Kenny Warren, Alex Ritz Cornelia Street Café 8, 9:30 pm $10 • Ruby My Dear; The Future Scares Me; oMoO ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8, 9 pm $8 • Street Flow: Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic, Eric Trudel, Dre Hocevar Bar Chord 9 pm • Queens Jazz OverGround Jazz Jam Flushing Town Hall 7 pm $10 • Sam Blakelock with Dustin Kiselbach, Derek Swink; Waijazz: Fredy Guzman, Tammy Scheffer, Alejandro Zorrilla, Franco Pinna and guest Eric Kurismki Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9 pm $12 • Setsuko Hata Duo; Matthew Heath Group Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Stephane Wrembel Radegast Hall 9 pm • Mayu Saeki Trio The Garage 7 pm • Monterey Jazz Fest On Tour: Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Gerald Clayton Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Kurt Rosenwinkel New Quartet with Aaron Parks, Eric Revis, Allan Mednard Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 êHelen Sung Quintet with Seamus Blake, Mike Rodriguez, Reuben Rogers, Obed Calvaire Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 êMadeleine Peyroux City Winery 8 pm $45-60 • Hot Club De France Measure 8 pm • Kyle Moffat Silvana 6 pm • Alex Bryson Quartet Shrine 6 pm • Jen Shyu Workshop SEEDS 1 pm $15 • Karen Oberlin/Sean Harkness Saint Peter’s 1 pm $10

Thursday, January 8 êWinter Jazzfest—Blue Note Now!: Robert Glasper Trio with Vicente Archer, Damion Reid; José James with Kris Bowers, Solomon Dorsey, Eric Harland; Derrick Hodge with Federico Pena, Michael Aaberg, Mark Colenburg; Kendrick Scott Oracle with Taylor Eigsti, Mike Moreno, John Ellis, Matt Penman Le Poisson Rouge 8 pm $30 êWinter Jazzfest—Jazz Legends play for Disability Pride NYC: Ron Carter, Renee Rosnes, Russell Malone, Brad Mehldau, George Coleman, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, Peter Bernstein, Buster Williams, Mike LeDonne, Harold Mabern, John Webber, Joe Farnsworth, Bill Charlap, Kenny Washington The Quaker’s Friends Meeting House 8 pm $100 êKenny Werner/Joe Lovano Duo The Stone 8, 10 pm $20 êCharlie Hunter Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 10 pm $15 • Dwayne Clemons Quintet with Sacha Perry, Josh Benko, Murray Wall, Jimmy Wormworth; Ben Allison Band with Steve Cardenas, Brandon Seabrook, Allison Miller; Carlos Abadie Quintet with Peter Zak, Clovis Nicolas, Luca Santaniello Smalls 6, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Rodney Green; Greg Glassman Quintet Fat Cat 7, 10 pm • Dave Stryker Group with Steve Nelson, Jared Gold, McClenty Hunter Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $30 • Vincent Gardner Quartet with guest Johnny Summers Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $10 • Lisa Fischer And Grand Baton with JC Maillard, Aidan Carroll, Thierry Arpino Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 • Cathy Rocco Quartet with Andy Lalasis, Vic Stevens Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • Amy Cervini and Jazz Country with Jesse Lewis, Matt Aronoff and guests Hilary Gardner, Melissa Stylianou; The Mighty Grinders: Brian Charette, Eric Kalb, Will Bernard 55Bar 7, 10:30 pm $10 • Mauricio Zotarelli Trio Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Perry Smith Trio with Sam Minaie, Ross Pederson Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Jazz Composers’ Showcase curated by Miho Hazama The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $22 • Ben Flocks Trio with Martin Nevin, Matt Wilson Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • Joshua Davis Group with Dayna Stephens, Natalie John, Zach Harmon, Ronen Itzik; Tim Miller Trio with Zach Harmon, Joshua Davis ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:30 pm $10 • E. J. Decker Quartet; Russell Kirk and The Path Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9 pm $12 • Yasuno Katsuki Trio Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 • Marcelo Toledo; Stelios Michas, Jack Daniel, Dan Blake, Francesco Marcocci, Michael Sutton The Firehouse Space 8, 9 pm $10 • Kate Cosco Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 7 pm • Howard Fishman and The Biting Fish Brass Band Radegast Hall 9 pm • George Weldon Trio The Garage 7 pm êGeorge Cables/John Webber Mezzrow 9 pm $20 êMarcus Roberts’ Modern Jazz Generation with Jason Marsalis, Rodney Jordan, Ron Westray, Marcus Printup, Stephen Riley; Joey Alexander Dizzy’s Club 7, 9:30 pm $35 • Riley Mulherkar’s Birth of the American Orchestra Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 êMonterey Jazz Fest On Tour: Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Gerald Clayton Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Kurt Rosenwinkel New Quartet with Aaron Parks, Eric Revis, Allan Mednard Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Hot Club De France Measure 8 pm êJazz Resolutions for 2015: Ben Wendel Group with Taylor Eigsti, Harish Raghavan, Eric Harland; Jamie Baum and Short Stories with Gilad Hekselman, Ben Wendel, Fabian Almazan, Joe Martin, Jeff Hirshfield; Michael Blake Quartet with Frank Kimbrough, Ben Allison, Ferenc Nemeth; Joel Harrison 4 with Mark Soskin, Michael Bates, Jeremy Clemons Greenwich House Music School 6 pm $10 • Spin Cycle Silvana 6 pm • Sunfree Shrine 6 pm

Friday, January 9 êWinter Jazzfest: Donald Byrd Acoustic Electric Sessions: Kevin Toney, Donald Harrison, Nicholas Payton, Max Moran, Joe Dyson, Dominique Toney, Carl Burnette; ICP Orchestra: Ab Baars, Tobias Delius, Michael Moore, Thomas Heberer, Wolter Wierbos, Mary Oliver, Tristan Honsinger, Ernst Glerum, Han Bennink; Kneebody: Adam Benjamin, Shane Endsley, Kaveh Rastegar, Ben Wendel, Nate Wood and guest Daedelus Le Poisson Rouge 6:30 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: David Murray Clarinet Summit with Don Byron, David Krakauer, Hamiet Bluiett; David Murray Trio with Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington; TRIO 3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and guest; Marc Ribot and The Young Philadelphians with Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Calvin Weston, Mary Halvorson, Christina Courtin, Christopher Hoffman; Strange and Beautiful—The Music of John Lurie and The Lounge Lizards: Evan Lurie, Michael Blake, Steven Bernstein, Curtis Fowlkes, Doug Wieselman, Jane Scarpantoni, Tony Scherr, Calvin Weston Minetta Lane Theatre 6:15 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Jason Miles/Ingrid Jensen’s Kind Of New with Jay Rodriguez, Jerry Brooks, Mike Clark; Russ Johnson’s Still Out To Lunch with Myra Melford, Roy Nathanson, Brad Jones, George Schuller; Dave Douglas Quintet with Troy Roberts, Matt Mitchell, Linda Oh, Rudy Royston; Travis Laplante’s Battle Trance with Matthew Nelson, Jeremy Viner, Patrick Breiner; So Percussion: Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, John Colpitts and guest Man Forever; Improvised Round Robin Duets Judson Church 6:45 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Arturo O’Farrill’s Boss Level Septet with Adam O’Farrill, Carlos Maldonado, Livio Almeida, Shawn Conley, Travis Reuter, Zack O’Farrill; Linda Oh’s Sun Pictures with Ben Wendel, Matt Stevens, Rudy Royston; Taylor Eigsti’s Free Agency with Gerald Clayton, Gretchen Parlato, Becca Stevens, Eric Harland, Alan Hampton, Harish Raghavan; Tyshawn Sorey Trio with Cory Smythe, Christopher Tordini; Kris Davis Infrasound with Gary Versace, Nate Radley, Ches Smith, Ben Goldberg, Joachim Badenhorst, Oscar Noriega, Andrew Bishop; Uri Caine/Han Bennink; Aaron Parks’ Little/Big with Adam Chilenski, Greg Tuohey, Darren Beckett SubCulture 6 pm $35

êWinter Jazzfest: Wallace Roney Quintet with Ben Solomon, Kevin Hays, Daryl Johns, Lenny White; The Jean and Marcus Baylor Project with Allyn Johnson, Corcoran Holt, Keith Loftis; Brandee Younger Dorothy Ashby Tribute with Dezron Douglas, Dana Hawkins, Anne Drummond, Sharel Cassity, Mark Whitfield; Igmar Thomas and The Cypher with James Francis, Marcus Strickland, Louis Cato, Justin Brown; Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life with Keyon Harrold, James Francies, Kyle Miles, Charles Haynes, Jean Baylor, Christie Dashiell; Raymond Angry with Nadia Washington, James Genus, Jeff “Tain” Watts; Nate Smith Kinfolk with Samora Pinderhughes, Fima Ephron, Jaleel Shaw, Jeremy Most, Amma Whatt The Bitter End 6:15 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Joe Locke’s Love Is A Pendulum with Robert Rodriguez, Ricardo Rodriguez, Terreon Gully; Oran Etkin’s Reimagining Benny Goodman with Steve Nelson, Sullivan Fortner, Matt Wilson; Mike Pride’s From Bacteria To Boys with Tim Berne, Alexis Marcelo, Peter Bitenc; Jen Shyu’s Solo Rites: Seven Breaths; Marquis Hill Blacktet with Christopher McBride, Justin Thomas, Joshua Ramos, Makaya McCraven; Michael Bates Northern Spy with Michael Blake, Jeremy “Bean” Clemons The Players Theater 7 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Kate Davis; Alicia Olatuja with Jon Cowherd, Samir Zarif, Davis Rosenthal, Michael Olatuja; Allan Harris with Emmet Cohen, Russell Hall, Bryan Carter; Dafnis Prieto Sextet with Peter Apfelbaum, Felipe Lamoglia, Mike Rodriguez, Manuel Valera, Johannes Weidenmueller; Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom with Myra Melford, Kirk Knuffke, Chris Lightcap; Bria Skonberg with Evan Arntzen, Dalton Ridenhour, Sean Cronin, Darrian Douglas Zinc Bar 6:30 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Todd Clouser’s A Love Electric with Aaron Cruz, Hernan Hecht; The MazzMuse Breakdown: Mazz Swift/LaFrae Sci; Jungle Funk: Will Calhoun, Doug Wimbish, Vinx; Zongo Junction: Anant Pradhan, Charles Ferguson, Ross Edwards, Jordan Hyde, Matt Nelson, Aaron Rockers, Kevin Moehringer, Jonah Parzen-Johnson Bowery Electric 6:30 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Jovan Alexandre and Collective Consciousness with Andrew Renfroe, Taber Gable, Matt Dwonszyk, Jonathan Barber; Silver: Ilhan Ersahin, Eddie Henderson, Juini Booth, Kenny Wollesen; Anthony Pirog Trio with Michael Formanek, Ches Smith Carroll Place 6 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Cynthia Sayer Joyride Band with Charlie Giordano, Vincent Gardner, Larry Eagle, Jared Engel; Jon Weber; Frank Vignola and Friends with Vinny Raniollo, Jason Anick; Gordon Webster Greenwich House Music School 6:15 pm $35 êJoe Lovano Village Rhythms Band with Judi Silvano, Tim Hagans, Liberty Ellman, Michael Olutunja, Otis Brown III, Abdou Mboup Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 êGary Bartz, Larry Willis, Buster Williams, Al Foster Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 êKenny Werner/Jean-Michel Pilc The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êBirth of the American Orchestra: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Rose Theater 8 pm $30-120 êReverse Blue: Mary Halvorson, Chris Speed, Eivind Opsvik, Tomas Fujiwara; Tomas Fujiwara Trio with Ralph Alessi, Brandon Seabrook; Michael Blanco Quartet with John Ellis, Kevin Hays, Clarence Penn Cornelia Street Café 8, 9:30, 11 pm $10 • Mike Battaglia, James Robbins, Sanah Kadoura; Frank Kimbrough Trio with Jay Anderson, Jeff Hirshfield; Steve Slagle Quartet with Dave Stryker, Peter Slavov, Victor Lewis Smalls 4, 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Davis Whitfield Quintet Fat Cat 10:30 pm êTineke Postma/Greg Osby Sonic Halo with Simona Premazzi, Martin Nevin, Adam Arruda The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $22 êCatherine Russell with Mark Shane, Tal Ronen, Mark McLean, Chris Flory City Winery 8 pm $18-25 êBill O’Connell Trio with Luques Curtis, Victor Lewis and guests; NY Jazz Flutet: Dotti Anita Taylor, Jan Leder, Elise Wood, Chip Shelton, Art Lillard; Scott Tixier with Yvonnick Prene, Pasquale Grasso, Clovis Nicolas Somethin’ Jazz Club 6, 9, 11 pm $12-15 • Jason Yeager Duo Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 • Red Baraat SubRosa 8, 10 pm $25 êNicky Parrott/Rossano Sportiello Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 êDan Blacksberg Trio with Matt Engle, Mike Szekely; Hush Point: Jeremy Udden, John McNeil, Aryeh Kobrinsky, Anthony Pinciotti; Natalie John with Maya Kronfeld, Jeff Miles, Joshua Davis, Zach Harmon ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm $10 êMelissa Aldana and Crash Trio with Pablo Menares, Francisco Mela Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25-35 • Roni Ben-Hur Quartet with Steve Wilson, Santi Debriano, Tommy Campbell and guest Amy London Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 • Petr Cancura’s Down Home with Brian Drye, Jeremy Udden, Garth Stevenson, Richie Barshay; Ghost Train Orchestra: Brian Carpenter, Andy Laster, Michael McGinnis, Petr Cancura, Mazz Swift, Curtis Hasselbring, Ron Caswell, Rob Garcia Barbès 8, 10 pm $10 êRotem Sivan Trio with Hagga Cohen-Milo, Mark McClean Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Uri Gurvich Quartet with Asen Doykin, Edward Perez, Ronen Itzik WhyNot Bistro 9 pm • Jim Pryor Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Dances of the World Project: Diana Wayburn, Ken Silverman, John Murchison The Shed Space 8 pm $10 • Masami Ishikawa Trio; Peter Valera Jump Blues Band The Garage 6, 10:30 pm êCharlie Hunter Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 10 pm $15 • Lisa Fischer And Grand Baton with JC Maillard, Aidan Carroll, Thierry Arpino Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 êGeorge Cables/John Webber Mezzrow 9 pm $20 êMarcus Roberts’ Modern Jazz Generation with Jason Marsalis, Rodney Jordan, Ron Westray, Marcus Printup, Stephen Riley; Joey Alexander Dizzy’s Club 7, 9:30 pm $40 • Riley Mulherkar’s Birth of the American Orchestra Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 êMonterey Jazz Fest On Tour: Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Gerald Clayton Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Kurt Rosenwinkel New Quartet with Aaron Parks, Eric Revis, Allan Mednard Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Hot Club De France Measure 8 pm • Nadav Remez Quintet; Haggai Cohen Milo Quintet; Yotam Silberstein Trio Caffe Vivaldi 6 pm • Tammy Scheffer Silvana 6 pm • Marco Chelo Sextet Shrine 6 pm

KENNY WERNER AT THE STONE Tuesday, January 6th 8 & 10 pm $10 Animal Crackers Kenny Werner (piano) Richie Barshay (drums) Jorge Roeder (bass) Dan Blake (tenor sax)

Wednesday, January 7th 8 & 10 pm $10 Chant Kenny Werner (piano) Billy Drewes (reeds) Gilad Hekselman (guitar) Johannes Weidenmueller (bass) John Hadfield (drums)

Thursday, January 8th 8 & 10 pm Kenny Werner/Joe Lovano TWENTY DOLLARS

Friday, January 9th 8 & 10 pm $10 Kenny Werner/Jean-Michel Pilc Saturday, January 10th Sunday, January 11th 8 & 10 pm $10 Kenny Werner Trio

Kenny Werner (piano) Johannes Weidenmueller (bass) Ari Hoenig (drums)

KENNYWERNER.COM

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

JA Z Z

Saturday, January 10

K I TA N O

Music • Restaurant • Bar

“ONE OF THE BEST JAZZ CLUBS IN NYC” ... NYC JAZZ RECORD

L I V E J A Z Z E V E RY W E D N E S D AY - S AT U R D AY

$ 15 W E D . / T H U R + $ 15 M i n i m u m / S e t . $ 3 0 F R I . / S AT. + $ 15 M i n i m u m / S e t 2 S E T S 8 : 0 0 P M & 10 : 0 0 P M JAZZ BRUNCH EVERY SUNDAY TONY MIDDLETON TRIO 11 AM - 2 PM • GREAT BUFFET - $35 OPEN JAM SESSION MONDAY NIGHTS • $15 MINIMUM 8:00 PM - 11:30 PM • HOSTED BY IRIS ORNIG TUESDAYS - YOUNG PIANIST SHOWCASE 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM • $15 MINIMUM JAN. 6, 13, & 20 - BILLY TEST JAN 27 - ANGELO DI LORETO • $15 MINIMUM

THURS. JANUARY 1

HOLIDAY NO MUSIC FRI. JANUARY 2

JACK WILKINS TRIO

JACK WILKINS, ANDY MCKEE, MIKE CLARK $30 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

SAT. JANUARY 3

ALEXIS COLE QUARTET ALEXIS COLE, JOHN DI MARTINO DAVID FINCK, KENNY HASSLER $30 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

WED. JANUARY 7

ELLYNNE REY QUARTET ELLYNNE REY, BENNETT PASTER CAMERON BROWN, WILLARD DYSON $15 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

THURS. JANUARY 8

CATHY ROCCO QUARTET CATHY ROCCO, JOHN DI MARTINO ANDY LALASIS, VIC STEVENS $15 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

FRI. & SAT. JANUARY 9 & 10

RONI BEN-HUR QUARTET

WITH SPECIAL GUEST AMY LONDON

RONI BEN-HUR, STEVE WILSON SANTI DEBRIANO, TOMMY CAMPBELL, AMY LONDON $30 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

WED. JANUARY 14

KAZUE PATTON QUARTET KAZUE PATTON, JEB PATTON DAVID WONG, LUCA SANTANIELLO $15 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

THURS. JANUARY 15

BRANDON WRIGHT QUARTET BRANDON WRIGHT, DAVE KIKOSKI BORIS KOZLOV, DONALD EDWARDS $15 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

FRI. & SAT. JANUARY 16 & 17

WILSON/ROSNES/ WASHINGTON TRIO STEVE WILSON, RENEE ROSNES PETER WASHINGTON $30 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

WED. JANUARY 21

JANIS SIEGEL/ ADDISON FREI DUO $15 COVER + $15 MINIMUM THURS. JANUARY 22

LINDA PRESGRAVE QUARTET CD RELEASE EVENT “ALONG THE PATH” LINDA PRESGRAVE, STAN CHOVNICK HARVIE S, SEIJI OCHIAI $15 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

FRI. & SAT. JANUARY 23 & 24

MARK SHERMAN QUARTET MARK SHERMAN, KENNY BARRON RAY DRUMMOND, CARL ALLEN $30 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

WED. JANUARY 28

MARCUS GOLDHABER QUARTET MARCUS GOLDHABER, JON DAVIS GREGORY M. JONES, WILLARD DYSON $15 COVER + 15 MINIMUM

THURS. JANUARY 29

ERIKA MATSUO QUINTET ERIKA MATSUO, HELIO ALVES

JUANCHO HERRERA, DANA LEONG, KEIT A OGAWA $15 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

FRI. JANUARY 30

SCOTT ROBINSON QUARTET SCOTT ROBINSON, HELEN SUNG MARTIN WIND, TIM HORNER $30 COVER + $15 MINIMUM

SAT. JANUARY 31

MIKE DIRUBBO QUARTET MIKE DIRUBBO, ANTHONY WONSEY UGONNA OKEGWO, RUDY ROYSTON $30 COVER + $15 MINIMUM RESERVATIONS - 212-885-7119

VISIT OUR TWEETS AT: http://twitter.com/kitanonewyork www.kitano.com • email: [emailprotected] ò 66 Park Avenue @ 38th St.

êWinter Jazzfest: Edmar Castañeda Trio with Marshall Gilkes, Dave Silliman and guest Andrea Tierra; David Murray Infinity Quartet with Saul Williams, Orrin Evans, Jaribu Shahid, Nasheet Waits Le Poisson Rouge 6:30 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Kavita Shah with Shai Maestro, Petros Klampanis, Clarence Penn; Amina Claudine Myers Trio with Jerome Harris, Reggie Nicholson; The Cookers: Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Donald Harrison, George Cables, Cecil McBee; Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls with Adam O’Farrill, Matt Mitchell, Chris Tordini, Rudy Royston; Nicholas Payton Trio with Vicente Archer, Joe Dyson Minetta Lane Theatre 6:15 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Theo Bleckmann Quartet with Gary Versace, Chris Tordini, John Hollenbeck and guest Ambrose Akinmusire; Ken Vandermark/Nate Wooley Duo; Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet with Sam Harris, Harish Raghavan, Justin Brown; The Campbell Brothers’ A Sacred Steel Love Supreme with Chuck, Darick, Phil and Carlton Campbell, Daric Bennett; Scott Bradlee and Postmodern Jukebox Judson Church 6:45 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Ryan Keberle’s Catharsis with Mike Rodriguez, Jorge Roeder, Kenny Wolleson, Camila Meza; Alfredo Rodríguez Trio with Peter Slavov, Henry Cole; Lionel Loueke Trio with Massimo Biolcati, Ferenc Nemeth; SFJAZZ Collective: David Sanchez, Miguel Zenón, Avishai Cohen, Robin Eubanks, Edward Simon, Matt Penman, Obed Calvaire; Harriet Tubman: Brandon Ross, Melvin Gibbs, JT Lewis; JD Allen Trio with Gregg August, Rudy Royston; John Raymond Roots Trio SubCulture 6 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Oliver Lake Organ Quartet with Jared Gold, Josh Evans, Gene Lake; Matthew Stevens with Fabian Almazan, Vicente Archer, Nate Wood, Paul Stagnaro; Soul Understated with Mavis Swan Poole, Jeremy “Bean” Clemons, Josh David, Samir Moulay, Kevin Theodore, Al Strong, Blu Thompson, Nicholas Ryan Gant, Aaron Brocket; Mad Satta: Joanna Teters, Ben Carr, Ted Morcaldi, Kevin Theodore, Zane West, Jason Fitch, Colin Wade, Eric Zeiser; Butcher Brown: Corey Fonville, Keith Askey, Devonne Harris, Andrew Randazzo; Taylor McFerrin/Marcus Gilmore; Walter Smith III with Taylor Eigsti, Matt Stevens, Harish Raghavan, Kendrick Scott The Bitter End 6:15 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Dan Weiss Large Ensemble with Jacob Sacks, Thomas Morgan, Miles Okazaki, Matt Mitchell, Dave Binney, Ohad Talmor, Ben Gerstein, Jacob Garchik, Judith Berkson, Maria Neckam, Lana Is, Katie Andrews, Stephen Cellucci; Darius Jones Quartet with Matt Mitchell, Sean Conly, Ches Smith; Tomas Fujiwara and The Hookup with Jonathan Finlayson, Brian Settles, Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek; Eivind Opsvik’s Overseas with Tony Malaby, Brandon Seabrook, Jacob Sacks, Kenny Wollesen; The Cellar and Point: Joe Bergen, Christopher Otto, Kevin McFarland, Terrence McManus, Christopher Botta, Greg Chudzik, Joseph Branciforte The Players Theater 7 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret with Liberty Ellman, Stomu Takeishi, Tyshawn Sorey and guest Ben Goldberg; Mark Turner Quartet with Avishai Cohen, Joseph Martin, Marcus Gilmore; Hadar Noiberg Trio with Haggai Cohen Milo, Allison Miller; Kellylee Evans with Nir Felder, Carl Carter, Joe Alterman, Jamire Williams; Mino Cinelu World Jazz Ensemble with Jamshied Sharifi, Mamadou Ba, Bob Stewart, Eddie Henderson; Nasheet Waits Equality Quartet with Darius Jones, Aruán Ortiz, Mark Helias; Loston Harris Trio with Gianluca Renzi, Ian Hendrickson-Smith Zinc Bar 6:30 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Jaimeo Brown Transcendence with Chris Sholar, Jaleel Shaw, Falu; Dana Leong Trio with Les Sadler, Val-Inc; Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions with Alp Ersonmez, Izzet Kizil, Turgut Alp Bekoglu; Troker: Frankie Mares, Samo Gonzalez, Christian Jimenez, Tiburon Santillanes, Gilberto Cervantes, DJ Zero Bowery Electric 6:30 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Frank Catalano with Jimmy Chamberlin, Theo Hill, Deen Anbar, John Benitez; Jay Rodriguez Seven with Al Macdowell, Tony Falanga, Kim Thompson, Arturo Stables, Sonya Robinson, Adam Fisher; Chris Washburne SYOTOS with John Walsh, Ole Mathisen, Yeissonn Villamar, Leo Traversa, Vince Cherico, Oreste Abrantes Carroll Place 6 pm $35 êWinter Jazzfest: Martina DaSilva’s Ladybugs with Kate Davis, Gabe Schneider, Joe McDonough, Dylan Shamat; Dan Levinson’s Gotham SophistiCats with Molly Ryan, Mike Davis, Dalton Ridenhour, Rob Adkins, Joe Syalor, Josh Holcomb and guest Blind Boy Paxton; Stephane Wrembel Band with Roy Williams, Nick Anderson, Kells Nollenberger; Catherine Russell with Mark Shane, Tal Ronen, Mark McLean, Chris Flory; David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band with Adrian Cunningham, Bria Skonberg, Joe Saylor, Jared Engel, Dion Tucker Greenwich House Music School 6:15 pm $35 êKenny Werner Trio with Johannes Weidenmueller, Ari Hoenig The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êSonelius Smith Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Russell Malone/Peter Bernstein Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Aimee Allen with Toru Dodo, Jacob Melchior; Brenda Earle Stokes Trio with Pete McCann, Matt Aronoff; David Kikoski Trio with Ed Howard, Adam Cruz; Emilio Solla Bien Sur! Quintet with Chris Cheek, Victor Prieto, Jorge Roeder, Ziv Ravitz Somethin’ Jazz Club 5, 7, 9, 11 pm $12-20 • Daniel Bennet Group; Hironobu Saito Trio Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 • Mike Moreno; Greg Glassman JamFat Cat 10 pm 1:30 am • Dion Parson and 21st Century Band with Ron Blake, Rashawn Ross, Carlton Holmes, Victor Provost, Alioune Faye Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 • Ingrid and Christine Jensen The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $22 • Dafna Naphtali/Gordon Beeferman; Terri Dame, Jessica Lurie, Chris Cochrane The Firehouse Space 8, 9 pm $10 • Yotam Silberstein Trio with Barak Mori, Jochen Rueckert Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Prasanna; Sofia Rei Terraza 7 8 , 10:30 pm $7 • Pedrito Martinez Group SubRosa 10 pm $20 • Terry Vakirtzoglou with Glafkos Kontemeniotis, George Maniatis; Petros Klampanis’ Greek What? with Gilad Hekselman, Jean-Michel Pilc, John Hadfield, Maria Manousaki, Gokce Erem, Peter Kiral, Colin Stokes Cornelia Street Café 6, 9, 10:30 pm $10 êPhillip Harper Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $20 • Kirk Knuffke Trio with Christof Knoche, RJ Miller; Schimscheimer Family Trio: Michael Coleman, Kasey Knudsen, Jon Arkin and guest Ben Goldberg Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30, 9:30 pm $15 • Asako Takasaki; Valentina Marino Shrine 6, 8 pm êJoe Lovano Village Rhythms Band with Judi Silvano, Tim Hagans, Liberty Ellman, Michael Olutunja, Otis Brown III, Abdou Mboup Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 êGary Bartz, Larry Willis, Buster Williams, Al Foster Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 êBirth of the American Orchestra: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Rose Theater 8 pm $30-120 • Dwayne Clemons Quintet with Josh Benko, Sacha Perry, Murray Wall, Jimmy Wormworth; Steve Slagle Quartet with Dave Stryker, Peter Slavov, Victor Lewis Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20

46 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

êNicky Parrott/Rossano Sportiello Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 êMelissa Aldana and Crash Trio with Pablo Menares, Francisco Mela

Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25-35 • Roni Ben-Hur Quartet with Steve Wilson, Santi Debriano, Tommy Campbell and guest Amy London Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 • Lisa Fischer And Grand Baton with JC Maillard, Aidan Carroll, Thierry Arpino Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 êMarcus Roberts’ Modern Jazz Generation with Jason Marsalis, Rodney Jordan, Ron Westray, Marcus Printup, Stephen Riley; Joey Alexander Dizzy’s Club 7, 9:30 pm $45 • Riley Mulherkar’s Birth of the American Orchestra Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $20 êMonterey Jazz Fest On Tour: Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Gerald Clayton Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Kurt Rosenwinkel New Quartet with Aaron Parks, Eric Revis, Allan Mednard Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Hot Club De France Measure 8 pm • Uri Sharlin’s DogCat Barbès 6 pm $10 • Daniela Schaechter Trio; Al Marino Quartet; Virginia Mayhew Quartet The Garage 12, 6, 10:30 pm

Sunday, January 11 • Stefon Harris Sonic Creed with James Francies, Joshua Crumbly, Jonathan Pinson, Elena Pinderhughes, Mike Moreno Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 êOrrin Evans Liberation Blues Quartet; Orrin Evans New Trio with Lil’ John Roberts; Captain Black Big Band Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 êBrianna Thomas with Sullivan Fortner, Yasushi Nakamura, John Davis, Tivon Pennicott Minton’s 5:30, 7, 8:30 pm $10-20 • Patrick Cornelius Octet with Jason Palmer, John Ellis, Michael Fahie, Miles Okazaki, Fabian, Peter Slavov, Clarence Penn Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 êKenny Werner Trio with Johannes Weidenmueller, Ari Hoenig The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 • Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Alexi David; Brandon Lewis/Renee Cruz Jam Fat Cat 6, 8:30 pm 12 am • Jenna Mammina/Rolf Sturm; Charles Sibirsky; Jean-Michel Pilc solo Somethin’ Jazz Club 5, 7, 9 pm $12 • Johnny O’Neal Trio with Luke Sellick, Charles Goold; The Well Tempered Quartet: Brian Charette, Spike Wilner, Behn Gillece, Anthony Pinciotti Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Emilio Solla and La Inestable de Brooklyn with John Ellis, Chris Cheek, Alex Norris, Ryan Keberle, Julien Labro, Meg Okura, Jorge Roeder, David Silliman Zinc Bar 7 pm • Velocity Duo: Lauren Lee/Charley Sabatino; Elena Camerin/Khabu Doug Young WhyNot Bistro 7, 8:30 pm $10 • Darwin Nogueira Measure 8 pm • John Likides; Charles Pagano/Scott Bazar ABC No-Rio 7 pm $5 • Russell Malone/Peter Bernstein Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 êMarcus Roberts’ Modern Jazz Generation with Jason Marsalis, Rodney Jordan, Ron Westray, Marcus Printup, Stephen Riley; Joey Alexander Dizzy’s Club 7, 9:30 pm $35 êMonterey Jazz Fest On Tour: Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Gerald Clayton Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Kurt Rosenwinkel New Quartet with Aaron Parks, Eric Revis, Allan Mednard Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Sandra Weiss/David Grollman Downtown Music Gallery 6 pm • Spoke Silvana 6 pm • Ike Sturm and Evergreen Saint Peter’s 5 pm • Ben Monder solo Barbès 5 pm $10 • Lisa Hilton Group with J.D. Allen, Ingrid Jensen, Ben Street, Rudy Royston Weill Recital Hall 2 pm $25 • Janis Siegel The Requinte Trio with Nanny Assis, John di Martino Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $35 • Roz Corral Trio with Yotam Silberstein, Jay Leonhart North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm • Lou Caputo Quartet; David Coss Quartet The Garage 11:30 am 7 pm

Monday, January 12 • Terence Blanchard Electric Band Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $25

êPascal Niggenkemper/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten; Daniel Levin/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten; Tony Malaby, Gerald Clever, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten JACK 8 pm $15 êTanya Tagaq and Sirius Quartet Joe’s Pub 7 pm $22 • Nir Felder Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 10 pm $12 • For Our Jazz Heroes: Eli Yamin/Evan Christopher Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 • Frédéric Yonnet Iridium 8, 10 pm $25 êMingus Orchestra Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 êOrrin Evans Captain Black Big Band Smoke 7, 9 pm $9 • French Quarter: Pierrick Pedron Trio; Marian Badoi Trio; Julien Alour Quintet; Olivier Bogé Quartet; Yonathan Avishai Trio; Jonathan Michel Smalls 8 pm 1 am $20 êTeri Roiger Quartet with James Weidman, John Menegon, Steve Williams; John Menegon Quartet with Tineke Postma, Frank Kimbrough, Matt Wilson; Tony Tixier Quartet with Lonnie Plaxico Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9, 11 pm $12-15 • Akemi Yamada Trio Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Ned Goold Quartet; Billy Kaye Jam Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • Michelle Walker Trio with Toru Dodo, Michael O’Brien Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Frantz Loriot solo; HAG: Brad Henkel, Sean Ali, David Grollman Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 8:30, 9:45 pm $10 • NYC South American Music Festival 2015: Camila Meza; Aquiles Baez; Sofia Rei; Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet; Nation Beat Meridian 23 7 pm $25 • Andrea Wolper Trio with Michael Howell, Ken Filiano WhyNot Bistro 7 pm $10 • Eyal Vilner Big Band The Garage 7 pm • Alex Conroy Silvana 6 pm • Darrell Smith Trio Shrine 6 pm

Tuesday, January 13 êCelebrating Charlie Haden: Geri Allen, Kenny Barron, Carla Bley, Jack DeJohnette,

Denardo Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Bill Frisell, Ethan Iverson, Josh Haden, The Haden Triplets, Ruth Cameron-Haden, Dr. Maurice Jackson, Lee Konitz, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Brandee Younger, Quartet West: Alan Broadbent, Ernie Watts, Rodney Green, Scott Colley, Liberation Music Orchestra: Carla Bley, Tony Malaby, Chris Cheek, Loren Stillman, Michael Rodriguez, Seneca Black, Curtis Fowlkes, Vincent Chancey, Joe Daley, Steve Cardenas, Matt Wilson, Steve Swallow Town Hall 7 pm • Ramsey Lewis In Crowd 50th Anniversary Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 êOmer Avital with Joel Frahm, Michael Rodriguez, Yonathan Avishai, Daniel Freedman Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 êFred Hersch Trio +2 with Mark Turner, Ralph Alessi, John Hébert, Eric McPherson Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Jane Monheit’s To the Men I Love with Joel Frahm, Billy Stritch, Neal Miner, Rick Montalbano Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 êChristian Sands Trio with Matthew Rybicki, Ulysses Owens, Jr. Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Grandpa Musselman and His Syncopators Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 • Mike Longo NY State of the Art Jazz Ensemble with Ira Hawkins NYC Baha’i Center 8, 9:30 pm $15 • Johnny O’Neal Trio with Luke Sellick, Charles Goold Minton’s 7, 8:30, 10 pm $10-20 • Charlie Looker/Darius Jones; Charlie Looker, Tim Dahl, Weasel Walter The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êNeu3: Michael Blake, Mark Helias, Scott Neumann Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • Jeff Davis Trio with Russ Lossing, Eivind Opsvik; Jen Shyu/Ben Monder Korzo 9, 10:30 pm • Spike Wilner Trio; Lucas Pino No Net Nonet with Colin Stranahan, Glenn Zaleski, Desmond White, Alex LoRe, Rafal Sarnecki, Nick Finzer, Andrew Gutauskas; Kyle Poole and Friends Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 12:30 am $20 • Saul Rubin; Peter Brainin Latin Jazz Workshop Fat Cat 7, 9 pm • Daniel Weiss Trio with Alex Claffy, Charles Gould Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Juan Felipe Mayorga Trio Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Pedrito Martinez Group SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • Stan Killian Quartet with David Kikoski, Corcoran Holt, McClenty Hunter 55Bar 7 pm • Lola Regenthal/Daniel Marques ShapeShifter Lab 8:15 pm $10 • Billy Test solo Jazz at Kitano 8 pm • Linus NYC: Gizem Gokoglu, Linus Wyrsch, Russell Kranes, Julian Smith, Karina Colis; Hermon Mehari Quartet with Matt Brewer; Addison Frei Trio with Perrin Grace, Matt Young Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9, 11 pm $12 • Tim Chernikoff Trio Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Rob Edwards Quartet The Garage 7 pm • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm êHamiet Bluiett Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15

Wednesday, January 14 êRené Urtreger Trio with Yves Torchinsky, Simon Goubert; Jean-Michel Pilc Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Grandpa Musselman and His Syncopators Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 êDan Weiss Trio with Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik SEEDS 9 pm êChristian Sands/Ben Williams Mezzrow 9 pm $20 êAndrew D’Angelo Trio with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Nasheet Waits Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • George Burton Quartet with Tim Warfield, Noah Jackson, Wayne Smith, Jr. Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 • Lage Lund 4 with Sullivan Fortner, Matt Brewer, Tyshawn Sorey; Alex LoRe Quartet with Glenn Zaleski, Desmond White, Colin Stranahan Smalls 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Raphael D’lugoff; Harold Mabern Trio; Ned Goold Jam Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am • Pedro Giraudo Sextet; Victor Prieto Duo Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Charlie Looker/Mary Halvorson; Charlie Looker, Mary Halvorson, Mick Barr, Toby Driver The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 • Kazue Patton Quartet with Jeb Patton, David Wong, Luca Santaniello Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • Surface to Air: Jonti Siman, Rohin Khemani, Jonathan Goldberger Barbès 8 pm $10 • Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions Drom 9:30 pm $20 • Jonathan Rowden Group with Ryan Pryor, James Yoshizawa, Chris Hon, Remy Le Boeuf ShapeShifter Lab 7 pm $10 • Matilda Mörk Trio with Nitzan Gavrielli, Lars Ekman WhyNot Bistro 9 pm • JP Jofre; Bayo Fayemi Group with Elisee Augustin, Alfredo Colon, Juan Bowers, Malik McLaurine, Justin Henry Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9 pm $12 • Akihiro Yamamoto Trio Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Tsutomu Naki Trio The Garage 7 pm • Equilibrium: Brad Baker, Pam Belluck, Rich Russo, Elliot Honig, Terry Schwadron, Dan Silverstone Caffe Vivaldi 8:30 pm • Ramsey Lewis In Crowd 50th Anniversary Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 êOmer Avital with Joel Frahm, Michael Rodriguez, Yonathan Avishai, Daniel Freedman Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 êFred Hersch Trio +2 with Mark Turner, Ralph Alessi, John Hébert, Eric McPherson Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Jane Monheit’s To the Men I Love with Joel Frahm, Billy Stritch, Neal Miner, Rick Montalbano Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Pedrito Martinez Group SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • The Grautet Silvana 6 pm • Allan Andre Trio Shrine 6 pm • Sean Smith/David Hazeltine Saint Peter’s 1 pm $10

Thursday, January 15 êTony Malaby, Angelica Sanchez, Tom Rainey Barbès 8 pm $10 • Aaron Goldberg Trio with Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Clarice Assad’s Off The Cliff with Keita Ogawa, João Luiz Rezende and guests Beat Kaestli, Shin Sakain Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 • Grandpa Musselman and His Syncopators Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 êBrandon Wright Quartet with Dave Kikoski, Boris Kozlov, Donald Edwards Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • Charlie Looker solo; Charlie Looker, Andrew Hock, Jamie Saft, Balázs Pándi The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 • Jason Lindner NOW vs. NOW with Panagiotis Andreou, Justin Tyson and guest James Francies The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $15 • Chris Turner Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $10 êAlexis Cole with Peter Brainin, John di Martino, David Finck, Kenny Hassler Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 • Tom Chang Quartet with Quinsin Nachoff, Sam Minaie, Nate Wood Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • Victor Prieto Trio Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Corcoran Holt Fat Cat 10 pm • Paul Shapiro Trio with Dave Hofstra Russ & Daughters Café 8 pm • Moth to Flame: Tyson Harvey, John Kritl, Ivo Lorenz, Ken Marino; Dan DeChellis Trio with Scott Hornick, Tom Papadatos; Antonia Light: Dave Nelson/Marlon Patton ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm $10 • Jeremy Hurewitz The Firehouse Space 8 pm $10 • Kyle Moffatt; Paul Bedal Quartet with Caroline Davis, Dion Kerr, Harvel Hakundi Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 9 pm $12 • Scot Albertson Duo Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 • Michael Vitali Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 7 pm • Rick Stone Trio The Garage 7 pm • Pete Muller Trio with Skip Ward, Kyle Rowland Caffe Vivaldi 7:30 pm êDan Weiss Trio with Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik SEEDS 9 pm êChristian Sands/Noah Jackson Mezzrow 9 pm $20 • Sacha Perry Quintet; Lage Lund 4 with Sullivan Fortner, Matt Brewer, Tyshawn Sorey; Nick Hempton Band with Tadataka Unno, Dave Baron, Dan Aran Smalls 6, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Ramsey Lewis In Crowd 50th Anniversary Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 êFred Hersch Trio +2 with Mark Turner, Ralph Alessi, John Hébert, Eric McPherson Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Jane Monheit’s Hello Bluebird with Joel Frahm, Michael Kanan, Neal Miner, Rick Montalbano Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • Sebastian Noelle Trio with Sam Anning, Raj Jayaweera Silvana 6 pm • The Stachel Quintet Shrine 6 pm

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

Friday, January 16 • Bill Frisell’s When You Wish Upon A Star with Eyvind Kang, Thomas Morgan, Rudy Royston, Petra Haden The Appel Room 7, 9:30 pm $45-55 êSteve Wilson, Renee Rosnes, Peter Washington Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 êWalter Blanding’s Tick Tock with Warren Wolf, Mark Whitfield, Bruce Harris, Russell Hall, Dan Nimmer, Ulysses Owens, Jr. Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 • Grandpa Musselman and His Syncopators Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 • Mighty Burner Tribute: Freddie Hendrix, Eric Alexander, Bob DeVos, Mike LeDonne, Greg Rockingham Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38 êOrrin Evans/Vicente Archer Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Ai Murakami with Sacha Perry, Tyler Mitchell; Tardo Hammer Trio with Lee Hudson, Jimmy Wormworth; Mark Soskin Quartet with Rich Perry, Jay Anderson, Anthony Pinciotti Smalls 4, 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Peter Zak/Doug Weiss Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 • Charlie Looker, Caleb Burhans, Robbie Lee, Travis LaPlante; Seaven Teares and Friends with Charlie Looker, Amirtha Kidambi, Robbie Lee, Russell Greenberg The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 • Glenn Zaleski Trio with Dezron Douglas, Craig Weinrib The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $22 êJeremiah Cymerman solo and duo with Giacomo Merega Prospect Range 9 pm $10 • Chris Dingman Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30 pm $15 • Marko Djordjevic Trio with Julian Pollock, Carlo De Rosa Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Diego Obregon Trio with Ricky Rodriguez, Ari Hoenig Terraza 7 9:30 pm $7 • Emily Bear Iridium 7, 9 pm $30 • Josh Evans Fat Cat 10:30 pm • Takenori Nishiuchi Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 • Matt Baker Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Rob Silverman Indian Road Café 8 pm • Tom Tallitsch Quartet; Kevin Dorn and the BIG 72 The Garage 6, 10:30 pm • Aaron Goldberg Trio with Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $30 êDan Weiss Trio with Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik SEEDS 9 pm • Ramsey Lewis In Crowd 50th Anniversary Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 êFred Hersch Trio +2 with Mark Turner, Ralph Alessi, John Hébert, Eric McPherson Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Jane Monheit’s Hello Bluebird with Joel Frahm, Michael Kanan, Neal Miner, Rick Montalbano Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • Chandry Abreu Silvana 6 pm • Joe Pino Quintet Shrine 6 pm

Saturday, January 17

êEd Palermo Big Band with guest Napoleon Murphy Brock Iridium 8, 10 pm $30 êWilliam Parker and The Tone Motion Theatre with Keir Neuringer, Mike Watson, Ryan Frazier, Larry Toft, Veronica Jurkiewicz, Thomas Kraines, Hamid Drake, Steve Swell, Joe McPhee, Daniel Carter, Cooper Moore, Fay Victor, Kyoko Kitamura, Anais Maviel Roulette 8 pm $25 • Pablo Mayor Folklore Urbano SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • The Music of Lee Morgan: Robert Rutledge Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $20 • Andrew Hock solo; Charlie Looker solo; Psalm Zero Acoustic: Charlie Looker/Andrew Hock The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êDevin Gray’s Dirigo Rataplan with Ellery Eskelin, Dave Ballou, Michael Formanek Greenwich House Music School 8 pm $15 • Gilad Hekselman’s Szr with Glenn Zaleski, Rick Rosato, Colin Stranahan Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 • Sean Smith Trio with Nate Radley, Russ Meisner Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Aaron Burnett and the Big Machine with Jonathan Finlayson, Matt Brewer, Carlos Homs, Mark Whitfield, Jr. The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $22 • Luisito Quintero/Samuel Torres Terraza 7 9:30 pm $7 êBilly Mintz Two Bass Band with Masa Kamaguchi Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30 pm $10 • The JT Project Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $10 • Matthew Heath Quartet with Craig Cammell, Or Bareket, Dre Hocevar; Jason Yeager; David Kikoski solo Somethin’ Jazz Club 5, 7, 9 pm $12-15 • Kathryn Allyn Duo; Matt Panayides Trio Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 • Alan Rosenthal Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Bill Frisell’s When You Wish Upon A Star with Eyvind Kang, Thomas Morgan, Rudy Royston, Petra Haden The Appel Room 7, 9:30 pm $45-55 êSteve Wilson, Renee Rosnes, Peter Washington Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 êWalter Blanding’s Tick Tock with Warren Wolf, Mark Whitfield, Bruce Harris, Russell Hall, Dan Nimmer, Ulysses Owens, Jr. Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 • Grandpa Musselman and His Syncopators Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $20 • Mighty Burner Tribute: Freddie Hendrix, Eric Alexander, Bob DeVos, Mike LeDonne, Greg Rockingham Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38 êOrrin Evans/Vicente Archer Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 êEliot Zigmund Quartet with Chris Cheek, Michael Eckroth, David Kingsnorth; Mark Soskin Quartet with Rich Perry, Jay Anderson, Anthony Pinciotti Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Peter Zak/Doug Weiss Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 • Aaron Goldberg Trio with Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $30 êDan Weiss Trio with Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik SEEDS 9 pm • Ramsey Lewis In Crowd 50th Anniversary Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 êFred Hersch Trio +2 with Mark Turner, Ralph Alessi, John Hébert, Eric McPherson Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Jane Monheit’s Hello Bluebird with Joel Frahm, Michael Kanan, Neal Miner, Rick Montalbano Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Antonio Ciacca Measure 8 pm • Uri Sharlin’s DogCat Barbès 6 pm $10 • Alison Shearer Quintet Silvana 6 pm • Larry Newcomb Quartet; Mark Marino Trio The Garage 12, 6 pm

Sunday, January 18

êThe Pleasures Of A Normal Man: Peter Evans, Gareth Flowers, Jacob Garchik, Andrew Hock, Mario Diaz de Leon, Mike Pride, Josh Modney, Caley Monahon-Ward, Karen Waltuch, Mariel Roberts, Pascal Niggenkemper, Charlie Looker; Period: Charlie Looker, Chuck Bettis, Mike Pride and guest Tim Berne The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êBucky Pizzarelli/Ed Laub Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 • Gene Bertoncini The Drawing Room 7 pm $20

48 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

êYard Byard—The Jaki Byard Project: Jamie Baum, Adam Kolker, Jerome Harris, Essiet Okon Essiet, George Schuller Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • Johnny O’Neal Trio with Luke Sellick, Charles Goold; Behn Gillece Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 êChristian Sands Trio with Yasushi Nakamura, Rodney Green Minton’s 5:30, 7, 8:30 pm $10-20 êConnie Crothers/Guillermo Gregorio; Connie Crothers, Guillermo Gregorio, Kevin Norton Ibeam Brooklyn 8, 10 pm $15 êPeter Leitch/Harvie S Walker’s 8 pm • Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Brandon Lewis/Renee Cruz Jam Fat Cat 6 pm 12 am • New York Free Quartet: Mike Moss, Steve Cohn, Larry Roland, Chuck Fertal; Outside Within: Waldron Ricks, Lance Bryant, Larry Roland, Mamiko Watanabe, Michael Wimberly, Terry Davis WhyNot Bistro 7 pm • Audrey Chen/Maria Chavez Roulette 8 pm $20 • Trample Man: Broc Hempel, Sam Trapchak, Christian Coleman with guest Jeremy Pelt Dominie’s Astoria 9 pm • Josh Richman Measure 8 pm • John Lutz O(h)ms of Resistance Ensemble; Tom Shad/Jesse Kranzler ABC No-Rio 7 pm $5 êEd Palermo Big Band with guest Rob Paparozzi Iridium 8, 10 pm $30 êWalter Blanding’s Tick Tock with Warren Wolf, Mark Whitfield, Bruce Harris, Russell Hall, Dan Nimmer, Ulysses Owens, Jr. Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 • Mighty Burner Tribute: Eric Alexander, Bob DeVos, Mike LeDonne, Greg Rockingham Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38 • Aaron Goldberg Trio with Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $30 • Ramsey Lewis In Crowd 50th Anniversary Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 êFred Hersch Trio +2 with Mark Turner, Ralph Alessi, John Hébert, Eric McPherson Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Phillipe Lemm Trio Silvana 6 pm • Soundpainting Workshop The Firehouse Space 6 pm $10 êSteve Wilson/Lewis Nash Saint Peter’s 5 pm • Ben Monder solo Barbès 5 pm $10 • Monty Alexander Trio with Ulysses Owens, Jr. Abyssinian Baptist Church 4 pm $20 • Akua Dixon with Patrisa Tomassini, Charisa Dowe Rouse, Ina Paris, Kenny Davis, Andromeda Turre, Orion Turre Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church 3 pm $10 • Janis Siegel The Requinte Trio with Nanny Assis, John di Martino Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $35 • Roz Corral Trio with Paul Bollenback, Paul Gill North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm • Kyoko Oyobe Trio; David Coss Quartet The Garage 11:30 am 7 pm

Monday, January 19

• The Music of Karl Jenkins Stern Auditorium 7 pm $20-100 • New Century Jazz Quintet: Takeshi Obayashi, Ulysses Owens, Jr’s, Tim Green, Yasushi Nakamura, Mike Dease Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 êMingus Big Band Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 • George Braith; Billy Kaye Jam Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am • Magos Herrera, Vitor Gonçalves, Rogério Boccato and guest Edmar Castañeda Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 êOrrin Evans Captain Black Big Band Smoke 7, 9 pm $9 • Danny Fox Trio; Ari Hoenig Quartet with Gilad Hekselman, Orlando Le Fleming, Shai Maestro; Spencer Murphy with Tivon Pennicott, John Chin, Lawrence Leathers Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20 • Steve Ash Measure 8 pm • Beat Kaestli Trio with Jesse Lewis, Will Hollhouser Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Speaking Tube: Emilie Lesbros, Frantz Loriot, Pascal Niggenkemper; JANICE: Patrick Breiner, Sasha Brown, Chris Tordini, Jason Nazary Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 8:30, 9:45 pm $10 • Kelley Suttenfield Zinc Bar 7 pm $8 • 10 o’clock Jazz with John “Satchmo” Mannan, Vinny Knight Bier International 8 pm • Carol Sudhalter Quartet with Patrick Poladian, Antonio Cervellino, Enzo Zirilli Somethin’ Jazz Club 9 pm $12 • Sammy Miller Big Band The Garage 7 pm • For Trees & Birds Silvana 6 pm

Tuesday, January 20

êThe Nearness of You—Michael Brecker Tribute/Benefit for Columbia University Medical

Center: Paul Simon, James Taylor, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane and guests The Appel Room 7:30 pm $500-1,000 êPat Martino Organ Trio; Larry Coryell/Vic Juris Duo Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 êFred Hersch solo Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Vijay Iyer, Rajna Swaminathan, Anjna Swaminathan, Reggie Workman, Mat Maneri The Stone 8, 10 pm $20 • Steve Davis Quintet with Abraham Burton, Larry Willis, Nat Reeves, Billy Williams Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 • Sammy Miller and the Congregation Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 • Beegie Adair/Monica Ramey Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 êDave Chamberlain’s Band of Bones NYC Baha’i Center 8, 9:30 pm $15 • Gerardo Contino y Los Habaneros SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 êLage Lund Trio Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Sarah McKenzie Quartet Minton’s 7, 8:30, 10 pm $10-20 • John Raymond’s Roots Trio with Gilad Hekselman, Colin Stranahan; Pablo Masis Quartet with Andrew Gould, Or Bareket, Austin Walker Cornelia Street Café 8, 9:30 pm $10 êJames Carney Quartet with Ralph Alessi, Dezron Douglas, Jeff Davis Korzo 9, 10:30 pm • Spike Wilner Trio; Smalls Legacy Band: Frank Lacy, Stacy Dillard, Josh Evans, Theo Hill, Ameen Saleem, Kush Abadey; Kyle Poole and Friends Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 12:30 am $20 • Skye Steele; Nate Wood; Masu Littlefield 8:30 pm $10 • Akiko Pavolka and House of Illusion with Loren Stillman, Nate Radley, Matt Pavolka, Nate Wood Barbès 7 pm $10 • Nick Brust/Adam Horowitz Quintet with Matthew Sheens, James Quinlan, Dani Danor ShapeShifter Lab 8:15 pm $10 • Ashley Daneman Band Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 7 pm • Michael Bank; Addison Frei Trio with Perrin Grace, Matt Young Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 11 pm $12 • Michael Gallant Trio Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Billy Test solo Jazz at Kitano 8 pm • Dwight Dickerson Trio The Garage 7 pm • Steve Ash Measure 8 pm • Tammy Scheffer Silvana 6 pm • Michael Eaton Quartet Shrine 6 pm • Kelvyn Bell Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15

êPapo Vazquez Mighty Pirates Troubadours with Willie Williams, Rick Germanson, Dezron Douglas, Alvester Garnett, Anthony Carrillo, Carlos Maldonado and guest Sherman Irby Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Sammy Miller and the Congregation Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 • Vijay Iyer, Imani Uzuri, Dj Val-Inc, Linda Oh; Vijay Iyer, Sunny Jain, Himanshu Suri The Stone 8, 10 pm $20 êDavid Virelles SEEDS 9 pm êJoe Sanders Mezzrow 9 pm $20 • Akua Dixon Quartet with Sharp Radway, Hill Greene, Orion Turre Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 • John O’Gallagher Trio with Johannes Weidenmuller, Mark Ferber; Craig Wuepper’s Earsight Smalls 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Edward Perez Trio Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Pedrito Martinez Group SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • Janis Siegel/Addison Frei Duo Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • David Cook Quintet with John Ellis, David Cook, Matt Clohesy, Ross Pederson; Greg Diamond Quintet with Stacy Dillard, Mike Eckroth, Peter Slavov, Henry Cole Cornelia Street Café 8, 9:30 pm $10 • Juilliard Jazz Orchestra Juilliard School Peter Jay Sharp Theater 8 pm • Moon Sugar: Mike Yaw, Tim Basom, Campbell Charshee, Neil Johnson, Jeff Koch ShapeShifter Lab 7 pm $10 • Raphael D’lugoff; Don Hahn/Mike Camacho Band; Ned Goold Jam Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am • B.U.T: Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic, Lena Bloch, Deric Dickens Bar Chord 9 pm • Alex Hanburger Duo; Jon Menges Trio Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Gordon’s Grand Street Stompers Radegast Hall 9 pm • The Anderson Brothers The Garage 7 pm • Bjorn Ingelstam Silvana 8 pm êPat Martino Organ Trio; Larry Coryell/Vic Juris Duo Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 êFred Hersch solo Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Beegie Adair/Monica Ramey Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Steve Ash Measure 8 pm • Eric Plaks Trio Shrine 6 pm • Mark Soskin/Roseanna Vitro Saint Peter’s 1 pm $10

Thursday, January 22 êThe Intuitionists: Vijay Iyer, Reggie Workman, Tyshawn Sorey; Fieldwork: Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, Tyshawn Sorey The Stone 8, 10 pm $20 êNeTTwork: Charnett Moffett, Cyrus Chestnut, Victor Lewis Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30

êDena DeRose with Jeremy Pelt, Martin Wind, Matt Wilson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 • Alex Hoffman Group with Emanuele Basentini; Francisco Mela Quartet with George Garzone, Lionel Loueke, Drew Gress; Carlos Abadie Quintet with Peter Zak, Clovis Nicolas, Luca Santaniello Smalls 6, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Joe Morris Quartet with Mat Maneri, Chris Lightcap, Gerald Cleaver Greenwich House Music School 8 pm $15 • Ches Smith Quartet with Jonathan Finlayson, Mat Maneri, Stephan Crump Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 êBria Skonberg Joe’s Pub 7 pm $16 • Linda Presgrave with Stan Chovnick, Harvie S, Seiji Ochiai Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • Gregoire Maret Schomburg Center 7 pm • Eric Kurimski Quartet Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Point of Departure Fat Cat 10 pm êCarol Morgan Trio with Joe Cohen, Corrin Stigall Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Jeremy Dutton with Philip Dizack, Nir Felder, James Francies The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $15 • FIDO::qrtet: Shoko Nagai, Ron Horton, Maryanne de Prophetis, Satoshi Takeishi Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30 pm $10 • Yoni Kretzmer’s New Dilemma with Franz Loriot, Leila Bordreuil, Daro Behroozi, Pascal Niggenkemper, Flin Van Hemmen The Firehouse Space 8:30 pm $12 • Moira Lo Bianco Trio with Petros Klampanis, John Hadfield; Ruby Choi Group ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15 pm $8 • Zach Mama Somethin’ Jazz Club 7 pm $12 • Ray Parker Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 7 pm • Baby Soda Jazz Band Radegast Hall 9 pm • Will Terrill Trio The Garage 7 pm êPapo Vazquez Mighty Pirates Troubadours with Willie Williams, Rick Germanson, Dezron Douglas, Alvester Garnett, Anthony Carrillo, Carlos Maldonado and guest Sherman Irby Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Sammy Miller and the Congregation Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 êDavid Virelles SEEDS 9 pm êJoe Sanders Mezzrow 9 pm $20 êPat Martino Organ Trio; Larry Coryell/Vic Juris Duo Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 êFred Hersch solo Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Steve Ash Measure 8 pm • The Powell Brothers Silvana 6 pm • Marco Chelo Trio Shrine 6 pm

Friday, January 23 êJimmy Cobb’s Birthday Celebration with Peter Bernstein and guests Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40

Honorable Mention - New Releases (2014) - The New York City Jazz Record

Wednesday, January 21

• Trriioo: Vijay Iyer, Matt Brewer, Stephan Crump, Marcus Gilmore, Tyshawn Sorey; Trriioo++: Vijay Iyer, Matthew Brewer, Stephan Crump, Marcus Gilmore, Tyshawn Sorey, Rafiq Bhatia, Graham Haynes, Mat Maneri The Stone 8, 10 pm $20 • Marc Cary’s Harlem Homecoming Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 • Danny Grissett/Dezron Douglas Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Mike Battaglia, James Robbins, Sanah Kadoura; Ralph Lalama’s Bop-Juice; Joel Frahm Trio with Ed Howard, Anthony Pinciotti Smalls 4, 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Carlos Henriquez Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 • Sammy Miller and the Congregation Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 • Mark Sherman Quartet with Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, Carl Allen Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 êHarris Eisenstadt Canada Day with Nate Wooley, Matt Bauder, Chris Dingman, Pascal Niggenkemper; Vinnie Sperrazza, Jacob Sacks, Masa Kamaguchi Ibeam Brooklyn 8, 9:30 pm $10 • Colin Stranahan Trio with Pete Rende, Joe Martin Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 • Erik Deutsch and the Jazz Outlaws BAMCafé 10 pm • Alex Ferreira SubRosa 7, 9 pm $20 • Falkner Evans/Paul Gill Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 • Arturo Stable Changui Project Terraza 7 9:30 pm $7 • Bombay Rickey Barbès 8 pm $10 • Zak Smith with Gavi Grodsky, Keith Robinson, Bass, Dov Manski, Melanie Flannery, Tania Jones, Lauren Geber; Grey McMurray; Cenk Ergun ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm $8 • Adam Smale Trio with Michael O’Brien, Brian Fischler Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Dennis Shafer solo The Firehouse Space 8 pm $10 • Shoko Amano Somethin’ Jazz Club 7 pm $12 • Kuni Mikami Trio Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 • Yaacov Mayman Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Bossa Brasil: Maurício de Souza, Bob Rodriguez, Joonsam Lee; Peter Valera Jump Blues Band The Garage 6, 10:30 pm • NeTTwork: Charnett Moffett, Cyrus Chestnut, Victor Lewis Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $35 êDena DeRose with Jeremy Pelt, Martin Wind, Matt Wilson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 êDavid Virelles SEEDS 9 pm êPat Martino Organ Trio; Larry Coryell/Vic Juris Duo Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Matt Geraghty Project Blue Note 12:30 am $10 • Fred Hersch solo Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Steve Ash Measure 8 pm • Audiograph Project Silvana 6 pm

GEORG GRAEWE stills and stories (for piano solo) Random Acoustics CD 028 [emailprotected] www.randomacoustics.net

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

Saturday, January 24 êRenee Rosnes Quartet with Steve Nelson, Peter Washington, Bill Stewart Miller Theater 8 pm $20-30 êVijay Iyer Sextet with Matt Brewer, Marcus Gilmore, Mark Shim, Steve Lehman, Graham Haynes; Open Cityscapes: Vijay Iyer, Matthew Brewer, Marcus Gilmore, Mark Shim, Steve Lehman, Graham Haynes, Elena Pinderhughes, Patricia Franceschy, Rafiq Bhatia The Stone 8, 10 pm $20 • Jean-Michel Pilc, Gilad Hekselman, Petros Klampanis ShapeShifter Lab 7:30 pm $12 êOnaje Allan Gumbs Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $20 êDan Weiss Trio with Jacob Sacks, Michael Formanek Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 • Tarus Mateen Quartet; Greg Glassman Jam Fat Cat 10 pm 1:30 am • Jerome Sabbagh Trio with Joe Martin, Billy Drummond Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Drawn To Sound: Ben Gerstein, Gian Luigi Diana, Mike Pride, Morgon O’Hara The Firehouse Space 8 pm $10 • Mario Castro Quintet with Josh Shpak, KyuMin Shim, Tamir Shmerling, Jonathan Pinson and Kailey Shaffer, Leonor Falcón, Allyson Clare, Brian Sanders The Jazz Gallery 8, 10 pm $22 • Benny Golson Festival: Antonio Ciacca and Friends Measure 8 pm • Art Lillard’s Heavenly Band Spoke the Hub 10 pm • Thomas Galliano Quartet Somethin’ Jazz Club 9 pm $12 • Standard Procedures; Dana Reedy Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 • Emanuele Tozzi Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Carbon Mirage Shrine 8 pm êJimmy Cobb’s Birthday Celebration with Peter Bernstein and guests Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 • Marc Cary’s Harlem Homecoming Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 êDanny Grissett/Dezron Douglas Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Tom Dempsey/Tim Ferguson Quartet with Joel Frahm, Eliot Zigmund; Joel Frahm Trio with Ed Howard, Anthony Pinciotti Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Carlos Henriquez Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 • Sammy Miller and the Congregation Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $20 • Mark Sherman Quartet with Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, Carl Allen Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 êHarris Eisenstadt Canada Day with Nate Wooley, Matt Bauder, Chris Dingman, Pascal Niggenkemper; Jeff Davis Group, with Jonathan Goldberger, Jason Rigby, Simon Jermyn Ibeam Brooklyn 8 pm $10 • Falkner Evans/Paul Gill Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 • NeTTwork: Charnett Moffett, Cyrus Chestnut, Victor Lewis Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $35 êDena DeRose with Jeremy Pelt, Martin Wind, Matt Wilson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 êDavid Virelles SEEDS 9 pm êPat Martino Organ Trio; Larry Coryell/Vic Juris Duo Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 êFred Hersch solo Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Uri Sharlin’s DogCat Barbès 6 pm $10 • Rodrigo Bonelli Septet Silvana 6 pm • Forever Moonlight Band Shrine 6 pm • Marsha Heydt Project of Love; Champian Fulton Quartet; Virginia Mayhew Quartet The Garage 12, 6, 10:30 pm

Sunday, January 25 êWadada Leo Smith/Vijay Iyer; Wadada Leo Smith, Vijay Iyer, Nitin Mitta, Patricia Franceschy, Reggie Workman The Stone 8, 10 pm $20 êJeremy Pelt Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 • Bern Nix/Cheryl Pyle Duo; Patrick Brennan’s Rōnin Phasing WhyNot Bistro 7, 8:30 pm $10 êBrandee Younger’s Jazz Harp Quartet with Chelsea Baratz, Rashaan Carter, E.J. Strickland Minton’s 5:30, 7, 8:30 pm $10-20 • Underground Brass: David Whitwell, Dave Taylor, Jay Rozen; Jazzfakers: David Tamura, Raphael Zwyer, Robert Pepper, Matt Luczak; Ideosynchronic: Grady Gerbracht, John Loggia, Aron Namenwirth, Lawry Romani, Blaise Siwula ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm $15 • Johnny O’Neal Trio with Luke Sellick, Charles Goold; Ned Goold Quartet Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 êPeter Leitch/Ray Drummond Walker’s 8 pm • Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Brandon Lewis/Renee Cruz Jam Fat Cat 6 pm 12 am • Trample Man: Broc Hempel, Sam Trapchak, Christian Coleman with guest Igor Lumpert Dominie’s Astoria 9 pm • Josh Richman Measure 8 pm • Rocco John Iacovone Ensemble ABC No-Rio 7 pm $5 êJimmy Cobb’s Birthday Celebration with Peter Bernstein and guests Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 • Carlos Henriquez Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 • NeTTwork: Charnett Moffett, Cyrus Chestnut, Victor Lewis Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 êPat Martino Organ Trio; Larry Coryell/Vic Juris Duo Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 êFred Hersch solo Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Patrick Brennan/Daniel Carter Downtown Music Gallery 6 pm • Melissa Stylianou Saint Peter’s 5 pm • Lilla Galambos/Zoi Florosz Metropolitan Room 3:30 pm $20 • Alan Ferber NYU Jazz Ensemble Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $29.50 • Ed Laub/Gene Bertoncini North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm • Ben Holmes/Patrick Farrell City Winery 11 am $10 • Iris Ornig Quartet; Rob Edwards Quartet The Garage 11:30 am 7 pm

Monday, January 26 • OWL Trio: Orlando Le Fleming, Will Vinson, Lage Lund Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30

• Marika Hughes and Bottom Heavy Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $15 • Mingus Big Band Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25

êOrrin Evans Captain Black Big Band Smoke 7, 9 pm $9 • Stéphane Spira In Between Quartet with Sam Kulik, Steve Wood, Johnathan Blake; Ari Hoenig Quartet with Gilad Hekselman, Orlando Le Fleming, Shai Maestro; Jonathan Michel Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20 • Benny Golson Festival: Antonio Ciacca and Friends Measure 8 pm • Eliane Amherd Trio with Hagar Ben Ari, Willard Dyson Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Tree People: Ed Rosenberg, David Crowell, Andrew Smiley; Signal Problems: Danny Gouker, Eric Trudel, Adam Hopkins, Nathan Ellman-Bell Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 8:30, 9:45 pm $10 • Kathryn Christie Trio Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Cecilia Colemen Big Band The Garage 7 pm

Tuesday, January 27 êChris Potter Undergound with Adam Rogers, John Escreet, Scott Colley, Fima Ephron, Steve Nelson, Nate Smith, Peter Sachon, Lois Martin, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Gato Barbieri Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 êVanguard Jazz Orchestra 49th Anniversary Celebration Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Jackie McLean Institute Student Ensemble Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Benny Benack III Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 • Lena Bloch/Russ Lossing Quartet with Cameron Brown, Billy Mintz NYC Baha’i Center 8, 9:30 pm $15 • Johnny O’Neal Trio with Luke Sellick, Charles Goold Minton’s 7, 8:30, 10 pm $10-20 êJacob Sacks, Masa Kamaguchi, Vinnie Sperrazza; Matt Mitchell/Ches Smith Korzo 9, 10:30 pm • Spike Wilner Trio; Josh Evans Big Band with Stacy Dillard, David Gibson, Bruce Williams, Theo Hill, Max Seigel, Stafford Hunter, Vitaly Golovnev, Frank Lacy, Yunie Mojica, Lauren Sevian; Kyle Poole and Friends Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 12:30 am $20 • Saul Rubin; Itai Kriss and Gato Gordo Fat Cat 7, 9 pm • Kevin McNeal Trio with Noriko Kayo, Tom Baker Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Abe Ovadia Quartet with Max Marshall, Michael Feinberg, Ari Hoenig Iridium 8, 10 pm $25 • The Heschel Project—Songs Of Wonder: Basya Schechter, Uri Sharlin, Megan Gould, Noah Hoffeld; Itzik Manger—Chumesh Lider: Basya Schechter, Uri Sharlin, Megan Gould, Noah Hoffeld, Rich Stein The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 • Daniel Levin/Juan Pablo Carletti; Sam Kulik Freddy’s Backroom 8:30, 10 pm $10 • Eva Novoa Ditmas Quartet with Michaël Attias, Max Johnson, Jeff Davis ShapeShifter Lab 8:15 pm $12 • Angelo Di Loreto solo Jazz at Kitano 8 pm • Andre Carvalho; Addison Frei Trio with Perrin Grace, Matt Young Somethin’ Jazz Club 7, 11 pm $12 • Nick Dunton Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Recessionals Jazz Band The Garage 7 pm • Benny Golson Festival: Antonio Ciacca and Friends Measure 8 pm • Trios by Zorn: Vicky Chow, Jennifer Choi, Michael Nicolas Miller Theater 6 pm • Ryo Tanaka Project Silvana 6 pm • Art Baron Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15

Thursday, January 29 êPharoah Sanders Quartet

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 êDuke, Dizzy, Trane and Mingus—Jazz Titans: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Rose Theater 8 pm $30-120 • Christian Scott with Matthew Stevens, Lawrence Fields, Kriss Funn, Jamire Williams Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 êJonathan Moritz Trio with Shayna Dulberger, Mike Pride; Yoni Kretzmer’s Double Bass Quartet with Reuben Radding, Sean Conly, Mike Pride Ibeam Brooklyn 8, 9 pm $15 • Sacha Perry Quintet; Duane Eubanks Quintet with Abraham Burton, Orrin Evans, Dezron Douglas, Eric McPherson; Nick Hempton Band with Tadataka Unno, Dave Baron, Dan Aran Smalls 6, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 êBill Saxton Quartet Fat Cat 10 pm • Intepretations: Conrad Harris/Pauline Kim; Bozzini Quartet Roulette 8 pm $20 • Rubens Salles Group with John Clark, Jeremy Viner, Leco Reis, Kenny Grotowski, Kavita Shah Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • Pharoah’s Daughter: Basya Schechter, Daphna Mor, Meg Okura, Uri Sharlin, Mathias Kunzli, Shanir Blumenkranz, Yuval Lion; The Darshan Project: Basya Schechter, Eden Perlstein, Tamer Pinarbasi, Shir Yaakov The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êAmanda Monaco Trio with Michael Bates, Joe Fiedler Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Sara Serpa with André Matos, Thomas Morgan, Tyshawn Sorey Greenwich House Music School 8 pm $15 • Frikative Quartet: Sarah Bernstein, Mat Maneri, Scott Tixier, Rubin Kodheli The Firehouse Space 8 pm $10 • Erika Matsuo Quintet with Helio Alves, Juancho Herrera, Dana Leong, Keita Ogawa Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • Gregory Generet Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 • Jon Blevins’ Matterhorn; The Wing Walker Music Orchestra ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15 pm $10 • Laura Angyal Somethin’ Jazz Club 9 pm $12 • Senri Oe Caroline Davis Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 • Flea Circus The Garage 7 pm êPete Malinverni Mezzrow 9 pm $20 êChris Potter Undergound with Adam Rogers, John Escreet, Scott Colley, Fima Ephron, Steve Nelson, Nate Smith, Peter Sachon, Lois Martin, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 êVanguard Jazz Orchestra 49th Anniversary Celebration Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Benny Golson Festival: Antonio Ciacca and Friends Measure 8 pm • Tammy Scheffer Silvana 6 pm

• Benny Benack III

Lena Bloch

“Feathery” available on CD Baby & Amazon

“Debuts are rarely this assured. The band is first-rate, as spontaneous and fresh as it could be, the leader has a clear vision, and the compelling music shines a light on a fresh side of the Lennie Tristano side of jazz.” - Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

Wednesday, January 28 êMostly Other People Do the Killing: Jon Irabagon, Ron Stabinsky, Moppa Elliott, Kevin Shea Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 • Jacques Schwarz-Bart’s Jazz Racine Haiti with Darren Barrett, Rozna Zila, Milan Milanović, Ben Williams, Ari Hoenig, Bonga Jean-Baptiste Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 • Benny Benack III Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 • Meg Okura; Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Jazz Chamber Ensemble with Brian Marsella, Sean Kupisz and guests Satoshi Takeishi, Sam Newsome The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 • MSM Jazz Orchestra with guest David Liebman Borden Auditorium 7:30 pm • Tony Moreno Quintet with Ron Horton, Marc Mommaas, Jean-Michel Pilc; Wayne Tucker Smalls 9:30 pm 12 am $20 • Raphael D’lugoff; Bruce Williams; Ned Goold Jam Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am êPete Malinverni Mezzrow 9 pm $20 • Simona Primazzi Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 • Marcus Goldhaber Quartet with Jon Davis, Gregory M. Jones, Willard Dyson Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 • Big Eyed Rabbit: Ross Martin, Max Johnson, Jeff Davis Barbès 8 pm $10 • Manhattan Vibes Terraza 7 8 pm $7 • Yuki Shibata with Paul Jones, Tomoko Omura, Yoshiki Yamada ShapeShifter Lab 8:15 pm $10 • Setsuko Kida/Mark Soskin Tomi Jazz 8 pm • Marc Devine Trio The Garage 7 pm • Joe Alterman Caffe Vivaldi 8:15 pm êChris Potter Undergound with Adam Rogers, John Escreet, Scott Colley, Fima Ephron, Steve Nelson, Nate Smith, Peter Sachon, Lois Martin, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 êVanguard Jazz Orchestra 49th Anniversary Celebration Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Benny Golson Festival: Antonio Ciacca and Friends Measure 8 pm • Mikhail Martin Trio Silvana 6 pm • Art Lillard’s Heavenly Big Band Saint Peter’s 1 pm $10

50 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

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Friday, January 30 • Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with guest Lionel Loueke Symphony Space Peter Jay Sharp Theatre 8 pm $20-30 êScott Robinson Quartet with Helen Sung, Martin Wind Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 êBill Charlap Trio with Peter Washington, Kenny Washington Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 êHarry Allen/Rossano Sportiello Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Ai Murakami with Sacha Perry, Tyler Mitchell; David Schnitter Quartet; Victor Gould Sextet with Ben Williams, Rodney Green, Myron Walden, Godwin Louis, Billy Buss Smalls 4, 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 • Michael Weiss Quartet Fat Cat 10:30 pm • Flowing Constancy: Jin Hi Kim, Oliver Lake, Samir Chatterjee Roulette 8 pm $20 • Emilio Teubal Ensemble BAMCafé 9 pm êIngrid Laubrock, Nate Wooley, Sam Pluta; Tony Malaby’s Adobe Trio with John Hébert, Billy Mintz; Thomas Borgmann, Ken Filiano, Reggie Nicholson Ibeam Brooklyn 8, 9, 10 pm $15 êPaul West/Richard Wyands Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 • Lucian Ban/Mat Maneri Barbès 8 pm $10 • Alan Palmer Quartet Somethin’ Jazz Club 9 pm $15 • Kaleidoscope: Freddie Bryant, Martin Jaffe, Willard Dyson Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Caroline Davis Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 • Mauricio Zottarelli with Itaiguara Brandão, Oriente Lopez, Alex Brown, Jorge Continentino; Rogério Boccato Quarteto with Nando Michelin, Dan Blake, Jay Anderson Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 • Andy Clausen’s Wishbone Project with Riley Mulherkar, Mitch Lyon, Jason Burger; Jarrett Cherner Trio with Jorge Roeder, Jason Burger; Song Yi Jeon with Kenji Herbert, Jaehun Kang, Dan Martinez, Joel E. Mateo, Mercedes Beckman ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm $10 • Alex Layane Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Rob Silverman Indian Road Café 8 pm êPharoah Sanders Quartet Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 • Benny Benack III Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 êDuke, Dizzy, Trane and Mingus—Jazz Titans: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Rose Theater 8 pm $30-120 • Christian Scott with Matthew Stevens, Lawrence Fields, Kriss Funn, Jamire Williams Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Jonathan Powell nu Sangha with Jeremy Powell, John Ellis, Luis Perdomo, Luques Curtis, Kenny Grohowski Blue Note 12:30 am $10 • Pharoah’s Daughter: Basya Schechter, Daphna Mor, Meg Okura, Uri Sharlin, Mathias Kunzli, Shanir Blumenkranz, Yuval Lion The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êChris Potter Undergound with Adam Rogers, John Escreet, Scott Colley, Fima Ephron, Steve Nelson, Nate Smith, Peter Sachon, Lois Martin, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 êVanguard Jazz Orchestra 49th Anniversary Celebration Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Benny Golson Festival: Antonio Ciacca and Friends Measure 8 pm • Joel Perry Trio The Garage 6 pm • Dana Reed Silvana 6 pm

RE G U L AR ENGAGE MENTS M O N D AY • Ron Affif Trio Zinc Bar 9, 11pm, 12:30, 2 am • Woody Allen/Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band Café Carlyle 8:45 pm $155 • Rick Bogart Trio Broadway Thai 6:30 pm (ALSO SUN) • Richard Clements and guests 11th Street Bar 8 pm • Emerging Artists Series Bar Next Door 6:30 pm (ALSO TUE-THU) • Joel Forrester solo Brandy Library 8 pm • Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks Iguana 8 pm (ALSO TUE) • Grove Street Stompers Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm • Jazz Foundation of American Jam Session Local 802 7 pm • Arthur Kell and Friends Bar Lunatico 8:30 pm • Renaud Penant Trio Analogue 7:30 pm • Earl Rose solo; Earl Rose Trio Bemelmans Bar 5:30, 9 pm • Stan Rubin All-Stars Charley O’s 8:30 pm • Smoke Jam Session Smoke 11:30 pm • Swingadelic Swing 46 8:30 pm • Vanguard Jazz Orchestra Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Diego Voglino Jam Session The Village Lantern 9:30 pm • Jordan Young Group Bflat 8 pm (ALSO WED 8:30 pm)

T U E S D AY • Daisuke Abe Trio Sprig 6 pm (ALSO WED-THU) • Rick Bogart Trio L’ybane 9:30 pm (ALSO FRI) • Orrin Evans Evolution Series Jam Session Zinc Bar 11 pm • Irving Fields Nino’s Tuscany 7 pm (ALSO WED-SUN) • George Gee Swing Orchestra Swing 46 8:30 pm $12 • Earl Rose; Chris Gillespie Bemelmans Bar 5:30, 9:30 pm (ALSO WED-SAT) • Loston Harris Café Carlyle 9:30 pm $20 (ALSO WED-SAT) • Art Hirahara Trio Arturo’s 8 pm • Yuichi Hirakawa Trio Arthur’s Tavern 7, 8:30 pm • Mike LeDonne Quartet; Emmet Cohen Band Smoke 7, 9, 10:30, 11:30 pm • Ilya Lushtak Quartet Shell’s Bistro 7:30 pm • Mona’s Hot Four Jam Session Mona’s 11 pm • Annie Ross The Metropolitan Room 9:30 pm $25 • Slavic Soul Party Barbès 9 pm $10 • Diego Voglino Jam Session The Fifth Estate 10 pm

W E D N E S D AY • Astoria Jazz Composers Workshop Waltz-Astoria 6 pm • Sedric Choukroun and the Eccentrics Chez Oskar 7 pm • Rob Duguay’s Low Key Trio Turnmill NYC 11 pm • Joel Forrester Manhattan Inn 7, 8 pm • Jeanne Gies with Howard Alden and Friends Joe G’s 6:30 pm • JC Hopkins Biggish Band Minton’s 7, 8:30, 10 pm • Hilary Kole Café Noctambulo at Pangea 7 pm $20 • Les Kurtz Trio; Joonsam Lee Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 7, 11:30 pm • Jonathan Kreisberg Trio Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 • Ron McClure solo piano McDonald’s 12 pm (ALSO SAT) • David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Centennial Band Birdland 5:30 pm $20 • Saul Rubin Vocalist Series Zeb’s 8 pm $10 • Stan Rubin Orchestra Swing 46 8:30 pm • Eve Silber Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm • Camille Thurman Quartet Smoke 11:30 pm • Reggie Woods with Greg Lewis Organ Monk Sapphire NYC 8 pm • Bill Wurtzel/Mike Gari American Folk Art Museum Lincoln Square 2 pm

Saturday, January 31 êMonk in Motion—The Next Face of Jazz: Marquis Hill Group with Christopher McBride, Justin Thomas, Joshua Ramos, Makaya McCraven Tribeca Performing Arts Center 7:30 pm $25 • Jon Irabagon Trio with Yasushi Nakamura, Rudy Royston Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12 • Mike DiRubbo Quartet with Anthony Wonsey, Ugonna Okegwo, Rudy Royston Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $30 êTivon Pennicott and Sound Quartet with Mike Battaglia, Spencer Murphy, Kenneth Salters Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $10 • Ed Stoute Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $20 êAnna Webber Quartet with Jonathan Goldberger, Michael Bates, Jeff Davis; Thomas Borgmann Trio with Max Johnson, Willi Kellers, Ras Moshe Trio with Shayna Dulberger, Andrew Drury Ibeam Brooklyn 8, 9, 10 pm $15 • Billy Newman Sextet with Michaël Attias, Ben Holmes, Eric Schugren, Leco Reis, Vanderlei Pereira; Sanfonya Brasileira: Vitor Gonçalves, Eduardo Belo, Vanderlei Pereira Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 • Shubh Saran Presentation with Max McKellar, Brian Plautz, Rohith Jayaraman, Arthur Kam; Amos Ang; Aquiles Navarro Duo ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm $8-10 • Yuko Ito Trio; Yusuke Seki Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 • Art Lillard Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm • Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with guest Lionel Loueke Symphony Space Peter Jay Sharp Theatre 8 pm $20-30 êBill Charlap Trio with Peter Washington, Kenny Washington Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 êHarry Allen/Rossano Sportiello Mezzrow 8:30 pm $20 • Victor Gould Sextet with Ben Williams, Rodney Green, Myron Walden, Godwin Louis, Billy Buss Smalls 10:30 pm $20 êPaul West/Richard Wyands Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9:45 pm $5 êPharoah Sanders Quartet Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 • Benny Benack III Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $20 êDuke, Dizzy, Trane and Mingus—Jazz Titans: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Rose Theater 8 pm $30-120 • Christian Scott with Matthew Stevens, Lawrence Fields, Kriss Funn, Jamire Williams Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35 • Pharoah’s Daughter: Basya Schechter, Daphna Mor, Meg Okura, Uri Sharlin, Mathias Kunzli, Shanir Blumenkranz, Yuval Lion The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 êChris Potter Undergound with Adam Rogers, John Escreet, Scott Colley, Fima Ephron, Steve Nelson, Nate Smith, Peter Sachon, Lois Martin, Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 êVanguard Jazz Orchestra 49th Anniversary Celebration Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 • Benny Golson Festival: Antonio Ciacca and Friends Measure 8 pm • Uri Sharlin’s Dog Cat Barbès 6 pm $10 • Craig Yaremko Organ Trio Silvana 6 pm • Liberty Big Band Shrine 6 pm • Gaia Petrelli Wilmer with Milena Jancuric, Songyi Jeon, Gustavo D Amico, Jacob Matheus, Vitor Gonçalves, Arionas Gyftakis, Noam Israeli Somethin’ Jazz Club 5 pm $12 • Jerry Costanzo and Trio; Alex Layne Trio; King Solomon Hicks Trio The Garage 12, 6, 10:30 pm

T H U R S D AY • Sedric Choukroun Brasserie Jullien 7:30 pm (ALSO FRI, SAT) • Richard Clements Piano Workshop University of the Streets 5 pm • Craig Harris and the Harlem Night Songs Big Band MIST 9, 10:30 pm $15 • Jazz Jam Session American Legion Post 7:30 pm • Kazu Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 11:30 pm • Lapis Luna Quintet The Plaza Hotel Rose Club 8:30 pm • Curtis Lundy Jam Session Shell’s Bistro 9 pm • Renaud Penant Trio Cadaqués 7:30 pm • Sol Yaged Grata 8 pm • Eri Yamamoto Trio Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm (ALSO FRI-SAT)

F R I D AY • Scot Albertson Parnell’s 8 pm (ALSO SAT) • Gene Bertoncini Ryan’s Daughter 8 pm • The Crooked Trio: Oscar Noriega, Brian Drye, Ari Folman-Cohen Barbès 5 pm • Day One Trio Prime and Beyond Restaurant 9 pm (ALSO SAT) • Gerry Eastman Quartet Williamsburg Music Center 10 pm • Finkel/Kasuga/Tanaka/Solow San Martin Restaurant 12 pm $10 • Patience Higgins & The Sugar Hill Quartet Smoke 11:45 pm • Tommy Igoe Birdland Big Band Birdland 5:15 pm $25 • Sandy Jordan and Friends ABC Chinese Restaurant 8 pm • Bernard Linnette Jam Session University of the Streets 11:30 pm • The Minton’s Players; Wayne Tucker Quartet Minton’s 6 pm 12 am • Frank Owens Open Mic Pearl Studios 7:30 pm $10 • Renaud Penant Quartet Cadaqués 8:30 pm • Richard Russo Quartet Capital Grille 6:30 pm • Bill Saxton and the Harlem Bebop Band Bill’s Place 9, 11 pm $15 (ALSO SAT) • Joanna Sternberg Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 12:30 am

S AT U R D AY • Rob Anderson Jam Session University of the Streets 10 pm • Avalon Jazz Quartet Matisse 8 pm • The Candy Shop Boys Duane Park 8, 10:30 pm • Curtis Lundy Trio with guests Shell’s Bistro 9 pm • The Minton’s Players; Jam Session Minton’s 6 pm 12 am • Jonathan Moritz/Chris Welcome/Shayna Dulberger The Graham 1 pm • Johnny O’Neal and Friends Smoke 11:45 pm • Skye Jazz Trio Jack 8:30 pm

S U N D AY • Avalon Jazz Quartet The Lambs Club 11 am • John Benitez Jam Session Terraza 7 9:30 pm • The Candy Shop Boys The Rum House 9:30 pm • Creole Cooking Jazz Band; Stew Cutler and Friends Arthur’s Tavern 7, 10 pm • Isaac Darch Group Basik Bar 7 pm • Ear Regulars with Jon-Erik Kellso The Ear Inn 8 pm • Marjorie Eliot/Rudell Drears/Sedric Choukroun Parlor Entertainment 4 pm • Joel Forrester solo Grace Gospel Church 11 am • Broc Hempel/Sam Trapchak/Christian Coleman Trio Dominie’s Astoria 9 pm • Bob Kindred Group; Junior Mance Trio Café Loup 12:30, 6:30 pm • Peter Mazza Trio Bar Next Door 8, 10 pm $12 • Tony Middleton Trio Jazz at Kitano 11:30 am $35 • Jane Monheit’s Jazz Party Birdland 6 pm $30 • Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Birdland 9, 11 pm $30 • Artemisz Polonyi and Trio Indigo BarSix Restaurant 8 pm • Earl Rose solo; Tony DeSare Bemelmans Bar 5:30, 9 pm • Lu Reid Jam Session Shrine 4 pm • Annette St. John; Wilerm Delisfort Quartet Smoke 11:30 am 11:45 pm • Ryo Sasaki Trio Analogue 7 pm • Milton Suggs Cávo 7 pm

52 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

CLUB DIRECTORY • 5C Café 68 Avenue C (212-477-5993) Subway: F, V to Second Avenue www.5ccc.com • 11th Street Bar 510 E. 11th Street (212-982-3929) Subway: L to 1st Avenue www.11thstbar.com • 55Bar 55 Christopher Street (212-929-9883) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.55bar.com • ABC Chinese Restaurant 34 Pell Street (212-346-9890) Subway: J to Chambers Street • ABC No-Rio 156 Rivington Street (212-254-3697) Subway: J,M,Z to Delancey Street www.abcnorio.org • Abyssinian Baptist Church 132 Odell Clark Place/W. 138th Street (212-862-5959) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street www.abyssinian.org • American Folk Art Museum 45 W 53rd Street (212-265-1040) Subway: E to 53rd Street www.folkartmuseum.org • American Legion Post 248 West 132nd Street (212-283-9701) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street www.legion.org • An Beal Bocht Café 445 W. 238th Street Subway: 1 to 238th Street www.LindasJazzNights.com • Analogue 19 West 8th Street (212-432-0200) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.analoguenyc.com • Antibes Bistro 112 Suffolk Street (212-533-6088) Subway: J, Z to Essex Street www.antibesbistro.com • The Appel Room Broadway at 60th Street, 5th floor (212-258-9800) Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.jalc.org • Arthur’s Tavern 57 Grove Street (212-675-6879) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.arthurstavernnyc.com • Arturo’s 106 W. Houston Street (at Thompson Street) (212-677-3820) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street • BAMCafé 30 Lafayette Ave at Ashland Pl, Fort Greene, Brooklyn (718-636-4139) Subway: M, N, R, W to Pacific Street; Q, 1, 2, 4, 5 to Atlantic Avenue www.bam.org • B.B. King’s Blues Bar 237 W. 42nd Street (212-997-2144) Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7 to 42nd Street/Times Square www.bbkingblues.com • Bflat 277 Church Street (between Franklin and White Streets) Subway: 1, 2 to Franklin Streets • Bar Chord 1008 Cortelyou Road (347-240-6033) Subway: Q to Cortelyou Road www.barchordnyc.com • Bar Lunatico 486 Halsey Street (917-495-9473) Subway: C to Kingston-Throop Avenues • Bar Next Door 129 MacDougal Street (212-529-5945) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.lalanternacaffe.com • BarSix Restaurant 502 Sixth Avenue (212-691-1363) Subway: 1, 2, 3, F, M to 14th Street www.barsixny.com • Barbès 376 9th Street at 6th Avenue, Brooklyn (718-965-9177) Subway: F to 7th Avenue www.barbesbrooklyn.com • Bemelmans Bar 35 E. 76th Street (212-744-1600) Subway: 6 to 77th Street www.thecarlyle.com • Bier International 2099 Frederick Douglass Boulevard (212-280-0944) Subway: B, C to 110th Street www.bierinternational.com • Bill’s Place 148 W. 133rd Street (between Lenox and 7th Avenues) (212-281-0777) Subway: 2, 3 to 125th Street • Birdland 315 W. 44th Street (212-581-3080) Subway: A, C, E, to 42nd Street www.birdlandjazz.com • The Bitter End 147 Bleecker Street between Thompson and LaGuardia Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th Street • Blue Note 131 W. 3rd Street at 6th Avenue (212-475-8592) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.bluenotejazz.com • Borden Auditorium Broadway and 122nd Street (212-749-2802 ext. 4428) Subway: 1 to 116th Street www.msmnyc.edu • Bowery Electric 327 Bowery (212-228-0228) Subway: 6 to Bleecker Street www.theboweryelectric.com • Branded Saloon 603 Vanderbilt Avenue (between St. Marks Avenue and Bergen Street) Subway: 2, 3 to Bergen Street www.brandedsaloon.com • Brandy Library 25 N. Moore Street (212-226-5545) Subway: 1 to Franklin Street • Broadway Thai 241 West 51st Street (212-226-4565) Subway: 1, C, E to 50th Street www.tomandtoon.com • Brooklyn Conservatory of Music 58 Seventh Avenue Subway: F to Seventh Avenue, N, R to Union Street www.bqcm.org • Cadaqués 188 Grand Street, Brooklyn (718-218-7776) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue www.cadaquesny.com • Café Carlyle 35 E. 76th Street (212-744-1600) Subway: 6 to 77th Street www.thecarlyle.com • Café du Soleil 2723 Broadway at 104 Streets (212-316-5000) Subway: 1 to 103rd Street • Café Loup 105 W. 13th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues (212-255-4746) Subway: F to 14th Street www.cafeloupnyc.com • Café Noctambulo at Pangea 178 Second Avenue (212-995-0900) Subway: L to First Avenue www.pangeanyc.com • Caffe Vivaldi 32 Jones Street between Bleecker and W. 4th Streets Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, Q, V to W. 4th Street-Washington Square www.caffevivaldi.com • Capital Grille 120 Broadway (212-374-1811) Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Wall Street www.thecapitalgrille.com • Carroll Place 157 Bleecker Street (212-260-1700) Subway: Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.carrollplacenyc.com • Cávo 42-18 31st Avenue, Astoria (718-721-1001) Subway: M, R, to Steinway Street www.cavoastoria.com • Charley O’s 1611 Broadway at 49th Street (212-246-1960) Subway: N, R, W to 49th Street • Chez Lola 387 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn (718-858-1484) Subway: C to Clinton-Washington Avenues www.bistrolola.com • Chez Oskar 211 Dekalb Ave, Brooklyn (718-852-6250) Subway: C to Lafayette Avenue www.chezoskar.com • City Winery 155 Varick Street (212-608-0555) Subway: 1 to Houston Street www.citywinery.com • Cleopatra’s Needle 2485 Broadway (212-769-6969) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 96th Street www.cleopatrasneedleny.com • Cornelia Street Café 29 Cornelia Street (212-989-9319) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.corneliastreetcafé.com • David Rubenstein Atrium Broadway at 60th Street (212-258-9800) Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.new.lincolncenter.org/live/index.php/atrium • Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 65 Fenimore Street Subway: Q to Parkside Avenue www.facebook.com/65fenmusicseries • Dizzy’s Club Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor (212-258-9800) Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.jalc.org • Dominie’s Astoria 34-07 30th Avenue Subway: N, Q to 30th Avenue • Downtown Music Gallery 13 Monroe Street (212-473-0043) Subway: F to East Broadway www.downtownmusicgallery.com • The Drawing Room 56 Willoughby Street #3 (917-648-1847) Subway: A, C, F to Jay Street/Metrotech www.drawingroommusic.com • Drom 85 Avenue A (212-777-1157) Subway: F to Second Avenue www.dromnyc.com

• The Ear Inn 326 Spring Street at Greenwich Street (212-246-5074) Subway: C, E to Spring Street www.earinn.com • Fat Cat 75 Christopher Street at 7th Avenue (212-675-6056) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street/Sheridan Square www.fatcatmusic.org • The Fifth Estate 506 5th Avenue, Brooklyn (718-840-0089) Subway: F to 4th Avenue www.fifthestatebar.com • The Firehouse Space 246 Frost Street Subway: L to Graham Avenue www.thefirehousespace.org • The Flatiron Room 37 West 26th Street (212-725-3860) Subway: N, R to 28th Street www.theflatironroom.com • Flushing Town Hall 137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing (718-463-7700) Subway: 7 to Main Street www.flushingtownhall.org • Freddy’s Backroom 627 5th Avenue, Brooklyn (718-768-0131) Subway: R to Prospect Avenue www.freddysbar.com/events • The Garage 99 Seventh Avenue South (212-645-0600) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.garagerest.com • Ginny’s Supper Club at Red Rooster Harlem 310 Malcolm X Boulevard (212-792-9001) Subway: 2, 3 to 125th Street www.ginnyssupperclub.com • Grace Gospel Church 589 E. 164th Street (718-328-0166) Subway: 2, 5 to Prospect Avenue • The Graham 190 Graham Ave (718-388-4682) Subway: L to Montrose Avenue www.thegrahambrooklyn.com • Grata 1076 1st Avenue (212-842-0007) Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to 59th Street www.gratanyc.com • Greenwich House Music School 46 Barrow Street (212-242-4770) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.greenwichhouse.org • Ibeam Brooklyn 168 7th Street between Second and Third Avenues Subway: F to 4th Avenue www.ibeambrooklyn.com • Iguana 240 West 54th Street (212-765-5454) Subway: B, D, E, N, Q, R to Seventh Avenue www.iguananyc.com • Indian Road Café 600 West 218th Street @ Indian Road (212-942-7451) Subway: 1 to 215th Street www.indianroadcafe.com • Iridium 1650 Broadway at 51st Street (212-582-2121) Subway: 1,2 to 50th Street www.theiridium.com • Issue Project Room 22 Boerum Place (718-330-0313) Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall www.issueprojectroom.org • JACK 505 Waverly Avenue (718-388-2251) Subway: C to Clinton-Washington Avenue www.jackny.org • Jack 80 University Place Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, R to 14th Street • Jalopy 315 Columbia Street, Brooklyn (718-395-3214) Subway: F to Smith Street www.jalopy.biz • Jazz at Kitano 66 Park Avenue at 38th Street (212-885-7000) Subway: 4, 5, 6, 7, S to Grand Central www.kitano.com • The Jazz Gallery 1160 Broadway, 5th floor (212-242-1063) Subway: N, R to 28th Street www.jazzgallery.org • JazzHaus in Le Parker Meridien 119 West 56th Street (212-245-4535) Subway: F, N, Q, R to 57th Street www.klavierhaus.com/jazzhaus • Jazz Standard 116 E. 27th between Park and Lexington Avenue (212-576-2232) Subway: 6 to 28th Street www.jazzstandard.net • Joe G’s 244 W. 56th Street (212-765-3160) Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle • Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater 425 Lafayette Street (212-539-8770) Subway: N, R to 8th Street-NYU; 6 to Astor Place www.joespub.com • Judson Church 55 Washington Square South Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th Street • Juilliard School Peter Jay Sharp Theater 155 W. 65th Street (212-769-7406) Subway: 1 to 66th Street www.juilliard.edu • Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 33 University Place (212-228-8490) Subway: N, R to 8th Street-NYU www.knickerbockerbarandgrill.com • Korzo 667 5th Avenue (between 19th and 20th streets), Brooklyn (718-285-9425) Subway: R to Prospect Avenue www.konceptionsmusicseries.wordpress.com • The Lambs Club 132 W. 44th Street 212-997-5262 Subway: A, C, E, to 42nd Street www.thelambsclub.com • Le Cirque Café One Beacon Court, 151 East 58th Street (212-644-0202) Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.lecirque.com • Le Poisson Rouge 158 Bleecker Street (212-228-4854) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th Street www.lepoissonrouge.com • Littlefield 622 Degraw Street (718-855-3388) Subway: M, R to Union Street www.littlefieldnyc.com • Local 802 322 W. 48th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues (212-245-4802) Subway: C to 50th Street www.jazzfoundation.org • L’ybane 709 8th Avenue (212-582-2012) Subway: A, C, E to 42nd Street-Port Authority www.lybane.com • McDonald’s 160 Broadway between Maiden Lane and Liberty Street (212-385-2063) Subway: 4, 5 to Fulton Street www.mcdonalds.com • Manhattan Inn 632 Manhattan Avenue (718-383-0885) Subway: G to Nassau Avenue www.themanhattaninn.com • Matisse 924 Second Avenue (212-546-9300) Subway: 6 to 51st Street www.matissenyc.com • Measure 400 Fifth Avenue (212-695-4005) Subway: B, D, F, M to 34th Street www.langhamplacehotels.com • Meridian 23 161 West 23rd Street (212-645-0649) Subway: 1 to 23rd Street www.meridian23.com • Metropolitan Room 34 W. 22nd Street (212-206-0440) Subway: N, R to 23rd Street www.metropolitanroom.com • Mezzrow 163 W. 10th Street Subway: 1,2,3 to 14th Street www.mezzrow.com • Miller Theater 2960 Broadway and 116th Street (212-854-7799) Subway: 1 to 116th Street-Columbia University www.millertheater.com • Minetta Lane Theatre 18-22 Minetta Lane (212-420-8214) Subway: Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.newyorkcitytheatre.com • Minton’s 206 West 118th Street (212-243-2222) Subway: B, C to 116th Street www.mintonsharlem.com • MIST Harlem 40 West 116th Street Subway: 2, 3 to 116th Street • Mona’s 224 Avenue B Subway: L to First Avenue • Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church 15 Mount Morris Park West (212-831-6800) Subway: 2, 3 to 125 Street • NYC Baha’i Center 53 E. 11th Street (212-222-5159) Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, R to 14th Street-Union Square www.bahainyc.org • Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village 269 Bleecker Street (212-691-1770) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th Street • Nino’s Tuscany 117 W. 58th Street (212-757-8630) Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.ninostuscany.com • North Square Lounge 103 Waverly Place (212-254-1200) Subway: A, B, C, E, F to West 4th Street www.northsquareny.com • Nublu 62 Avenue C between 4th and 5th Streets (212-979-9925) Subway: F, V to Second Avenue www.nublu.net • Nuyorican Poets Café 236 E. 3rd Street between Avenues B and C (212-505-8183) Subway: F, V to Second Avenue www.nuyorican.org www.parkavenuechristian.com • Parlor Entertainment 555 Edgecombe Ave. #3F (212-781-6595) Subway: C to 155th Street www.parlorentertainment.com

• Parnell’s 350 East 53rd Street #1(212-753-1761) Subway: E, M to Lexington Avenue/53 Street www.parnellsny.com • Pearl Studios 500 8th Avenue (212-904-1850) Subway: A, C, E to 34th Street www.pearlstudiosnyc.com • The Players Theatre 115 MacDougal Street Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th Street • The Plaza Hotel Rose Club Fifth Avenue at Central Park South (212-759-3000) Subway: N, Q, R to Fifth Avenue www.fairmont.com • Prime and Beyond Restaurant 90 East 10th Street (212-505-0033) Subway: 6 to Astor Place www.primeandbeyond.com • Prospect Range 1226 Prospect Avenue Subway: F to Fort Hamilton Parkway www.prospectrange.com • The Quaker’s Friends Meeting House 15 Rutherford Place (15th Street between Second and Third Avenues) Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, R, L to 14th Street/Union Square • Radegast Hall 113 North 3rd Street (718-963-3973) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue www.radegasthall.com • Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 59 W. 137th Street #61 (212-283-2928) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street • Rockwood Music Hall 196 Allen Street (212-477-4155) Subway: F, V to Second Avenue www.rockwoodmusichall.com • Rose Theater Broadway at 60th Street, 5th floor (212-258-9800) Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.jalc.org • Roulette 509 Atlantic Avenue (212-219-8242) Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Avenue www.roulette.org • The Rum House 228 W. 47th Street (646-490-6924) Subway: N, Q, R to 49th Street www.edisonrumhouse.com • Russ & Daughters Café 127 Orchard Street 127 Orchard Street (212-475-4881) Subway: F to Delancey Street www.russanddaughterscafe.com • Ryan’s Daughter 350 E 85th Street (212-628-2613) Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street www.ryansdaughternyc.com • Saint Peter’s Church 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street (212-935-2200) Subway: 6 to 51st Street www.saintpeters.org • San Martin Restaurant 143 E. 49 Street between Lexington and Park Avenues (212-832-0888) Subway: 6 to 51st Street • Sapphire NYC 333 E. 60th Street (212-421-3600) Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to 59th Street www.nysapphire.com • The Schomburg Center 515 Macolm X Boulevard (212-491-2200) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street www.nypl.org/locations/schomburg • SEEDS 617 Vanderbilt Avenue Subway: 2, 3, 4 to Grand Army Plaza www.seedsbrooklyn.org • ShapeShifter Lab 18 Whitwell Place (646-820-9452) Subway: R to Union Street www.shapeshifterlab.com • The Shed Space 366 6th Street, Brooklyn Subway: R to Ninth Street • Shell’s Bistro 2150 5th Avenue (212) 234-5600 Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street www.shellsbistro.com • Showman’s 375 W. 125th Street at Morningside) (212-864-8941) Subway: A, B, C, D to 125th Street www.showmansjazz.webs.com • Shrine 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard (212-690-7807) Subway: B, 2, 3 to 135th Street www.shrinenyc.com • Silvana 300 West 116th Street (646-692-4935) Subway: B, C, to 116th Street • Sistas’ Place 456 Nostrand Avenue at Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn (718-398-1766) Subway: A to Nostrand Avenue www.sistasplace.org • Smalls 183 W 10th Street at Seventh Avenue (212-252-5091) Subway: 1,2,3 to 14th Street www.smallsjazzclub.com • Smoke 2751 Broadway between 105th and 106th Streets (212-864-6662) Subway: 1 to 103rd Street www.smokejazz.com • Somethin’ Jazz Club 212 E. 52nd Street, 3rd floor (212-371-7657) Subway: E to Lexington Avenue-53rd Street www.somethinjazz.com/ny • Spectrum 121 Ludlow Street, 2nd floor Subway: F to Delancey Street www.spectrumnyc.com • Spoke the Hub 295 Douglass Street (between 3rd and 4th Avenues), Brooklyn Subway: R to Union Street • Stephen Wise Free Synagogue 30 W. 68th Street (212-877-4050) Subway: 1 to 66th Street www.swfs.org • Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall 881 Seventh Avenue (212-247-7800) Subway: N, Q, R, W to 57th- Seventh Avenue www.carnegiehall.org • The Stone Avenue C and 2nd Street Subway: F to Second Avenue www.thestonenyc.com • Strand Bistro 33 West 37th Street (212-584-4000) Subway: 7, B, D, F, M to 42nd Street-Bryant Park www.thestrandbistro.com • SubCulture 45 Bleecker Street (212-533-5470) Subway: 6 to Bleecker Street www.subculturenewyork.com • Subrosa 63 Gansevoort Street (212-997-4555) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street; L to Eighth Avenue www.subrosanyc.com • Swing 46 349 W. 46th Street (646-322-4051) Subway: A, C, E to 42nd Street www.swing46.com • Tagine 537 9th Ave. between 39th and 40th Streets (212-564-7292) Subway: A, C, E, 1, 2, N, R, 7 to 42nd Street • Terraza 7 40-19 Gleane Street (718-803-9602) Subway: 7 to 82nd Street/Jackson Heights www.terrazacafe.com • Tomi Jazz 239 E. 53rd Street (646-497-1254) Subway: 6 to 51st Street www.tomijazz.com • Town Hall 123 W. 43rd Street (212-997-1003) Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7 to 42nd Street-Times Square www.the-townhall-nyc.org • Trash Bar 256 Grand Sreet. between Driggs and Roebling (718-599-1000) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue www.thetrashbar.com • Tribeca Performing Arts Center 199 Chambers Street (212-220-1460) Subway: A, 1, 2, 3 to Chambers Street www.tribecapac.org • Turnmill NYC 119 East 27th Street (646-524-6060) Subway: 6 to 27th Street www.turnmillnyc.com • University of the Streets 130 East 7th Street (212-254-9300) Subway: 6 to Astor Place www.universityofthestreets.org • The Village Lantern 167 Bleecker Street (212-260-7993) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street • Village Vanguard 178 Seventh Avenue South at 11th Street (212-255-4037) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street www.villagevanguard.com • Walker’s 16 North Moore Street (212-941-0142) Subway: A, C, E to Canal Street • Waltz-Astoria 23-14 Ditmars Boulevard (718-95-MUSIC) Subway: N, R to Ditmars Blvd-Astoria www.Waltz-Astoria.com • Weill Recital Hall (at Carnegie Hall) 154 W. 57th Street at Seventh Avenue (212-247-7800) Subway: N, R to 57th Street www.carnegiehall.org • WhyNot Bistro 14 Christopher Street (646-756-4145) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.whynotjazzroom.com • Zeb’s 223 W. 28th Street 212-695-8081 Subway: 1 to 28th Street www.zebulonsoundandlight.com • Zinc Bar 82 W. 3rd Street (212-477-8337) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.zincbar.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2015

(INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)

(LABEL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11)

From that time to 1999, that’s all I was doing. It was all about the music. We rehearsed a lot, trying to make everything perfect. The horns would do all the bends together. Every week we would bring in something new and fix a section here and there. It was very meticulous work and we were all available. That’s how I learned to compose and how my style developed.

Christopher vice-president.” Smith joined the organization full time in July of 2013 after “helping Smoke out with writing and graphic design for the last 10 years.” He continues, “The team is filled out by engineering support, public relations and radio promotion primarily. They are as important or more important as our distribution network.” As far as distribution is concerned, the label is distributed in the United States by Allegro with local distribution in different European countries and in Japan and is now working on setting up distribution in South Africa. Slated for 2015 are releases by trumpeter Eddie Henderson’s quintet, Turre’s quintet, Mabern’s sextet, Herring’s quintet, Evans’ trio, Davis’ sextet, the allstar quartet of saxophonist Gary Bartz, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Al Foster and two other CDs to be announced, all reflecting the finequality jazz Smoke has been presenting on its schedule since opening its doors over 15 years ago. v

TNYCJR: Did you write the music on piano? OA: I had a small Casio. I didn’t have a piano until 1999. My wife finally told me I had to get a piano (laughs). TNYCJR: Let’s talk about the new album. What’s the idea behind this new music? OA: I had been playing in a quintet with mostly these people since 2006 [trumpeter Avishai Cohen; tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm; pianist Yonathan Avishai; drummer Daniel Freedman]. We started touring mostly in Italy. From 2001-2005 I returned to Israel to get my BA in Classical Composition. I wrote a lot of music during this time, a bass concerto. I was also studying Arabic folk music. I wanted to touch base with my roots. New Song has that sound. It’s a specific sound that is a genre within my music; it’s hard to explain. That vibe where it’s... TNYCJR: ...very melismatic melodies. OA: Yeah. It’s in between. People reacted really well to it. The record was made in Paris. We had people from Tunisia and Syria come to the shows. They were able to get the music on a few levels. For them these rhythms are their folk music, everything that’s important to them and their tradition. They are also into jazz, so the music touches them in a very special way. I’m essentially writing for myself too because I’m from a similar background. TNYCJR: I was struck by the simplicity of the melody and harmony in the tunes. You guys are all capable of playing very complicated music. That’s my favorite thing about this album. It’s not just cerebral jazz. It sounds like a dance party. OA: I like melodic music. I like Duke. I see no reason in using overly complicated rhythms or melodies. It’s fine if you want to do it but I don’t think it’s a step ahead. It’s the feeling of it that matters. I kind of just went for it. TNYCJR: What’s the next thing you want to get to?

For more information, visit smokesessionsrecords.com. Artists performing this month include Harold Mabern at Smoke Jan. 1st, The Quaker’s Friends Meeting House Jan. 8th as part of Winter Jazzfest and Fat Cat Jan. 14th; Vincent Herring at Smoke Jan. 1st with Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern; Jimmy Cobb at The Quaker’s Friends Meeting House Jan. 8th as part of Winter Jazzfest and Smoke Jan. 23rd-25th; Orrin Evans at Le Poisson Rouge Jan. 10th with David Murray as part of Winter Jazzfest, Smoke Jan. 11th and Mondays, Mezzrow Jan. 16th-17th and Smalls Jan. 29th with Duane Eubanks; David Hazeltine at Saint Peter’s Jan. 14th; and Cyrus Chestnut at Jazz Standard Jan. 22nd-25th. See Calendar.

Satoko Fujii on Libra Records “Pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura’s output is astonishing in scope and diversity.” — Marc Medwin The New York City Jazz Record

Satoko Fujii New Trio Spring Storm (203-034) “Fujii continues to explore the connections between composition and improvisation with enthralling melodies that make room for rounds of wild abandon.” –DownBeat Satoko Fujii - piano Todd Nicholson - bass Takashi Itani - drums

Gato Libre DuDu (104-035)

OA: I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied, but more than I’ve ever been. I’m very happy just mellowing and having a band. My goals are very simple: I want a steady unit of people that like to play my music that I can pay well; I would like some of my old records to be released; and would also like to have all my music in a book so people can listen to all of it and see it. I want to educate in the original sense of the word. I would love to hear my concert pieces played too, my bass concerto. I just want to play music. v

Satoko Fujii Orchestra NY Shiki (215-036)

For more information, visit omeravital.com. Avital is at Jazz Standard Jan. 13th-14th. See Calendar.

“Another grand gem!... tight, focused and powerful.” – Downtown Music Gallery

Recommended Listening: • Omer Avital—Asking No Permission (Smalls, 1996) • Jason Lindner—Ab Aeterno: Since the Beginning of Time (Fresh Sound-World Jazz, 2004) • Anat Cohen—Notes From The Village (Anzic, 2008) • Avishai Cohen—Triveni II (Anzic, 2009) • Omer Avital—Live at Smalls (smallsLIVE, 2010) • Omer Avital—New Song (Motéma Music, 2013)

54 JANUARY 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

The musicians “play with both great restraint and total abandon in equally large measures.” — Something Else Reviews Natsuki Tamura - trumpet Yasuko Kaneko - trombone Kazuhiko Tsumura - guitar Satoko Fujii – accordion

Oscar Noriega, Briggan Klauss – as, Tony Malaby, Ellery Eskelin – ts, Andy Laster – bs, Herb Robertson, Steven Bernstein, Natsuki Tamura, Dave Ballou– tp, Joey Sellers, Curtis Hasselbring, Joe Fiedler – tb, Satoko Fujii – p, Tsutomu Takeishi – b, Aaron Alexander – dr

librarecords.com

omer avital ed palermo renÃ© urtreger michael brecker - The New York ... - M.MOAM.INFO (2025)