FEBRUARY 2020—ISSUE 214

YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENEMINGUSLARGEENSEMBLEISSUE

BIG BANDmingusamongus

jason
marsalismihohazamaNYCJAZZRECORD.COM

greg
tate

jimmielunceford

Managing Editor:
Laurence Donohue-Greene
Editorial Director &Production Manager:
Andrey Henkin
To Contact:
The New York City Jazz Record
66 Mt. Airy Road East
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520
United States
Phone/Fax: 212-568-9628

FEBRUARY 2020—ISSUE 214
New York@Night

Laurence Donohue-Greene:ldgreene@nycjazzrecord.com

Interview : jason marsalis

Andrey Henkin:ahenkin@nycjazzrecord.com

Artist Feature : miho hazama

General Inquiries:
info@nycjazzrecord.com
Advertising:advertising@nycjazzrecord.com
Calendar:calendar@nycjazzrecord.com
VOXNews:
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On The Cover : mingus big band
Encore : greg tate
Lest We Forget : jimmie Lunceford
LAbel Spotlight : new amsterdam
VOXNEWS

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obituaries
album Reviews

Staff Writers
Duck Baker, Stuart Broomer,
Robert Bush, Kevin Canfield,
Marco Cangiano, Thomas Conrad,
Pierre Crépon, Ken Dryden,
Donald Elfman, Phil Freeman,
Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland,
George Grella, Tyran Grillo,Alex Henderson, Robert Iannapollo,
Mark Keresman, Marilyn Lester,
Suzanne Lorge, Marc Medwin,
Jim Motavalli, Russ Musto,
John Pietaro, Joel Roberts,
John Sharpe, Elliott Simon,
Anna Steegmann, Scott Yanow
Contributing Writers
Michael Cobb, George Kanzler, Steven Loewy,
Franz Matzner, Kyle Oleksiuk, Eric Wendell
Contributing Photographers
Jonathan Chimene, Scott Friedlander,
Adrien H. Tillmann, Alan Nahigian,J. Sandecki, Shitomichi,
Robert I. Sutherland-Cohen
Fact-checker
Nate Dorward

nycjazzrecord.com

Miscellany
festival report
Event Calendar

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by kyle oleksiukby michael cobb
by jim motavalli
by alex henderson
by george kanzler
by kurt gottschalkby suzanne lorge
by andrey henkin

Bigger is not always better. No one needs a 72-ounce soda or stretch limo. But when it comesto jazz, there is nothing like a large ensemble. The impact of big bands has been a part of jazzhistory since almost the beginning and the flavors are as varied as the personalities of thoseleading the charge: big bands can swing, or not; they can be made up of traditional sections orbold new tonal combinations; they can play intricate charts or improvise in real time like apulsing, living organism. And since jazz is always in a recession, no one told today’s pioneering
big band/large ensemble leaders that they cannot do what they do so well.
In our first ever “Large Ensemble Issue”, we cover the gamut of possibilities, from the Mingus
Big Band (On The Cover), in residence at Jazz Standard; Lionel Hampton Orchestra featuring
Jason Marsalis (Interview), appearing at Birdland; Miho Hazama’s m_unit (Artist Feature),
playing Jazz Standard; Greg Tate’s Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber (Encore), performing
a live score to Shaft at the Apollo Theater; big band legend Jimmie Lunceford (Lest We Forget);and a special front-loaded CD Review section (pgs. 14-19) of big bands and large ensembles
from around the world and of all stripes.
On The Cover: Mingus Big Band (Adrien H. Tillmann - www.aht1985.com)
Corrections: In last month’s On The Cover, Steven Bernstein was introduced by Larry Campbell to
two-note chords and Sexmob showed him that jazz, not folk, could rock; also, Bernstein neverrecorded with Leonard Cohen. And in the Best of 2019 spread, the Jason Moran/Tyshawn duo atJamaica Center for Arts and Learning was on Jul. 12th.
All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors.

2 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

DEE DEE
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TRIO W/ KENNY WOLLESEN & THOMAS MORGAN (2/18-19)
DUO W/ AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE (2/20-21)
QUINTET W/ TARDY, AKINMUSIRE, WOLLESEN, & SCHERR (2/22-23)

JAZZ BY 5 W/ J. JACKSON, R. BRECKER,
E. GOMEZ, G. CABLES (2/25)

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TERMS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS APPLYNEW YORK @ NIGHT
The vision in the Vision Festival is one of community,
which is why the annual gathering has never lost its
homespun quality, from the maternal introductions offounder Patricia Nicholson-Parker to the potluck-stylefood available. Its greatest service to the community
though has been its Lifetime Achievement Award,
wherein an artist, still living, is fêted for theiraccomplishments across an evening of curated
performances. In advance of this year ’s edition, David
Gage String Instruments hosted a small gathering(Jan. 7th) for the devoted, who came to see a ceremony
akin to the passing of the Olympic Torch from one hostcity to another. The 2019 awardee, drummer Andrew
Cyrille, performed solo as an introduction to thisyear ’s recipient, pianist/vocalist Amina Claudine
Myers, who also played unaccompanied. Cyrilleplayed Myers’ own “Jumping In The Sugar Bowl”,
alternating authoritative crack with appealing
looseness, featuring a nice martial quality, then movingfrom the drums to slapping his face percussively,
finally ending with the lyrics. Myers brought the
church to the concert hall and the concert hall to thechurch in her brief first exposition, evincing bothstrength and fragility. The second, longer piece wasdarker, more mystical, tempered with a bluesy resolve
but slowly becoming more malevolent. A sudden drop
into simple chords was a striking moment, then Myers
began singing, first syllables and then a paean to Jesus
Christ over a churchy fanfare.
—Andrey Henkin

Alan Nahigian

R.I. Sutherland-Cohen / jazzexpressions.org

Those interested in “interesting music”, as Bruce
Gallanter terms it, can find it at his Downtown Music
Gallery on Sunday evenings, when the cozy Chinatown
basement is converted from record store to performance
space. All it takes is folding chairs. Jan. 12th’s triple
feature started with Argentinian drummer Juan Pablo
Carletti’s extended solo number: sticking mostly tosticks and a pulsing kick drum, he favored liberal
doses of rim shots, adding rattles and some sort oflanyard/leash for variety. Guitarist Aron Namenwirth,baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson and drummer
Colin Hinton were next with a long jam and a shortcapper, the bright-toned, wah-wah washed guitar,
often prepared with various implements, providing
bas relief for the low horn’s burly ruminations. Though
the first piece had its attractive moments, the second
seemed to jell—and stay jelled—almost from the very
first notes, an exemplar of balanced instability. Things
got especially interesting when alto saxophonist Chris
Pitsiokos, guitarist Javier Areal Vélez (anothervisiting Argentine) and drummer Kevin Murray
assembled themselves for a one-off venture. Pitsiokos,
a gladiatorial player with monstrous technique, takes
no prisoners, the curves and angles of his extended,circular-breathed, ecstatically inclined lines as clearly
articulated as the muscles in his cheeks. Vélez—like
Namenwirth, a sound sculptor—and Murray kept
pace, taking the energy to high and even higher levels
over a powerful half-hour-ful.
—Tom Greenland

Sewelson/Hinton/Namemwirth @ Downtown Music Gallery

Amina Claudine Myers @ David Gage String Instruments

In 1992 Omer Avital was one of the first and finest of
Israeli invaders to storm Manhattan’s shores, bringing
a new kind of jazz. Almost three decades later he’s still
rampaging, often at Bar Lunàtico with his Qantar
quintet. On a chilly Wednesday night (Jan. 8th) thebassist tried out a smaller outfit: himself, 23-year-old
wunderkind pianist Gadi Lehavi and drummer Daniel
Dor (Israelis all). On the first number, “The Mountain
Top” (all tunes were penned by Avital), Lehavi led thecharge with an ecstatic yet melodic style, lacing hislines with distinctive fast ornaments. “Yes” opened
with Avital alone, calling to the assembled congregation
with blues-basted phrases evoking audibly appreciative
responses. His solo, rife with expressive techniquessuch as open-string trills idiomatic to the oud, exhibited
flawless command and impeccable taste. When the
piano and drums joined in, the hookup was immediate
and intense, despite the fact that Lehavi sat with hisback to the others. (Apparently he’s got ears in theback of his head). “Maroc”, in 6/8 on an E minor drone,
had a John Coltrane feel, Lehavi’s rippling gestures
reminiscent of a Romani cimbalom player. “C’est
Clair”, a romantic ballad, was less exciting, Lehavi
poring over some Chopin-esque textures before theband picked it up as a jazz waltz. The full-on stunnerof the set was “Flow”, a riff on “Giant Steps” harmonies
that featured unbelievably fast, precise and inspired
improvisation by Lehavi. Even the well-travelled
Avital could only shake his head in amazement. (TG)Music has been lauded for its healing properties:
Albert Ayler said it in 1969 and Alicia Keys echoed hisstatement during last month’s Grammy Awards. But
for alto saxophonist Darius Jones, music is moreaccurately an expression of courage. That concept is
a complex one; how does one express bravery throughinanimate objects? Jones did it via a new project at The
Jazz Gallery (Jan. 7th), “In August of 1619” (the year
slaves first arrived on American shores) an outgrowthof work done by New York Times journalist Nikole
Hannah-Jones for her “The 1619 Project”. This music,
performed by a quartet of vibraphonist Joel Ross,
bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Kush Abadey,
was meant less to heal than to make Americans actuallyrealize they were hurting, despite their best efforts at
ignoring self-inflicted wounds. The music, slated to berecorded for Giant Step Arts soon, brought up aspectsof slave history over the past 400 years: “Cotton for theGin”, “Reverse Freedom Rides”, “1865-1887”(Reconstruction). The presence of vibraphone rather
than piano lent a gossamer sheen, almost as if it wasa blurring of a scene leading to a flashback. Other
musical elements were also evocative: creaking of aship making its way across the sea; cries of theimprisoned; the fight against mechanization; a hymnof defiance. Jones gave lengthy intros to each tune,
demonstrating unusual vulnerability over the subject
matter, showing that this project—as is the country’s
racial divide—is still a work in progress.
(AH)

4 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Since bursting onto the U.S. jazz scene a quarter- P ark Slope’s Made in New York Jazz Café celebrated
century ago, dazzling audiences with a commanding
virtuoso technique, Gonzalo Rubalcaba has steadily
evolved into one of the music’s most iconoclastic
composers. Performing with his Trio d’été of bassist
Matt Brewer and drummer Eric Harland at Dizzy’s
Club (Jan. 3rd) the Cuban pianist wound his way
through an 80-minute set melding jazz, European
classical and AfroCuban traditions into a personalamalgam both cerebral and soulful. Opening with his
aptly titled “Hard One”, Rubalcaba laid down anangular vamp on the Bösendorfer piano, bolstered byHarland’s steady, tonally expansive polyrhythmic
drumming, which utilized an expanded kit with dual
sock cymbals draped with rattles and shells. Building
in dynamic intensity the episodic work shifted gears
into a fiery midsection, Rubalcaba boppishly
improvising at full throttle before Harland closed
things out with a climactic solo. The mood mellowed
as the trio segued into Horace Silver ’s “Peace”, on
which the pianist evinced an elegant touch recalling
Duke Ellington and Bill Evans, before heating things
up again with Scott LaFaro’s “Gloria’s Steps”, on
which he exhibited an imposing command of the entire
jazz piano lexicon, from swing to avant garde. Two
imaginative originals, “Joy, Joie” and “Infantil”,
showcased Rubalcaba’s canny approach to composition,
before the set concluded with a stirring “Caravan” onwhich he delved into his Cuban roots. —Russ Musto

its three-month anniversary (though now closed
indefinitely following a fire) by commemorating the70th year of Lenny White (Jan. 4th). The drummer was
welcomed by a capacity crowd as he, saxophonist Dave
Liebman and bassist Gene Perla reinvented standards.
Opening with the Gershwins’ “Summertime”, realized
as tightly swinging cool jazz, Liebman’s sopranohovered above the radiance and driving lines.
Throughout the night Liebman produced aerial solos
and dueling interplay over time-honored melodies.
His association with the leader was evidenced by theirchurning interplay. “I was 16 years old when I firstplayed with this man,” White told the audience. “He
had a loft in a building where Chick Corea lived
downstairs and Dave Holland just above him. And themusic we played was really OUT.” While much of theset was tonal, the head arrangements demonstrated
the unique talents of this particular trio. Once expanded
by guitarist Vaughn Stoffey, White’s student from
NYU, Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman”, too, wasreimagined; Liebman’s haunting wooden pennywhistle
sliced through cymbal rolls, bass harmonics and guitar
wanderlust. Miles Davis’ “All Blues” dramaticallygrew from within, followed by Thelonious Monk’s“Well You Needn’t”. As his cymbals’ final shimmer
faded, White’s nimbly sardonic farewell, “Thank you,
I’m Shadow Wilson!”, demonstrated the hip timing ofa killer bass drum bomb.		
—John Pietaro

WHAT ’ S NEWSThe latest group of Grammy Award winners has beenannounced. Relevant categories are Best Improvised Jazz
Solo: “Sozinho”, Randy Brecker (from Randy Brecker &NDR Big Band - The Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra WithDavid Sanborn, Ada Rovatti & Wolfgang Haffner—Rocks(Jazzline); Best Jazz Vocal Album: Esperanza
Spalding—12 Little Spells (Concord); Best Jazz
Instrumental Album: Brad Mehldau—Finding Gabriel(Nonesuch); Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Brian
Lynch Big Band—The Omni-American Book Club (Hollistic
MusicWorks); Best Latin Jazz Album: Chick Corea & The
Spanish Heart Band —Antidote (Concord). For more
information, visit grammy.com.
American Masters – Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
(A Film By Stanley Nelson) premieres on PBS stations
Feb. 25th at 9 pm. For more information, visit pbs.org/
wnet/americanmasters.
Apollo Theater presents a free, all-day open house Feb.
1st to kick off Black History Month. Events include
performances by Casey Benjamin and Keyon Harrold; anadvanced screening of American Masters - Miles Davis:
Birth of the Cool followed by a discussion with director
Stanley Nelson, James Mtume, Keyon Harrold, Angeleisha
Rogers and Vince Wilburn; and special children’s activities.
For more information, visit apollotheater.org/openhouse.
Chicago-based United States Artists has announced its
2020 class of Fellows, each receiving a $50,000 fellowship.
Among the winners are Anthony Braxton, Courtney Bryan,
Sylvie Courvoisier, Nathalie Joachim and Nicole Mitchell.
For more information, visit unitedstatesartists.org.

Jonathan Chimene© SCOTT FRIEDLANDER

Made in NY Jazz Café is closed indefinitely after a fatal firein the apartment above the recently opened Brooklyn clubcaused severe damage to the venue. For more information,
visit jazzcafe.nyc.
Pianist Barry Harris received the 2020 Bruce Lundvall
Visionary Award in a ceremony at last month’s Jazz Congressin recognition of his nearly half-century as a jazz mentor/
educator. For more information, visit jazzcongress.org.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba @ Dizzy’s Club

Lenny White, Dave Liebman, Gene Perla @ Made In New York Jazz Café

An SRO crowd packed Le Poisson Rouge for theWinter Jazzfest concert From Detroit to the World:
Celebrating the Jazz Legacy of Detroit and Honoring
Marcus Belgrave (Jan. 12th). The evening began witha panel discussion before the music got off to a warm
start with vocalist Joan Belgrave, producer of the show,fêting her late trumpeter husband. Backed by a Motor
City quartet she swung a set that began with Duke
Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” andended with Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah I Love Her So”.
The Marcus Legacy Ensemble, with a revolving cast of
Detroiters—trumpeters Dwight Adams, Theo Croker
and Greg Glassman, saxophonists Kasan Belgrave and
JD Allen, pianist Kelvin Sholar, bassist Bob Hurst anddrummers Karriem Riggins, Kassa Overall and Ali
Jackson—was heard on a program of Marcus Belgrave
originals, with the singer joining in on “You’re My
Everything”. The Detroit Jazz Masters of Ron Carter,
Sheila Jordan, Louis Hayes and Johnny O’Neal kicked
things off with Adams blowing with the trio on Hayes’“Hastings Street”, before Jordan came in singing Kenny
Dorham’s “Fair Weather” and her own “Sheila’s
Blues”. Pianist Zen Zadravec joined in for Hayes’“Lou’s Idea”, Carter ’s “Eighty-One” and “First Trip”
and Belgrave’s plaintive rendering of Thelonious
Monk’s “Ask Me Now”. The six-hour marathon concert
concluded with the Legacy Ensemble with a set that
included original works by Sholar, Hurst, Adams andthe late Detroit drummer Lawrence Williams.
(RM)

Between the historic vibes and sizzling sounds of Jon-

Erik Kellso, Café Bohemia (Jan. 9th) was—andremains—a house afire. This Village club of anotherage has been resurrected. Once hosting Miles’ quintet
with Coltrane and combos of Mingus, Tristano,
Dorham, Blakey and Adderley, as well as Jack Kerouac,
it closed in 1960. But the roots extend to the ‘40s when,as the Pied Piper, James P. Johnson held court. Now at
the same hallowed address, jazz again reigns. Manager
Christine Santelli explained that her vision is enmeshedwith the Café’s history, thus the interior is bathed indeep red and bears a striking recreation of the sign thatonce stood out on Barrow Street. Performances crossthe schools of jazz and blues, but Thursday is all about
hot jazz, with trumpeter/cornet player Kellso kicking
out timeless New Orleans, Chicago and New Yorkstyles. On this night he, clarinetist/tenor saxophonist
Evan Arntzen, guitarist Albanie Falletta and bassist
Jen Hodge commanded the churning collective improv
not heard here since Eddie Condon’s moved uptown.
Kellso carries the torch within time’s dizzying passage,
reminiscent perhaps of Wingy Manone and Bubber
Miley, with the resounding phrasing of Louis
Armstrong never far off. On Jelly Roll Morton’s“Milenberg Joys”, the leader drove hard as clarinet
conjured a Pee Wee Russell haunting. Fallette played a
hip resonator guitar and sang on several numbers andArntzen added voice and smoky, vibrato-laden
saxophone to Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust”.
(JP)

A fascinating ‘exhibition’ at BAM’s Rudin Family Gathering
through Mar. 15th: Ted Riederer’s Never Records
transforms the space into a fully functioning studio andrecord plant and invites people to book the space in threehour segments to record anything of their choosing,receiving a freshly-cut LP of the efforts, a copy of whichgoes into the exhibition’s “record shop” for viewers to hear.
For more information, visit bam.org.
The recently revived Café Bohemia features a Hot Club
listening session of rare 78s led by Matthew “Fat Cat”
Rivera Mondays at 7 pm. For more information, visit
cafebohemianyc.com.
As part of its Scenes Through the Cinema Lens series,
Tribeca Performing Arts Center will present “Happy
Birthday Charlie Parker, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae,
Dave Brubeck and More” on Feb. 25th at 7:30 pm,
featuring rare performance and film footage. For more
information, visit tribecapac.org.
Winners of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s inaugural Jack Rudin
Jazz Championship for college-level jazz programs havebeen announced: Temple University (First Place), Indiana
University (Second Place) and Michigan State University(Third Place). For more information, visit jazz.org.
Jazz at Princeton has announced the first concert in its
Spring 2020: Claudia Acuña will perform with Jazz at
Princeton University’s Jazz Vocal Collective Ensemble
Feb. 22nd at 8 pm. For more information, visit music.
princeton.edu/events.
Submit news to info@nycjazzrecord.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 5

j.sandecki / photo courtesy of the artist

I NTERVIEW

jason
marsalis

TNYCJR: How different is vibraphone than drums?
JM: It’s different because you’re responsible for harmony
and melody—responsible in the way that if you miss any
notes, it’s noticeable. On drums, you miss notes, nobody
notices that. On vibes, well…somebody has got to notice.
And I think that trying to create melodies and phrases
that are memorable, it’s a lot tougher when you’redealing with notes and making sure it works with thechord changes. On drums, it’s still important tounderstand harmony and form because then you canoutline music in a much better way. You’re a bettersupport system if you understand those things.
NYCJR12thPageAd0220.qxp_Layout 1 1/14/20 4:23 PM Page 1
				(CONTINUED ON PAGE 13)

by kyle oleksiuk
J ason Marsalis is both an extremely versatile drummer andvibraphonist who has played as a bandleader and sideman ingroups ranging from jazz, fusion and funk to Celtic andBrazilian. With Bill Summers and Irvin Mayfield, he formed
the New Orleans jazz group Los Hombres Calientes in 1998.
Since March 2015, Marsalis has been playing with the
Lionel Hampton Big Band as a vibraphonist. He discussed
the Big Band’s recently released album, Live at Rossmoor,and Hampton’s legacy.
The New York City Jazz Record: Could you introduce
the new album with the Lionel Hampton Big Band?
Jason Marsalis: The band first came together in 2008,
for the Lionel Hampton centennial. The gentleman
who’s the head of the Hampton estate is from New
Orleans and he knew that I was playing the vibraphone,so when the band came to town for the centennial, he
asked me to join the band on the vibes. When the bandshowed up, the first tune they rehearsed was “MidnightSun” [composed by Hampton]. It was a tune that I had
already been playing on my own shows and had evenrecorded. So I think the band was a little surprised andafter rehearsal, the guys in the band were saying, man,you’re the guy for this. After the centennial we didn’t
play for quite a while, but I kept in touch with thebassist Christian Fabian. A few years after that, Fabian
got the green light to start putting the band back
together and booking shows. That’s when he started to
get the original bandmembers of the Lionel Hamptongroup, mostly the last Hampton band before he passed.
We started to do shows whenever we could. Not a lotof shows, but shows here and there. And when we did
the show at Rossmoor in California, there was agentleman who wanted to record it. That’s what led tothis new album.
TNYCJR: On the album, there’s a really interesting
format where you do songs and then tell stories about
Hampton. How did you develop that format?

JM: That was Christian’s idea, because the show is tocelebrate the legacy of Lionel Hampton. Everybody
who was in his band had stories, so it’s great for people
who didn’t get a chance to meet Hampton or hear him.
It tells you the type of person he was, the spirit thatwas behind the music. I think after the first time wetried that, it’s something that we just kept doing.
Christian would ask different bandmembers, “Haveyou got a Hamp story? Have you got a Hamp story?”
I had one too, even though it was a little different.
TNYCJR: What was your Hampton story?
JM: I only got a chance to play with him twice. The
first time was when I was really young, in highschool—and it was nice, but there was a lot about hismusic that I didn’t really understand. The second time
I played with Hampton, it was when he came to New

Diane Moser’s
Composers
Big BandAnniversary
ConcertOrleans to do a big band set for the Jazz Fest and there
was an interesting moment where Hampton turned tome and said, “you sure have improved since the lasttime!” I was like, wait, he remembered that? So, I did
the gig and it was okay, but I felt that something was
missing. But when I started to play vibes and I started toreally investigate latter Hampton’s music, that’s when I
realized what was missing from my own playing.

Celebrating 23 years
of presenting new
music for big band!
Tuesday, February 4th
Sets at 8PM & 9:30PM

TNYCJR: And that was?
JM: The dance element of the swing. One of the aspectsof rhythm, period—not just swing, but funk orwhatever—is that unfortunately musicians nowadays
don’t get enough opportunities to play for people
dancing. That’s a very different aspect of the music.
The dance element is the fun element. It’s the function
element. It’s the party of it. And I think that that
breathes life into music. But the reason that the swing
rhythm was so much stronger back in the day was thatthose guys played for dancers every night. And thatwas their job. I think, unfortunately we’ve gotten
wrapped up in self-expression and now it’s less about
the role of the music. I even saw an interview recently,
I think it was with the pianist Keith Jarrett and he wastalking about how he’s very uncomfortable whenmusicians try to emulate other people, like it’s a shameand it’s criminal what happened to tenor saxophone
after John Coltrane. I mean, these are all valid points.
But I think what starts to happen is that you get caught
up in, “I’ve got to find my thing and I’ve got to beoriginal and I can’t copy” to the point where you don’t
end up knowing much music. And what ends up
happening is when it’s time for you to fulfill a role, you
don’t really know what to do. Like, if you’re on a gig
and we just need this kind of groove, you should be
able to do that.
TNYCJR: This might seem like an obvious question,
but why Lionel Hampton? What’s so special about hismusical legacy?
JM: That’s a valid question, because Christian Fabianeven told me that he’s worried that people are starting
to forget who Lionel Hampton was. There’s people
who, for example, may know the name Duke Ellington,
or may know the name Count Basie, but they don’tknow the name Lionel Hampton. Why Lionel Hampton:
there’s a lot that he’s contributed to the foundation of
the music. He’s the foundation as far as vibraphone isconcerned. He’s really the first lead player. After him iswhen you get the Red Norvos, the Milt Jacksons, theBobby Hutchersons, even the guys now, the Stefon
Harrises, the Warren Wolfs, you know, hell, Joel Ross,
who’s like brand new…Lionel Hampton is thefoundation for all of that. And also his big band, withthe hits that they had, was part of the soundtrack ofAmerica. And I think it’s very important to celebratethat and to make people aware of what that was.

6 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD$15 General • $10 students (w/ID)$10 WBGO members

Photo:
Chris Drukker

N E W

dianemosermusic.com

Y O R KC I T Y

BAHA’I CENTER

53 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
bahainyc.org

SHITOMICHI / photo courtesy of the artist

ARTIST FE ATURE

mihohazamaFor more information, visit mihohazama.com. Hazama andm_unit are at Jazz Standard Feb. 25th-26th. See Calendar.
Recommended Listening:• Miho Hazama—Journey to Journey(Verve/Universal Music Japan - Sunnyside, 2012)• Miho Hazama—Time River(Verve/Universal Music Japan - Sunnyside, 2015)• Miho Hazama/Metropole Orkest Big Band—
The Monk: Live at Bimhuis(Verve/Universal Music Japan - Sunnyside, 2017)• Miho Hazama—Dancer In Nowhere(Verve/Universal Music Japan - Sunnyside, 2018)

by michael cobb
Born in 1986 in Tokyo, Miho Hazama grew up studying
classical piano and earned a degree from KunitachiCollege of Music in classical composition. She received
a scholarship to attend the Manhattan School of Music(MSM) and moved to New York in 2010, graduatingwith a Master ’s degree in jazz composition.
While studying at MSM, she was exposed to theworks of contemporary artists including Maria
Schneider and studied with Jim McNeely. In 2011, she
won the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award and in2012 recorded Journey to Journey (Universal Music
Japan), which blended big band and jazz sounds andfeatured vibraphonist Stefon Harris. The album
established her as a composer and leader and helped
her win the Jazz JAPAN rising star award. She received
the 24th Idemitsu Music Award in 2014, and the BMICharlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize in 2015. Also in
2015, Hazama issued her big band’s sophomore album,
Time River (Universal Music Japan). And the accolades
and awards keep coming her way. She has beenfeatured in DownBeat, NPR and The New York Times.
Regarding her work, AllAboutJazz.com said, “At a time
when orchestral jazz is either ultra-polished,exceedingly high brow or a pedestrian pandering tosentimental tastes of yore, Hazama’s boldly organicand singularly exciting collective is a breath of fresh
air. Her uncanny ability to remain intellectuallystimulating and vibrantly spirited is what makes her
work singularly innovative.”
As a pianist and composer, Hazama has developed
a signature sound with her jazz chamber orchestra
m_unit. When asked how she balances classical andjazz, Hazama says, “I keep being honest to my senses,
instinct and interest at the time. In other words, I’ve
never thought about a ‘balance’. I think my backgroundis unique enough, as I’m from Japan and studiedclassical [European] music for a long time and now
jazz [American] music and I believe that it naturally
reflects in my music. Having strings in my orchestra
definitely helps create more classical elements.”
Hazama has composed for Tokyo Philharmonic
Orchestra, Ashley Bouder Project Ballet Company andthe Yamaha Symphonic Band. In 2017, she became a
Composer-in-Residence of Siena Wind Orchestra andwas the 2019 Composer of the Year of Orchestra
Ensemble Kanazawa. JazzTimes has called her work“classy large ensemble that keeps the listener guessing
and enchanted...something is always lurking andready to pounce; then skitter away again.”
As an arranger, Hazama has worked for many
ensembles for concerts, recordings, television and film,
including Metropole Orkest, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vince
Mendoza, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Shiro Sagisu
and many more. A quick glance at her impressive
discography shows over 45 works with which she has
been involved.
Still based in New York, Hazama is considered oneof the finest arrangers of her generation. She has been
nominated for a 2019 Grammy award and is known forher sophisticated big band and chamber jazzarrangements. Hazama has released four full-length
albums on Universal Music Japan/Sunnyside Records
and has written for artists including Joshua Redman,
Lionel Loueke and Gil Goldstein, showcasing theirunique playing styles within the context of hercompositions.
Regarding the difference between working andperforming in Japan and the U.S., Hazama says, “I’mparticularly amazed by the level of NYC musicians.
They are all so talented and trying to survive in sucha high competition. They are so special. When I workoutside of NYC, I always try to adjust and try to makemy colleagues feel comfortable. I do enjoy thrills, but
I don’t reflect too much on struggle, intensity,
questioning or fear in my music. Having said that,
I have very specific musicians who I trust a lot inJapan, because that’s my home country and I work
there a lot. I know that I really need them to make goodmusic happen in Japan.”
Last year Hazama became chief conductor of theDanish Radio Big Band after Thad Jones and Bob
Brookmeyer and McNeely. She has worked as aconductor with Metropole Orkest, WDR Big Band andBohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra and is the Associate
Artistic Director of the New York Jazzharmonic.
With so many accolades and awards at only 34,
Hazama’s future looks bright. She wants the public toknow, “I am hoping that this Grammy nomination will
help m_unit reach out to more people. ‘Large jazz
ensemble’ is something that might have a specific oldfashioned image to the public, but this music
community has so much potential and there are somany creative composers making music with theirown bands. It is really happening!”
About her latest release, Dancer in Nowhere,
Hazama best expresses the ineffable with music andstates, “There are times when you feel something, but
you can’t really describe it in words. You don’t knowhow you’re going to react to that feeling and maybe
you can’t really express it, but you feel it so strongly
inside. I started wondering if I could somehow describe
this through music. Not necessarily a struggle orsomething negative: it could be happiness, fear,passion, energy. The challenge of capturing thesethings became a theme for me.”
Hazama doesn’t feel that this most recent releasediffers greatly from previous works and says, “Thebasic concept of the last three m_unit albums is thesame: same instrumentation; same logo with a different
color; same number of guest artists; one arrangement;
and the rest is my composition, etc. I have simply kept
creating something that I think cool or interesting at
the time.” In terms of what inspires her as an artist,
Hazama says she looks to “...players of my music,
logical concepts from numbers and shapes andpersonal memories and experiences.” Whether
composing, arranging or performing, New York islucky to have her. v

Multi-Grammy Nominated

PETE M c GUINNESS
Voted one of the top CDs for2019 by Downbeat Magazine!

“…with this dynamic crew of New Yorkers…
McGuinness has his way with some familiartunes, while introducing four stellar originals…
McGuinness instantly introduces himself as
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THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 7

ON THE COVER
Adrien H. Tillmann - www.aht1985.com

mingusbig bandmingusamongus

by jim motavalli

According to her biography, Tonight at Noon: A Love
Story (2002), Sue Mingus met the love of her life at theFive Spot in 1964. She didn’t know beans about jazz but
was there because a film she was acting in had an
Ornette Coleman score and she wanted to know more
about the scene. “I’d barely heard of [bassist/composer/
bandleader Charles] Mingus,” she wrote, “thoughechoes of his reputation had filtered down: the ornery,sometimes violent, often unjust, blustery figure who
fired his musicians onstage, hired them back, denounced
the audience for inattention, picked fights, mastered his
instrument, dominated his music, vented his politicalbeliefs on stage, presented a larger-than-life personality
and created on-the-spot performances for all to see.”
Mingus was all this and more and now, 41 years
after his death from a heart attack on Jan. 5th, 1979, heis acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of histime, on a pedestal alongside his idol Duke Ellington.
Sarah Williams, production coordinator at the Jazz
Workshop and Charles Mingus Institute, noted the“many exciting things in the future,” including the 2022
celebration of the Charles Mingus Centennial and 12th
Annual Mingus Festival this month at Jazz Standard.
Mingus never slipped into obscurity, but his music
wasn’t heard much on bandstands after his passing.
Sue Mingus—despite having been only peripherally
involved in her husband’s music while he was alive—
decided to change that. She was recruited to corralmusicians for a New Audiences tribute to Mingus atCarnegie Hall a few months after he died (Sonny
Rollins, Lionel Hampton and Dexter Gordon said yes)and then began to canvas musicians to play thecomposer’s work regularly in various configurations,from small group to big band. The first of these was theseven-piece Mingus Dynasty, soon joined by the 11
pieces of the Mingus Orchestra and, our primary subject
matter, the 14 of the enduring and Grammy-winning
Mingus Big Band. “Nobody played Mingus music
except our band,” Sue told MetroActive in 2011. “Theydid not think of him as a composer.” They get it now.
The big band, debuting in 1991, has recorded 10 albumsof Mingus compositions and Live at Jazz Standard won
the Grammy in 2011. It performs (along with the
Orchestra and Dynasty) all over the world and (for over
11 years) weekly on Mondays at Jazz Standard.
Musicians have nothing but good things to say about
working with Sue Mingus and keeping her husband’s
prolific legacy alive.
Saxophonist Alex Foster, who can also be found in
the Saturday Night Live orchestra, is co-Musical Directorof the big band with bassist Boris Kozlov. “My job is tokeep things flowing in a positive way,” he said.
“We have to get to the level of musicianship where weare able to capture the emotion inherent in Mingus’
compositions and legacy.” Foster said that when theband was first founded and played at the now-defunctFez under Time Café, “nobody was completely
convinced it would be a longterm thing. Most of themusicians had come up in small bands. Not many had
played with Buddy Rich, Woody Herman or people
like that. But the band has continued to exist as those

first gigs turned into weekly engagements and now wehave a good sense of ensemble playing. It was a bit
rough, but now it’s a lot tighter.”
Mingus himself always wanted to tour with a big
band, but economics made it difficult. Foster says thatthose same factors have limited the big band’s travels
abroad in recent years. “Some clubs are reluctant to hireus, because 14 musicians means a lot of hotel rooms
and plane fares,” he said. These days, the band goes toEurope once a year—instead of three or four times.
Not only does Kozlov anchor the band on bass andco-lead it, he’s also done 20 to 30 arrangements that arein the book. He started with the band in 1998, “whenthey needed someone who could play on Thursdaynights. I came down and sat in with the band, but Sue
Mingus wasn’t there that night. Later, when she called
to ask if I could join the band on tour, I asked her how
she knew I was any good. ‘I made 14 phone calls,’ shesaid.” Kozlov said he makes use of many of Mingus’
ideas and concepts, “but what I don’t try to do is soundlike him,” he said. “In fact, Mingus’ legacy means thatdoing my own thing is almost a requirement.” Kozlov
was on board for the band’s recent swing throughEurope, which included a week at Ronnie Scott’s inLondon plus engagements in Switzerland, Italy andBelgium. “The band is at its best when we’re on toughtours and have to rise to the occasion,” Kozlov said.
Drummer Adam Cruz first joined the big band circa
1993 or 1994, after sitting in when Victor Lewis had arecording session run over. “I went to Sue’s to get all thecharts and studied them very intently at home,” Cruz
said. “I suppose that night went well, since I foundmyself in the band from that moment on for the next
three years.” Cruz remembers a lot of exciting tours,
weekly gigs at Fez under Time Café and the recording of
three albums, Gunslinging Birds (1995), Live in Time (1996)
and Que Viva Mingus! (1997). “I’m so grateful to Sue andall the members of the band then for having that belief inme, young as I was,” Cruz said. In the last few years, thedrummer has reconnected with the big band and is again
part of the roster. Mingus’ music, he said, “has thistimeless, everlasting kind of quality to it.”Mike Richmond was the original bassist in the
Mingus Dynasty from 1980-85 and continues on withthe big band. “It has been a treat performing many of
the same compositions we did in the Dynasty with a
big band setting,” he said. “The arrangements byCharles and Sy Johnson are powerful, yet sensitive andbeautiful. Each week, the ensemble is in top form!”
Trumpeter Randy Brecker has fond memories of 15
years with the big band, from its inception. “Those
were great years, particularly at the Time Café and theband was always killing with soloists,” he said. “Theparts were always fun to play, since Mingus knew how
to balance the composer ’s will and conception with thenightly input of the players. So the pieces weredifferent every night.” Brecker is one of several
musicians who have played in the big band who also
worked with Mingus himself. Others include Foster,
tuba player/trombonist Earl McIntyre and trumpeterJack Walrath. Brecker did pianist Dave Kikoski

8 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

a favor by recommending him to Sue Mingus, which
Kikoski remembers as occurring sometime in the late‘80s. “I have had a lot of great musical relationshipsthat came out of that band,” Kikoski said. “It’s a cycle:
we use the best players in New York when they’reavailable and there’s always new people coming in.
A lot of great musicians have come through, including
horn players like John Stubblefield and John Handy.”
Kikoski said that Mingus’ music “is very
challenging, because there’s a lot of Third Stream
contemporary classical influences in it. It has to beworked on—you can’t just jump in and play it. Some of
Mingus’ material has a groovy, funky, bluesy feel, butthere’s also that classical edge, plus Latin and
Caribbean influences—it’s very multicultural. You
have to be well versed in blues, gospel, bebop and themusic of Duke Ellington to play it correctly. It’s anhonor to be in the band and we owe a big debt to Sue
Mingus, who organized the group and got us a lot ofgigs. She kept the legacy alive.”
Reedplayer Scott Robinson said he started out
subbing for Stubblefield and others, probably in the mid‘90s. Like Kikoski, he made a lot of musical friends andalso connected with players he hadn’t seen in a while,
including Frank Lacy and Andy McKee. And thenthere’s that formidable body of work. “I recently
finished working my way through the songbook thatSue Mingus gave me—55 tunes—really good practice!”
Robinson said. “Every composer should be so lucky tohave someone champion their music, as Sue Mingus
has. She’s kept it alive and in the public consciousness.”
Sue Mingus also worked with musicologist Andrew
Homzy on organizing the bassist’s archives. That led tothe discovery of the 500-page score for Epitaph, a vast
symphony of 19 movements and parts for 31 musicians.
The work (which lasts two hours) was first performed at
Alice Tully Hall in 1989, via a $30,000 NEA Jazz Special
Projects grant. Sue Mingus sold her husband’s archives
to the Library of Congress in 1992.
Kozlov is convinced that the band will endure, aslong as it continues to stay fresh. “If we were to only
cater to a certain repertoire, that would be hard,” hesaid. “But as long as we have star-studded soloists andthe material is something new and different all thetime, then we’ll stick around.” v
For more information, visit mingusmingusmingus.com. Theband is Jazz Standard most Mondays and Feb. 14th-16th.
See Calendar and Regular Engagements.
Recommended Listening:• Big Band Charlie Mingus—Live at The Theatre
Boulogne-Billancourt Paris, Vol. 1 (Soul Note, 1988)• Mingus Big Band 93—Nostalgia in Times Square(Dreyfus, 1993)• Mingus Big Band—Gunslinging Birds (Dreyfus, 1995)• Mingus Big Band—Blues & Politics (Dreyfus, 1999)• Mingus Big Band/Orchestra/Dynasty—
I Am Three (Sue Mingus Music-Sunnyside, 2004)• Mingus Big Band—Live at Jazz Standard(Sue Mingus Music-Jazz Workshop, 2008-09)

gregory
porter& ledisifeb 16bokantéwith snarky puppy’s
michael league
Sat, Feb 29 @ 7:30PM
The world music supergroup, featuring
members of Snarky Puppy!

in our community

geri allen
jazz campwith Artistic Director Regina CarterJul 5–11
Young women refine their vocal or
instrumental skills with acclaimed
jazz musicians! Sign up today!
njpac.org/geriallenjazzcamp

michaelfeinsteinwith storm largecelebrating
leonard bernstein

Shaken & Stirred
Sat, Mar 14 @ 3PM
Michael Feinstein joins forces with
Storm Large of Pink Martini in a tribute to
the American Songbook.

jazz jamsessions
Sat, Jan 25 @ 10AM–2PM
Clement’s Place
15 Washington Street, Newark, NJ
Ace musicians, from New Jersey andbeyond, play alongside their musicalheroes and peers.

Sat, Apr 4 @ 7PMfeaturing the Bill Charlap Trio, author
Jamie Bernstein and host Ted Chapin.

2020 jazz
vespers
Monthly Feb-May
Bethany Baptist Church
275 W Market Street, Newark, NJ
Featuring Samara McLendon,
A Tribute to Geri Allen, Stefon Harrisand Steve & Iqua Colson
For full schedule, visit njpac.org/vespers
The American Song series at NJPAC is presented, in part, through the generous support of theBlanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the David S. Steiner and Sylvia Steiner Charitable Trust,and the Joan and Allen Bildner Family Fund.

Visit njpac.org or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC • New Jersey Performing Arts Center • One Center Street • Newark, NJ

9.5x12_NYCJazzRecord_feb_20_njpac.indd 1

1/14/20 11:31 AM

ENCORE

greg
tate
by alex henderson
G uitarist/journalist Greg Tate has a long history of
writing about music as well as playing it. The Dayton,
Ohio native, who has lived in New York City for 38
years, spent 18 of them as staff writer at Village Voice,where he covered music ranging from R&B to jazz to
hip-hop to rock. As the leader of Burnt Sugar theArkestra Chamber, an experimental ensemble, which
will pay homage to late soul icon Isaac Hayes and the1971 movie Shaft this month at the Apollo Theater, Tate
has been in the role of music creator.
Burnt Sugar has not been easy to categorize.
Founded by Tate in 1999, the outfit is an unpredictablemixture of avant garde jazz, funk, rock and hip-hop andinfluences from Sun Ra, Art Ensemble of Chicago andelectric Miles Davis to Parliament/Funkadelic, James
Brown and Jimi Hendrix.
Another major influence on Burnt Sugar was thelate conductor Butch Morris and his collective
improvisation methodology Conduction. “Our sensei
and Conduction inventor/mentor, Butch Morris, made apoint of declaring that no form of sound-making wasalien to conduction,” Tate says. “Hence thedemocratization of all manner of music-making in
conduction, wherein musicians who specialize in bop,
death metal, turntablism and ‘traditional’ instrumentsfrom around the globe were all made welcome to bemixed and meshed under the knife and scissors of thebaton in a conduction performance.”
Tate moved from Dayton to Washington, D.C.,
when he was 13 and went on to study journalism at
Howard University. He moved to NYC in 1982, joining
Village Voice in 1987 and staying with the alternative
weekly until 2005. It was in 1985 that Tate co-founded
the Black Rock Coalition (BRC) with guitarist Vernon

Reid, best known for leading the black alternative
metal band Living Colour. The BRC fought for blackmusicians to receive greater exposure in rock.
On Feb. 29th, the Apollo will present a 49th
anniversary screening of Gordon Parks’ Shaft, one of
the most influential blaxploitation crime dramas of its
era featuring Burnt Sugar on music Hayes composed
for the soundtrack. “We’ll be performing a live scoringof the 1971 film by Gordon Parks, which Warner
Brothers is supplying without the original music track
but with dialogue and sound effects left intact,” Tatesays. “The band will be 19 pieces, including horns,
strings, rhythm and vocals. We’ll be playing the theme
song and some of the other tuneful and grooveful
songs Isaac Hayes composed for the film. Because thefocus is on Burnt Sugar, we’ll be extending the lengthof some of those songs beyond what was heard in theoriginal film, improvising solo breaks and creating
new incidental music in places as well.”According to Tate, Shaft (filmed in New York City)is an historic film on multiple levels. “Shaft was atrifecta of groundbreaking events: first studio-funded
action film directed by a black director; first feature forthe legendary Gordon Parks—who’d already made aninternational name for himself as an eminent Time/Lifephotographer of the Civil Rights Era—first studiofeature to have a black superhero for a protagonist who
defied the law and the mafia, though Melvin Van
Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song establishedmuch of that template,” Tate says. “The score by Isaac
Hayes was also unprecedented in bringing state-ofthe-art ‘70s R&B composition and production into amajor studio feature. And the theme song is
unparalleled in being more revered and memorable for
many, like Quentin Tarantino, than the film. Not eventhe many classic James Bond theme songs can measure
up to that accolade.”
In the opening scene, actor Richard Roundtree canbe seen exiting the subway at 42nd Street and Broadway
and walking through a gritty Times Square, which, in
1971, was much different from the 2020 version. Tate
has watched NYC change considerably since his arrivaland laments the effect that gentrification has had on
the city culturally.

“Gentrification ended the cheap rent that once
attracted generations of brilliant low-income talentfrom the boroughs, around the nation and the globe todevelop their work to world-class level in Gotham
City,” Tate observes. “Cheap rent begat the culturalcommunities in Manhattan, which begat bebop,
abstract expressionism, minimalism, modern dance,
free jazz, post-graffiti, punk rock, hip-hop, housemusic, Jean Michel Basquiat. Gentrification has madethe city less affordable and inviting to the working
class creatives whose clusterfuck and esprit de corps
among the crime, the garbage strikes and the chaos
made the city such a haven for aesthetic innovatorsand innovation across all the creative disciplines.”
Despite the changes in the city’s profile and its
myriad music scenes, Burnt Sugar is still going strong
under Tate’s direction. “My friend and colleague, Jon
Caramanica, has referred to the band as ‘living cultural
criticism’, which I think means Burnt Sugar extends
my thinking about music into sonic curation,” Tate
explains. “Partly, this means being an extension of Sun
Ra, P-Funk and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, who
gifted modern musicology with the all-encompassing
ultimate multi-genre rubric of ‘great black music,
ancient to the future’.” vchoreographed band and heard a highly disciplined
one, modeling his band on the Lunceford drill company
look. Club date bands, then and now, feature a quickstep version of two-beat swing known (often derisively)by freelance musicians as the “businessman’s bounce”.
Lunceford was born Jun. 6th, 1902, in Fulton,
Mississippi, but his family was in Denver when heattended high school, where the band was led by PaulWhiteman’s father. He learned several instruments
and played alto saxophone in a band while attending
Fisk University in Tennessee. While teaching highschool in Memphis, Lunceford formed a cooperative
band, The Chickasaw Syncopators, which became The
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra in 1929. In 1934, after
years of one-night stands touring, the band secured aresidency at Harlem’s Cotton Club, from where its
sound, solidified by the arranging of Oliver, wasspread on radio networks. Although he was more thanproficient on several instruments, Lunceford’s axe of
choice was his baton. He drilled the band to highprecision, including the often elaborate choreography(swinging or tossing horns, spinning around, etc.) as
well as the tight ensembles. He once said: “A band thatlooks good, goes in for a better class of showmanshipand seems to be enjoying its work will always be sureof a return visit wherever it plays.”
During its peak period, 1934-42, the band had 22
hit recordings, more than any African-American bandof that period except Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway.

Many of them featured lyrics by a vocal trio of Oliver,
fellow trumpeter Eddie Tompkins and saxophonistclarinetist Willie Smith. Among those in the two-beatswing vein were “Tain’t What You Do”, “I’m Nuts
About Screwy Music” and “The Merry-Go-RoundBroke Down”. As those titles suggest, many Lunceford
hits would be classified as novelty or comic songs
today. Another song, “Posin’”, with Smith on lead
vocal, can be heard as a prescient premonition of thevogue-ing craze in disco a half century later.
The Lunceford band also created some of the great
uptempo instrumentals of the Swing Era, including the
aforementioned “For Dancers Only”, “Rhythm Is Our
Business”, “Lunceford Special” and innovative “Organ
Grinder’s Swing”, in which Oliver used celeste andwood blocks, as well as a baritone saxophone lead. After
Oliver left in 1939, several other bandmembers madetheir exodus in the early ‘40s after realizing Lunceford
was grossly underpaying them compared to other top
big bands. Lunceford died on Jul. 12th, 1947, after
collapsing at an autograph session in Oregon. His
orchestra limped along until 1949, when it disbanded. v

For more information, visit burntsugarindex.com. Burnt
Sugar is at Apollo Theater Feb. 29th. See Calendar.
Recommended Listening:• Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber—Blood on theLeaf, Opus No. 1 (TruGROID, 1998-99)• Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber—That Depends
on What You Know: The Sirens Return—Keep It Real
’Til It Flatlines (TruGROID, 2000-01)• Burnt Sugar/Butch Morris/Pete Cosey/
Melvin Gibbs—The Rites (Avantgroidd, 2002)• Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber—Black Sex Yall:
Liberation & Bloody Random Violets (TruGROID, 2003)• Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber—If You Can’t
Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them
With Your Blisluth (TruGROID, 2004)• Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber—All You
Zombies Dig The Luminosity! (Avantgroidd, 2017)

LEST WE F ORGE T

jimmielunceford
by george kanzler
Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, club date
(weddings, balls etc.) bands. They all owe a debt to the
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. Enormously popularduring the Swing Era—more so than many other morewell-known African-American big bands of the era
today—Lunceford’s big band was also the originatorand purveyor of a unique rhythm: two-beat swing.
While we overwhelmingly associate the Swing Erawith 4/4 uptempo rhythms, Lunceford’s band
developed and perfected a 2/4 swing rhythm. Dorsey
hired away Lunceford’s chief architect of that sound,
trumpeter/arranger/vocalist Sy Oliver, in 1939.
Sinatra, of course, sang with Dorsey, but he loved twobeat swing so much that it propelled his Swingin’
album for Capitol in the late ‘50s. Miller was more
inspired by the look of Lunceford’s band than the twobeat swing, although Lunceford’s “For Dancers Only”
can be heard as a template for some of the Miller band’s
popular riff-based uptempo tunes. Miller saw a highly

10 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Recommended Listening:• Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra—
The Chronological: 1930-1934; 1934-1935; 1935-1937;
1937-1939; 1939; 1939-1940 (Classics, 1930-40)• Jimmie Lunceford—The Complete Jimmie Lunceford
Decca Sessions (Mosaic, 1934-35)

L ABEL SPOTLIGHT

newamsterdamby kurt gottschalk
F or musicians creating work that falls between theusual boundaries, finding an audience isn’t the only
worry. Getting their music recorded and distributed
can also be a challenge when so many labels hold fast
to long-established borders between predetermined
and marketable categories. There are exceptions, ofcourse, but few labels inhabit that buffer zone soavowedly as Brooklyn’s New Amsterdam Records.
“Our mandate is really trying to represent records
that would not have a home in other places because
they don’t have a foot in traditional genres,” says
William Brittelle who—with fellow composers Judd
Greenstein and Sarah Kirkland Snider—founded New
Amsterdam Records in 2008. “Stylistic diversity is very
important to us. Obviously we’re coming from aclassical/new music place, but we’re trying to branch
out more and more.”
Indeed, that first year saw eight releases—
including Brittelle’s own Mohair Time Warp, asurprising merging of art song, commercial jingles andvarious pop and rock forms—that set a standard for
fresh works by living composers with, perhaps, lessthan an established track record.
But the following year saw a broadening scope,even with less than half the titles. The release of Infernal
Machines by Darcy James Argue’s 18-piece SecretSociety gave the fledgling label its first stake in the jazz
world, even if it was more by happenstance thanReal Enemies
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society

strategy. The release was the result of being in the rightplace at the right time, when Brittelle and his co-artistic
directors found themselves in the audience for one ofArgue’s concerts. “We were aware of his blog and we
all went to see a show of his at Le Poisson Rouge andwe were all fawning over it,” Brittelle said. “There
were stretches that sounded like [Steve Reich’s] Musicfor 18 Musicians or TV on the Radio. We greatly admire
what he and John [Hollenbeck] have been able to do,having an ensemble of that size for so many years.”
Keeping a big band active in this day and age iscertainly no mean feat and having a supportive recordlabel certainly helps make the endeavor remain viable.
In 2018, New Amsterdam put out Hollenbeck’s All Can
Work, the third release with his 20-piece Large
Ensemble. The album included five of Hollenbeck’s
original compositions along with some lesser-known
Billy Strayhorn and Kenny Wheeler pieces and amemorable arrangement of a Kraftwerk tune.
Hollenbeck came to the label with the album in mind,
Brittelle said. “When he reached out to us, we werereally excited,” he said. “He was a musician that weheld up as a beacon of creative freedom.”Hollenbeck was fairly well established by the time
he came to New Amsterdam, but that’s certainly nottrue of all the artists and projects the label takes on.
Infernal Machines, for example, was the first SecretSociety release. The label has a stated interest in artist
development, even while doing so without signing
exclusive contracts with its artists. It’s a businessstrategy more likely to come from artists than from
corporate interests.
“We try to figure out how to build infrastructure or
guide people through that first record or two and makeEponymousJohn Hollenbeck Large Ensemble

Alula
Caroline Davisit through to building an audience,” Brittelle said.
“That’s more difficult for a larger label to do. If they
haven’t built an audience, that doesn’t make sense.”
But larger labels have their advantages as well and
New Amsterdam isn’t opposed to the marketplace
positioning made possible through corporate
affiliation. After several years of negotiations, in 2019the label announced a partnership with Nonesuch,a part of the Warner Music Group. The two companies
have co-released albums by Brittelle, Pulitzer-winningcomposer Caroline Shaw and electro-acoustic composer
Daniel Wohl.
Despite the considerable difference in size, though,Brittelle described the Nonesuch pairing as an equal
partnership. “In many ways, it feels like a peer-to-peer
relationship,” he said. “Nonesuch has such trust with
its audience and that trust is based on the quality ofwork they’ve put out over the years. They’re a labelthat we’ve really admired and hold up as one example
of content over stylistic cohesion. It felt like a huge
jump for us to have Nonesuch’s stamp of approvalover what we were doing.”
While christening the new partnership last year,
New Amsterdam put out an additional 19 titles without
the Nonesuch imprint. And in what might be seen as aswing toward the other direction, several of those were
download-only releases in the label’s Windmill series,
including a collection of solo improvisations bysaxophonist Travis LaPlante recorded at intimate
concerts in his home.
Last year also saw an unusual release by Mary
Halvorson (which, in a fortuitous bit of timing, was set
for release just weeks after the announcement of her
			(CONTINUED ON PAGE 13)

A Tangle of Stars
Mary Halvorson/John Dieterich

Human
Travis LaPlante

VOX NEWSRIGHT AMOUNT OF SWEET
by suzanne lorge

Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis’ new release with the
16-piece Uptown Jazz Orchestra (UJO), Jazz Party(Troubadour Jass) opens with New Orleans singer
Tonya Boyd-Cannon asserting a salty blues riff on thetitle tune. Boyd-Cannon, a Top-20 finalist on the
popular TV show The Voice, has one of those instrumentsthat can do most anything, it’s so powerful. She’s best
known as a soul and R&B singer, though she’sclassically trained and knows her way around a scatsolo. Despite such diva credentials, however, when thetrumpets join her on that opening riff she falls into thesyncopated groove like a member of the horn section.
Regrettably, Boyd-Cannon sings only on the opening
track. But while the album is light on sung vocals, thespoken word sections stand out for their exuberance.
Dr. Brice Miller, an academic/musician/performance
artist based in The Big Easy, contributes a light-hearted
rap about the delights of his hometown: “I’m so New
Orleans I know everything that makes my city special
is black,” he intones on “So New Orleans”. And actor
Karen Livers delivers a teasing monologue over the
UJO’s bluesy vamp “Mboya’s Midnight Cocktail”,
promising to be “hot with just the right amount ofsweet”. In and around all of these cheeky vocals, theUJO churns out its swinging, funky, dancehall-inspired
tracks. Makes you want to be there. While the UJO has
been performing together regularly for almost a
decade, Jazz Party is only their second album. They
sometimes visit New York: Marsalis, Boyd-Cannon
and the UJO headlined at the Rockwood Music Hall
just last month. But the best place to catch them would
be at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro in the French Quarterof New Orleans, where they play two sets mostWednesday nights.
Like Marsalis and the UJO, French singer
Elizabeth Bougerol loved the big-horn sound of
vintage jazz bands and wanted to front one, so a little
over 10 years ago she founded The Hot Sardines withpianist Evan Palazzo. Universal Music Classics/Decca
Records now represents the tightly interwoven
ensemble, which plays about 100 shows a year. Not
bad. The group recorded their latest disc, Welcome
Home, Bon Voyage (Eleven), two years ago at the RoyalConservatory of Music in Toronto and Joe’s Pub in
New York. The album’s dozen tracks recall the early
20th Century with their high-energy swing andDixieland sounds; vocally, Bougerol switches easily
among bluesy songstress (“After You’ve Gone”), coy
vixen (“Everybody Loves My Baby”) and jazz doyenne(“Caravan”). Bougerol, too, honors the birthplace ofher group’s classic sound—on the album’s final track,a reprise of “(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey”, she

added her own lyrics as a lead-in to an impromptu
sing-along with the Toronto audience. “I’ve never been
to New Orleans,” she sang. “I’ve never met thosevoodoo queens—I wanna get some rice and beans!”
For those who might be inclined to sing along, Bougerol
and The Hot Sardines will play Birdland through Feb.
1st. But if you miss that one, the following evening,Feb. 2nd, Birdland will host another hot contemporary
big band, the 17-person New Alchemy Jazz Orchestra,featuring Nicole Zuraitis on vocals.
Singer/pianist/educator Alexis Cole explores the
foibles of modern romance in “Love Me or Leave Me:
Tin Pan Alley Talks Tinder”, also at Birdland (Feb.
17th), two days after she completes a special Valentine’s
Day run at the Cotton Club in Tokyo. Here’s the rub:because of the Tokyo engagement, Cole will have tomiss her usual Valentine’s Day Jukebox gig at
ArtsWestchester in White Plains, NY. So she’s lined up
two of her most promising students from SUNYPurchase to sub: Lucy Wijnands, who recently
completed a five-month residency with the Birdland
Big Band, and Samara Joy McLendon, this year ’s
winner of the Sarah Vaughan Competition.
More sweet stuff: Roberta Gambarini offers up a
Valentine’s Weekend Celebration at Blue Note (Feb.
13th-16th) and, in another homage to Cupid, Jazz at
Lincoln Center will present both Dianne Reeves (Rose
Theater, Feb. 14th-15th) and Freddy Cole (Dizzy’s
Club, Feb. 14th-16th). v

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 11

i n memoriam

alan nahigian

vic
juris
by andrey henkin

V ic Juris, the respected guitarist and longtime

educator, who had a long association with saxophonist
Dave Liebman and over two dozen albums for Muse,
Jazzpoint, ZOHO, Mel Bay and, most prolifically,
Denmark’s SteepleChase, died on New Year ’s Eve at 66
after a long struggle against liver cancer.
Juris (né Victor E. Jurusz, Jr.) was born in Jersey
City, NJ on Sep. 29th, 1953. The guitarist’s earliest
associations were saxophonist Eric Kloss, on whose
1975 Muse album Bodies’ Warmth Juris made hisrecording debut, and, through Kloss, fellow guitarist
Pat Martino, who recommended him to organ player
Don Patterson. This led to more work with other organ
players like Jimmy Smith and Wild Bill Davis. As wascommon during the ‘70s, Juris had a parallel career
working within the fusion milieu with peers such as
Barry Miles and in his own groups. As he recounted to
Ryan Blotnick for this gazette in 2011, “I was playing a
Les Paul and using effects and things... Return toForever was big then, with Mahavishnu Orchestra andLarry Coryell, so a lot of us were gravitating towardthat stuff. ‘Cause we were coming up in the ‘60s,
listening to Hendrix, you know, all that stuff. So wewere kind of bringing that into the jazz thing. The
older guys, they hated that stuff!”
The ‘70s saw Juris recording with Patterson, Miles,
saxophonist Richie Cole and releasing his debut,
Roadsong (Muse, 1978), which included former
Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist Rick Laird. He would
make two more albums for Muse through 1982,
Horizon Drive and Bleecker Street. The ‘80s saw
collaborations with fellow guitarists Biréli Lagrène
and John Etheridge, plus dates with Rio Clemente, Bill
Goodwin, Dan Krimm, Brian Torff, Mel Tormé, Coleand others.
It was during the ‘90s that Juris made his mostimportant association, with Miles Davis alum Liebman.
The guitarist would appear on over two-dozen of thesaxophonist’s albums from 1990-91’s Classic Ballads to2010’s Lineage. Speaking to Blotnick, Juris explained
Liebman’s influence on his own playing: “He writes
everything, basically, from the piano. I kind of try to
get as close as I can to that sound when I’m working on
it. I’ve fortunately been able to bring a lot of that typeof harmony to my own playing, my own writing. It’s
really been valuable; he’s a master musician and he’sshown me a lot about harmony.” Juris himself would
go on to influence many younger players as an educatorat The New School, Lehigh and Rutgers Universities, aperiod that found him recording prolifically for
SteepleChase, over a dozen albums since 1995.
He gave Blotnick a final piece of advice in 2011:“When you go to school you should write everything
down and then you have the rest of your life to sort itout. Life becomes a natural editor.”

GARY BARONE (Dec. 12th, 1941-Dec.
24th, 2019). The Detroit-born trumpeter,brother to trombonist Mike Barone andson of Joe Barone, had credits under
Joe Masters, Joe Torres, Bob Thiele,
Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, Frank
Strazzeri, Shelly Manne, Tom Scott andothers while based on the West Coast (where he also
led his own big band), to go along with session work,
participation in several Frank Zappa large ensemble
albums and a handful of dates as a leader. Barone died
Dec. 24th at 78.
WILLY BISCHOF (Jan. 28th, 1945Dec. 23rd, 2019). The Swiss keyboard
player added journalist for his country’s
Radio DRS II to his resumé later in life,
but was a part of the jazz and jazzfusion bands Open Music Group andTetragon in the ‘70s and released
records as a leader and did production
work for Switzerland’s TCB Records in the ‘90s. Bischof
died Dec. 23rd at 74.
HERBERT JOOS (Mar. 21st, 1940-Dec.
7th, 2019). The German trumpeter/
flugelhornist had two releases on JAPO
during the ‘70s in a leader discography
also including dates for FMP, pläne,
Sesam, Extraplatte, Mood, ECM,
EmArcy, Jazzwerkstatt, Double Moon
and Jazzhaus through 2017, was a member of obscurefree jazz band Modern Jazz Quintet Karlsruhe in the‘60s, co-led Fourmenonly in the ‘70s and Südpool inthe ‘90s, had credits with Hans Koller, Wolfgang
Lackerschmid, Patrick Bebelaar and others, was alongtime member of Vienna Art Orchestra and had aparallel career as a painter and photographer, his work
appearing on both sides of LPs by Baden Powell, Dave
Liebman, S.O.H., Horace Parlan, Don Menza andothers. Joos died Dec. 7th at 79.
CHRISTIAN KELLENS (Jan. 18th,
1925-Dec. 31st, 2019). The Belgian
trombonist was a member of the famed
International
Youth
Jazz
Band
(alongside Ronnie Ross, Rudolph
Jacobs, Gabor Szabo, George Gruntz,
Bernt Rosengren, Albert Mangelsdorff,
Erich Kleinschuster, Duško Gojković and others) that
played the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and also worked
with Henri Renaud, Kurt Edelhagen, ChristianChevallier and Kenny Clarke while based in Europe
and, after relocating to Argentina, Jorge Lopez Ruiz
and Alberto Favero. Kellens died Dec. 31st at 94.
GARRETT LIST (Sep. 10th, 1943-Dec.
27th, 2019). The trombonist/composer ’s
debut came on Max Schubel’s Opus
One in 1972, which was followed byalbums on Horo, Lovely Music, Igloo
and Carbon 7 to go along with sessions
under Frederic Rzewski, Anthony
Braxton, Keshavan Maslak, Willem Breuker and
Morton Feldman as well as ‘80s participation in the
ICP Orchestra. List died Dec. 27th at 76.
JACQUES MORGANTINI (Feb. 21st,
1924-Dec. 2nd, 2019). The French
producer and longtime Chair of
Hot-Club de France supervised jazzand blues sessions as well as reissues
and compilations for Black and Blue,
EPM Musique and Frémeaux &Associés, which included sessions by Lionel Hampton,
Jelly Roll Morton, Tiny Grimes, Arnett Cobb, Illinois
Jacquet, Milt Buckner, Buddy Tate and others.
Morgantini died Dec. 2nd at 95.

12 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDEMIL RICHARDS (Sep. 2nd, 1932-Dec.
14th,2019).
The
vibraphonist/
percussionist’s discography was massive,
starting in the late ‘50s with George
Shearing; continuing into the ‘60s withPaul Horn, Shorty Rogers, Neal Hefti,
Barney Kessel, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy
Gillespie, Hugh Masekela, Shelly Manne, Gabor Szabo,
Victor Feldman, Ravi Shankar, Frank Zappa, Willie Ruffand Stan Kenton; Lalo Schifrin, Roger Kellaway, Gerry
Mulligan, Carmen McRae, Henry Mancini, John Klemmer,
George Duke, Alphonse Mouzon, Herb Alpert, Quincy
Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Bellson, The Singers
Unlimited and L. Subramaniam in the ‘70s; then session
work throughout the ‘80s, hundreds of sessions leaving
little time for leader dates, of which he had only a couple
in the late ‘60s and then again in the mid ‘90s. Richards
died Dec. 14th at 87.
JACK SHELDON (Nov. 30, 1931-Dec.
27th, 2019). The trumpeter was amonga handful on his instrument who werealso known for their vocals, playing
and singing on his own albums for
Capitol, Beez, V.S.O.P., Concord andButterfly, plus releases by Shelly
Manne, Victor Feldman, Woody Herman, Rosemary
Clooney, Jake Hanna, Tom Klubis and others (plusepisodes of Schoolhouse Rock and The Simpsons), in
addition to hundreds of instrumental credits with
Jimmy Giuffre, Mel Lewis, Quincy Jones, Dave Pell,
Bill Holman, Johnny Mandel, Art Pepper, Stan Kenton,
Benny Goodman, Rolf Kühn, Anita O’Day, Neal Hefti,
Peggy Lee, Henry Mancini, Herbie Mann, Gary Burton,
Lena Horne, Marty Paich, Vic Lewis, Diane Schuur andmany others. Sheldon died Dec. 27th at 88. v

(INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)TNYCJR: On the record, one of the players mentions
that Lionel really liked some pop musicians and songs
like “Stayin’ Alive” and “Light My Fire”. Is there any
pop music that interests you?
JM: When I was coming up, for some odd reason, a lotof pop music I would get through my [trombonist]
brother Delfeayo. Like, for example, when he firstcame back to New Orleans, he was moving into his
house and I just remember I was helping him unpack
and while we’re doing that, he puts on a record by theband Parliament, The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein. And I
remember thinking, damn, this is better than the music
they got now. I’ve got to check this out. While I was inhigh school I started to really get into the music of the‘70s. Like once my father [pianist Ellis] and I were
having a discussion about the singer Donny Hathaway.
And he just said to me, “man, if you have a chance to
get a record called Extensions of a Man, get that one.” So
I went and got it and it’s a great record.
TNYCJR: What are your favorite Hampton recordings?
JM: My favorite solo was the Gene Norman’s Just Jazz
concert where he plays “Stardust”. It was a really long
version too, especially for that time. On Duke
Ellington’s recording at Newport, “Diminuendo andCrescendo in Blue”, Paul Gonsalves’ solo was one of
the first extended solos on record but “Stardust”
was 10 years earlier and Hamp plays at the end of it forfive minutes. It’s a really long solo, but it’s an amazing
solo. I think my favorite recording would be between
the boxed set with Oscar Peterson and the trio session
with him, Buddy Rich and Art Tatum, where they do“Hallelujah Again” and they just fire that up. It’s
unbelievable. What’s funny is, when I was doing a gig
with the Hampton Big Band, I introduced it and I told
the story, “Here’s a tune that I first heard when I was inhigh school. It was a recording with Hampton and Art
Tatum and Buddy Rich and they just set the tune on fireand now we’re going to do a big band arrangement ofit.” And I don’t know if Christian Fabian had heard it
per se, because he sent me a text later—he was listening
to it—he’s like, man, you were right about this one.
TNYCJR: What’s next for you?
JM: I’m going to do some recording with my father,just the two of us, but I’m going to be playing vibes.
I’ve never done that, so I’m really looking forward toit. I also have this group that I call The BGQ Exploration,
where we explore the music of the Benny Goodman
Quartet. I’m going to stay on that path and try todevelop some more things with that sound. And I’mreally going to keep discussing the music of Hampton
and getting that music out there, so people can know
how important it was. v
For
more
information,
visit
jasonmarsalis.com.
Lionel Hampton Big Band with Jason Marsalis is at Birdland
Feb. 4th-8th. See Calendar.
Recommended Listening:• Ellis Marsalis Trio—On The First Occasion (ELM, 1998)• The Marsalis Family—A Jazz Celebration(Toshiba EMI—Marsalis Music, 2001)• John Ellis & Double Wide—
Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow (Hyena, 2007)• Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet—In A World Of Mallets(Basin Street, 2012)• Jason Marsalis and The 21st Century Trad Band—

Melody Reimagined: Book 1 (Basin Street, 2017)• Lionel Hampton Big Band (featuring Jason Marsalis)—

Live At Rossmoor (Alfi, 2019)(label CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11)
MacArthur “Genius Grant”) paired with Deerhoof’s John
Dieterich, each playing a variety of string instruments inaddition to their usual guitars. The 2019 roster also
included a set of songs by flutist Nathalie Joachim
incorporating traditional Haitian music and recordings ofher grandmother speaking and a girl’s choir from herchildhood home in Dantan. The guiding force behind thediversity of releases, Brittelle said, is “being conscientiousof what our infrastructure is built to serve. It’s not that we
think that music that is genre-fluid is better than otherkinds of music, it’s just that that our infrastructure is built
toward working with that,” he explained. “There would
certainly be all kinds of artists that we greatly admire thatwould not be a match for that.”
Whatever the form, or hybrid, an artist is working
in, Brittelle stressed that the label’s goal is first andforemost to give musicians and composers room to
grow. “It’s really important for artists to not knowwhat they’re doing,” he said. “They’re on their own
journeys and they have to make mistakes or not makemistakes. There’s a great amount of value in exercising
as little control as possible.” v
For more information, visit newamrecords.com. Artists
performing this month include Caroline Davis at The Owl
Music Parlor Feb. 9th; Mary Halvorson at The Stone at The
New School Feb. 6th; and Sam Sadigursky at Town &Village Synagogue Feb. 13th. See Calendar.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 13

album REVIEWSThe Omni-American Book Club(My Journey Through Literature in Music)
Brian Lynch Big Band (Holistic Musicworks)by George Kanzler

Trumpeter Brian Lynch has kept his hand in two
distinct genres for most of his four-decade career,equally adept at straightahead hardbop and AfroLatinjazz. He’s also become a first-class composer-arranger
for big bands (winning a Grammy with Eddie Palmieri
for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2007) and, in fact, thisalbum just won the award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble
at last month’s Grammys. Lynch uses a variety of
AfroLatin rhythms, but this is a wide-ranging album,
with loads of swinging 4/4 as well. The title is drawn
from a book by the African-American cultural critic
Albert Murray, one of many authors Lynch cites in his
subtitles (two for each composition). Most of the books
in his “club” are socio-political or cultural, dealing
with existential problems of race and identity. Reading
Lynch’s comments about them is a good primer forembarking on a literary voyage of discovery but that’s
not necessary to appreciate the music.
This is music full of flair and brio, played withsharp precision and packed with inspiring solos aswell as exciting, full-tilt ensemble passages. Lynch has
certain stylistic tropes and gestures that carry fromAcademy Records& CDs
Cash for new and usedcompact discs,vinyl
records, blu-rays anddvds.
We buy and sell all
genres of music.
All sizes of collections
welcome.
For large collections,please call to set up an
appointment.
Open 7 days a week 11-7

12 W. 18th Street NY, NY 10011
212-242-3000

track to track, like themes overlapping in round or
fugue fashion or chase choruses, and often expands his
palette with woodwinds where one would expect
saxophones. His love of AfroLatin rhythms is also
liable to break out at unexpected times: at least threepieces that start out as straightahead swing acquire amontuño rhythm along the way.
The AfroLatin beat is there at the get-go on opener“Crucible for Crisis”, guest Orlando ‘Maraca’ Valle’s
flute prominently in the ensemble lead as well as
soloing and trading fours with Lynch over rhythms
enlivened by guest drummer Dafnis Prieto. Other
standout tracks include “Affective Affinities”, a bolerolike ballad with guest Regina Carter ’s violin sharing
the theme and solos with Lynch; “The Trouble with
Elysium”, a swinger with fierce exchanges between
tenor saxophonist Gary Keller and guest sopranosaxophonist Dave Leibman (one of those that spins off
into montuño with Lynch and pianist Alex Brown’ssolos); and “Africa My Land”, full of subtly shifting,contrasting passages over a Highlife-inflected 6/8. The
project has nine separate compositions, but to fill out
two CDs, two are presented in “extended” versions on
the second CD along with the last three. “The Struggle
Is In Your Name” and “Woody Shaw” are worth
hearing both times. The former has distinctly different
solos from Lynch and guest alto saxophonist Donald
Harrison on each. The latter is expanded with a second
trumpeter, Jean Caze, whose solo rivals the leader ’s.
For more information, visit hollisticmusicworks.com

voices intertwining over a rumbling backdrop, “IceAge” is unlike anything else in her catalogue and makes
a singular ending to a terrific disc.
It’s the ensemble that is Fujii’s instrument on
Entity, the 11th release by her 13-strong Orchestra New
York, as she conducts but does not play. With a starry
cast, including saxophonists Tony Malaby, Ellery
Eskelin and Briggan Krauss, the vast majority of whom
have been on board since the outfit’s inception in 1997,
realization of her charts is in safe hands. Although thepieces incorporate Fujii’s trademark interlocking
sections, suspenseful pauses and raging ostinati, thistime out there’s also an organic feel, perhaps due to
Fujii’s conduction on the fly. The title cut starts off
as almost a double concerto for two of the newbies:
drummer Ches Smith and guitarist Nels Cline. After aninaugural clash, Smith begins a solo that sounds likeseveral rocks careening down a mountainside,although the full-on avalanche doesn’t materialize
until Cline cuts loose later in the piece. “Flashback”
features Joe Fiedler ’s slippery wah-wahed trombone inconsort with Stomu Takeishi’s grumbling electric bass,
as well as a chirpy alto saxophone soliloquy from
Oscar Noriega. However, the lengthy “Gounkaiku” atthe center of the program showcases Fujii’s writing,notable for varied textures and unhurried development.
It begins with a series of dissonances built fromoverlapping horns, evolving into a dignified
processional and a brightly argued trumpet solo from
Dave Ballou, before a concluding sequence of orchestralmurmurs. Such imaginative arrangements with theirintegral solo spots are testament to the depth, maturity
and skill of both Fujii’s conception and the band.
For more information, visit librarecords.com. Fujii is at
Roulette Feb. 11th. See Calendar.

Baikamo
Toh-Kichi (Satoko Fujii/Tatsuya Yoshida) (Libra)
EntitySatoko Fujii Orchestra New York (Libra)
by John Sharpe

In spite of Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii’s prodigious
output, with every new addition to her discography
she finds some as yet underexposed facet of her artistry
to explore, whether that be as composer or improviser,
as solo performer or part of a larger assemblage. But
what’s as remarkable as the number is the sustained
quality of each issue, as borne out by the very different
discs here.
Fujii combines with drummer Tatsuya Yoshida,founder of the avant rock group Ruins, for a dynamite
duo offering on Baikamo. The 16 tracks comprise 4 fromthe pen of each of the principals, interleaved between 8
improvs. A bandmate in Fujii’s quartet in the ‘90s,
Yoshida brings a crisp prog sensibility to the date, bothin his performance and authorship, which meshes wellwith Fujii. On pieces like the pianist’s “Rolling Down”
they move in lockstep, maintaining the intensity
throughout. Yoshida seems to make time for his precise
figures no matter the space available, through thesurging vamps and involved themes. Fujii melds
melody and rhythm in a personal style, which can also
accommodate the crashing, jabbing thunder she enjoys,
as well as the preparations and manipulations of the
piano interior that enliven the timbral interplay. One ofthe pleasures of this outing is to hear Fujii indulging thetempestuous side of her nature. Even on the collectives,
Fujii generates reiterated motifs, seemingly on the hoof,
which provide drama and form and create structure andorder amid the tumult, but not so much as to lose thedelectable sense of transgression. That’s particularly thecase on “Ovgwebkwum”, where she alternates rattlingon the piano frame with stately chording. Though short,each cut is filled with adventure. With its glacial ethereal

14 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

february 4th
Diane Moser’s
Composers Big Bandfebruary 11th
Enrico Granafei
february 17th
Bill Warrington
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UNEARTHED GEM

Why Don’t You Listen? - Live At LACMA, 1998
Horace Tapscott With The Pan-Afrikan Peoples
Arkestra And The Great Voice Of UGMAA(Dark Tree)by Stuart Broomer

During his lifetime, Horace Tapscott (1934-1999)
was best-known to the wider jazz world as the
pianist-composer-leader of allstar small groupsessions from the ‘90s. On Dark Tree, Aiee! The
Phantom and Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam, he wasvariously joined by clarinetist John Carter, bassists
Cecil McBee, Reggie Workman and Ray Drummondand drummers Andrew Cyrille and Billy Hart.
Dark Tree is held in such esteem that it lends its
name to the French record label that released thepresent work and Steve Isoardi’s 2006 study subtitled Jazz and The Community Arts In Los Angeles(University of California Press). Isoardi, also authorof an earlier book on Tapscott, contributes the liner
essay here.
As Why Don’t You Listen? shows, Tapscott’s Los
Angeles groups, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra(PAPA) and the choir Great Voice of UGMAA, were
his ultimate focus. The first incarnations date fromthe ‘60s, PAPA from 1961 and UGMAA (Underground
Musicians and Artists Association) 1963, the latter
acronym later changing meaning to the Union ofGod’s Musicians and Artists Ascension. The names
and the music place Tapscott in the same orbit as
Sun Ra, Randy Weston and John Coltrane. This 1998
concert from the Los Angeles County Museum of
Art was the last at which Tapscott was well enoughto participate fully.
PAPA includes nine musicians with the emphasisstrongly on the rhythm section. Michael Session’s
saxophones and Phil Ranelin’s trombone are held
aloft by piano, three basses (Alan Hines, Louis
Large, Trevor Ware) and three percussionists (Najite
Agindotan, Donald Dean, Bill Madison), a dense,
throbbing, driving power. “Aiee! The Phantom”
immediately demonstrates the hypnotic energy all
those drums and basses can bring to an ostinato,building to a peak that launches Session’s
incantatory tenor solo of Coltrane-like power andRanelin’s own controlled meditation. They’re notplaying a lot of notes, just the right ones, over andover again.
The version of Duke Ellington-Juan Tizol’s“Caravan” is an extended fantasia, Dwight Trible’s
yodeling vocal (think Leon Thomas) landing on theoriginal melody only at the conclusion after an
extended percussion passage featuring conga
drummer Adingotan. Trible leads the ten-voice
UGMAA choir on the African-inspired “Fela Fela”,
with lyrics by Adingotan. The rousing title track
namechecks a host of musicians, pointedly including
both icons (Bird, Trane, Lady Day) and former
Arkestra members Everett Brown and Carmel
Crunk, insistently focusing on community. “Little
Africa”, by Linda Hill, matriarch of UGMAA, is abuoyant, joyous conclusion, highlighting Trible andthe horns as well as the choir and band.
For more information, visit darktree-records.com

A previously unreleased
treasure and the final everrecording from the world’s
greatest drummer,
Buddy Rich.

“Swing perfection”
Jazz Wax“Excellent”

The Wall Street Journal
For more information,
visit gearboxrecords.com

Standard Edition CD/2xLP
Deluxe Edition 2xCD/3xLP& Digital

YEARS

gearboxrecords.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 15

GLO B E UNIT Y

wanting to come back for more. A more effective way
to end the album would have been another Miller
work, “Go” (track seven). This is a fully realized piece,
beginning pleasantly and trippingly and evolving intofull big band swing. Solos by saxophonist Alejandro
Aviles and Tucker feature creative ideas and solid
technique and, best of all, there is another fine
showcase for the drums.

Stand On Your Feet and Fight(Voices of the Danish West Indies)Peter Jensen & DR Big Band (ILK Music)
Elephantine
Maurice Louca (Northern-Spy)
Sudoku pour PygméesJean Derome (Ambiances Magnétiques)by Tom Greenland

Large ensembles are an ideal setting for imaginative
composer/improvisers seeking more voices, thicker
chords, denser counterpoint. This month spotlights
inventive big band projects by leaders based in
Copenhagen, Cairo and Montréal, respectively.
Trombonist Peter Jensen and Danish Radio Big
Band’s Stand On Your Feet and Fight (Voices of theDanish West Indies) is the most restrained in its
instrumentation. Overtly political, it addresses
Denmark’s legacy of colonial slave trafficking, themusic serving as a comment on and counterpoint tovoices heard on field recordings from the former
Danish West Indies. These (mostly) women’s voices
relate horror stories of “bad men” and cruelty, calling
for righteous defiance as muted horns swell andundulate, hushed wind chorales whisper underneathor soft chiming tones rain down.
The sparse
accompaniment takes its cue from Henrik Gunde’s
pensive piano, heightened by touches of Hans Ulrik’s
ranging saxophone. Occasionally, as on “Bad Men in
St. Croix”, the title track and “Triangular Trade”,
Jensen’s subtle writing adds wordless commentary.
For Elephantine, his third date as a leader,
Egyptian composer Maurice Louca switched focus
from keyboard to guitar, from rock and electronic
dance music to densely layered ‘bilingual’ beatswith increasingly ecstatic solos. His 12-pieceensemble combines Egyptian, Irani and Turkishmusicians versed in Arabic traditions with Danes,
Italians and Swedes steeped in free improv. The
pulses are strong, built on cyclic figures and motifs
incessantly iterated over rocking backbeats whileserpentine melodies coil and uncoil and restlesshorns probe the outer timbres and tonalities. “In thePalm of a Ghost” employs the half-flatted pitches
and idiomatic ornamentation of Middle Easternmāqamāt (melodic modes), doubled on oud, violin,guitar and voice. “One More for the Gutter” and thetitle track feature simultaneous soloing, adding an
ethereal dimension to the earthy grooves.
On Sukoku pour Pygmées, reedplayer Jean Derome,a central presence in Quebec’s new music collective
Ambiances Magnétiques, culls three works composed
ten years apart. Starting with Les Dangereux Zhoms(pianist Guillaume Dostaler, bassist Pierre Cartier,drummer Pierre Tanguay), the foursome is augmented
by violin, two more woodwinds, three horns (includingtuba), electric guitar, percussion, plus a director to cue
events. The title track, a flexible canon, derives froma Sudoku puzzle solution, with two parent scales(together containing all 12 pitches) and independentassignments for each voice, generating a decentered
yet well-balanced contrapuntal web. “7 Danses (pour«15»)”, a suite, ranges from roiling folk dance to offkilter jazz waltz to rubato pastoral. “5 pensées (pour lecaoutchouc dur)” is expansive, carnivalesque, fueled
by low tumbling horns, vocalistic cries, climaxing in asmooth but skronky polka.
For
more
information,
visit
northernspyrecs.com and actuellecd.com

ilkmusic.com,

Live
The Birdland Big Band (Birdland)by Marilyn Lester

F or over 20 years, starting with the Lew Anderson Big
Band in 1997, which morphed into the Birdland Big
Band (BBB), there’s been an orchestral presence at
Birdland Jazz Club, playing every early Friday evening.
After Anderson’s death in 2006, drummer Tommy Igoe
took over and, since 2017, the BBB has been led bysaxophonist David DeJesus. The BBB discography has
been limited to two CDs in 2007 and 2008 but now,
finally, Live further immortalizes the BBB as theinstitution within an institution that it is. The CDfeatures 12 tracks of both standards and newcompositions by bandmembers. It’s a solid piece ofwork that will gladden the hearts of big band
aficionados and those who love a well-considered,
traditional approach to jazz.
The personnel are all talented players who
demonstrate potential for higher levels of musicalgrowth and as a collective they produce a fairly
cohesive sound. The opening track, appropriately the
George Shearing standard “Lullaby of Birdland”,
arranged by trombonist Mark Miller, accomplishes theover-arching raison d’être of the band’s residency:
energetic swinging in the Count Basie band style. It’san ethic repeated in Thad Jones’ “Let’s”, with its Chris
Smith drum solo intro, in a zippy and demanding
arrangement by pianist/educator and big band master
Dave Lalama.
The album benefits from the tracks featuring theresident “girl singer”, the rapidly up-and-coming
Veronica Swift. She’s firmly rooted into classic swing
style, not derivative of but reminiscent of Ella
Fitzgerald. In her interpretation of Frederick LoeweAlan Jay Lerner ’s “On the Street Where You Live”,
arranged by another big band maven, pianist Steven
Feifke, she’s in a lyrical mode, as she is on an
arrangement by yet another big band specialist, Dave
Wolpe, of the George and Ira Gershwin standard“Someone to Watch Over Me”. But it’s on Harry
Warren-Al Dubin’s “September in the Rain” that Swiftshines, her vocal flexibility and capacities, particularly
in vocalese, brought to the fore. It’s no surprise that theballad, in this swing version, works so well for Swift;
the arrangement is by the brilliant pianist Tedd Firth,whose work with jazz vocalists is central to his career.
Likewise, the classic Quincy Jones arrangement ofDuke Ellington-Harry James-Johnny Hodges-Don
George’s “I’m Beginning to See the Light” is a primeexample of why the 20-something singer has a dazzling
career ahead of her.
DeJesus is to be commended for featuring his
bandmembers’ own compositions and arrangements.
Saxophonist Tony Lustig’s “Fraytown” is a bluesy,
funky upbeat piece with bright solos by the composer,
as well as trombonist Ron Wilkins and trumpeter
Wayne Tucker. Two tracks, however, point up problems
with uneven sound recording. Kenny Ascher ’s piano isdimmed in “Taking Flight” (composed and arranged
by Lustig), an atmospheric work of musicalonomatopoeia, although a solo by DeJesus is satisfying
in every way. Likewise, in the closing track “Your
Smile” (composed and arranged by Miller), pianoseems far away while solos by Miller and saxophonist
Nathan Childers are clearly in the fore. The piece itself
is pleasant, but breaks no new jazz ground; choosing it
to put a cap on Live doesn’t necessarily leave listeners

16 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

For more information, visit store.cdbaby.com/cd/
thebirdlandbigband. The band is at Birdland Fridays. See
Regular Engagements.

Just In Time: The Final Recording
Buddy Rich (Gearbox)
by John Pietaro

In the annals of jazz drummers, Buddy Rich is ananomaly. If not the fastest that ever lived (and mostsuccessfully argue this credit on his behalf), Rich wassurely the hardest driving. Stepping into the limelightduring the early ‘20s—at four years of age—“Traps theDrum Wonder” grew into the young man who’d takethe big bands by storm. He achieved global fame asa featured player with Tommy Dorsey, to whom he’dreturn multiple times in his career. Buddy also recorded
historic discs with Charlie Parker and toured as a Jazz
At The Philharmonic heavy.
His first shot at big band leadership was in 1946,
lasting well into the ‘50s after most others had given
up. But Rich formed another big band in the mid ‘60s,
a most unlikely time, and never looked back. Throughthe decades, he thrived while throbbing in hard swing,
only stopping to explode into crackling rim shot fills
and, of course, his own brand of mesmerizingly fastsolos. His band was always a major attraction at jazzfestivals and top venues, one of which was Ronnie
Scott’s in London.
By 1986, Rich was nearing 70. He’d survived
multiple heart attacks and a lifetime of stress (hisagitated eruptions are as legendary as the chops) but
the band maintained its schedule, arriving at Scott’sfor dates on Nov. 19th-20th. These would also prove tobe his final performances (he would die less than six
months later) yet, somehow, Rich was no worse for thewear, in top form, inspiring and driving the young
lions of brass, reed and rhythm around him. As per theliner notes of Cathy Rich, Buddy’s vocalist daughter,
who was present (and singing on “Twisted”), he was“the most relaxed…I had seen in a long time.” Theband counted the late tenor saxophonist Steve Marcus
among its strongest soloists. His urgency pours overmany selections, “Ready Mix” and the Gershwins’“Porgy and Bess” suite among them. Marcus’ impact(he’d been with Rich more than a decade) is also heard
in the improvisations of Chris Bacas, Bob Bowlby andtrumpet player Greg Gisbert.
And what of the leader? He cooks with snapping
fills, brash accents and melodic runs, but Rich’s firsttrue solo isn’t heard till the ninth cut, an inventive,
bristling arrangement of Cole Porter ’s “Love for Sale”.
With the next selection, “Shawnee” by trombonist
Mike Barone, the drummer ’s vexing speed becomes
more evident as he ignites the horns, joyously breakingand ‘conducting’ his 14 musicians with a certain ease.
Buddy Rich was the stuff legends are made of, rightdown to his final dates.
For more information, visit gearboxrecords.com

Hiding Out
Mike Holober/Gotham Jazz Orchestra (ZOHO)by Marco Cangiano

It has been ten years since the last Mike Holober

Gotham Jazz Orchestra CD but it was worth the wait.
This new recording is not only a testament to the
pianist’s approach but also the health of jazz orchestras
in spite of the dire economics of keeping together such alarge number of top-shelf musicians, even for arecording session. Holober has been compared to Duke
Ellington and Gil Evans for his capacity of tailoringmaterial to a particular soloist and impressionistic
approach to composing. Maria Schneider is the next
step in this chain of influences, as confirmed by the factthat a number of these musicians double in bothorchestras. The lushness of the material is unparalleled;the development of multi-layered suites fits Holober’s
ample palette of sounds particularly well. The musicdraws inspiration from environmental concerns andtakes the listener through an extensive journey from
California’s Sierra Nevada down along the Hudson
River, across Wyoming’s beauty and into Brazil’s forests.
“Jumble” sets the scene with a mysterious
introduction, followed by slow layering of the main
themes, leading to excellent solos underlined by
Brazilian carnival-inspired maracatu rhythm; Fender
Rhodes here is reminiscent of Eumir Deodato. “Flow”
is the first of the two suites featured on this recording,a musical journey from upstate down to Harlem. The
sumptuous ensembles provide melodic themes andideal runaways for intense solos by tenor saxophonist
Jason Rigby in “Tear”, trumpeter Marvin Stamm in“Opalescence” and alto saxophonist Billy Drewes andtrumpeter Scott Wendholt in “Harlem”. Echoes of
Native American music as well as Aaron Copland’s
Appalachia abound, adding to the dramatic tension
within and across each of the suite’s segments.
The title suite is one of evocative depth andcomplexity and yet very musical, connecting moods,
paces and ensemble and solo contributions seamlessly,
its “Prelude” announced via Ben Kono’s piccolo. Solo
piano introduces “Compelled”, which then sweeps likea warm breeze across the prairies, building tension
subtly, resolved by guitarist Steve Cardenas savoringeach note. The piece comes to a virtual halt from which
piano emerges unaccompanied at first and then joined

by John Hébert’s bouncy bass and Mark Ferber’s
reserved drumming. The orchestra winds down leaving
the piano to wrap up as it started. Two brief pieces,“Four Haiku” and “Interlude” (the latter a piano solo),provide a sort of respite before the suite closes with its
longest and most complex segment, “It Was the Wind”.
Introduced once again by Holober, the movement
develops via broad musical strokes, leaving ample spacefor Jon Gordon’s alto and Adam Kolker’s tenor. Finally,
two delicate versions of Antônio Carlos Jobim’s“Caminhos Cruzados” showcase Stamm’s lyrical voice.
A few words on Holober the pianist. His lyricalstyle has benefitted many recordings over the years but
it is here that the listener can truly appreciate his fullrange, particularly his very tasteful use of the Fender
Rhodes as a counterpoint to the dense orchestral textures.

As stated earlier, Gustafsson is a musical omnivore,
his LP collection a thing of legend. Other projects haveincluded cover material—often punk and free jazz—
but for Arrival, in addition to ceding some compositional
and lyrical duties, Gustafsson includes two pieces ofsurprising beauty, which come in the middle and end
the suite. Robbie Basho’s “Blue Crystal Fire” is a lovely
bit of art song in its original 1978 voice-with-guitar
rendition, featuring mystical lyrics from another age.
With the full ensemble and more able vocals ofWallentin and Jernberg, it becomes astonishingly
gorgeous, possibly the most gorgeous thing Gustafsson
has ever produced. “At Last I Am Free”, written by
Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers and recorded byformer Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt in 1980,
draws together all that has preceded it into an epilogue,
closing out the work on a note of dreamy optimism.

For more information, visit zohomusic.com
For more information, visit runegrammofon.com

ArrivalFire! Orchestra (Rune Grammofon)by Andrey Henkin

In between The Thing and Fire!, the totemic trios thathave defined much of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson’s
career, is the musical truth of the artist. While myriad
projects have helped illuminate Gustafsson’s
complexity, his large ensemble work is most emblematicof his aesthetic, his influences, his vision, moststrikingly so as he sublimates his own playing—a noteof which contains the birth, growth and death of theuniverse itself—to his conceptual frameworks. This
correspondent has been witness to two of these events:
2013’s Hidros and 2019’s Arrival. Where the former wasa free squall with Little Richard careening like a cow ina hurricane at its center, the latter is unlike anything in
Gustafsson’s catalogue, a subdued, almost stately
delving into the world of art-rock with all its impact
and nuance and thankfully little of its pretension.
Like the aforementioned Hidros, Arrival centers
itself around vocals, via the paired singing of Mariam
Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg, who contribute lyrics tothe project as well. The band is laid on the foundationof the Fire! trio of Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthlingand drummer Andreas Werliin, strings and reeds andkeyboards thickening the broth without ever losing its
delicate flavor. Anna Lindal, Josefin Runsteen and Katt
Hernandez (violins), Leo Svensson (cello), Susana
Santos Silva (trumpet), Per Texas Johansson (oboe,
bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), Christer Bothén(bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), Isak Hedtjärn (Bbclarinet, alto saxophone) and Tomas Hallonsten(keyboards) blend together into a warm drone. Massed
horns against electric bass recalls Soft Machine’s Third
while voices against organ summons Sun Ra, yet theseare ethereal signposts, as Gustafsson the musicologist
has absorbed too much history ever to be imitative.
The nearly 70 minutes requires great patience,
especially for those accustomed to Gustafsson the
Brawler. His majestic baritone is heard in the forefront
only occasionally. Wallentin and Jernberg echo eachother or act as foils, the latter often utilizing a cracked
high register while the former is throatier, huskier.
Their best moments as a duo come on the sixth track,“(Beneath) The Edge Of Life”. A lugubrious mood
prevails, a grey canvas ornamented with thick strokesof bass clarinets and cello. The mixture of clarinets andstrings rounds the edges of the music, keeping it in therealm of mystery, never flailing into overstatement.

Last Works
Tom Pierson Orchestra (Auteur)by Donald Elfman

This collection, representing 40 years of pianist Tom
Pierson’s composing, extends the vision of jazz big
band. Pierson was a protégé of Gil Evans, who called
him “the best unknown composer I know”, and theyboth are about discovering new soundworlds. Pierson
is privileged to have musicians from three continents
to help him realize that goal. (It should be noted that
this is the last recording by trumpeter Lew Soloff, towhose memory the double-disc album is dedicated.)
The set opens with a recent piece, “Abandoned”.
Dark and ominous, it features various tone colors overa two-note piano riff. Pierson and trombonist Robinson
Khoury take mysterious sinewy solos and there are
written solo sections for clarinetist Mark Vinci andbaritone saxophonist Michael Lutzeier. “Chandra
Lower ’s Samba” is a lovely dance with quieter sections
as well as blaring ensemble work. “By the Martyr ’s
Decree” is from the early ‘80s and has stunning written
sections for the woodwinds, written solo features fortrumpeter Dominic Derasse and clarinetist Blue Lou
Marini and a striking solo by saxophonist Shu
Enomoto. “Times Remembered” is a quirky and noisy
recollection with a brash solo from Soloff. “Dark Story”
has a very powerful, shadowy written opening for
Lutzeier, a delicate solo from Pierson on piano andanother written part for Marini on soprano. And “ThePharoah’s Serpent” has the band working throughcomplex lines and Marini featured once more.
The second disc opens with the first composition
Pierson ever wrote for big band, “Elipsis” (deliberately
misspelled). Its complexity suggests Stan Kenton andit’s to this ensemble’s credit that they pull it off withassured daring. “Sultry” is gentle and elusive in theband playing and solo work of Enamoto (written),
Lutzeier and Marini. “45/8” is a time signature that
does appear in Pierson’s “climactic vamp” and there
are intricate and deft solos from Khoury, electric bassist
Kanoa Mendenhall, drummer Pheeroan akLaff andMarini yet again. “Among Strangers”, presented as an“encore” to the two sets, is a gorgeous and mysterious
close to the proceedings, weaving its way throughdensely written orchestral passages and featuring
a lithe solo from Marini before quietly finding its end.
For more information, visit tompierson.bandcamp.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 17

Maluba Orchestra
Marilyn Mazur/Fredrik Lundin/Kasper Bai (Stunt)by Mark Keresman

There’s something swinging in Denmark, as this discattests. Percussionist Marilyn Mazur (born in New
York but residing in Denmark since age six),
saxophonist Fredrik Lundin and guitarist Kasper Bai
co-helm a large-ish ensemble: 13 musicians playing
over 32 instruments. The ensemble is somewhat
eclectic yet very focused, Miles Davis and Gil Evansstyled large ensemble jazz with subtle overtones of
two kinds of fusion—the “jazz-rock” kind andamalgamation of jazz with world music.
“Windy Wish” (written by Mazur) is a moody
piece evoking the Third Stream compositional mojo ofJohn Lewis and David Amram, melodious, classy
passages lilting in a somewhat dramatic fashion. Thisis pregnant-with-portent-themed music full of subtle
dramatic tension and brief passages expressing
restlessness and probing. “Maluba Fanfare” combines
the urban(e) strut of cinematic jazz with the bubbling
cadences of West African drumming (hugging thebackground but present) and tense passages for massed
horns. There’s always a compelling rhythm at work;
these tracks never come across as dry or lugubrious,
but clever and vibrant.
The other side of the coin is represented by theaptly titled closer “All’s Well That Ends Well”. This
nearly 12-minute opus features long subdued lines by
several members of the ensemble, until gradually someoverlap in a gentle, organic manner. There are
overtones of Bach herein (he even gets composer
co-credit) and it’s spare and subdued, with somespunky solos. “Marcology” has rather spacious
moments but several stirring ones as well as discretely
noisy (in the best way) solos. Amid some stormy
arrangements there are elegantly (Ellingtonian, even)stated passages—it’s delightfully disorienting.
Maluba Orchestra is stimulating and fascinating
but also inconsistent and one gets the feeling its makers
wouldn’t have it any other way.
For more information, visit sundance.dk

Twenty Years On
London Improvisers Orchestra (s/r)
by Stuart Broomer

The London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) is one of theessential institutions of improvised music, a monthly
gathering of some 30 musicians that has been convening
since 1998, inevitably with some permutations inpersonnel each time, to explore large-scale, usuallyconducted, improvisation. Along the way, it has
demonstrated the variety and quality of music that canbe achieved by such an ensemble. With its cooperative
spirit, mixed methodology and high level of
performance, it has emerged as a model for others,
including “Improvisers Orchestras” hailing from

Glasgow, Berlin and Toronto.
The LIO dates from a fundamental crisis in groupconception, the 1997 British tour of Butch Morris’“Skyscraper” with an assemblage of British
improvisers. There was, to put it mildly, a fundamental
disagreement among many of the musicians with
Morris’ methodology, from his fixed signals to thenotion of an authoritarian head. The LIO has made theprocess far less dramatic and far more egalitarian. The
role of conductor shifts several times in a performanceas do compositional ideas and every performance
includes large-scale, conductor-free improvisations.
In his liner essay, Evan Parker, a founder of the LIO
and regular member for its first ten years, writes “Thesystem of appointing a person with the kinds of power
Butch wanted is, in my view, only justified when agroup has reached the size where individuals may havetrouble hearing each other across the physical space.”
He adds, “The first concerts made it clear that there wasnever going to be an agreed system of signals.”
Twenty Years On is not an easy work to absorb oreven to ‘read’. There are two and a half hours of music
here, 14 tracks from 11 different monthly performances
recorded between December 2015 and June 2018. Two(and a half) performances are identified as
improvisations; 11 (and a half) are identified byconductors, seven of which have titles beyond thename of the conductor. No conductor appears morethan once and the personnel listings—instrument,
followed by names (in alphabetical order), followed bytrack number(s) on which the musician appears—makeit difficult to assemble mentally each individual
ensemble. Struggling through the code, one discovers
co-founder and pianist Steve Beresford (Parker calls
him “at this point…surely spiritus rector [guiding
spirit] of the LIO”) appears on 11 tracks, including one
he also conducts; soprano saxophonist Adrian
Northover appears on 12; Theo Ziarkis, one of sevenbassists, appears on ten, as does violinist Susanna
Ferrar and Adam Bohman (objects). Other longtime
contributors also appear frequently. Clarinetist Noel
Taylor is here for nine, including one he conducts.
Others, often visitors, appear only once, like trumpeter
Roland Ramanan, California reed master Vinny Golia
and the brilliant Québécois alto saxophonist Yves
Charuest; Swiss violist and vocalist Charlotte Hugappears only once as well, but it’s conductor Alison
Blunt’s “Concerto for Charlotte Hug”, making it theone piece featuring a singular principal.
Further sorting out the separate lists for each CD
to determine how many musicians appear altogether,or who appears on any given performance, would takesubstantial effort, contributing to a certain sense ofanonymity as well as democracy about the music.
It really is the LIO, not a collection of stars but people
dedicated to the possibilities (and thrill) of large-scale,relatively free, improvisation, the same thing thatinspires groups that have appeared in its wake.
Do pieces and performances stand out? Yes, insome way all of them, but one has to single out some.
“Rinse, Rondo for Orchestra”, conducted by Ashley
Wales, is brilliantly organized, from the virtuoso violin
soloing of Luiz Moretto to the pointillist punctuationof the winds in which high reeds and trumpets merge
seamlessly. No one ‘writes’ for a section like the section
itself, as Count Basie proved 80-odd years ago.
“Concerto for Charlotte Hug” is spectacular, not justfor the irrepressible voice and viola of the subject but
for the breadth and power of the evolving orchestration.
The music also lights up whenever the trombone choir,including Alan Tomlinson, appears.
This requires sustained and repeated listening toabsorb its layered implications, but it’s also a social
document, demanding a certain degree of commitment,even action. It suggests that if you have a similar
ensemble nearby, the least you could do is support it.
For more information, visit londonimprovisersorchestra.co.uk

18 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Jazz Party
Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra(Troubador Jass)
by Steven Loewy

W ith several albums under his belt as a leader,

beginning with 1992’s Pontius Pilate’s Decision to 2016’s
Make America Great Again and now Jazz Party,
trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, scion of that famed
musical family, marches to his own beat. The trombonist
displays joie de vivre as leader of the Uptown Jazz
Orchestra and strong chops as composer and arranger.
Jazz Party is a slick, well-played, rousing tribute to the
jazz of Marsalis’ hometown of New Orleans, the kindof recording that puts a smile on your face as it swings
hard, with strong contributions from the band andsolid solos from Marsalis.
With a mixture of funk, swing, straightahead jazz,
blues and R&B, coupled with exciting arrangements
and a great group of musicians, the album will find
you tapping your feet and having your spirit lifted on
virtually every track. The tunes are surprisingly supple
but tightly played, with signature call-and-response
and improvised riffs adding to the character. Besides
the outstanding performances from Marsalis, there isrollicking playing from saxophonists Khari Allen Lee,
Amari Ansari, Scott Johnson and clarinetist Gregory
Agid, along with the propulsive rhythm section of
pianist Kyle Roussel, bassist David Pulphus anddrummer Joseph Dyson, Jr.
From the leader ’s bawdy composition “Mboya’s
Midnight Cocktail” (also offered in a compelling
instrumental version), with Ruth Brown-inflected
lyrics punched out with tongue-in-cheek perspicacity
by the perfectly suited vocalist Karen Livers, and “Dr.
Hardgroove”, a tribute to the late great trumpeter Roy
Hargrove featuring fine work from trumpeter Andrew
Baham, to the brassy “Let Your Mind be Free” andDr. Brice Miller ’s rap on “So New Orleans”, Marsalis
gives the listener a personal tour of the Crescent City,
beginning with the Creole District and along the way
taking us uptown and downtown, in a danceable funfilled romp and take on local history, with its signaturesecond line songs. It’s a trip and a party you don’t
want to miss.
For more information, visit dmarsalis.com

IN PRINT

The Book Beri’ah 3: Binah (John Zorn Masada Book 3)
Spike Orchestra (Tzadik)
by John Pietaro

Along For the Ride
Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra (Summit)by Steven Loewy

In Downtown-derived avant jazz and new music, the F or his third recording with his New York-based
blurring of distinctions—genre, time, place—have
always been a vital asset. Perhaps it’s just a baby boomer
thing, but the music’s founders (and aging writers likethis one) seem to thrive most when bits of ‘60s rock ‘n’roll creep into compositions and improvisations, hence
the frequent inclusion of electric guitar.
From the opening moments of “Levushim”, the first
cut on this album by the London-based Spike Orchestra,
works taken from John Zorn’s Masada Book Three aregorgeously reimagined. The Orchestra has existed since2012 under the leadership of trumpet player/composer/
arranger Sam Eastmond, yet the lineup has been fluid.
Guitarist Moss Freed’s lead lines in “Levushim”,“Shamayim” and others cry over the death of Dick Daleas much as they thrive on all that bursts from the head ofZorn. Alto saxophonist Mike Wilkins unleashes abreathless solo in “Damam”, excitedly complemented bydrummer Will Glaser, while tuba player Oren Marshallwalks in the path of the brontosaurus. Standouts are theopener, as well as “Tevunah”, which features Freed’s
most notoriously beautiful solo. His distorted
interactions with keyboard player Elliot Galvin (featured
on “Talpiot” and Sun Ra-like “Machshavah”) are thestuff of which late-night sessions are made. Freed’s
splintered, pained improvisation renders the band nameto onomatopoeia. Or was that the whole idea?
Spike Orchestra, 16-pieces strong, is equally
comfortable in the realm of klezmer and free
improvisations and has been known to take on a rangeof cartoon music, thus is extremely well suited to theZorn-ian universe. It rolls effortlessly over the Middle
Eastern sounds Masada commemorates, including oddtime
signatures
(the
11/8
standsout),
melodic minor modes, collective segments, killer danceworks and that certain inner loneliness. A larger
version of this band also presented material from
Zorn’s Masada Book Two several years ago so this makes
them one of the rare few to record more than one entry.
And it’s a highly worthy one at that, celebrating Jewish
culture, both abroad and just off Avenue C.

orchestra, the talented trombonist, vocalist andarranger Pete McGuinness once again presents aspunky, somewhat quirky outing. While the bandfeatures strong solo performances and McGuinness
doing double duty with vocals reminiscent of Chet
Baker ’s soft, high-pitched cottony tones, it is theleader ’s complex, detailed writing that transforms thisalbum into something special. For example, opener
Charles Strouse’s “Put on a Happy Face” could havedrowned in its intrinsically trite simplicity, but
McGuinness transforms it into something exciting withtight harmonies, counterpoint and a strongly swinging
style punctuated by fine contributions from pianist
Mike Holober and tenor saxophonist Tom Christensen.
McGuinness generously spreads the solos, only
taking a few for himself, often smartly relying on
Holober ’s singular focus and solid performances fromthe rest of the group. The leader ’s vocals are partiallyan acquired taste, but he is more convincing when helets loose than when he follows a composed melody,a contrast he exhibits on Richard Rodgers-Oscar
Hammerstein II’s “It Might As Well Be Spring”.
Filled with simple pleasures, the album is repletewith small delights throughout, such as the beautifullyarranged original “Old Roads”, a perfect setting for
Chris Rogers’ lush flugelhorn, and “Aftermath”, withsensitive percussion from Scott Neumann and a lovely
tuneful solo from Dave Pietro on soprano saxophoneslowly building in intensity and speed; buttressed by
the undercurrent of Jeff Nelson’s bass trombone andsegueing to a delightfully loose structure and finallyending in a whisper, Pietro makes his mark throughout
the latter piece. McGuinness generously lets his fellow
trombonists shine and Mark Patterson delivers on
George Gershwin’s “Who Cares”, Matt Haviland soars
on Nat Adderley’s “Jive Samba” and Bruce Eidem hits
hard on McGuinness’ “One for the Maestro”.
For those who like their big band jazz with a bit ofswagger, attractively robust writing and the occasionalsurprise, McGuinness delivers the goods.

For more information, visit tzadik.com

For more information, visit summitrecords.com

Transforming
lives Throughjazz arTs
educaTion
inTergeneraTional jazz jam
sunday, february 9 2-5 Pm
national jazz museum in harlemcharlie “Yardbird” Parker centennial celebration
Bruce edwards, guitar
jennifer vincent, bass
dwayne “cook” Broadnax, drums
eli Yamin, piano
and guest Knoel scott, saxophones
singers, musicians, dancers, spoken word artist andaudiences of all ages invited to listen and/or join in.
Intergenerational Jazz Jam is made possible in part with funding from the Upper
Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation and administered by LMCC.

for more information visit jazzpower.org

Rabbit’s Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges
Con Chapman (Oxford University Press)by Marilyn Lester

What’s remarkable about Rabbit’s Blues is that it’s

taken this long for this master of the alto saxophone
to be so commemorated. Hats off therefore to author
Con Chapman for writing about a man whose tone
and beautiful playing was unsurpassed during his
lifetime and since his 1970 death. Rabbit’s Blues is fullof fluid prose, leanly conveyed in 175 pages of easyto-read enjoyment, complemented by 16 pages ofdelightful photographs. It’s a plus too that Chapman
has a sense of humor as wry as his subject; riffing, forexample, on Hodges’ nickname of “Rabbit” , there’sa chapter playfully entitled “Lagomorphology”, thescientific name for the study of rabbits.
Because Hodges was notoriously private andremarkably taciturn, there isn’t a great deal oforiginal documentation from which to draw and, as
primary sources are long since gone, Chapman’stask was largely to infer what he could by researchingavailable material. His thorough investigation,
supported by exhaustive notes, yields a cohesive
portrait. Chapman has also devised a work that’s
structurally graceful, combining chronology withsubject topics such as “Women and Children”,“Food and Drink” and “The Blues”.
Nicely woven into the narrative are sections on
Hodges’ relationship with Ellington right-hand man
Billy Strayhorn and Helen Oakley, a singer who
became a powerhouse publicist. Oakley married
Stanley Dance, jazz writer, record producer andhistorian, whom Chapman amusingly refers to as
Ellington’s “factotum”. It’s one of the instances inwhich the author, who is fairly even-handed in his
assessments, strays into editorializing.
Chapman puts a needed spotlight on the vast
amount of work Hodges undertook outside his duties
with the Ellington Orchestra, creating a short historyof the evolution of jazz—condensed, perhaps, butworthy on its own merits as well as for context.
Fascinating are particulars about Hodges’ youth andthe progression of his working life. He began on thesoprano, meeting, learning from New Orleans sopranolegend Sidney Bechet. From the Cotton Club days andjungle music through the Swing Era to the resurgenceof Ellington at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Hodges
was there on the frontlines. Especially compelling too
is how Hodges navigated the eras of Charlie Parker
and John Coltrane. Chapman also puts forth afascinating compare-and-contrast observation about
Hodges and tenor great Lester Young.
In the last chapter, “The Out Chorus”, Chapman
eloquently sums up the greatness of Hodges. Hislast words are to the point, speaking to why Hodges
has deserved a biography for a very long time: “IfJohnny Hodges’ like is not found among us today it
is because he was that rarest of things—a true
original, in a grand tradition.” Or as Duke Ellington
said in his eulogy at Hodges’ funeral: “...a tone so
beautiful it sometimes brought tears to the eyes—
this was Johnny Hodges. This is Johnny Hodges.”
For more information, visit global.oup.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 19

Negoum
Ayman Fanous/Frances-Marie Uitti (Mode)by Tyran Grillo

This album is the first studio recording of two
seemingly disparate virtuosi—Egyptian-born, New
York-based bouzouki/classical guitar player Ayman
Fanous and American, France-based cellist FrancesMarie Uitti—sharing a dialogue of traditions and their
unraveling. In the former vein, Fanous brings his
knowledge of taksim (a style of melodic improvisation
prevalent in Middle Eastern music) and Uitti hers ofclassical precision while in the latter both seem tobecome increasingly connected as they drift further
from canonical moorings. In Uitti’s duets withbouzouki, such as the opening 16 minutes that are“Adhara”, self-examination prevails. As for the tracks
featuring guitar in place of bouzouki, one senses thatsomething beyond magical is taking place. Rather, it’sa process of mental elimination, resulting in music ofastonishing subtlety.
For half the program, Uitti employs a two-bow
technique of her own innovation. But one might neverknow it because she plays with such an integrated
mode of expression that her gestures are organic,
soulful. Every line stands precisely where it should bestanding and rests where it should be resting. Fanous
approaches the primal pluck with two rural exhalations
for every urban inhalation, blending Western and nonWestern persuasions without fraying a stitch.
While highlights may be pointed out—among
them the quasi-triptych of “Alnitac”, “Megrez” and“Alioth” at album center—what we have here issomething greater than the sum of its parts. These aremusicians far less interested in defining anything inparticular than in cracking open the very concept ofdefinition like an egg and frying it on the pans of theirinstruments until its savor curls up to the fortunate
listener. Proof that dualism needn’t be a constantnegotiation of dominance but rather a cyclical processof translation by which the original utterance and its
re-rendering become indistinguishable to the point of
nourishing a universal form of communication.
For more information, visit moderecords.com. Fanous is at
Spectrum Feb. 1st and SUNY Downstate Campus Feb.
13th. See Calendar.

Capturing Clouds
Tamuz Nissim (Street of Stars)
by Scott Yanow

Tamuz Nissim has a very attractive voice, a wide
range and, while tied to the jazz tradition, is not shy totake chances and stretch herself. She was born andraised in Israel and has been based in New York for the
past four years. Capturing Clouds is her fourth release.
The singer is joined by guitarist George Nazos,
bassist Harvie S and drummer Tony Jefferson for fiveof her originals, three jazz standards and a song apieceby George Harrison (“Here Comes The Sun”), Nick
Drake and Tom Waits. Her sidemen contribute concise
solos and consistently anticipate her spontaneousmusical directions.
She starts off by displaying her personal phrasing
and inventive scatting during Jimmy McHugh-Dorothy
Fields’ “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” and her
joyful “Make It Last”. For the picturesque title balladand “Ray Of Hope”, Nissim shows off her sensitiveside in interpreting her lyrics and sounds inspired by
the quietly inventive accompaniment of Nazos.
Other highlights include a faster-than-usual takeon Jimmy Van Heusen-Johnny Burke’s “Like Someone
In Love” (which gives Jefferson a chance to solo),
vocal-bass duo with Harvie S on the original “What A
Pair” and surprisingly “Here Comes The Sun”, which
has some close interplay with Nazos. While Waits’“I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” is poppish and lacks much
subtlety, the singer ’s “Saturday Sun” has a warm
melody and she is at her best on “Rhapsody For Trane”.
The latter has Nissim’s vocalese set to John Coltrane’ssolo over “I Hear a Rhapsody” from Lush Life. and she
doesn’t run out of steam or enthusiasm during the
tongue-twisting performance.
Nissim shows on Capturing Clouds that she is apotentially significant jazz singer.
For more information, visit tamuzmusic.com. This project is at
An Beal Bocht Café Feb. 5th and Mezzrow Feb. 25th. See Calendar.

complements to the band’s existing recordings.
Surprisingly, they even manage to wring inspirationout of that ultimate piano-trio standard, Jerome KernOscar Hammerstein II’s “All The Things You Are”.
Zaleski’s unaccompanied introduction has muscle andconfidence and his bandmates explore rhythmic
gambits that take it beyond mere repertoire.
For more information, visit caprirecords.com. Zaleski is at
Mezzrow Feb. 9th and 28th-29th, Soapbox Gallery Feb.
13th and Smalls Feb. 26th with Adam Larson. Rosato is at
Mezzrow Feb. 4th, Smalls Feb. 6th with Jonathan Saraga,
Bar Next Door Feb. 15th with Leandro Pellegrino and Bar
Bayeux Feb. 26th with Marta Sanchez. See Calendar.

MARTY EHRLICH CONCERTS
MuSIC NEw ANd MAdE NEw
fRIdAY, fEbRuARY 7, 8PM ONE SETTRIO ExALTATIONMICHAEL fORMANEk - bASSTOMAS fujIwARA - dRuMS
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MARTYEHRLICH.COM
Sunny Murray—Monks (Somerealmusic)
R • Orhan
Demir—Freedom in Jazz (Hittite)e • Elephant9(with Reine Fiske)—
Psychedelic Backfire II (Rune Grammofon)c • Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York—
Entity (Libra)o • Jazz
at Lincoln Center Orchestra with
Wynton Marsalis—The Music of Waynem Shorter (Blue Engine)
Paul—Ism (International Anthem)m •• Junius
Howard Riley—More Listening, More
Hearing (SLAM)e • SunRa And His Myth Science Arkestra—
When Angels Speak of Love (Cosmic Myth)n • DonVappie & Jazz Circle—
d The Blue
Book of Storyville(lejazzetal Records)e • Mal Waldron—Free at Last
(Extended Edition) (ECM)d Laurence
Donohue-Greene, Managing Editor• Borah Bergman/Wilber Morris/

Live at Jazz Standard
Colin Stranahan/Glenn Zaleski/Rick Rosato (Capri)
by Phil Freeman

P ianist Glenn Zaleski, bassist Rick Rosato anddrummer Colin Stranahan made two albums together
at the beginning of the last decade, 2010’s Anticipationand 2013’s Limitless, but in the last few years they’vebeen extremely busy with other projects. This reunion
record is the work of men with a thousand gigs andsessions under their belts; the collective language they
developed together as newcomers has been augmented
by everything they’ve learned in bands like John
Raymond’s Real Feels (Stranahan), Marta Sanchez
Quintet (Rosato) or as a leader (Zaleski).
Four of the six pieces were recorded on the trio’s
two studio albums. Of the other two, one was written
by Zaleski (“Sullivan Place”) while the other (“Waltz
For MD”) is by Rosato. The former starts off slowly, as
though the pianist is looking out the window watchingtraffic pass by. Rosato booms a simple, repetitive
pattern as Stranahan taps the toms very softly, like apencil striking the lid of a coffee can. Gradually, thepianist’s extrapolations become more florid andenergetic. The piece never truly swings; bass anddrums are doing two separate things throughout andin its final stretch, Zaleski begins vamping so Stranahan
can take a hard-hitting solo. But it’s a compelling
performance at every stage. “Waltz For MD” is slightly
gentler, as its title could lead one to expect. It feels
almost Bill Evans-ish at the beginning, but just before
the halfway mark (four minutes into a nearly 10-minutepiece), Rosato and Stranahan start walking with great
purpose and Zaleski jumps the energy level up to
match, almost sounding like Wynton Kelly or Red
Garland before spinning off into his own zone. The
bassist gets a solo, too — it’s his composition, after all.
The other original pieces—Forecast”, “Chorale(For Fred Hersch)”, “On The Road”—are all solid

20 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Bergman/Wilber Morris/n • Borah
Sunny Murray—Monks (Somerealmusic)
Hoppe’s Third Reality—e • Lisa
The Mighty Unlikely (Jazzhaus Musik)
Horvitz European Orchestra—w • Wayne
Live at the Bimhuis (Novarajazz)• Made to Break—F4 Fake (Trost)

Ullmann, Hans Lüdemann,r • Gebhard
Oliver Potratz, Eric Schaefter—
mikroPULS (Intuition)e • Masahiko
Satoh/Sabu Toyozumi—
The Aiki (NoBusiness)l • EvanParker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton—
Concert in Vilnius (NoBusiness)e • Raschèr
Saxophone Quartet—a Was Weite
Herzen Füllt (Music for six
Saxophones) (Paschen)s • Saxophone Summit—Street Talk (Enja )(with David Torn)—e • SONAR
Tranceportation (Volume 1) (RareNoise)s Andrey Henkin, Editorial Director

AlulaCaroline Davis (New Amsterdam)by Eric Wendell

Caroline Davis’ latest album is a testament to themulti-hyphenate’s use of space. As a vocalist,
saxophonist and composer, Davis is adept at creating
unique atmospheres within each song. Every selection
is a world unto itself, a place where Davis crafts andassembles a specific sound. However, the results feelslightly half-realized, as if the album format may not
be the most conducive to her talents.
The 11-song set begins with the title track, an
abstract experiment featuring Davis’ ethereal vocals
over keyboard player Matt Mitchell’s fizzy synthesizer
sounds and drummer Greg Saunier ’s solid rhythmic
interplay. From the get-go, Davis is keen to make eachsong a stand-alone example of her prowess. From theabstract to the absolute, she has a knack for allowing
her voice to be heard loud and clear over any melodic
or harmonic characteristic she wants to convey.
“Flight” follows, Davis explicitly displaying her
talents on saxophone, her postbop sensibilities easily
segueing into an organic dialogue with her trio.
“Remiges”, just shy of seven minutes, is the mostsuccessful track. It begins with drone-like sounds from
Davis and Mitchell that transcend genre, eventuallyunfolding into a tight drum groove that allows
Davis and Mitchell to explore the sonic terrain of thesong. “Lift” is the most unbridled track herein,
Mitchell’s slippery synth and Davis’ terse andpronounced playing breaking free from any and all
restraint. The steady and grounded feel of “Vortex
Generator” blends tight rhythmic fundamentals withbeautiful saxophone; it’s the best example of Davis’
aptitude for controlling chaos.
At just under 40 minutes, Alula doesn’t fully dojustice to Davis’ talents. Each song requires more time
to develop into something special. One can only hopethat Davis has the opportunity to expand any one of
the brilliant ideas on any of the tracks on Alula into
perhaps an evening length’s worth.
For more information, visit newamrecords.com. Davis is at
The Owl Music Parlor Feb. 9th. See Calendar.

IN Trio: Cascade
Harvie S/Tim Armacost/Christian Finger (Centaur)
by Ken Dryden

IN Trio is a collective of bassist Harvie S, reedplayer
Tim Armacost and drummer Christian Finger. S is thesenior member, while Armacost has built a reputation
as a leader and sideman over the past two-plus

decades. Finger, a native of Germany, arrived in New
York City in 2001 and has made his mark as well. 		
Cascade is the trio’s second release, all originals.
Each of the compositions sound as if a basic framework
was provided yet with sufficient room for the othermusicians to add to the imagery of the work. Armacost
alternates between alto flute, tenor and sopranosaxophone, with occasional discreet use of electronics,
while S occasionally switches to using a bow. Finger ’s
percussion is masterful, providing the perfect touch.
Armacost’s spacious title ballad, a feature for his
alto flute, hints at a Cole Porter-like sound beforechanging direction, his bandmates playing loosely
behind him. Finger ’s pensive miniature “Niemand”
has bass alternating between arco and pizzicato, withtenor saxophone frequently playing in unison as quiet
drums in the background add to the tension.
S contributed five compositions to the session,
highlighted by his mournful Latin ballad “Bass
Guajira”, introduced with a long solo before hisbandmates make their entrance, while “Good OleDays” is a snappy bop vehicle with a solid rhythmic
groove in support of sassy tenor. Armacost switches tosoprano for S’ mysterious, deliberate “Island”, which
has its share of musical twists and an exotic air.
The infectious groove of Armacost’s “Alawain”
seems infused with the spirit of Dizzy Gillespie’s
rhythm, full-bodied tenor saxophone in partnershipwith inventive bass pulse and intense percussion.
Finger ’s “Waterfalls” is a peaceful, meditative work,
blending arco bass and alto flute and electronics,
segueing into more avant garde territory as itprogresses into a duet for pizzicato bass and drums.
For more information, visit centaurrecords.com. This
project is at Silvana Feb. 6th. See Calendar.

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THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 21

Solar Wind
Robert Dick/Joëlle Léandre/Miya Masaoka (Not Two)
The Damn THINK
Robert Dick/Adam Caine (Chant)by Stuart Broomer

Robert Dick is a singular musician, among the flute’s
most skillful performers and certainly its most intrepid
explorer, whether considered for his musical breadthor extent of his technical and mechanical innovations.
In these two sets of improvisations, Dick plays multiple
flutes, from the highs of the piccolo to the lows of thecontrabass, along the way adding glissando flute andhis own voice projected through the flute. Dick createsdistinct musics in very different collaborations.
Solar Wind presents Dick in a trio with bassist (andsometimes vocalist) Joëlle Léandre and koto player(sometimes percussionist) Miya Masaoka. Any musicwith Léandre is going to be passionate and immediate,but Solar Wind also emphasizes the compositional depthof her improvising, an area in which Dick and Masaoka
also excel, the trio setting a standard for disciplined
creativity. 8 of the 12 tracks are under 5 minutes, thelongest runs 6:11. The results literally feel like a newmusical form, the ideal of any new collaboration. The
opening “Whispering of the Stars”, initiallyforegrounding Dick’s breathy, near-silent flute, has thethree of them focusing at once on rhythm and texture.
“Speed of Silence”, beginning with Dick’s scratchy
voice, is an expressionist explosion while “Chronotype”
has Léandre’s bowed harmonics in the foreground, withslightly quieter flute literally inside the bass sound. At
various times in these pieces, koto sounds guitar-like, atothers violin-like, while the collective use of harmonics,
peaking perhaps with “On Time’s Edge”, blurs
individual identities to the point where differentiationof parts is almost a violation of the music’s spirit, as
questions of improvisation, composition and roles
disappear before a subtle and shared sonic brilliance.
While the emphasis on Solar Wind is on an almost
orchestral dialect, The Damn THINK with Dick andguitarist Adam Caine is very much a duo. The twodevelop a conversation, often with a raw spontaneityand frank expressionism, which stretches from folk
idioms to a kind of electronic rave-up. Along the way,
Dick and Caine both suggest and disrupt notions oflead and accompanying voices. In the opening of “LifeYears”, Dick is almost conventionally melodic while
Caine creates rapid, splattering runs. Space gradually
opens up, time seems to stretch and the music becomes
quieter and intensely abstract, Dick and Caine playing
fewer, quieter notes, the material dispersing into a
void. “Short Term Memory” combines distorted
electric guitar with vocalizing through the flute. The
two create a wall of noise that hangs between the
textures of beat poetry and sci-fi heavy metal, Dick’s
combination of flute and voice finding new ground.
Similarly, the ominous title track matches buzz-saw
sustained guitar with alternately chirping and tunefulflute, sometimes oddly distorted. At the opposite endof the duo’s dynamic range, the often-wispy “Petrichor”
ranges through suggestions of avant garde chambermusic, a shakuhachi meditation and a back-porchcountry jam from some profoundly aleatoric county.
Both collaborations assert Dick’s inventivenessand the distinct qualities of his collaborations: he finds
different grounds similarly rich in musical possibilities.
For more information, visit nottwo.com and chantrecords.com.
Dick is at Zürcher Gallery Feb. 8th, SUNY Downstate Campus
Feb. 13th and Downtown Music Gallery Feb. 16th. See Calendar.

22 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDJEROME JENNINGS“…It pRESENtS aN INCREaSEd fOCuS ON ORIGINal
COMpOSItIONS whIlE fEatuRING thE SaME ShaRp
StICk wORk aNd aRRaNGING Savvy that MadE 2016’SthE BEaSt a StaNdOut dEBut.”- JazztIMES“ORIGINalS “RECy’S laMENt” aNd “pay It NO MINd”
REvEal a fERtIlE talENt REady tO ExplOdE.”- C. MIChaEl BaIlEy“BESt MuSIC Of 2019”- NpR“thIS GROuNdBREakING pROJECt fOCuSES ON
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avaIlaBlE at

More Music for a Free World
Dave Sewelson (Mahakala Music)
by Robert BushSWING BY TONIGHT
7:30PM & 9:30PM
FEB 1-2

nilson matta’s brazilian voyage quintet
FEB 3

closed for private event
FEB 4-5russell hall presents
concrete jungle: the music of bob marley
FEB 6

david chesky:
jazz in the new harmonic
FEB 7-9charlie sepúlveda & the turnaround
FEB 10-11

melissa aldana quartet
FEB 12-13

bobby watson & horizon
featuring victor lewis
FEB 14-16 • VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND

freddy cole: songs for lovers
FEB 17 • MONDAY NIGHTS WITH WBGO

freddy cole: songs for lovers
FEB 18-20

elio villafranca& the jass syncopators: life stories
FEB 21-23

marilyn maye
FEB 24

juilliard jazz ensembles:
buddy bolden, jazz pioneer
FEB 25jeffery miller’s mardi gras party
FEB 26-27

cyro baptista’s glosso lalia
FEB 28-29

dave liebman expansions

Baritone saxophone master Dave Sewelson has been
active on the New York jazz landscape since he arrived
from Oakland in 1977. He’s back with the same groupthat recorded Music for a Free World last year, a
blistering and well-oiled quartet of Steve Swell,(trombone), William Parker (bass) and Marvin“Bugulu” Smith (drums). There are three collective
improvisations comprising this document: two(“Memories” and “Dreams”) clock in at 20+ minutes apiece. The third selection (“Reflections”) is
considerably more concise.
Sewelson and Swell come out blazing on“Memories” and it is hard to imagine that they areoperating without benefit of written material unless
one has experienced Sewelson’s interactions withfrontline partners before. He and Swell have years of
spontaneous riffing experience and it certainly shows.
The leader solos first, with a timbre abrasive enough topeal the bark off a Red Oak tree in a flash. Parker ’s firstsolo is a primarily quarter-note-driven essay, evoking
the work of Wilbur Ware and Malachi Favors. When
Swell finally cuts loose, it’s a freebop master-class overthe groove of Parker and Smith.
Smith leads off “Dreams” with an insanely
infectious, vaguely martial drum cadence, slowly
drawing in the contributions of Parker, Swell andSewelson, who strain against the ebullience with amournful, funereal refrain. Several minutes in, a slow
swing begins to emerge in the manner of John
Coltrane’s “Lonnie’s Lament”, but these cats refuse tocommit to just one groove as they toggle between
episodes of double-time as well. The interaction ofParker and Smith is quite joyful and together they
provide an irresistible pulse above which the horns arefree to explore in any direction.
Sewelson begins the final improvisation acappella,alternating between lightning-bolt alacrity andscreeching overtones. Smith and Parker ratchet up thetension incrementally and when Swell joins the fraywith percussive, turgid blasts a degree of mayhem
ensues. It’s hard to imagine where the escape hatch canbe found, but these four wind down beautifully into a
relatively serene resolution.

with bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia and perhaps
raga concepts influenced the music here. Tzur is quite an
original player/composer, with few obvious influencesin the jazz canon. He doesn’t even solo in the conventional
sense. An unusual reference point is a 1994 duo album
The Breeze and I by saxophonist/flutist Ira Sullivan andguitarist Joe Diorio, with the same dedication toprioritizing melody and mood over the playing of any
one contributor. What’s that mood exactly? Wistful,contemplative and tender in equal measure.
The title track recalls the old folk song “Scarlet
Ribbons” and is gorgeously moody, with especially
lovely piano from fellow Israeli Nitai Hershkovits. “To
Hold Your Hand” is slightly more uptempo, but equally
dedicated to creating beauty. “20 Years” would work as
the soundtrack to a movie about loss. Each of the trioof “Miniature” compositions is under three minutes, alllovely little gems. “Miniature 1” is all piano, “Miniature
2” a showcase for Greek bassist Petros Klampanis and“Miniature 3” distilled solo Tzur.
An inspired idea was covering the 1961 Elvis Presley
hit “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, which is played verystraight, hardly leaving the melody. But somehow it’shaunting in this reading. “The Dream” is the barnburner, which means that it rises to a midtempo swinger.
Hershkovits even gets in some minor dissonance.
Hershkovits and Tzur are clearly simpatico andthe pianist is out front on the disc as much as the
saxophonist. Klampanis and American drummer
Johnathan Blake are charged with listening carefully,
lest the spell be broken. It never is. A final thought:
Here Be Dragons seems a misnomer: there is no firebreathing within, just a sense of meditative calm.
For more information, visit ecmrecords.com. This project is
at Jazz Standard Feb. 12th. See Calendar.

CLAIRE DALY
“Daly maneuvers the hornwith a dead-on balanceof grit and finesse.”-The New Yorker

For more information, visit sewelson.bandcamp.com.
Sewelson is at Aron’s Place Feb. 1st, Shrine Feb. 2nd with
Shrine Big Band, Downtown Music Gallery Feb. 9th with
Jesse Dulman and Troost Feb. 22nd. See Calendar.

SMALLS

181 W. 10th Street

Sunday, Feb. 9thOscar Party!
7 and 8:30pm

JAZZ.ORG / DIZZYS
212-258-9595
jazz at lincoln center
broadway at 60th st., 5th fl.

Here Be Dragons
Oded Tzur (ECM)
by Jim Motavalli

Even for ECM, this is an album of radical gentleness.
Oded Tzur is a New York-based, Israel-born tenor
saxophonist making his debut on the label. He’s studied

24 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Claire Daly - Baritone Sax
Jon Davis - Piano
Marcus McLaurine - Bass
Peter Grant - Drums

clairedaly.com

creative music and also over his machines.
For more information, visit wejazz.fi. Parzen-Johnson plays
solo at Nublu 151 Feb. 12th. See Calendar.

Imagine Giving Up | Helsinki 8.12.18
Jonah Parzen-Johnson (WeJazz)by George Grella

J onah Parzen-Johnson is one of the most notable of themusicians who perform solo with electronics. His
direct peer is saxophonist Colin Stetson, but though
they both play the baritone saxophone, Parzen-Johnson
is a vastly different musical thinker. What sets him
apart from pretty much every other solo-withelectronics musician—including Rachel Z and Zoe
Keating—is his concept and process.
An instrument, a microphone, a loop pedal andmaybe some software have created vast new universes
for the likes of Z, Keating and Bill Frisell. The past
decade has added a silver-age throwback revolution inmodular synthesis and Parzen-Johnson shows himself
as a key product of his times.
That makes him sort of an old-school futurist.
The tracks on these albums (as well as those on his two
recent ones, I Try To Remember Where I Came From,a 2017 release on Clean Feed, and the 2015 Remember
When Things Were Better Tomorrow, on Primary Records)
are homophonic in nature and more often than not ineasy-to-grasp song form. Parzen-Johnson is the leadvoice and his accompaniment comes via a custom
analog synthesizer setup.
The conceptual style may be familiar, but theaesthetic is something else altogether and altogether
unique. Parzen-Johnson is playing a woodwind
instrument with all that entails, especially breathing.
He uses advanced techniques such as multiphonics
and circular breathing, but even with those his soundis human through and through—he’s got to breathe
after all. There’s signal processing at times, but nothingelse in terms of recording production to integrate himwith the synthesizer except melody and harmony.
In other words, what Imagine Giving Up and thelive cassette tape Helsinki 8.12.18 are about is songs, thequality of music rather than the fascinations oftechnology. And this is where Parzen-Johnson, like his
notable peers, excels. These two albums are about amusician making songs, melodies set against harmonic
rhythm. If the saxophonist were playing his lead lines
with a rhythm section backing him, these would be
solid albums, with satisfying tunes and playing.
But there’s something else going on here and it’s
important. He uses a custom modular setup as hisband and there’s the stripped-down quality of a busker
in the subway with a horn, a bass drum pedal and a hat
for contributions. This is man-against-machine stuff
and it’s gripping in a way unparalleled in jazz, even
including Steve Lehman’s Demian as Post-Human.
Parzen-Johnson programs the machine, sets it loose
and then faces it with his horn.
Permit one to get profound, but Parzen-Johnson is
one of the few musicians engaging his body (not justthoughts) with the future. As just listening, tunes like
“Focus Re-Focus”, on Imagine Giving Up, are awesome,pithy platforms for him to play the hell out of his horn.
But this is breath and sinew and mind against
oscillators and voltage. One hears these recordings asstatements of the musician’s aesthetic values andpleasures, but as a listener these are also full of thetension between the predictable security of digitaltechnology and the messy chaos of what makes us
human. In the context of his still-young career, thesealbums are carving out a superb musical statement ina cultural concept introduced by The Terminator andHarlan Ellison’s masterpiece “I Have No Mouth and I
Must Scream”. May Parzen-Johnson long reign, over

Dream A Little...
Champian Fulton/Cory Weeds (Cellar Live)by Alex Henderson

In the liner notes she wrote for Dream a Little..., singer/
pianist Champian Fulton compares the album’s duet
performances to “walking a tightrope without a net”
and notes that for alto saxophonist Cory Weeds, there
is “no rhythm section to catch you if you fall.” Indeed,
having only two instruments on Dream a Little...
(recorded live at a house concert in Vancouver, Canada
on Feb. 24th, 2019) makes Weeds more vulnerable andexposed than he would be in a quartet or quintet.
But both of them rise to the occasion nicely, offering six
songs with vocals (“I Thought About You”, “Dreama Little Dream of Me”, “Pennies from Heaven”, “I’d
Give a Dollar for a Dime”, “Darn That Dream” and“Fly Me to the Moon”) and four instrumentals(“Tangerine”, “Secret Love”, “Lullaby for Art” and“Save Your Love for Me”).
The New York City-based Fulton, now 34, is awarm and expressive, if derivative, vocalist with anaffinity for Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah
Washington. And when she stretches out on piano, onehears echoes of Red Garland, Wynton Kelly and otherbop pianists of the ’50s-60s. Meanwhile, Vancouver
resident Weeds (who owns Cellar Live Records) plays
a gutsy but melodic alto saxophone along the lines ofCannonball Adderley, Gigi Gryce, Frank Morgan andPhil Woods.
Unfortunately, Dream a Little... plays it much too
safe in its choice of material: most of the selections are
overdone standards that myriad other jazz artists haverecorded over the years. But there are a few surprises,
including pianist Eubie Blake’s lesser known “I’d Givea Dollar for a Dime” and Fulton’s hardbop original“Lullaby for Art” (which would have been perfect for aBlue Note session in the late ‘50s). Fulton certainly
brings plenty of charisma to her performances: when
she sings the Jimmy Van Heusen standards “I Thought
About You” (with Johnny Mercer) and “Darn That
Dream” (with Eddie De Lange) or Johnny Burke-Arthur
Johnston’s “Pennies from Heaven”, it’s obvious that
she has a strong emotional connection to these Great
American Songbook favorites.
Another vocal highlight of the CD is the Fabian
Andre-Wilbur Schwandt standard “Dream a Little
Dream of Me”, which was written in 1931 but famously
received a pop-rock makeover from The Mamas andPapas in 1968. Fulton and Weeds are faithful to thesong’s pre-rock history, sticking to jazz and avoiding a
pop-rock interpretation.
Weeds has plenty of room to stretch out whether
Fulton is singing on Bart Howard’s Frank Sinatraassociated “Fly Me to the Moon” or strictly playing
piano on Buddy Johnson’s “Save Your Love For Me”
and an exuberant performance of Sammy Fain’s “SecretLove”. Fulton and Weeds sound like equal partners on
their duets, making Dream a Little... a solid andconsistent outing.
For more information, visit cellarlive.com. Fulton is at
Birdland Theater Feb. 12th-13th and Mezzrow Feb. 26th.
See Calendar.

MICHAEL WOLFFBOUNCEMICHAEL WOLFF piano
BEN ALLISON bass
ALLAN MEDNARD drums
SSC 1574 - Available February 7

Acclaimed jazz pianist Michael Wolff has confirmed a
February 7th, 2020 release date for his joyful new
album, Bounce. Exuberant, beautiful and able to convey
a range of emotions, Bounce reflects Wolff’s upbeat
state of mind following his ‘miraculous’ recovery fromaggressive cancer. He comments, “Isn’t it great to bealive? I’m celebrating life every day. This album is dedicated to that celebration. I have the good fortune toplay with these fantastic musicians: Ben Allison on bass
and Allan Mednard on drums. Their playing, ideas andvibes imbue this music with creativity and soul. It's really a listenable album. I thought about what I'd like to listen to at home, and tried to make that album.”Bounce features an engaging range of songs, including the aptly named ‘Cool Kids’, written by Wolff’s
son Nat (and featuring Nat on lead vocals as well). Other
tracks evoke ‘West Side Story’ or nods to the Great
American Songbook. Album highlights include thememorable title track, the lovely ballad ‘Long Lost’, thestrong ‘Caribbean Rain Dance’ and ‘Omar Sharif’ by
David Yazbek, from THE BAND'S VISIT musical. In all, thealbum is mostly original compositions by Wolff, a tune
by Ben Allison, and two covers: ‘Omar Sharif’ and thestandard, ‘You and The Night and The Music’.

Wolff notes, “Bounce is filled with music like themusic I grew up listening to and playing. It transcends jazz and it feels like the best album I’ve evermade. It also comes at such a perfect time for me. It
expresses my inner soul and the joy of living and making music. It’s the most important release of my life.”

ALBUM RELEASE CONCERTS
February 7 & 8
BIRDLAND THEATER
sets at 7 & 9:45 PM

www.sunnysiderecords.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 25

Departure
Haruna Fukazawa (Summit)
by Elliott Simon

Departure, the U.S. debut from flutist Haruna

Fukazawa, aptly opens with “Contact”, whose uptempo
rhythm and catchy melody are familiar and infectious.
The tune is one of four originals interspersed amongfour standards and introduces Fukazawa’s especiallytasty chemistry with Steve Wilson’s soprano saxophone.
But when Wilson switches to second flute, as on aparticularly striking arrangement of Billy Strayhorn’s“A Flower is a Lovesome Thing”, Fukazawa’s classicalmeets-jazz savvy is beautifully in focus.
Fukazawa is a nuanced player but her strong
rhythm section of pianist David DeMotta, bassist Bill
Moring and drummer Steve Johns are intermittently
overpowering. “Bassi Blues” is a case in point as overly
heavy rhythmic punctuation occasionally jars its
breezy flute leads. Beyond that, Wilson and Fukazawa
showcase their bop chops throughout and the two intandem are often thrilling. Their cover of Sammy Fain’s“Alice in Wonderland” pleasantly surprises as a
fanciful flute/flute conversation, ending far too soon.
Moring’s bow gives “I Wish You Love”, from the
French singer/songwriter Charles Trenet, a novel intro
before settling into fairly standard fare while Horace
Silver ’s “Juicy Lucy” receives a classically understatedmakeover courtesy of Fukazawa’s sweet interchangewith Wilson’s soprano.
A fleet-footed “Cat’s Meeting” reveals Fukazawa
to be a strong leader. A session highlight, the piecefinds her assuming control from the start with a clear
agenda and seeing the get-together through to a crisp
conclusion. “No Fine Weather” closes out the set withby now trademark flute/saxophone voicings and solo
jousting that Moring and Johns do not let stray off
course. For a flutist to go head-to-head with a sopranosaxophonist in a bop milieu takes a lot of guts and in
those contexts and contests Fukazawa is exceptional.
Her elegance and thoughtful arrangements are awelcome fresh voice to a scene that too often features
heavy-handed solos and senseless speed.
For more information, visit summitrecords.com. This
project is at Blue Note Feb. 16th. See Calendar.

ZoningNick Fraser/Kris Davis/Tony Malaby (Astral Spirits)
by John Sharpe

Canadian drummer Nick Fraser has been a mainstayof the Toronto scene for many years, but will turnheads even further afield with Zoning. It’s the second
release from his trio with saxophonist Tony Malaby
and pianist Kris Davis, following Too Many Continents(Clean Feed, 2015). You would be assured of excellencewith just those two on board, but for this sophomore
outing, Fraser augments his starry cast with tenor
saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trumpeter Lina

Allemano on the three tracks he composed out of six in
total. Davis and Malaby contribute one number apiece
while the digestif is a short three-way improv.
Fraser fuels the interplay with the sort of novel
textures and clattering momentum that brings to mind
Tony Oxley while Malaby is a fount of tonal andtimbral variety, whether operating in a gruff bottom
end or trading in heated snarls. If Davis only held
down the vamps, like the surging riff anchoring“Wells Tower”, that would be enough but, of course,
she offers much more: dynamic solos and forcefulcounterpoint while also weaving in thematic references,which help create a unified conception.
Fraser uses the additional horns to add excitement
in exchanges both with Malaby and between themselves.
His title track begins with bickering acappella tenor
saxophones, before trumpet joins to sketch out thetheme. They fall silent as piano and drums engage in a
mercurial duet, only to return at a higher level still. On“Sketch 46” an impressionistic percussive introduction
ramps up via further horn mayhem into an anthemic
chorale, with buzzing trumpet fanfare cosseted by lush
piano and saxophone voicings.
But, in truth, this is an outfit that doesn’t needbolstering. Case in point is Malaby’s “Charismatics”,
which builds in alternations of free-form and unison toa frenzy of lurching syncopation. Whoever wields thepen, the charts provide accessible but effective
structures setting off the expressive fireworks. It’s atremendous disc.

Tension”, subtly broadens the sound field with reed
vibrations played against the resonance of a cymbal
activated by her tenor. “Breaking Waves” exercises thefull force of the tenor with heavy overtones andsustained vibrato. Throughout, Rogers employs silence
to underscore the various dynamics at work.
Dawntreader came about as the result of a dare.
Relative Pitch co-founder Kevin Reilly challenged
Rogers to make two solo albums in two years and she’s
too thoughtful a player to take the challenge lightly.
Further discoveries await.
For more information, visit relativepitchrecords.com. Rogers
plays solo at Downtown Music Gallery Feb. 16th. See Calendar.

For more information, visit astralspiritsrecords.com. This
project is at Downtown Music Gallery Feb. 16th andBushwick Public House Feb. 17th. See Calendar.

Dawntreader
Erin Rogers (Relative Pitch)
by Kurt Gottschalk

Erin Rogers’ first record of unaccompanied saxophone
is a strong example of the difference between
spontaneous performance and the commonly used
denotation “spontaneous composition”. The distinction
is somewhat artificial—anything played has been
conceived and could be notated, just as anything
spoken could be written down—and shouldn’t betaken as qualitative. An explosion of expression is justas valid as a well-reasoned argument; writing a poem
is no less or greater an activity than solving a calculus
problem. But the distinction exists and Rogers excels at
the latter (to which the former activity is so often
ascribed) with the well-considered improvisations on
Dawntreader, her debut album.
The saxophonist’s toes have long been dampenedin the pool of the city’s new music scene. As a performer
and/or composer, she has worked with theInternational Contemporary Ensemble, Hypercube,
Talea, ThingNY and Wild Up, among others. She
approaches the three pieces on Dawntreader (eachrunning between 7 and 12 minutes—the record is briefenough to fit on an LP but released as CD anddownload) as longform discussions, thoughtful
elucidations on conceptual frameworks.
“Beacon”, the first of the three, explores themetallic resonance of the horn. As such, it calls to mind
the explorations of saxophone physicist John Butcher,
but Rogers stakes ground with dramatic variations andquick shifts in tempo and with strong articulation in
the soprano’s lower register. The second, “Surface

26 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDColin Stranahan
Glenn ZaleSki
riCk roSato live at
JaZZ Standard“the three invest in prominent detail…
Zaleski works up “waltZ For md”
with impeccable taste and touchand marvellous pianism”- JaZZ Journal uk

CAPRIRECORDS.COM

ODED TZUR QUARTET
IN CONCERT
Jazz Standard

116 East 27th St(between Park and Lexington)

New Release:
Here Be Dragons

Wednesday
February 12th
7:30PM & 9:30PM

Oded Tzur tenor saxophone
Nitai Hershkovits piano
Petros Klampanis double bass
Johnathan Blake drums“Oded Tzur (is) one of the moststrikingly original musicians to haveemerged from Israel’s creative jazzscene in recent years…”© Justin Bettman / ECM Records– Jazziz, 1/2019

ECMRECORDS.COM

Danceclarinets:
the music ofLive at Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg
Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares (Otá)
by Tom Greenland

joseph daley

O riginally from Camagüey, Cuba, pianist Omar Sosa
has spent the last quarter-century making passionate,kinesthetic music reflecting his interests in jazz and
AfroCuban traditions. A collaborator at heart, he has
33 albums on the Oakland based Otá Records showing
an exceptional ability to find common musical groundwith a variety of global partners.
Most recently, he’s found a kindred spirit inviolinist/vocalist Yilian Cañizares, also from Cuba,
one generation his junior. Their chemistry was first
documented on Aguas, recorded in 2015, an intimate
collection of co-written originals, and has continued to
grow on tours with charismatic Venezuelan
percussionist Gustavo Ovalles (as the AGUAS Trio).
Live at Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, recorded in 2018,
revisits five songs from the earlier album, now fleshedout with extended solos and rhythm jams.
Cañizares usually handles the legato melodies andthen layers in pizzicato violin (sounding almost likea conga) or whispered vocals to bubble the groove.
Elsewhere her violin simulates a kora and a birdcall. She
is especially exciting when combining scatted vocals
with simultaneous violin improvisations, heard on the
6/8 romp “Duo de Aguas”, salsa-fied “De la Habana y
Otras Nostalgias” and flamenco-tinged “Cuadra deCasa”. Despite his formidable technique, Sosa mostly
plays a supportive role, creating waves of held-out
chords or syncopated arpeggios, turning it up a notch
for his solo on “De la Habana y Otras Nostalgias”,
breaking up his montuno figures in unpredictable ways
and inserting hip chromatically altered chords into theharmonic changes. Ovalles is one of those drummers
who could take a 20-minute solo on a tambourine or
shekere without losing the excitement; here he neveroverplays, always serving the song.
The last two tracks, studio remixes of “Milonga”
and “Dos Bendiciones”, take a turn towards dancemusic: samples, electronica and overdubbed parts
create exciting pastiches of dance-club party beats but
a concurrent lack of spontaneity may make them lessattractive to the I-want-to-be-surprised jazz enthusiast.

Featuring vibraphonist
Warren Smith
World premiere of“Colorations & Explorations”
commissioned by GHMS

Wed, February 19 | 7:30pm
Tickets: $15 GA$10 students & seniors
Available at the door

Greenwich House Music School
46 Barrow Street, NYC
greenwichhousemusicschool.org

For more information, visit omarsosa.com. This project is at
Birdland Feb. 18th-22nd. See Calendar.

Zigsaw: Music of Steve Lampert
Noah Preminger Group (s/r)
by Franz Matzner

N oah Preminger ’s Zigsaw: Music of Steve Lampert is afrenetic album. It’s also soothing. This is because, true
to its neologistic title, the album oscillates between
wild improvisational playing and mellowing ambience
native to the electronica influence that establishes thesecond spectrum of the nearly hour-long work.
Over the course of his 14 albums as a bandleader,

28 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Preminger has shown himself to be an innovative
player and conceptualist. On his albums, from thepolitical protest piece Meditations on Freedom to thesuperb, extremely personal exploration of his cousin
twice-removed Otto Preminger ’s movie scores,
Preminger Plays Preminger, the saxophonist does notrepeat himself formally or stylistically. Each releasepresents its own internal logic and sound.
Zigsaw is no exception. For this outing, Preminger
requested a new composition from Lampert, known
for the challenging improvisational contexts he creates.
The piece is divided into 12 cycles based on 4
musical “events”, or one could call them constraints.
Each builds off of the opening ensemble measures andthen provides a variety of platforms for the players to
improvise, both as individual soloists and via
group improvisation, all of which unfolds within aseries of dynamically diverse arpeggios. At regularintervals, the piece also shifts to electronic segments,
presented almost like subroutines of a complex
program. The return to these repetitive beats andmurky atmospherics grounds the structure andprovides a consistent sonic texture, unlike many
marriages between electronica and jazz deploying theformer as ancillary or decorative elements.
In the hands of his estimable colleagues—Jason
Palmer (trumpet), John O’Gallagher (alto saxophone),
Kris Davis (piano), Rob Schwimmer (Haken
Continuum/clavinet), Kim Cass (bass) and Rudy
Royston (drums)—the unique blend establishes aninviting view into Lampert and Preminger ’s musicaloeuvre, as well as an engrossing, if at times jarring,creative enterprise.
For more information, visit noahpreminger.com. This
project is at Smalls Feb. 19th. See Calendar.

in print

Song for the Big Chief
Joe McPhee/Paal Nilssen-Love (PNL)
by Kyle Oleksiuk

In late 2017, the day before they were scheduled toperform as a duo at Café Oto in London, saxophonist/
trumpeter Joe McPhee and drummer Paal NilssenLove heard that drummer Sunny Murray had passed
away. In response, they dedicated their performance,
released as Song for the Big Chief, to him.
The title is taken from Murray’s 1969 EMI-Pathé
album Big Chief, recorded shortly after the drummer ’s
relocation to Paris (where he died) and McPhee opens
the album with a dedication: “Before we begin, I’d justlike to say that in the last few days, we lost, in ourmusical community, the drummer Sunny Murray, atage 81. A big influence on Paal and me. And so to begin
I’d like to play a little something and I asked Paal tojoin me. For Sunny Murray.”
Each song opens quietly and McPhee and NilssenLove move the volume carefully up to moderatecrescendos, then descend again slowly back to silence.
McPhee leads the performance, the first and last playerof the duo to be heard on each song. His playing is
consistently gentle, even at its loudest. In this respect,
his playing on Song for the Big Chief is similar to that of
the late Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, another gentle
giant of the saxophone and McPhee’s peer.
Like McIntyre, McPhee expresses himself withsomber, searching tones. There are frequent silences
and pauses. He repeats many phrases with minor but
thoughtful variations and spends a lot of time slowly
taking his saxophone back and forth across the line
where you can begin to hear his breath dancing along
the reed of the instrument.
Nilssen-Love occupies the middles of each song,building off of and responding to McPhee’s playing
with great sensitivity. It is obvious, even without
knowing anything about their long collaboration(which comprises four earlier albums as a pair), thatthe duo have played together closely for many years.
Together, they give a performance commemorating a
musician who meant a lot to them both and to avant
garde jazz as a whole. This is a very special album.
For more information, visit paalnilssen-love.com. McPhee is
at Downtown Music Gallery Feb. 23rd. See Calendar.

Relight
Uwe Oberg/Joe Fonda/Lucío Martínez(Not Two)
New Origin
Christophe Rocher/Joe Fonda/Harvey Sorgen(Not Two)by Robert Iannapollo

Since the release of his first album in 1981, bassist Joe
Fonda has participated in over 150 recordings, inaddition to leading sessions under his own name andas a co-leader of bands (Fonda/Stevens Group, NuBand). He’s always had a penchant for ‘outside’
collaborations, many with international improvisers;
recent releases have included work with Japanesepianist Satoko Fujii and German guitarist Erhard Hirt,
to name just two. Below are the two most recent
releases of Fonda continuing his exploration of newmusic by players with whom he has not previously
recorded.
German pianist Uwe Oberg has amassed a solid
discography since his first solo piano album (1993),
followed by several trio and quartet records, as well as
duos with players such as saxophonist Evan Parker
and guzheng player Xu Fengxia. It’s the latter who
provides the link between Fonda and Oberg as thebassist also recorded a duet album with her. Add
Spanish percussionist Lucío Martínez and the result is
Relight, an all-improvised piano trio album with wide
purview. The opener is a good demonstration:
it starts slowly, the players feeling each other out with
Martínez particularly effective, focusing on the metallic
elements of her setup; gradually becomes denser, more
active until the listener is drawn into Cecil Taylor-like
intensity; and finally recedes into delicate interplay,
rebuilding up to a barrage to finish off the piece.
“Lighter Than Before” is as its title suggests. It’s aperfect followup, a more subtle exploratory piece with
Oberg focusing on the inside of the piano and Fonda
engaging in a brief uncredited flute interlude.
“Almost Two” contains a lengthy duet section between
Fonda and Martínez, which is one of the highlights ofthe disc. “Relight Year” is pure soundscape.
Oberg’s instincts were spot on when choosing his
partners for this disc and Relight is free piano trio
playing at its finest.
French clarinetist Christophe Rocher has beenplaying with American counterparts for the past
couple of decades but New Origin is his first recordingwith the rhythm team of Fonda and drummer Harvey
Sorgen, the engine of the Fonda/Stevens Group(and other bands) for the past 25 years. The program
consists of several Rocher and Fonda originals, five
free improvisations and a cover of Ornette Coleman’s“Broken Shadows” (nice to hear this played on
clarinet). The set opens with Fonda’s “Read This”,
a particularly tricky line played by Rocher on bass
clarinet. The rhythm team is open and allows Rocher
free rein but the performance is very tight. Rocher ’s“African Roll Mops” percolates on an active rhythm
while B flat clarinet dances above. It’s succeeded by
the contemplative “Berceuse”, carefully chosen notes
eventually dissipating to breathy sighs by the end. The
12 tracks present a varied program, from theunrestrained freedom of “For Perry (Robinson)” andminimal quiet of “Gastronomy” to the rolling backbeatof Fonda’s “ZCSNY”. New Origin is a complete
statement and the results are worth hearing.
For more information, visit nottwo.com. Fonda is at The
Stone at The New School Feb. 25th. See Calendar.

Miles Davis: New Research on Miles Davis & His Circle
Masaya Yamaguchi (Masaya Music)
by Kevin Canfield

F our years ago, Masaya Yamaguchi, a guitarist andthe author of several music instruction books,
learned that Harlem’s Schomburg Center for
Research in Black Culture had obtained some
intriguing documents. The “Quincy Troupe papers”,
as they were billed, promised to reveal more about
Miles: The Autobiography, Troupe’s evocative 1989
collaboration with Miles Davis. Yamaguchi went tohave a look—and kept going back. His labors haveresulted in a sprawling 600-plus page book. In Miles
Davis: New Research on Miles Davis & His Circle,
Yamaguchi broadens what we know about the great
trumpeter. But if his text is sometimes compelling,its flaws undermine many of his assertions.
Yamaguchi’s trips to the Schomburg and otherarchives have yielded an impressive cache of
documents. In addition to his survey of transcripts
from Troupe’s interviews of Davis, he includes
images of census and school records, businesscorrespondence mailed to Davis’ W. 77th Street
apartment and many other papers. This makes forinteresting reading. Likewise, Yamaguchi’s analysisof the music itself—he writes particularly well about
the artistic exchange between Davis and John
Coltrane—is sophisticated.
But Yamaguchi can also be pedantic. He tartly
criticizes Troupe for a misspelling (“Troupe
obviously did not research”), yet his own bookcontains its share of errors and misjudgments. In
one chapter, he refers to “Rollin Stone”, depriving
the magazine of its “g”. In another, he dings thewriter Stanley Crouch for having “selectively
quoted” from Miles: The Autobiography, failing either
to realize or acknowledge that practically all
quotations are selective.
Yamaguchi’s criticisms of Troupe’s work areoften poorly argued and unduly harsh. When atranscript shows Troupe shifting the topic ofconversation from music to Davis’ “nice boots”,
Yamaguchi deems it “very unprofessional”. Later,
Yamaguchi chides Troupe for asking Davis a“stupid question” (“Can you tell me the difference
between modal music and chromatic, improvisationalmusic”?). This is a blinkered reading of thetranscripts. Troupe’s job was to get Davis talking, toelicit anecdotes for a book aimed at people who, by
and large, aren’t professional musicians. To rip him
for casually phrased questions not intended forprint is to demonstrate a lack of understanding
about how a lot of nonfiction is written.
This book deserves praise for illuminating bitsof Davis’ past. Yamaguchi straightens out thechronology and location of certain events and notes
the contributions of musicians who weren’t properly
credited. But the text would’ve benefited from atighter focus. Around the halfway point, Yamaguchi
devotes four pages to Davis’ contention that
Coltrane was a frequent nosepicker. Not everything
merits in-depth research.
For more information, go to masayayamaguchi.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 29

The Secret Between The Shadow and The Soul
Branford Marsalis Quartet (OKeh)
by Joel Roberts

Longevity and consistency are rare things for jazzgroups these days. The Branford Marsalis Quartet is an
exception. The saxophonist formed his quartet way
back in the ‘80s, when he and brother Wynton were at
the forefront of the Young Lions movement, and he’s
kept it going ever since.
The current lineup, one of the best and most daring
in jazz, has been unchanged for the past decade,with drummer Justin Faulkner the most recent to join
up in 2009 while pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist
Eric Revis have both been with Marsalis for more than
20 years.
The current album, the group’s first pure quartet
release since 2012’s Four MFs Playin’ Tunes, wasrecorded in Australia in the middle of a world tour andreflects the sharpness and intensity of a road-tested
unit. This is very much a collaborative effort asevidenced by the inclusion of two compositions eachby Calderazzo and Revis, versus only one by Marsalis.
The two covers, probing and challenging mid ‘70s
tunes by Keith Jarrett (“The Windup”) and Andrew
Hill (“Snake Hip Waltz”), are also a strong indicationof the group’s adventurous, modernist leanings. And
while Marsalis has seldom sounded better on bothtenor and soprano saxophone, as in his haunting anddramatic turn on his own “Life Filtering from theWater Flowers”, his voice does not drown out the restof the band.
All four members play distinct roles, with
Calderazzo, Marsalis’ most trusted foil, an especiallydynamic presence, delivering virtuosic performanceson his own “Ciarra” and “Conversation Among theRuins”. Revis contributes the feverish “Dance of theEvil Toys”, a largely free group improv evoking Ornette
Coleman, as well as the noir-ish “Nilaste”.
While the members of the Branford Marsalis
Quartet have not changed, that steadiness should not
be confused with stagnancy. This is a mature andconfident group, all about exploration and risk-taking,and their latest effort is a resounding success.
For more information, visit okeh-records.com. This projectis at Rose Theater Feb. 28th-29th. See Calendar.

Wherein Lies The Good
The Westerlies (s/r)
by Donald Elfman

W hat’s impressive about The Westerlies—originallyfrom Seattle and now based in New York—is just how
much music emanates from these four horns, not only
in instrumental prowess but also dynamics, texturesand composition reflecting a world of voices emerging
as a beautiful, new American sound. We hear spirituals,
jazz, folk, blues, classical art songs and more.
Trombonist Andy Clausen contributed the opener,“Robert Henry”, and its ebullience bursts through all
four horns as they develop the melody. The tune isboth compositionally challenging and appealingly
intimate. Trombonist Willem de Koch reharmonizes
a Charles Ives setting of the old spiritual “In theMornin’”, featuring a stunning solo by trumpeter
Chloe Rowlands (who took over for founding member
Zubin Hensler).
There’s more ‘spiritual’ music in a number of tunes
that follow: “Weeping Mary”, a Shape Note hymn,
using musical notation made for congregational
singing; and gospel tunes— “Golden Gate Gospel
Train”, “Travelin’ Shoes”, “Born Ten Thousand YearsAgo”—originally adapted and made popular by The
Golden Gate Quartet, the four voices of which are
joyfully imitated by the horns.
The Westerlies do a beautiful take on “The Kiss”
by a favorite singer of theirs, Judee Sill. It’s dark andmournful, horns sounding calls reminiscent of a churchorgan, and evokes loss and redemption. Of note is thetune “Laurie”, by Rowlands, an intimate song ofgrieving for the late inspirational New York trumpeter
and teacher Laurie Frink.
“Memories” is more Ives (written in 1897 when hewas still a student at Yale University) and is, as the twoparts note, ‘Very Pleasant’ and ‘Rather Sad’ in a lovely
arrangement by Clausen. This marvelous recording
closes with a three-part composition, “Entropy” bytrumpeter Riley Mulherkar. A striking opening fanfare
becomes a poignant struggle against the notion thetitle suggests and, finally, becomes a haunting elegy.
Throughout we hear the gorgeously amassed
sound of the four horns and how each contributes tothe sonic splendor.
For more information, visit westerliesmusic.com. This
project is at Littlefield Feb. 29th. See Calendar.

How We Do
John Yao’s Triceratops (See Tao)
The Gates
John Yao/Jimmy Smith/James Hughes Sextet(Shifting Paradigm)by George Kanzler

The two constants on these albums are the tromboneof John Yao and the three-horn frontlines. For How We
Do, Yao leads his Triceratops band where he is joinedby the saxophones of Billy Drewes (soprano or alto)
and Jon Irabagon (tenor) in a freewheeling quintet
rounded out by bassist Peter Brendler and drummer
Mark Ferber. On The Gates, the collaboratively-led
sextet from Detroit finds him alongside trumpeter
Jimmy Smith and saxophonist James Hughes (soprano,alto or tenor) plus a full rhythm section of pianist
Corey Hendrick, bassist Jeff Pedraz and drummer
Nick Collins.
The latter band is configured like a hardbop sextet
and delivers music that has the best hallmarks of one.
The quintet, minus any dominant chordal instrument(piano, guitar), is more free and expansive harmonicallyand rhythmically, bordering on the rambunctious,
a spiritual descendant of Charles Mingus’ bands.
Anchoring both bands is Yao’s big, brawny, forthright
open trombone, pealing with a rich, burnished tone,
favoring the lower and middle registers more thanmost of his contemporaries.
How We Do features seven Yao originals, plus a
short Irabagon bop-like contrafact, “Tea for T”. Yao’scharts favor polyphonic horn interaction and looseover-close harmony in themes and melodies and

30 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

improvised solo sections that often overlap or feature
tandem solos. The Gates takes a different approach,even on Yao’s three originals (the other co-leaders havethree and four apiece), although “Hell Gate” has apolyphonic bridge. But for most of it, the sextet CDfeatures close unison passages or a single horn leadover two-horn harmony backing.
The two bands’ contrasting approaches can beseen in the one waltz time piece on each album. How
We Do’s “The Golden Circle” has the three horns
loosely weaving melody lines in and out of the liberalapplication of 3/4 from bass and drums. The Gates’“Ice On Snow” (by Hughes) has a tight horn section
with shifting leads, all in close harmony, and features
a horn-supported piano solo.
Both CDs also have a track cued by strong pizzicato
bass. The quintet’s “Triceratops Blues” proceeds
through odd harmonies to a trombone solo overchattering rhythms, drum and bass interlude and Yao
soaring over the closing chorus. The sextet’s“Subterranean Miner” unfurls as a snake-like melody
from the closely harmonized horns, a bass solo
followed by a round of horns.
The single ballads also show the divergent
approaches. The quintet’s “Circular Path” is loose,arco bass, soprano and trombone braiding lines, solosdelivered over elastic rhythms. “Sophia’s Song” fromHughes and the sextet is a classic tenor saxophoneballad in the Benny Golson mode supported by backing
horns. These two albums present Yao’s ability toembrace the traditions of hardbop as well as the freer
approach to tradition that is emerging today.
For
more
information,
visit
johnyao.com
andshftingparadigmrecords.com. Yao leads the Terraza 7 Jam
Session Feb. 12th and 26th. See Calendar.

Son of Local Colour (Live at the Pizza Express)
Peter Lemer Quintet (ESP-Disk’)by Andrey Henkin

Britain in 1966 was a fascinating place: the Kray
Brothers were running wild; The Beatles played theirlast official U.K. concert; Patrick McGoohan began
filming The Prisoner; England beat Germany in theWorld Cup. Nestled among all that monumental
activity was a London recording session by a quintet ofthen-relatively-unknown players. Local Colour would
be released across the pond by ESP-Disk’ right in the
middle of its run of promoting The New Thing, mostly
from New York City but also, quite unusually for an
American label, from Europe and elsewhere.
At the time these were among the first appearanceson record by pianist Peter Lemer, saxophonists Nisar
Ahmad Khan and John Surman, bassist Tony Reevesand drummer Jon Hiseman, the quintet having a weekly
gig at the old Ronnie Scott’s Club. Of course, Surman
would go onto international fame; Reeves and Hiseman,
who had already played together under pianist Mike
Taylor the year before, became founding members ofjazz-rock band Colosseum; Khan would be part of thevarious bands of Robert Wyatt; and the leader appearedon albums by John Stevens, Barbara Thompson, Harry
Beckett, Mike Oldfield and Phil Miller.

Amazingly, five decades later, two years ago thismonth, most of the band (Khan unable to perform due
to illness and Alan Skidmore taking his place)reconvened at Pizza Express, a three-minute walk fromtheir old haunt, the results of which were released bya resuscitated ESP-Disk’ as Son of Local Colour.
The band revisits four of the tunes from theoriginal release—”Cuidad Enahenado”, “Ictus”,“Flowville” and “Carmen”, all Lemer tunes apart from
Carla Bley’s “Ictus”—filling out the 70-minute programwith John Coltrane’s “Impressions”, Surman’s “URH”
and Lemer ’s “Big Dick” and “In The Out”. While one’s
inner discographer would have loved to have had thetrue original lineup for this date, Skidmore is a morethan able replacement, having begun his careeralongside the rest during the heady days of progressive
British jazz (and working with Surman often in theintervening years).
Unlike an awkward high school reunion, thequintet sounds quite pleased to be back together onthese perky little numbers, expanded necessarily in thelive context. Reeves and Hiseman (who sadly died lessthan four months later) continue their powerful rapport
as the saxophones blaze over top. It is great to hear
Surman letting loose and Skidmore’s Coltrane-isms area nice complement. Lemer, though at the helm, wisely
gives his bandmates plenty of space and time to get
reacquainted while also playing adventurously enoughto make one wish he had recorded more as a leader.
This coming together makes the Peter Lemer Quintet
twice as successful as British World Cup soccer.

and electric drone music (composer La Monte Young’s
influence had been heard in the Velvet Underground’srepertoire since 1966). Cheatham, trumpeter Wil
Letman, electric pianist Vagn Leick, electric guitarist
Bob O’Connell, electric bassist David Saltman,
drummer Kiah “T” Nowlin and percussionist Dorian
McGee created a limitless music reflective of Bitches
Brew but here the fusion leaves ample space forpsychedelic rock’s input. Imagine if you will, Miles’
touring ensemble conjoined with Roky Erikson’s 13th
Floor Elevators and it gives an indication.
Within the grooves, listeners find two extended
works, ‘ear movies’, which are truly evocative andutterly engaging. Though open, loose, the band seems
innately aware of their place in the whole. Cheatham’ssolo statements, particularly on soprano, are markedly
inventive. When he leans into the collective, his modal
flights take hold of the rhythm, realizing the rock andR&B within. And Letman’s bell-like trumpet parts
often intertwine with Cheatham’s lead lines,
demonstrating, as do the rest of Thing, that the real
power was derived from the collective. That was avital message in 1972. Re-released in this new period ofdivisiveness and struggle, Thing’s embrace of thewhole is timely indeed.
For more information, visit culturesofsoul.bandcamp.com

For more information, visit espdisk.com

Lys / Mørke (Light / Darkness)
Sigurd Hole (s/r)
by Tyran Grillo

EponymousThing (Innerview-Cultures of Soul)by John Pietaro

In the high years of jazz experimentation—as Miles
Davis’ In a Silent Way led to Bitches Brew, Tony Williams
debuted Lifetime and rock had fully matured,influenced by mind-expanding philosophies, sounds
and substances—there came a perfect reciprocal storm
to unify these once divergent genres. Davis performedat the Isle of Wight along with Jimi Hendrix andChicago, Dreams, Weather Report and Mahavishnu
Orchestra came to be and the call was for jazz musicians
to “go electric” while rock and rollers with the chops
and musical wherewithal engaged in extended
improvisation. Hendrix discussed collaborative plans
with Gil Evans, Grateful Dead cast the mold for jam
bands and even prior, Charles Lloyd played theFillmore and the Gary Burton Quartet wore long hair
while featuring Larry Coryell’s electric guitar.
In 1972, alto and soprano saxophonist Arnie
Cheatham founded a band with several musicians he
had met at Berklee College of Music to engage inexperimental jamming. Cheatham, a Chicagoan, hadrelocated to Boston to attend the celebrated musiccollege but dropped out after a single semester: “Thatwas all I had the money for,” he states in this rerelease’s
liner notes. But by then he’d already formed the core of
the band. After their tapes were marked “Arnie’s
Thing” by a sound engineer, the name stuck but
Cheatham insisted on dropping ownership—themusicians all led.
Two of Thing’s performances in and around
Boston, captured on this LP release, offer an amorphousensemble in the convergence of free jazz, rock, R&B

F ollowing 2018’s Elvesang (one of that year ’s finest),
Norwegian bassist Sigurd Hole returns with an evendeeper solo session, recorded on a small island off thenorthern coast of Norway. Inspired by the surroundings,
Hole often recorded with the studio door left open andsometimes even outside. As David Rothenberg
observes in his liner notes, there’s something bothprimal and rare going on here—a willingness to speak
with, rather than at, nature.
Although its 18 tracks are divided down the middle
into suites of Light (Lys) and Darkness (Mørke), we could
easily read one into the other. In Light, we encounter the
inward arpeggios of “Skygge” (Shadow), just as in
Darkness we stumble across the vast terrains of“Refleksjon” (Reflection). As dots in an aural yin yang,they are masterstrokes of one who intimately knows theinner life of his instrument. Aside from one traditionalsong, his subliminal folktales come from the heart.
Hole is a painterly musician in the truest sense—that is, one who isn’t afraid to call upon every brushand palette knife at his disposal. In most cases, heseems interested in examining the harmonic possibilitiesof the bass, drawing out hidden and elusive shades ofcolor in the process. Prime examples include “Trestein”(Woodstone), “Årringer” (Growth rings) and “Bølge”(Wave), in which Hole opens his bow like a poet would
a journal, setting pen to paper without filter.
Thus, Hole unravels until his emotions sing in a
way that sidesteps the need for highlighted analysis.
The more one listens, the more one feels each track as avital organ of the whole. And while you may not walkaway with discernible melodies on the brain, you will
have in your possession something far more indelible:
a feeling that you have known the texture of a soul.
For more information, visit sigurdhole.no. Hole plays solo at
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall Feb. 3rd. See Calendar.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 31

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3 Nights in L.A.
George Garzone/Peter Erskine/Alan Pasqua/
Darek Oles (Fuzzy Music)
by Scott Yanow

In January 2019, Boston-based tenor-saxophonist

George Garzone teamed up with an allstar Los Angeles
rhythm section comprised of pianist Alan Pasqua,bassist Darek Oles and drummer Peter Erskine at theSouthern California jazz club Sam First. They played avariety of favorite standards along with a few originals,
all of the music was recorded and 20 selections havebeen made available on a three-CD set with each discdocumenting a different night.
Garzone is a particularly intriguing improviser.
68 at the time of this recording, he first gained attention
back in 1972 when he co-founded The Fringe. Since
then he has recorded with such notables as George
Russell, Bob Moses, Gunther Schuller, Danilo Pérez,Ingrid Jensen, Rachel Z, Mike Mainieri, Luciana Souzaand Joe Lovano in addition to leading overa dozen albums of his own. Garzone’s playing is basedin forward-looking hardbop and inspired by John
Coltrane but his sound (which sometimes also hints at
Sonny Rollins) is generally his own and his solos moveeasily between chordal improvisation and freer
moments. In addition, Garzone has made at least as big
an impact as an educator, devising the Triadic
Chromatic Approach; among his many students havebeen Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, Walter Smith
III, Chris Speed, Marcus Strickland, Seamus Blake,
Chris Cheek and Donny McCaslin.
Pasqua has had a wide-ranging career, including
Tony Williams Lifetime, Bob Dylan and Carlos Santana,paying tribute to Bill Evans and playing solo piano
within jazz’ modern mainstream. Oles worked withthe top jazz musicians in his native Poland, moved to
L.A. in 1988 and has since worked with Charles Lloyd,
Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau, Lee Konitz and virtually
every top jazz musician to pass through Los Angeles.
As for Peter Erskine, who owns the Fuzzy Music label
releasing 3 Nights in L.A., whether with Weather
Report, Stan Kenton, John Scofield or his dozens ofalbums as a leader, the drummer has consistently
uplifted every bandstand on which he appears.
The performances are spontaneous, swinging andhave the feel of a modern jam session with a strongemphasis on the sound and style of the classic Coltrane
Quartet. Garzone contributed five originals, including
the thoughtful out-of-tempo ballad “Dedicated To
Michael Brecker” and the others brought in a song
apiece with Oles’ modal “The Honeymoon” heard twice.
Other than Liana Catalano’s “Sky Shines On An August
Sunday”, all of the other songs are familiar standards,
with Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart’s “Have You Met
Miss Jones” being performed on each of the three nights;
the third version is the hottest. Some of these renditions,particularly Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II’s “AllThe Things You Are” and George Fragos-Jack BakerDick Gasparre’s “I Hear A Rhapsody”, get quitepassionate, especially in the interplay between Garzone
and Erskine. Pasqua, who sometimes hints at McCoy
Tyner, builds on Garzone’s intensity while Oles also
gets his share of solo space. While the overall music andstyle are conventional, plenty of sparks fly and it is a joy
to hear Garzone in this unrestrained setting.
For more information, visit petererskine.com. Garzone is at Zinc
Bar Feb. 13th-15th and Bar Bayeux Feb. 19th. See Calendar.

32 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

EarthExpansions: The Dave Liebman Group (Whaling City Sound)by Ken Dryden

Saxophonist Dave Liebman has long been one of themost adventurous and unpredictable jazz musicians,
his discography touching on nearly every jazz style
known. Liebman is always working simultaneously on
multiple projects; some are one-offs but in many ofthem he finds fertile enough ground to return. Severalof his best recordings over the past decade havefeatured his quintet Expansions with saxophonist Matt
Vashlishan, keyboard player Bobby Avey, bassist Tony
Marino and drummer Alex Ritz. Expansions has
explored both original acoustic and electronic
compositions by the group’s members, in addition to
reinterpreting standards and timeless jazz works,
breaking new ground with each performance.
The new CD Earth is the concluding chapter to
Liebman’s nature series (proceeded by Water, Air andFire, though these were all recorded by other Liebman
bands) and features Vashlishan exclusively on windsynthesizer. Liebman’s music ranges from composed
passages to freewheeling group improvisations,
including turbulent images of nature, busy urban
settings and spacious musical landscapes. Liebman
helps the listener adjust from one track to the next via
brief improvised interludes that feature different
instruments in the foreground.
As with his earlier recordings with Expansions,
there is plenty of surprise in store for the listener. It isa bit of a change not hearing Vashlishan on his usual
instruments (alto saxophone, clarinet and flute), butwind synthesizer is one of the facets that makes themusic unique. The explosive blend of it and sopranosaxophone in “Volcano/Avalanche” is intense, though
its sudden ending adds a whimsical touch. The contrast
with “Grand Canyon/Mt. Everest” is striking, as its
deliberate pacing and alternating between the fullgroup and showcasing each instrument conveys asense of wonder.
Liebman’s demanding music always requires topnotch musicians and his band understood his visionand helped him bring this outstanding project to life.
For more information, visit whalingcitysound.com. This
project is at Dizzy’s Club Feb. 28th-29th. See Calendar.

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The Adornment of TimeTyshawn Sorey/Marilyn Crispell (Pi)by Stuart Broomer

The Adornment of Time comes from an October 2018
duet performance at The Kitchen by drummer Tyshawn
Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell, a single extended
piece running to 65 minutes. It’s a brilliant example ofreal-time composition, an improvised work in which
attention to momentary detail is matched by a sense of
overarching form.
At the outset Sorey and Crispell—Braxtonians
three generations apart—focus intensely on isolated
sonic detail, whether a forceful and singular drum
stroke or resonant metallic sound of striking the frame(or harp) of the piano. This dialogue gradually
expands, maintaining its sense of space while
increasing its density, whether in lapping scalar
tremolos from piano or brief explosions of percussion.
At the 21-minute mark, the music achieves aperfect silence, a highlight of the close listening
practiced throughout. As the two slowly return intosound, there’s a heightening energy, a sense of mysterygathering around the music, which eventually bursts
forth with the keyboard energy of which Crispell isa master, here mounting two-handed chromatic cluster
flurries around the 35-minute mark matched by Sorey’s
attack, at once subtle and tremendously propulsive,
carrying through to a clarified passage of rapid runs.
Another breathing space around the 41-minutemark incrementally leads to a passage of near-silence,
marked by Sorey’s most precise and delicate use of
metallic percussion. With Crispell’s reentry, the senseof sonic exploration is reheightened, whether it’s theprecisely extended decay of a bass cluster or a plucked
high string from the piano or exploration of a varietyof percussive sounds, likely including a metal drum
frame, sharp plosives of smaller wooden drums or
echo of an oversized snare. There are moments of solo
percussion and isolated, delicate, piano figures, themusic becoming a kind of essential melody.
There’s nothing fundamentally radical about thiswork beyond its achievement, a sense of the individual
appreciation of a specific sonic event, the evolving
curve of an extended performance, the grace ofindividual nuance becoming collective expression. It’s
about music as the adornment of time, but it’s also theevolution of a dialogue in sound, individual responses
creating a collective space.

Garland, Frank Sinatra, the great (but criminally underheard) Meredith D’Ambrosio, Peggy Lee and Barbara
Carroll. Outside of jazz his credits include Sting, Carly
Simon, James Taylor and Ozzy Osbourne. But Leonhart
has long had a parallel career as a songwriter (Blossom
Dearie, Lee Konitz and Gary Burton have recorded his
compositions) and singer. He’s firmly in the DaveFrishberg/Bob Dorough camp as an interpreter of his
own funny and insightful songs. Like them, he writes
about being cool or—on the flipside—not being cool.
Joy is a trio record with pianist Tomoko Ohno anddrummer Vito Lesczak. It’s a lot of fun, with commentary
about a youthful visit to the Playboy Club in 1962,
Dutch tulip mania that came crashing down in 1637, thetrials of getting your bass on the plane and, well, being
happy. Which he seems to be.
The album is, frequently, about the practicalaspects of life, which for him means being a working,scuffling musician. “Robert Frost” is not a high-minded
appreciation of the late Maine bard’s poetry, but
a sprightly and tuneful admiration of his bucolic,dayjob-free lifestyle. While Leonhart is “truckingaround this dirty city, doing what I can to earn a dime”,
Frost is up there ruminating about two roads
converging in a yellow wood. How’d he make housepayments? Hawking poems at the country store?
Leonhart’s style is hip, worldly and somewhat
wordy and his vocals half-talked, half-sung in a way
unique to the aforementioned coterie. “Life Out on theRoad” is an impressionistic window into an early
Leonhart tour, all cars and cheap hotels, dances inMidwestern towns, drives from Texas to Alaska,
watching (scared) diving horses in Atlantic City.
Like fellow bassist Charlie Haden, Leonhart
started his musical career touring in a family country
band (they were on TV in Baltimore!) and perhaps“Life Out on the Road” is about that period. “Tulips” isabout that historic mania—frequently invoked during
modern stock market bubbles; again, it’s journalism in
the form of an easily digestible song. The same is trueof “Gasparo”, the story of Gasparo da Salò, the 16th
Century Italian violinmaker who invented the bass in1550. The fiddle couldn’t make the low notes, it seems,
so da Salò set out to build a “giant violin”. It caught on
and more than 400 years later Leonhart was playing
the man’s instrument and having trouble travelingwith it (“Bass Aboard a Plane”). “Momma Don’t You
Think” is a wistful ballad reminiscent of Randy
Newman or the fine albums made by pianist/singer/
producer John Simon.
Ohno is absolutely great on “Momma Don’t You
Think” and everything else here, Lesczak is a listening
drummer and Leonhart, well, he’s one of our greatbassists...who also sings and writes songs.

influence of Mark Murphy, Jon Hendricks, Frank
Sinatra and Eddie Jefferson as a vocalist and Freddie
Hubbard, Kenny Dorham and Lee Morgan in his bigtoned trumpet.
A Lot of Livin’ to Do finds Benack leading a quartetof Takeshi Ohbayashi (piano and keyboards), Christian
McBride (bass) and Ulysses Owens, Jr. (drums) on awide range of material: Benack successfully puts a
postbop vocal spin on everything from bassist Ray
Brown’s “Gravy Waltz” to Burt Bacharach’s “What theWorld Needs Now”.
Benack performs two songs the late Fred Rogers
wrote for his children’s show Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood:“It’s You I Like” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”,
Benack increases the tempo on the latter and transforms
it into a bossa nova. A Brazilian influence is alsopresent when Benack joins forces with Alita Moses fora vocal duet on the 1972 Roberta Flack/Donny
Hathaway hit “Where Is the Love”. The other male/
female vocal duet is with Veronica Swift on Gigi
Gryce’s “Social Call”, embracing vocalese.
When he performs instrumentals, Benack often
recalls the Blue Note catalogue of the ‘60s. Originals“New Born Blues” and “Sub-Zero” would have fit
right in on a mid ‘60s recording from Horace Silver or
Art Blakey. When he plays a muted trumpet on Johnny
Mandel’s “The Shadow of Your Smile”, Benack isstylistically much closer to Miles Davis.
Way too many jazz vocalists make the mistake oflimiting themselves to overdone Tin Pan Alleystandards. Benack wisely realizes that great material
can come from a variety of sources and his risk-taking
spirit serves him well on A Lot of Livin’ to Do.
For more information, visit bennybenackjazz.com. This projectis at Mezzrow Feb. 13th and Minton’s Feb. 21st. See Calendar.

For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com. Leonhart
is at Tribeca Performing Arts Center Feb. 13th as part ofHighlights In Jazz and Mezzrow Feb. 23rd. See Calendar.

For more information, visit pirecordings.com. Sorey is at
Jazz Standard Feb. 1st with Vijay Iyer. Crispell is at Jazz
Standard Feb. 22nd with Trio 3. See Calendar.

A Lot of Livin’ to Do
Benny Benack III (LA Reserve)by Alex Henderson
Joy
Jay Leonhart (Sunnyside)by Jim Motavalli

Jay Leonhart is perhaps best known for working withsingers, not for being one. He has played with JudyThe list of singing trumpeters who had a major impact
in jazz is a fairly short one, consisting mainly of Louis
Armstrong, Bunny Berigan, Chet Baker and Jack
Sheldon. Benny Benack III generally doesn’t try toemulate any of those greats on his second album, A Lot
of Livin’ to Do, the Pittsburgh native drawing on the
THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 33

Fatherhood
Ben Wolfe (Resident Arts)
by Elliott Simon

This offering from bassist Ben Wolfe is a personalreflection on his father ’s recent passing and a paean tofatherhood in general. Wolfe and drummer Donald
Edwards are at the helm of this session, which, save fora beautifully scored reworking of Bob Haggart’s“What’s New”, is all originals. Vibraphonist Joel Rossis exquisite and Wolfe could have expeditiously chosena vibraphone trio to interpret these varied tunes.
Instead, his ambitious decision to score 8 of these 10compositions for strings and selectively include othermusicians transforms this release into a career-defining
work. It is a wise move that ties this recording to his
previous output and connects it to a time when
composition drove group structure and string sections
were viewed as integral as opposed to augmentative.
Reworked opener “Blind Seven” features slashingruns from alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins anda touching violin solo from Jesse Mills. All of Wolfe’s
compositions are fresh and the strings are fundamental.
Pianists Luis Perdomo and Orrin Evans showcase their
distinct chemistry with Ross and each appears
individually on five of the cuts. Perdomo artfully
supports and leads whereas Evans flows and blends.

Marcus Printup
on

Such is the case with Perdomo at the center of thebouncy and slightly dissonant “Edged” and Evans
imparting his consummate feel to “Opener” with tenor
saxophonist JD Allen and trumpeter Giveton Gelin.
The culmination of Wolfe’s approach, however,is “The Kora La”, a symphonic history lesson throughan amalgamation of sounds encapsulating diversestyles and cultures. While Fatherhood may be themotivation for this musical palimpsest, which retains
traces of Wolfe’s earlier approaches, it is not its mostsignificant aspect. Wolfe’s creative meshing ofdistinctive forms and genres, mature alteration ofpreviously released material, elegant arrangements ofdifficult music and strong leadership of this large
ensemble are its more noteworthy characteristics.
For more information, visit benwolfe.com. This project is at
Birdland Theater Feb. 28th-29th. See Calendar.

Atlantic Extraction
Nick Dunston (Out Of Your Head)
by John Sharpe

If you only know bassist Nick Dunston from his
sideman dates with Dave Douglas, Tyshawn Sorey andMarc Ribot, then Atlantic Extraction will be an earopener. It’s not just the distinctive instrumentation,

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34 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

crisply plotted compositions and spanning of genres,it’s the substance underpinning it all. Dunston gives
full realization to charts sounding both like nothingelse and fully formed by recruiting flutist Louna
Dekker-Vargas and violinist Ledah Finck from thecontemporary classical world to join guitarist Tal
Yahalom and drummer Stephen Boegehold in a unified
and dazzling ensemble.
The 16 tracks jammed into 63 minutes encompass
multiple layers and overlapping tempos, varying subunits, drifting or convoluted lines and interaction
switching between reiterated figures and improv. Eachof the cuts feels like a coherent whole, packed withsatisfying event. With the programming of recurring
pieces like the four “Collages” and three “String
Solos”, the album resembles a suite even if that isn’t
the explicit intention. Even these shorter numbers areweighty, juxtaposing dark melodicism, clanking
repetition and tottering momentum.
“Tattle Snake” possesses an additive structure,
whereby its first part is a feature for clattery drums andthen, after each unison passage, another instrument
enters, until guitar introduces an accelerating riff before
interweaving with flute. “Vicuňa”’s flute and violin
intro sets in motion episodes that take some of the samematerial but meld it in different ways. Some of theturns are unexpected, as on “S.S. Nemesis”, when
guitar and violin veer in from left field deconstructing“Oh! Susanna”, while on “A Rolling Wave Of Nothing”
melancholic violin and rattling drums provide theunlikely accompaniment for Dunston’s light drawn-out
vocals. In an enthralling debut, Dunston creates music
you can dig into knowing there is a payoff in store.
For more information, visit outofyourheadrecords.com. This
project is at Threes Brewing Feb. 26th. See Calendar.

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Groovin’ at Smalls’ Paradise, Volume 1
Jimmy Smith (Blue Note)by Kurt Gottschalk

Even in these days of abundant reissue fetish objects,
Blue Note’s LP reissue of Jimmy Smith’s 1958 Groovin’ at
Smalls’ Paradise, Volume 1 stands as a rather unusual time
capsule. Recorded live at the long-lived Smalls’ Paradisewith a tight little trio, it grooves in an easy-going way
while preserving a couple of historic curiosities.
Smith, who died 15 years ago this month, hadreleased a series of albums with Blue Note in the mid‘50s, most of them branded with Volume One and Two
imprints, but the Smalls’ sessions represented something
new. The Harlem club—originally opened in 1925—wasundergoing something of a rebirth with the popularityof the new Hammond organ, which Marlowe Morris
had brought to the hot spot in 1953. Whether or not it
was the same organ Smith played on Nov. 15th, 1957 isunclear but one thing about the B-3 Smith had at his
disposal is key and that’s that the percussion switch was
broken. The misleadingly named switch allowed theplayer to control the attack of the notes played and in
this case the attack is stuck at zero. Each note Smith
plays hits fast and hits hard. As a result, the switch hascome to be known among some enthusiasts as the“paradise button”.

It’s an arcane bit of information, but armed with it
one can begin to hear the album as the excitingly
modern statement it was at the time. Today, synthesizers
and laptops can easily emulate the effect and muchmore, of course, but 60 years ago it must have seemed
like a wall rushing forward to hit you in the face.
The excitement is palpable, especially in theplayful, staccato intervals of the leader ’s composition“Slightly Monkish”. But Smith does manage some
subtlety at times. The take on Richard Rodgers-Lorenz
Hart’s “My Funny Valentine” gets a nice, churchy
interlude and Smith can pull back without
disappearing. He recedes to allow for some tasty guitar
work by Eddie McFadden on the David Raksin tune
“Laura”. Longtime Smith timekeeper Donald Bailey,meanwhile, is reliably present and dependable.
Another bit of historical ephemera is present in the
packaging, which duplicates the original issue. Blue
Note at the time was in the odd habit of providing fulltrack listings for both volumes on the back of bothcovers, which at first glance suggests that that thealbum has nine, not four, tracks. It’s a reminder of aquainter time when four to six releases per year wascommon for recording artists. That said, both volumes
were released on a double CD with four additional
tracks in 1999 and that version is still available on
streaming services. The LP release is tailored forcollectors and purists, who no doubt will be happy
with this handsome edition.
For more information, visit bluenote.com

The Sky Below
Miles Okazaki (Pi)by Tom Greenland

Saturday, February 1

RONNIE BURRAGE& HOLOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLE
Friday, February 7 & Saturday, February 8

CYRUS CHESTNUT TRIO
Friday, February 14

THE BENNY BENACK BAND
featuring ALITA MOSESSaturday, February 15

JOEL ROSS ‘GOOD VIBES’
Friday, February 21

NOAH PREMINGER GROUP
Saturday, February 22

EXPANSIONS:THE DAVE LIEBMAN GROUP
Friday, February 28

MIKE CASEY TRIO
Saturday, February 29

CHEMBO CORNIEL QUINTET
thesidedoorjazz.com

If you’ve been following guitarist Miles Okazaki’s
recorded output, you’ll recognize the origami figure ofa black raven on the cover of The Sky Below from 2017’s
Trickster. If you’ve listened closely to his compositions,
you’ll realize he is slowly building a unique body ofwork through increasingly intricate elaborations ofearlier ideas. On his second and latest album with
Trickster—keyboard player Matt Mitchell (replacing
Craig Taborn), bassist Anthony Tidd, drummer Sean
Rickman—you can hear the traces and development of
an idiosyncratic set of tools and textures.
The title track, for example, is a permutation ofJohn Coltrane’s tri-tonic system used to compose“Giant Steps” and “Countdown”, a trope Okazaki firstused on “Improvisation” (from 2006’s Mirror), herecombined with a bass part that rhythmically cycles
over a four-bar drum chant, an idea used on “Themes
I-III” (from Mirror) and “Kudzu” (from Trickster). “Riseand Shine”, for another example, recycles a four-chord
sequence (F minor/D Major/G augmented/B-flat
diminished) that contains every note of the chromaticscale, first explored on “Waves” (from 2009’s
Generations), “Loom” (from 2012’s Figurations), then“Black Bolt” (from Trickster), employed here as part ofa larger exploration of what he terms “interlocking
heterogeneous
triads”.
“Dog
Star”
and
“Monstropolous” utilize electronic programming
similar to Mirror’s “Improvisation” and “Volcano”.
“Seven Sisters” further develops Okazaki’s flair forpolyrhythmic permutation: drums, bass, piano andguitar all operate in separate time zones, overlappingphrases of 4, 5 or 7 beats, aligning at last after 17 bars.
It’s easy to hear the four-note bass pattern on this track

36 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

as a basic pulse, but a look at Okazaki’s score (available
on his website) reveals there is much more going on
than meets the ear. Careful listening (or another peekat the score) further reveals that many of his
compositions borrow bits and pieces from one another.
Such overt complexity could quickly become
tedious, but Okazaki’s oeuvre ameliorates any
potential brain overload through equal attention toless heady aesthetics: respect for groove, attention totone and organic development of creative devices.
For more information, visit pirecordings.com. Okazaki is at
National Sawdust Feb. 26th. See Calendar.

Proton Pump
Akira Sakata Chikamorchi/Masahiko Satoh(Family Vineyard)
by Andrey Henkin

F ree jazz is well suited to Japan. As with its Americanand European counterparts, the former addressing thecruelty of (continuing) slavery, the latter the horrors of(continuing) nationalism, Japan’s version is the cry of
the only nation to have been the victim of atomic
weapons, an act that brought about a remarkabletransformation in the country’s soul, especially evident
in the violent shift in its literature from placid andintrospective to surreal and dystopic.
Saxophonist Akira Sakata was only six months oldwhen U.S. forces dropped bombs on Hiroshima andNagasaki 75 years ago. The irony of those invading
forces being the method by which jazz was popularized
in the country should not be lost on readers.
Sakata was among the second wave of Japanese
free jazz musicians as part of the Yosuke Yamashita Trioof the early ‘70s. He has stayed with it in the intervening
decades, exploring its depths with the rigor of a marine
biologist studying plankton (his “day” job). In recent
years he has focused his energies towards Chikamorachi,
a trio with younger Americans Darin Gray (bass) andChris Corsano (drums), releasing mostly live albums
on Family Vineyard or Japan’s King, either with thedistilled trio or with guests like guitarist Jim O’Rourke.
The latest disc is another live date, this time from
Sakata’s home turf, namely Tokyo’s Pitt In. What makes
it especially significant is the presence of a Japanese
avant jazz player of even earlier vintage, pianist
Masahiko Satoh, a contemporary of Yamashita. This is
only the third time Sakata and Satoh have appeared onrecord together and here in the smallest group, allowing
their interaction to be in the forefront.
Given the circumstances, an old-versus-young,Japanese-versus-American dynamic or even four-way
noodling could have been excused but right from the
beginning of the title improvisation, the foursome islocked into a lurching, barrelhouse swing, piano hardly
tentative against the swells of rhythm or bleating ofsaxophone. This was free jazz as if produced by anefficient Japanese car manufacturer. “Bullet Apoptosis”
finds Sakata on his inimitable clarinet, paired with therumblings of piano, murderous bowed bass, churning
drums: delicious violence. Sakata’s signature
vocalizing and percussion is made even more dramaticby Satoh’s fractured accompaniment on “Chemiosmotic
Coupling of Acorn”. Closing “Voyage of Eukaryote” isa pleasant, almost Village-Vanguard-on-a-Sundayafternoon trip, a needed respite for band and listener.
For more information, visit family-vineyard.com

Tractatus Musico-Philosophicus(Philosophical Investigations from The Invisible Theatre)
John Zorn (Tzadik)
by Tyran Grillo

The opening crashes of Tractatus Musico-Philosophicus,

John Zorn’s latest plowing into the swirling waters of
his fertile imagination, puts one in mind of MatsuoBashō’s famous haiku: “The old pond / A frog jumps
in— / The sound of the water”. The comparison is notmade to imply that Zorn’s latest parthenogenetic
mashup is incidental to the poem, but rather because heseems to uncork some of its deeper meanings. For one
thing, in the original Japanese, there is no distinction
between “frog” and “frogs”, just as in Zorn’s case there
is no distinction between “individual” and “collective”.
And so while it’s romantic to imagine a single actor
disrupting an otherwise peaceful image by his lonesome,in reality the forces and figures gathered under his
creative banner are always multiple and dedicatory innature. Throughout this album, comprised of a single
38-minute track, there is little to suggest that Zorn isfragmenting the self. If anything, he is multiplying it.
After the piece’s initial awakening, a slowed-down
voice intones the words “primitive signs”, as if to signal
what is to follow. If what we encounter is indeed
primitive, then it is a special kind of core aesthetic.

Shades of free jazz, cinema and psychoanalysis
coagulate in this lively crucible. Zorn plays all
instruments, including spasmodic alto saxophone,
beloved game calls, drums, keyboards, vocals andsamples. Signposts guide the patient listener. Zorn
whispers of “the high priest”, “the devil” and other tarot
cards and by that verbal spread tells the fortune of anentity who cannot speak for itself. Like the protagonist of
Italo Calvino’s The Castle of Crossed Destinies, he translates
images into stories that the rest of us on this mortal coil
can understand. Moments of atmospheric beauty sharebreathing room with cathartic screams, human andotherwise, a terrain such as only Zorn could navigate.
For more information, visit tzadik.com. Zorn is at The Stone
at The New School Feb. 4th. See Calendar.

To The Evening Star
Alan Broadbent (Eden River)by Scott Yanow

Alan Broadbent has had two major musical loves in
his life, the bebop-oriented pianist also a big fan ofclassical music. He has arranged for orchestras and hassometimes found ways to combine his two
passions but To The Evening Star is somewhat different.
For this solo piano outing, which has unfortunately

3rd
Annualonly been released as a download (it really deserves tobe more widely available), Broadbent transforms nineclassical melodies into jazz, keeping the essence of thethemes while giving them chord structures, swing andnew flavors both melodic and adventurous.
Recorded in Cologne, Germany over two
afternoons, Broadbent is primarily heard in a happy
mood, joyfully digging into melodies he has long loved
and creating fresh ideas. The program begins withthree pieces by Wagner, Broadbent’s affection for thework obvious: “As Morning Breaks/The Prize Song”
starts as a sophisticated ballad before becoming
a swinging performance; “Amfortas’ Lament/Song Of
The Flower Maidens” is explored for nearly 12 minutes
and is quite dramatic and ultimately heartwarming;and the title track sounds as if it could have been an
obscure jazz standard or a movie theme from the ‘50s
that Broadbent modernized a bit. The same can be said
for the treatment of the quietly emotional “Opus Blue,Op. 2” by Scriabin. The relatively brief “Bud Meets
Carl” depicts an imaginary meeting between Bud
Powell and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (the second sonof Johann Sebastian Bach) or perhaps Powell playing
his version of a Bach piece.
In contrast to the classical themes that sound as if
they had been standards, Rachmaninoff’s “Full Moon
And Empty Arms” and a pair of Borodin’s melodies(“Stranger In Paradise” and “Baubles, Bangles andBeads”) have been performed by many pop and jazzartists. The program is rounded out by a hard-swinging
version of Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” andBroadbent’s moody “Since That Time” and bluesy“Brother Ralf”. This is an enjoyable, often surprising set.
For more information, visit eden-river-records.com.
Broadbent is at Mezzrow Feb. 20th. See Calendar.

Presents theandArt Show

March 5-8, 2020
Info and tickets: www.jazzwahi.com

Featuring: Jazz for Kids • The Royal Bopsters •Jake Chapman • Eddy Khaimovich • Carol
Morgan • Gabriel Vicéns • Tomohiro Mori •Gottfried Stöger • Max Pollak • Blue Food Blues
Band • Berta Moreno • Meg Okura • Annette
Aguilar • Louise Rogers’ Festival All-Stars
Jazz WaHi, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, promoting jazz performance andmusic education in Washington Heights. Our mission: to connect jazz musicians with
an audience of jazz lovers and to expand that audience through accessible
performances and educational opportunities.

Unbenannt-1 1

28.12.2019 20:03:22

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 37

Randy Brecker Plays Rovatti: Sacred Bond
Randy Brecker (Piloo)
by Jim Motavalli

Italian saxophonist/vocalist Ada Rovatti has beenmarried to veteran trumpet player Randy Brecker since2001 and the partnership is as musically collaborative
as it is personal. On this album, it’s the player and theneeds-to-be-heard composer who are effectively
showcased. The title track (about their daughter Stella)is enhanced by Rovatti’s wordless octave singing on
the head and has a catchy, appropriately childlike
quality. Stella (then 10) sings too and, amazingly
enough, it never goes gooey.
Rovatti has a big, muscular sound on tenor. Imagine
the embarrassment if some established chauvinist
musician mistook her for George Coleman in a Blindfold
Test! “Helping Hand” is introduced by pianist David
Kikoski, then slips into gear as a Brazilian-inflected
number aided by Café Da Silva’s surdo drum. Alexander
Claffy is outstanding on bass. “Other Side of the Coin”
also has Brazilian overtones. “Reverence” is for ArethaFranklin (both Rovatti and Brecker played behind her),solid Muscle Shoals funk with a hint of Weather Reportand featuring Adam Rogers’ rocking guitar. “The
Baggage” is stately and wistful, back in the jazz tradition.
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Brecker ’s own solo is buoyant, held up by piano.
Rodney Holmes’ fusion-y drumming is a little heavy
for the track, but Claffy’s solo is again satisfying. “TheQueen of Bibelot” is similarly in the pocket, pure late
‘50s-early ‘60s Blue Note bop with a cool staccato head.
Rovatti’s tenor entrance is primed right out of the gate
but Holmes still sounds like he’s in the wrong studio;
his time to shine is on the Miles Davis-ish “Britches
Blue”, also a feature for Rogers. Everybody’s plugged
in, including Claffy. Holmes solos on “Mirror”, anotherstrong piece of jazz writing. Rovatti and Brecker both
get up fine heads of steam here, underneath burbling
Fender Rhodes. Rovatti also plays soprano and“Brainwashed” is a feature for that instrument andanother fine composition. Like many of her tunes, it
has an earworm quality; she could be writing for themovies. But it’s just fine she’s keeping it in the family.
For more information, visit randybrecker.com. Brecker is at
Dizzy’s Club Feb. 9th with Charlie Sepúlveda and Blue
Note Feb. 25th with Jimmy Cobb. See Calendar.

AmizadeKen Peplowski/Diego Figueiredo (Arbors)by Alex Henderson

Clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski has along history of teaming up with great guitarists, fromHoward Alden and John Pizzarelli to the late Charlie
Byrd and Amizade recalls Peplowski’s bossa nova output
with the latter. Peplowski sticks to clarinet on these
intimate duets with Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo.
Peplowski has often been described as a swing
revival musician but he is more of a swing-to-bop player
and while his clarinet draws on Swing Era icons like
Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Barney Bigard and Woody
Herman, he also gets a great deal of inspiration frombop clarinetist Buddy DeFranco. All of those influences
assert themselves on this recording, Peplowski and
Figueiredo putting a Brazilian jazz spin on Swing Era
favorites in addition to ‘60s bossa nova material.
Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” and Goodmanassociated “Stompin’ at the Savoy” were popularduring World War II but Peplowski and Figueiredo
perform those standards in a way that recalls the ‘60s
bossa nova explosion, the latter approached as an
introspective Brazilian jazz ballad. The duo does
embrace its share of overdone bossa nova standards,
including guitarist Luiz Bonfá’s haunting “Manhã de
Carnaval” and Jobim warhorses “So Danco Samba”
and “Samba de uma Nota So” but there are surprises aswell: lesser-known gems by Jobim (“Retrato em Brancoe Preto”) and guitarist Baden Powell (“Apelo”), thepair among Figueiredo’s main influences.
One of the most intriguing selections is “Por Paco”,
which Figueiredo wrote in memory of the late Spanish
flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía who died in 2014.
Osvaldo Farrés’ “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” andConsuelo Velazquez’ “Bésame Mucho” are famous
boleros; the Brazilian jazz/bossa nova flavor Peplowski
and Figueiredo put in their medley of the two pieces isrefreshingly unorthodox.
Those with fond memories of Peplowski’s Concord
Jazz output with Byrd will appreciate the strong
rapport he enjoys with Figueiredo throughout Amizade.
For more information, visit arborsrecords.com. Peplowski is
at Mezzrow Feb. 28th-29th. See Calendar.

38 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

on screen

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
(A Film by Stanley Nelson)
by Jim Motavalli

The title of this documentary about Miles Davis is
somewhat misleading. It’s not solely about thelegendary sessions with Gil Evans, but a fullbiography of the trumpeter. As such, it’s a traditional,
chronological trawl that works fine as an overview.
The film is “narrated” by Davis himself, in the formof a voiceover from Carl Lumbly, who does a great
job with Miles’ whispery rasp. The first-person text
is presumably condensed from Davis’ autobiography,
written with Quincy Troupe (one of the many talking
heads here).
Those who know the broad outline of Davis’ life
won’t learn much new here. But the film benefits
hugely from interviews with just about every person
still alive who could shed light. This includes
musicians—Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, Quincy
Jones, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Mike Stern,
Jimmy Cobb (the only Kind of Blue survivor—Davis
told him to “just swing”), Lenny White, Joshua
Redman—ex-wives
andgirlfriends,
friends,
industry bigwigs and critics. The portrait is warts
and all. The love of his life and first wife Frances
Taylor Davis recounts the day when a drug-addled
Davis hit her (she had said that Quincy Jones washandsome). Archie Shepp reports that when heasked to sit in, Davis responded, “Fuck you.”
The biggest drawback of the film is the lack ofeither performance footage or interview material
until more than 40 minutes in. We finally get somemoving images around the time of Kind of Blue, but
an absence of title cards (which may be added—theversion reviewed was unfinished) makes it unclear
when and where this “So What” was performed. Is
this absence because—a real possibility given theracism and indifference that prevailed—there is no
usable footage of early Miles? Not even from
Europe? It’s sobering to realize that the classic John
Coltrane Quartet appeared on North American
television only once. Instead of live material, wesee—several times—grainy footage of Miles
shadow-boxing. The latter half of the film does yieldsome rewarding concert footage, but it’s neveronscreen for long. Sure, Davis didn’t perform threeminute pop songs, but at least one full performance
would have been nice.
There’s not one extended interview segment in
the whole film. When Davis went electric circa 1969,
he was frequently on television, including on talkshows. But a montage of hosts introducing their
exotic guest is no substitute for actual interview
material. The soundtrack music is well chosen,
especially the lovely “It Never Entered My Mind”
from Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet.
By coincidence, this reviewer screened this film
within a day of a documentary on the singer Linda
Ronstadt. That one was made kinetic by wall-to-wallconcert footage, sometimes of full songs. There wasstill plenty of room for talking heads, including hers.
For more information, visit pbs.org/show/american-masters.
This film premieres on PBS Feb. 25th at 9 pm.

B O X ED SET

10 Years
Fred Hersch Trio (Palmetto)by George Grella

Fred Hersch has had two careers, divided by the twomonths he spent in a coma in 2008 from the dire effectsof HIV infection. Before that, he was a fine jazz piano
player with a romantic bent, a gentle feel and the kindof crystalline, ringing touch that brings to mind Bill
Evans, minus Evans’ demons. Hersch was a stylist,
creating logical, neatly formed improvisations. His
playing was thoughtful, sensible, often beautiful, butalso tended toward the predictable. One could hear
him thinking ahead to the next phrase, making safe,
rather than surprising, choices. These were neither
stiff nor stale—he has always had excellent taste tomatch his excellent chops—but he only infrequently
set himself apart from his contemporaries.
Since 2008, he has been a different artist
altogether, tougher, more intense, the romantic
observance of his own interior life replaced by anunabashed and unfiltered exuberance. His playing ismore exciting and much deeper. Songs and albums

that used to go down well but leave little lingering
effect now have one hitting the repeat button. There’s
a decrepit cliché about jazz that it’s the “sound of
surprise”—what this retrospective boxed set of
Hersch’s previous decade of music-making with histrio of bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric
McPherson for Palmetto Records does is revive thatstatement in a meaningful way.
Three of the five albums and two-thirds of the
CDs are live recordings: Alive at the Vanguard, Sunday
Night at the Vanguard and Live in Europe (the mostrecent one, recorded in 2018). These albums are fullof energy and a sense of spontaneity that goesbeyond the usual in jazz. When Hersch is soloing,
he’s now rarely thinking about the final destination;
instead it’s as if he is always discovering just what itis he’s playing and bouncing off this. While
conceptually solipsistic, the results are exuberant
and exciting. The live recordings sound fresh witheach spin, no matter how many times they’ve alreadybeen heard. The level is so high across the board that
“Lonely Woman” stands out, not because of its
Ornette-Coleman provenance, but because it has
moments of calculation that otherwise never appear.
Sunday Night at the Vanguard and Live in Europe,
recorded two years apart, have a through-line in
Thelonious Monk’s “We See”, which comes at theend of the Sunday set and opens the European
recording. Straight off a gorgeous, plangent take ofJimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks”, the trio’s energy
and execution is punchy and rollicking, while thesecond version begins with a neat piano/drums
stop-time arrangement. Once the group gets into thetune and Hersch starts improvising, it takes on thesame joyful, devil-may-care attitude heard in the

Vanguard. That’s the quality that sets Hersch’s trio
apart from its peers; there’s the thrill of music
making but also a sense of cheeky fun, being serious
about the playing without being pretentious.
The studio recordings here, Whirl (from 2010,
the earliest CD in the box) and Floating, by theirnature can’t match the fire of the live sets. Thesesessions are more about the selections and thearrangements while the live recordings are about the
sheer playing. Floating opens with Arthur SchwartzHoward Dietz’ “You And The Night And The Music”
and offers a way to position Hersch’s trio among its
peers, especially Keith Jarrett’s. The latter trio plays
the tune on their Still Live album, an explosive butstandard head-solos-head performance. With hispartners Hersch weaves a contrapuntal conversationthat centers the pianist close to the fluid, flattened
hierarchies of Evans’ classic trio records (and therhythm section is very much partners, this is the ideaof an ensemble executed to the nth-degree).
Putting out a record of your trio caught live on a
Sunday night at the Village Vanguard is more thanmusic, it’s a declaration of where you belong inhistory. This superb, vital music-making shows
Hersch very much belongs in historic company.
This boxed set includes a thin booklet, one that
reprints the written content from each of the CDs,
with an overview from Ted Gioia and an intro from
Hersch, in which he explains the history of his
partnership with Hébert and McPherson. Gioia
praises, Hersch illuminates, none of which is bad but
music this substantial deserves more.
For more information, visit palmetto-records.com. Thisband is at Village Vanguard Feb. 4th-9th. See Calendar.

ROB FULTONMIXCLA +1

Saturday, February 22 at 7:30PM
Finalist
DC Jazz Festival’s DCJazzPrix Emerging Band Competition (2019)

The musicianship, exuberance,
euphoric energy and joyful
expression of Rob Fulton(vocals), Danny mixon (piano),
T.K. Blue (alto, flute), Paul
Beaudry (bass) and Dwayne“cook” Broadnax (drums) is
captured on this cD,“Rob Fulton Live at club
Bonafide New York city”.

Winner
Downbeat Magazine Latin Group Outstanding Performance (2017)

available for purchaseat iTunes, Spotify,
amazon, cD Baby
Upcoming Performances
February 7th - Harlem Late Night Jazz at Assinie,
201 W. 116th St, New York, NY 10026 9Pm
February 21st - NY Society for Ethical Culture,
2 W 64th St, New York, NY 10023 7PM
March 12th - Harrison Urby,
777 South 3 Street, Harrison, NJ 7PM

ROBFULTONjazz.cOm

Tribeca PAC is located on 199 Chambers St.
(BMCC campus), New York, NY
Tickets, call: (212) 220 - 1460 or order online: www.TribecaPAC.org

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 39

M ISCELLANY
ONbyTHISDAYAndrey Henkin

In Chicago
Cannonball Adderley (Mercury)
February 3rd, 1959

Hipnosis
Jackie McLean (Blue Note)
February 3rd, 1967

The Gifted Ones
Dizzy Gillespie/Count Basie (Pablo)
February 3rd, 1977

Live
Benny Golson (Dreyfus)
February 3rd, 1989

The Master Power
Clifford Adams (Naxos)
February 3rd, 1998

Jazz musicians must not like days off.

It is surprising how many Blue Note

The title is a bit of an understatement

Benny Golson is a jazz survivor,
having recorded on hundreds ofsessions since his early ‘50s debutwith Tadd Dameron’s Orchestra to go
along with dozens of albums as aleader well into the new millennium
and having his tunes recorded bymyriad artists. This date finds the
saxophonist at a very spry 60 leading
a quartet of much younger players,
pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Peter
Washington and drummer Tony
Reedus (sadly Miller and Reedus bothhaving died), on standards andGolson originals that have become so.

Who else can have claimed to record

During an engagement with Miles
Davis at Chicago’s Sutherland Hotel,
the trumpeter’s sidemen, under theleadership of alto saxophonist
Cannonball Adderley went into
Universal Recording’s Studio B to
wax this date. This is the only instanceof Adderley and tenor saxophonist
John Coltrane on record away from
Davis, the pair ably supported bypianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul
Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb
for two Coltrane tunes, one by
Adderley and three standards.

sessions were not initially released.
This set by alto saxophonist Jackie
McLean, issued in 1978 as a standalone in Japan and part of a two-LP
set in the U.S., was one of several by
McLean to be put in the can, despite(or perhaps due to) having a similarlineup to March 1967’s New And Old
Gospel (trombonist Grachan Moncur
III in place of Ornette Coleman). The
pair are joined by pianist Lamont
Johnson, bassist Scott Holt anddrummer Billy Higgins for pieces by
the leader, Moncur and Johnson.

though trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie andpianist Count Basie were a decade
removed from their heyday. This
Norman Granz-produced session pits
the small-group bebopper against the
big-band swinger though they havemore than enough common ground towork well together. Helping the cause
is the rhythm team of bassist Ray
Brown and drummer Mickey Roker.
This one-time meeting between thelegends featured three co-written
tunes, two by Gillespie and the Robert
Foster staple “St. James Infirmary”.

with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Jimmy
Cliff, Deodato and Kool & the Gang?
Trombonist Clifford Adams’ nearly
40-year discography was filled withsuch disparate entries. His own
handful of recordings were pure jazz,
however, such as this multigenerational session with alto/
soprano saxophonist Antonio Hart,
pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Ray
Drummond, drummer Lewis Nashand percussionist Neil Clarke. 8 of the
10 tracks are Adams originals, “Suite
Elixir of Life” also with his vocals.

BIRTHDAYS
February 1†James P. Johnson 1894-1955†Tricky Sam Nanton 1904-46
Sadao Watanabe b.1933
Tyrone Brown b.1940
Bugge Wesseltoft b.1964
Joshua Redman b.1969

February 6†Ernie Royal 1921-83
Sammy Nestico b.1924†Tom McIntosh 1927-2017†Nelson Boyd 1928-1985
Oleg Kiryev b.1964
Larry Grenadier b.1966
Michael Griener b.1968
Scott Amendola b.1969

February 2†Sonny Stitt 1924-82†Mimi Perrin 1926-2010†Stan Getz 1927-91
James Blood Ulmer b.1942
Louis Sclavis b.1953

February 11†Matt Dennis 1914-2002†Martin Drew 1944-2010
Raoul Björkenheim b.1956†Didier Lockwood 1956-2018
Ethan Iverson b.1972
Jaleel Shaw b.1978
February 12†Paul Bascomb 1912-86†Tex Beneke 1914-2000†Hans Koller 1921-2003†Art Mardigan 1923-77†Mel Powell 1923-98
Juini Booth b.1948
Bill Laswell b.1955
Ron Horton b.1960
Szilárd Mezei b.1974

February 7†Eubie Blake 1887-1983†Ray Crawford 1924-97†Ray Alexander 1925-2002†King Curtis 1934-71
T.K. Blue b. 1953

February 3†Lil Hardin Armstrong
1898-1971†Snooky Young 1919-2011†Chico Alvarez 1920-92
John Handy b.1933
Leroy Williams b.1937
Bob Stewart b.1945
Greg Tardy b.1966
Rob Garcia b.1969

February 8†Lonnie Johnson 1889-1970†Buddy Morrow 1919-2010†Pony Poindexter 1926-88†Eddie Locke 1930-2009
Renee Manning b.1955

February 13†Wingy Manone 1900-82†Les Hite 1903-62†Wardell Gray 1921-55†Ron Jefferson 1926-2003
Keith Nichols b.1945

February 9†Walter Page 1900-57†Peanuts Holland 1910-79†Joe Dodge 1922-2004†Joe Maneri 1927-2009
Steve Wilson b.1961
Daniela Schaechter b.1972
Behn Gillece b.1982

February 4†Harold “Duke” DeJean
1909-2002†Jutta Hipp 1925-2003†Wally Cirillo 1927-77†Tony Fruscella 1927-69
Newman Taylor Baker b.1943†John Stubblefield 1945-2005
Vincent Chancey b.1950

February 14†Perry Bradford 1893-1970†Jack Lesberg 1920-2005
Elliot Lawrence b.1925
Phillip Greenlief b.1959
Jason Palmer b.1979

February 10†Chick Webb 1909-39†Sir Roland Hanna 1932-2002†Walter Perkins 1932-2004†Rahn Burton 1934-2013
Rufus Reid b.1944†”Butch” Morris 1947-2013
Michael Weiss b.1958
Paolo Fresu b.1961

February 5†Gene Schroeder 1915-75
Rick Laird b.1941
Bill Mays b.1944
Art Lande b.1947
Shai Maestro b.1987

February 15†Harold Arlen 1905-86†Walter Fuller 1910-2003†Nathan Davis 1937-2018
Kirk Lightsey b.1937
Henry Threadgill b.1944†Edward Vesala 1945-99
Herlin Riley b.1957
Dena DeRose b.1966

February 16†Bill Doggett 1916-96†Charlie Fowlkes 1916-80
Howard Riley b.1943
Jeff Clayton b.1954
February 17†Wallace Bishop 1906-86†Charlie Spivak 1906-82†Harry Dial 1907-1987†Alec Wilder 1907-80†Buddy DeFranco 1923-2014†Buddy Jones 1924-2000
Fred Frith b.1949
Nicole Mitchell b.1967
February 18†Hazy Osterwald 1922-2012†Frank Butler 1928-84†Billy Butler 1928-91
Jeanfrançois Prins b.1967
Gordon Grdina b.1977
February 19†Johnny Dunn 1897-1937
Fred Van Hove b.1937
Ron Mathewson b.1944
Blaise Siwula b.1950
David Murray b.1955
February 20†Fred Robinson 1901-84†Oscar Aleman 1909-80†Frank Isola 1925-2004†Bobby Jaspar 1926-63†Nancy Wilson 1937-2018†Lew Soloff 1944-2015
Anthony Davis b.1951
Leroy Jones b.1958
Darek Oles b.1963
Iain Ballamy b.1964
Craig Taborn b.1970

February 21†Tadd Dameron 1917-65†Eddie Higgins 1932-2009†Nina Simone 1933-2003†Graham Collier 1937-2011
Akira Sakata b.1945
Herb Robertson b.1951
Warren Vaché b.1951
Matt Darriau b.1960
Christian Howes b.1972

February 25†Tiny Parham 1900-43†Ray Perry 1915-50†Fred Katz 1919-2013†Rene Thomas 1927-75†Sandy Brown 1929-75†Tommy Newsom b.1929-2007†Åke Persson 1932-75
Brian Drye b.1975

February 26
February 22†Dave Pell 1925-2017†James Reese Europe 1881-1919 †Chris Anderson 1926-2008†Rex Stewart 1907-67†Hagood Hardy 1937-97†Claude “Fiddler” Williams
Trevor Watts b.1939
1908-2004
Yosuke Yamashita b.1942†Buddy Tate 1914-2001
Guy Klucevsek b.1948†Joe Wilder 1922-2014
Hilliard Greene b.1958
Dave Bailey b.1926
George Haslam b.1939
February 27
Marc Charig b.1944†Leo Watson 1898-1950
Harvey Mason b.1947†Mildred Bailey 1907-51
Joe La Barbera b.1948†Abe Most 1920-2002†Dexter Gordon 1923-90
February 23†Chuck Wayne 1923-97†Hall Overton 1920-72
Rob Brown b.1962†Johnny Carisi 1922-92
Joey Calderazzo b.1965†Richard Boone 1930-99†Les Condon 1930-2008
February 28
Wayne Escoffery b.1975†Louis Metcalf 1905-81†Svend Asmussen 1916-2017
February 24†Bill Douglass 1923-94†Eddie Chamblee 1920-99†Donald Garrett 1932-89†Ralph Pena 1927-69†Willie Bobo 1934-83†Andrzej Kurylewicz 1932-2007 Charles Gayle b.1939†Michel Legrand 1932-2019
Pierre Dørge b.1946†David “Fathead” Newman
Mikko Innanen b.1978
1933-2009†Steve Berrios 1945-2013
February 29
Vladimir Chekasin b.1947†Jimmy Dorsey 1904-56
Bob Magnusson b.1947†Paul Rutherford 1940-2007
Maggie Nicols b.1948
Richie Cole b.1948

chick webb

February 10th, 190?
Before there was a Corea,
even before there was a fil-A,
there was Chick Webb, themost unlikely of big band
leaders.
The
drummer,
whose birth year is a subjectof debate, was disfigured as achild from tuberculosis. This
did not stop him fromplaying professionally as achild or moving from his
native Baltimore to New
York City, where his band
was in residence at the Savoy
Ballroom and battled bands
led by Benny Goodman andCount Basie. It was withWebb’s band that a teenaged
Ella Fitzgerald first got her
start and instrumentalists
under his baton/drumstickincluded Johnny Hodges
and Benny Carter. Most of
his recording dates came for
Vo c a l i o n / B r u n s w i c k ,Columbia and Decca. Webb
died in 1939.
-AH

CROSSWORD
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ACROSS

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By Andrey Henkin 			32

1. This label celebrated 50 years last November
4. Notes of a C Major chord
7. Touring musicians should stay abreast of this org.
8. Pianist Deutsch who composed music for
The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, The Maltese Falcon
and other films
11. Bob Dorough tune “Do Not Remove This Tag(____ Label)”
13. Bassist Don
14. Fake bandleader McCann
16. Guitarist Mendoza
17. 1975 Wayne Shorter Columbia album Native ____
18. Bassist Meyerson
19. Moscow jazz club
20. Pianist Yamamoto
21. Tzadik jazz?
23. Label home of Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, et al.
24. A/B Trio bassist Josh
25. 1988 Markus Stockhausen/Gary Peacock ECM album____ Lontano...Quasi Dentro
26. Like Joey Alexander
29. Ken Colyer has two albums for her
30. She “sang” with Ornette Coleman, John Stevens
and others

visit nycjazzrecord.com for answers

40 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

31. 1968 Booker Ervin Blue Note album ____ Book Tenor
32. ____ vs. ____, Jason Lindner outfit
DOWN
1. Futura 7” catalogue prefix
2. Cellist Rufus
3. Spiritual name of John McLaughlin
4. Bandleader Palermo and bassist Schuller
5. Neal Hefti was this city’s composer laureate?
6. Australian jazz producer Dennis
8. Like Brother Thelonious beer
9. 1977 Brotherhood of Breath Ogun album
10. Denman Maroney instrument
12. Omar Sosa label
15. ____ Chimnoy, giver of 3 Down
17. Avishai Cohen drummer Daniel
18. Short-lived Hans Kumpf imprint
19. Remove from staff?
22. Ray Noble jazz standard “I ____ Anyone ‘Til You”
23. 1983 Terje Rypdal/David Darling ECM album
25. Bennie Moten 10” Kay ____ Jazz
27. Guitarist Bern
28. 1968 Chick Corea Sold State album ____ He Sings,____ He Sobs

f estival reportalan nahigian

winterjazzfest
by tom greenland

Ingrid Laubrock & Baba Israel“Steve was sometimes at three gigs simultaneously.”

So said spoken word artist Baba Israel of the late poet
Steve Dalachinsky at the beginning of a seven-hourcelebration held in his honor at Nuyorican Poets Café
on the second marathon night (Jan. 11th) of WinterJazzfest. Dalachinsky was known to rush between sets
in hopes of catching the most meaningful musicalmoments. It’s a familiar feeling for any fan whenconfronted with 6 (in Brooklyn) and 10 or 11 (inManhattan) venues staging simultaneous sets. If you’rein the Village, it’s easy to zip between Zinc Bar, The
Bitter End and Le Poisson Rouge, a bit harder to dashwest to SOB’s, east to SubCulture or Zürcher Gallery or
north to The Dance and Webster Hall and you’ve got toallow significant travel time (or rent a Citi Bike) to trek
farther east to Mercury Lounge, Nuyorican Poets Caféor Nublu 151. The Brooklyn marathon night (Jan. 17th)
was even more spread out: four venues in Williamsburg
and two in Bushwick, a half-hour bike ride away.
So should you make a plan? Maybe, but even thebest-laid of these runs into snags, especially whenshows start or run late. And whom do you see?
Someone you know is great? Someone you’ve heard isgreat? How about following up a hunch? The choices
are overwhelming. Case in point: at 10 pm Saturdaynight the official festival guide listed ten concurrent
acts (some finishing, some mid-set, some just starting).
They were: Jaimie Branch with Supersonic; Issac
Delgado; Alan Braufman with Cooper-Moore; Donny
McCaslin with Gail Ann Dorsey; Kat Edmonson; Susan
Alcorn Quintet; Hypnotic Brass Ensemble; Matthew
Shipp; Dominique Fils-Aimé; and Terrace Martin’s
Grey Matter. Choices like these could drive someone(Dalachinsky?) to distraction.
So where was your trusty correspondent? At noneof these. Determined to resist the Dalachinsky-ian
impulse, at least temporarily, he’d arrived early at Zinc
Bar, gotten a table, ordered a beer and then settled infor an entire set by Italian guitarist Pasquale Grasso. No
running around. Grasso played all over standards withequal fire and finesse, making it seem so easy thatcasual listeners probably took his artistry for granted,
not realizing how good he really is. When the set ended,
your correspondent rushed over to Zürcher Gallery,arriving a tad late for pianist Uri Caine’s outstanding
suite of gospel jazz featuring Barbara Walker, a vocalist
who navigated his complex compositions without
sacrificing any of her sanctified delivery.
But to begin at the beginning: the first marathon
night, Friday night (Jan. 10th), 6 pm. In the interest of
widespread coverage, your correspondent began by
grabbing three quick musical bites at three nearby
venues: a few well penned tunes by tenor saxophonist
Jure Pukl’s Broken Circles quintet; a sampling of Theo

Bleckmann’s dexterous, electronically enhanced vocals,
including an aria by Henry Purcell; and a few numbers(including Joe Henderson’s “Recorda Me”) by thetechnically dazzling young pianist Joey Alexander(after enduring an airport-level security check to get
inside Webster Hall). Steven Bernstein’s Millennial
Territory Orchestra featuring vocalist Catherine Russell
looked like a winner and so it was, a revival ofhomespun classics like “St. Louis Blues” and “CarelessLove” served up with raunch, individuality and soul.
Having stayed for the whole set, it was time tomake tracks again. After a taste of the spirited allwomen’s Resistance Revival Chorus, then the tail-end of
vocalist Kendra Shank’s Abbey Lincoln tribute, yourcorrespondent walked over to watch a little of keyboard
player Aaron Whitby’s funky Cousin From Another
Planet. Drummer Ted Poor’s trio with trumpeter Cuong
Vu (both Seattleites) and keyboard player Kris Daviswas another winner—too good to run out on—theleader a coil of kinetic energy, Vu a discreet spellbinder.
The next set at the same venue (Zürcher Gallery), titled“Bear Proof”, presented a fantastic suite of jubilant
Americana performed by bassist Todd Sickafoose’s octetwith clarinetist Ben Goldberg and cornet player Kirk
Knuffke. Branch lived up to her reputation as abandleader to watch, inciting the crowd at The Dance tojoin her in a “Fuck Donald Trump” chant (a lukewarm
response) and blowing some of the loudest, orneriest
tones heard lately on trumpet. By now it was 1:30 am
and time to rest up for the second marathon night.
Saturday’s club crawl started with Laila Biali(at SubCulture) and Becca Stevens (at Le Poisson
Rouge), both fine vocalist/instrumentalists trying out
new original material, the former singing about sugar
addiction over pounding Carole King-like chords, thelatter breathily crooning songs of love and revenge
while strumming guitar. At this point yourcorrespondent visited the Nuyorican Poets Café for the
beginning of the Dalachinsky celebration (see above),
the opening jam of which featured Israel, vocalist Fay
Victor, tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, guitarist
Marc Ribot and pianist Kris Davis. Although Israel
dominated the first portion of the collective
improvisation, handling drum chores with vocal
percussion, eventually it settled into a satisfying
balance. The crowd was noticeably older, the type of
people you’d see at Tonic and CBGB’s (back in the day)or the Vision Festival, locals representing, a notable
contrast to the more touristy aspects of the Jazzfest.
Nir Felder demonstrated his highly original, longlined approach to guitar during a set at Mercury
Lounge, then drummer Makaya McCraven fêted Gil
Scott-Heron (accompanying mixed excerpts of thelatter ’s vocals) during a hard-hitting set at Webster
Hall with trumpeter Marquis Hill and vibraphonist
Joel Ross. Delgado’s 11-piece ensemble played straightup salsa at Le Poisson Rouge, the mostly jazz crowd
not as adept at salsa dancing as it could have been.
After catching Grasso and Caine’s sets (see above),
your correspondent then returned to Nuyorican Poets
Café (five hours later) to hear how the Dalachinsky
celebration was progressing. Vocalist Jean Carla Rodea,
Cooper-Moore (on electric bass diddley-bow), et al.
finished a set and a video of Dalachinsky reciting
poetry was played before Daniel Carter arrived to leada starkly beautiful duo with drummer Gerald Cleaver,carrying four horn bags on his back, playing alto andtenor saxophones, even taking a turn on piano. The
final set for your now foot-weary correspondentfeatured the twin tenor saxophones of Jessica and Tony
Jones at Nublu 151, the haunting lines of her “Higher
Than” exhibiting their effortless camaraderie.
The third and final marathon night was held aweek later on Friday (Jan. 17th), the first ever based in
Brooklyn, the weather 30 degrees colder than theprevious weekend. Avant fans would have been
perfectly happy hanging at Bushwick’s kitschy Sultan
Room for the duration, with acts like Tim Berne, DavidTorn and Aurora Nealand’s Big Terminal, Jessica
Pavone String Quartet, Wayne Horvitz’ piano/bassoon
duet with Sara Schoenbeck, Dan Weiss’ heavy metal
quintet Starebaby and Chris Lightcap’s Super Bigmouth.
Much of the Brooklyn scene, however, took the form of
fusion, rhythm and blues and/or DJing. The crowds
were younger and danced more. In the House of Yes!,a glitzy club with a go-go cage, staff attired in golden
glitter and at least two dozen silver balls of varying
sizes, People’s Champs played catchy originals with
two improvising horns, followed by Harlem-based
Mwenso and The Shakes’ highly infectious brand of
global funk-meets-Prince featuring the leader and thehoney-toned Vuyo Sotashe on vocals.
After flitting back and forth between Sultan Room(catching large chunks of the first three acts) and Houseof Yes!, your correspondent left Bushwick, headed
northwest (on bike in 22 degree weather!), first to MusicHall of Williamsburg for a few songs by the reggae-pop
group Phony Ppl, then an impressive set of originals byvibraphonist Sasha Berliner at the acoustically wellappointed National Sawdust. New Haven’s Kung Fu,
part P-Funk part Grateful Dead, rocked Brooklyn Bowl,
spurred by guitarist Tim Palmieri’s on-point guitar. Soul
vocalist J. Hoard, a blend of Als Jarreau and Green (andCeline Dion), at Rough Trade Records, was expansive
and dynamic, a discovery. After a few more late-night
acts—drummer/mixologist Shigeto’s chest-shaking
thumps; DJ Quantic’s Euro-pop dance mixes; DJ Logic
scratching it up with Billy Martin (drumkit and framedrum) and Shanir Blumenkranz (oud and gimbri); and,
finally, the suit-and-tailed Daedelus, dancing like ascarecrow as he mixed—it was almost 2 am, time to rush
home, at last, for a sorely needed snoozefest. v
For more information, visit winterjazzfest.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 41

CALENDAR
Saturday, February 1• Ayana Lowe
55Bar 6 pm
• Sofia Kriger, Kenneth Jimenez, Colin Hinton; Tony Malaby, Virginia Mayhew,

Roberta Piket, Todd Coolman, Billy Mintz; Daniel Carter, Dave Sewelson,
Aron Namenwirth, Luisa Muhr
Aron’s Place 7:30 pm $20• Geoff Clapp Trio with Ted Ludwig, Tamir Schmerling		
Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12êThe Hot Sardines
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Donald Vega
Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30• Igor Butman and The Moscow Jazz Orchestra
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Leo Sherman Quartet
Café Bohemia 8 pm $20• Joe Pino Quintet
Café Bohemia 10 pm $20• Gitesha Diana Hernandez
Club Bonafide 8 pm $15• Nilson Matta’s Brazilian Voyage Quintet with Steve Wilson, Helio Alves, Adriano Santos,
Felipe Galganni
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45• Ed Cherry Trio; Gotham Kings The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Charles Gould; Raphael D’lugoff Quintet; Greg Glassman Jam		
Fat Cat 7, 10 pm 1:30 am $10• AJOYO with Sarah Elizabeth Charles		
Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $20• Collision Unit: Jason Gibbs, Luke Bergman, Andrew McInnis
		
Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30 pm $15• Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock, Tim Lefebvre
		Iridium 8, 10 pm $35-45• Roni Ben-Hur Quartet with George Cables, Harvie S, Victor Lewis		
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34
êGhidorah: Marcus Strickland, JD Allen, Stacy Dillard, Eric Wheeler, Rodney Green		The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• David Durrah Jam Session
Jazz Museum in Harlem 2 pmêVijay Iyer Trio with Stephan Crump, Tyshawn Sorey and guest Wadada Leo Smith		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Nicholas Olynciw/Aaron Holthus Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pm
• Michael Weiss, Paul Gill, Mark Taylor; Bob DeMeo, Neal Kirkwood, Ratzo Harris				
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êJimmy Greene Quintet with Lage Lund, Aaron Goldberg, Reuben Rodgers,
Kendrick Scott
Miller Theatre 8 pm $20
êJC Hopkins Biggish Band with Nico Sarbanes, Karlea Lynne		
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25
êOran Etkin’s Timbalooloo
National Sawdust 11 am $20• Banana Puddin’ Jazz: Samara Joy McLendon with Jason Clotter, David Korey,
Leonid Morozov
Nuyorican Poets Café 9:30 pm $15• Triad Brass Band
Radegast Hall 3 pm
• Transformation: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with guests Glenn Close,
Justin Vivian Bond, Adriane LenoxRose Theater 8 pm $40-150• Rod Williams
Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $25• Scott Wendholt/Adam Kolker Quartet with Ugonna Okegwo, Adam Nussbaum;
Joe Farnsworth Quartet with Abraham Burton, Davis Whitfield, John Webber;Philip Harper Quintet
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êA Tribute to J.J. Johnson: Steve Davis Correlations Sextet with Josh Bruneau,
Wayne Escoffery, David Hazeltine, Gerald Cannon, Jonathan Barber		Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40• Albert Marques Quartet with Manel Fortia, Daniel Dor, Antonio Lizana		
		
Soapbox Gallery 6:30 pm $20
êAyman Fanous Quartet with Denman Maroney, Jason Hwang, Ned Rothenberg				Spectrum 8 pm $15êKris Davis/Ingrid Laubrock
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20

êJakob Bro Quartet with Mark Turner, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron		
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35
êJosh Evans Quartet with Theo Hill, Alex Claffy, Chris Beck		
Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $30• Axel Tosca Band with Xiomara Laugart
		Zinc Bar 10:30 pm 12 am $20

Sunday, February 2• Ben Winkelman Quartet with Chase Baird, Pablo Menares, Kush Abadey				55Bar 9:30 pm• New Alchemy Jazz Orchestra with Nicole Zuraitis
		
Birdland 5:30 pm $30• George Kontrafouris Trio with Kimon Karoutzos, Jason Wastor		Birdland Theater 7 pm $20-30• NYU Wayne Shorter Ensemble led by Dave Pietro with Alex Ramirez, Calvin Sexton,
Talia Rubenstein, Dahye Kwon, Sean Hannon, Lucas Ebeling		Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $39.50• Igor Butman and The Moscow Jazz Orchestra
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Nilson Matta’s Brazilian Voyage Quintet with Steve Wilson, Helio Alves, Adriano Santos,
Felipe Galganni
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40• Judi Silvano/Bruce Arnold; TJ Borden, James McKain, J. Guy Loughlin				
Downtown Music Gallery 6, 7 pm
• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Jade Synstelien Fat Cat Big Band		Fat Cat 6, 8:30 pm $10• William Hooker’s Let Music Be Your Brunch		Funkadelic Studios 11 amêTed Brown Quintet with Brad Linde, Gary Versace, Aaron Quinn, Deric Dickens
		
The Jazz Gallery 2, 4 pm $25
êThe Music of Moondog—Ghost Train Orchestra: Brian Carpenter, Andy Laster,
Dennis Lichtman, Matt Bauder, Max Moston, Dina Maccabee, Karen Waltuch,
Alex Waterman, Sara Schoenbeck, Curtis Hasselbring, Ron Caswell,
Brandon Seabrook, Chris Lightcap, Rob Garcia, David Cossin with guests
Theo Bleckmann, JG Thirlwell, Joan Wasser
		
Le Poisson Rouge 8 pm $15-20• David Morgan/Kevin Blancq; Raphael D’Lugoff, Paul Gill, Vinnie Sperrazza		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Nicole Pasternak Trio with Roni Ben-Hur, Harvie S		North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm
• Jesse Harris’ Cosmo
Rizzoli Bookstore 5 pm $20• Deb Auer, Lucy Galliher, Murray Wall		
Russian Samovar 3 pm
• Chris Dingman Quartet with Miriam Elhajli, Ike Sturm, Zaneta Sykes
		Saint Peter’s Church 6 pm
• Russ Lossing, Cameron Brown, Billy Mintz, Lena Bloch		
Scholes Street Studio 7:30 pm $10• Shrine Big Band: Don Chapman, Alan Davis, Ethan Helm, Elijah Shiffer, Dave Sewelson,
Andrew Hadro, James Rogers, Mark Broschinsky, Sateish Indofunk, Mike Gorham,
Matt McDonald, Jon Panikkar, Eric Plaks, Aron Namenwirth, Yutaka Takahashi				
Shrine 8 pm
• Brandon Sanders Sextet with Zet Harris, Mike Ledonne, JS Williams, Imani Grace,
John Webber; David Gibson
Smalls 7:30 pm 1 am $20
êA Tribute to J.J. Johnson: Steve Davis Correlations Sextet with Josh Bruneau,
Wayne Escoffery, David Hazeltine, Gerald Cannon, Jonathan Barber		Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40• Bill Stevens Songbook with Corey Larson, Paul Pricer
		Tomi Jazz 7 pm

42 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDêJakob Bro Quartet with Mark Turner, Thomas Morgan, Joey Baron		
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Monday, February 3êMike Stern
55Bar 10 pm• Jochen Rueckert Trio with Mark Turner, Matt Penman		
Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Jacob Kohlhas Trio with Damiel Wallace, Trevor Brown; Naama Gheber Trio with
Greg Ruggiero, Vince Duponti
Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12• Chris Byars Original Sextet with Zaid Nasser, John Mosca, Stefano Doglioni, Ari Roland,
Phil Stewart
Birdland Theater 8:30 pm $20-30• Patrick Golden, Daniel Carter, Dustin Carlson; Stephen Gauci, Adam Lane, Kevin Shea;
Aaron Rubinstein/Michael Larocca; Aaron Quinn, Nolan Tsang, Deric Dickens;
Jonathon Goldberger Ensemble; Florian Herzog, Keisuke Matsuno, Raf Vertessen				Bushwick Public House 7 pm $10• Behn Gillece; Billy Kaye Jam
Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am $10êHarvey Diamond/Cameron Brown; Pasquale Grasso		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Jon Cowherd with Steve Cardenas, Tony Scherr, Allan Mednard
		Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 7:30 pm $15• Rodney Green Group; Joe Farnsworth Group; Ben Barnett
		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êSigurd Hole solo; David Rothenberg solo		
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall 8 pm $25• Tsutomu Nakai Trio with Lonnie Plaxico, Dwayne “Cook” Broadnax
		Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $25

Tuesday, February 4• Ben Monder
55Bar 7 pm
• Hila Kulik GroupBar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Jacob Kohlhas Trio with Daniel Wallace, Trevor Brown; Matt Kane Trio with
Steve Cardenas, Ben Allison

Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12êLionel Hampton Big Band: Jason Marsalis, Cleave Guyton, Marshall McDonald,

Lance Bryant, Jerry Weldon, James Stewart, Robert Trowers, Alex Jeun, Jeff Nelson,
Anibal Martinez, Jon Mark McGowan, Vinnie Cutro, Reggie Pitman, Kuni Milano,
Christian Fabian, David F. Gibson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Melvis Santa y Ashedi; Los Habaneros		The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pmêSteve Nelson; ProudYuma; Russ Nolan		
Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am $10• Ethan Iverson Trio with Dylan Reis, Vinnie Sperrazza; Anthony Wonsey,
Ugonna Okegwo, Diego Voglino Halyard’s 8, 10 pm $10• Lex Korton Quartet
Jazz at Kitano 8 pmêRavi Coltrane Quartet with Orrin Evans, Bob Hurst, Allan Mednard
		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Deanna Kirk, Yaniv Taubenhouse, Rick Rosato, Jerad Lippi; Naama Gheber 				
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êDiane Moser Big BandNew York City Baha’i Center 8, 9:30 pm $15• Kate Gentile’s Find Letter X; Kalia Vandever Trio		
SEEDS 8, 9:30 pm• Justin Robinson Quartet with Sharp Radway, Santi Debriano, Taru Alexander;
Jon Elbaz
Smalls 7:30 pm 1 am $20
êSylvie Courvoisier, John Zorn, Jorge Roeder
		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êFred Hersch Trio with John Hébert, Eric McPherson
		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Wednesday, February 5• Benny Meets Artie: Peter and Will Anderson Sextet with Molly Ryan,

Rossano Sportiello, Clovis Nicolas, Phil Stewart
		54 Below 7 pm $40-80êMike Stern
55Bar 10 pm• Tamuz Nissim Quartet with George Nazos, Harvie S, Tony Jefferson
		An Beal Bocht Café 8, 9:30 pm $20• Brian Krock, Kenji Herbert, Keisuke Matsuno; Kenny Warren Trio with Matthias Pichler,
Flin van Hemmen
Balboa 8 pmêGerald Cleaver’s Sun Burn Out Your Eyes with Brandon Seabrook, Brandon Lopez
		
Bar Bayeux 8 pm
• Juan Munguia Trio with Trevor Brown, Jason Wastor
		Bar Next Door 6:30 pm $12êLionel Hampton Big Band: Jason Marsalis, Cleave Guyton, Marshall McDonald,
Lance Bryant, Jerry Weldon, James Stewart, Robert Trowers, Alex Jeun, Jeff Nelson,
Anibal Martinez, Jon Mark McGowan, Vinnie Cutro, Reggie Pitman, Ray Gallon,
Christian Fabian, David F. Gibson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Barbara Fasano with Eric Comstock, Sean Smith		
Birdland Theater 7 pm $20-30êDee Dee BridgewaterBlue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45
êManuel Valera’s Cuban Express Big Band; Antoine Drye Quintet
		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Groover Trio; Ned Goold Jam		
Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am $10• Louis Armstrong Legacy Jam led by Carol Sudhalter		
Flushing Town Hall 7 pm $10• Jessica Ackerley/Marc Edwards; The Skull Practioners: Jason Victor, Kenneth Levine,
Alex Baker
Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20• Ken Kobayashi Trio with Yusuke Kono, Andrea Veneziani		Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18êRavi Coltrane Quartet with Orrin Evans, Bob Hurst, Allan Mednard
		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Jim Ridl, Tim Armacost, Jay Anderson; Julius Rodriguez		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êRichard Tabnik Quartet with Harvey Diamond, Jeff Dingler, Skip Scott				Michiko Studios 8 pm $20• Rafiq Bhatia with Vuyo Sotashe, Chris Pattishall		
National Sawdust 8 pm $20• Zach Brock
Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 12 am• Erli Perez, Takaaki Otomo, Yoshi Waki
		Saint Peter’s Church 1 pm $10• Tony Moreno Group with Marc Mommaas, Ron Horton, Aruán Ortiz, Ugonna Okegwo;
Matt Haviland Quartet with Dave Kikoski, Ugonna Okegwo, Winard Harper; Neal Caine		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20• Steve Kroon Sextet with Craig Rivers, Bryan Carrott, Igor Atalita, Donald Nicks,
Joel Mateo
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $20• Caili O’Doherty solo
Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20
êSylvie Courvoisier, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Feldman, Mat Maneri
		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êFred Hersch Trio with John Hébert, Eric McPherson
		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35• Felix Peikli Quartet and Vando Jam		Zinc Bar 9 pm

Thursday, February 6• Jinjoo Yoo Duo
1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 8 pm
• Amy Cervini
55Bar 7 pm
• Olin Clark Trio with Dan Montgomery, Owen Hyde; Daan Kleijn Trio with Sam Yahel,Jochen Rueckert• Rachel Therrien

Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12
Birdland 5:30 pm $30

êLionel Hampton Big Band: Jason Marsalis, Cleave Guyton, Marshall McDonald,

Lance Bryant, Jerry Weldon, James Stewart, Robert Trowers, Alex Jeun, Jeff Nelson,
Anibal Martinez, Jon Mark McGowan, Vinnie Cutro, Reggie Pitman, Kuni Milano,
Christian Fabian, David F. Gibson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• David DeJesus Quintet with Brandon Lee, Donald Vega, Doug Weiss, Chris Smith				
Birdland Theater 7 pm $20-30êDee Dee BridgewaterBlue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45• Jazz is Phish
Brooklyn Bowl 8 pm $15• Cafe Bohemia Jazz Quartet with Mara Kaye, Jon-Erik Kellso		
Café Bohemia 8 pm $20• David Chesky’s Jazz in the New Harmonic with Javon Jackson, Jeremy Pelt,
Peter Washington, Billy Drummond		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Joe Farnsworth; Mark Whitfield The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Radam Schwartz Quartet; Saul Rubin Zebtet; Will Terrill		
Fat Cat 7, 10 pm 1:30 am $10• Pedrito Martinez
Ginny’s Supper Club 7, 9 pm $25
êJeff Davis’ The Fastness with Tony Malaby, Russ Lossing, Eivind Opsvik				Greenwich House Music School 8 pm $15• Christine Correa
Happylucky no.1 7:30 pm $20
êFederico Fellini Centennial Celebration: Enrico Pieranunzi Trio with Luca Bulgarelli,
Mauro Beggio
Italian Cultural Institute 6 pm
• Aaron Shragge/Ben Monder
Jalopy 8 pm $15• Airtrain Jazz Festival: Kevin L. McNeal
		
Jamaica Air Train Station 5 pm
• Yuko Ito Quartet with Helio Alves, Eduardo Belo, Mauricio Zottarelli		Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18• Gabriel Chakarji’s New Beginnings with Ana Carmela Ramirez, Morgan Guerin,
Juan Diego Villalobos, Dean Torrey, Jongkuk Kim, Daniel Prim		The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $15êRavi Coltrane Quartet with Orrin Evans, Bob Hurst, Jeff “Tain” Watts
		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Andrea Wolper Trio with Michael Howell, Ken Filiano
		
Le Chéile 8 pm $15• Chris Pattishall, Barry Stephenson, TJ Reddick; Spike Wilner		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êDan Rosenboom’s Absurd in the Anthropocene with David Binney, Gavin Templeton,
Alexander Noice, Jake Vossler, Jerry Watts, Jr., Gary Novak
		
Nublu 151 8 pm $15• IN Trio: Harvie S, Tim Armacost, Christian Finger		Silvana 6 pm
• Brandi Disterheft Group; Jonathan Saraga Sextet with Remy Le Boeuf,
Jonathan Saraga, Jeff Miles, Marko Churnchetz, Rick Rosato, Kenneth Salters				
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êEddie Henderson Quintet with Donald Harrison, Peter Zak, Gerald Cannon, Mike Clark		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38
êSylvie Courvoisier/Mary Halvorson The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êRadiant Others: Dan Blacksberg/Nick Millevoi		Town & Village Synagogue 8 pm $15• Agustin Grasso Trio with Benno Marmur, Adam Gay		
Uke Hut 8 pm $20
êFred Hersch Trio with John Hébert, Eric McPherson
		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Friday, February 7• Anna Kolchina/Jinjoo Yoo
1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 9 pm
• Rob Fulton
Assinie 9 pm
• Freddie Bryant Trio with Luques Curtis, Andrew Atkinson

		
Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12êLionel Hampton Big Band: Jason Marsalis, Cleave Guyton, Marshall McDonald,
Lance Bryant, Jerry Weldon, James Stewart, Robert Trowers, Alex Jeun, Jeff Nelson,
Anibal Martinez, Jon Mark McGowan, Vinnie Cutro, Reggie Pitman, Ray Gallon,
Christian Fabian, David F. Gibson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40

êMichael Wolff Trio with Ben Allison, Allan Mednard
		Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êDee Dee BridgewaterBlue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45• David Ostwald’s Hot Four
Café Bohemia 8 pm $20• Jon Naberezny and The Westside Trio		
Café Bohemia 10 pm $20• Strictly For The Birds: MJ Territo, David Pearl, Paul Beaudry, Jarrett Walser withguest Wendy LuckClub Bonafide 8 pm $15êCharlie Sepúlveda and The Turnaround with Norberto Ortiz, Bienvenido Dinzey,
Gabriel Rodriguez, Francisco Alcalá, Gadwin Vargas
		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40• Ken Fowser Quintet; Robert Edwards Quintet with Vanessa Perea		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Jon Beshay; Jared Gold/Dave Gibson; Nick Hempton		
Fat Cat 6, 10:30 pm 1:30 am $10• Ginetta’s Vendetta
Gin Fizz Harlem 8, 9:15 pm $20• Tatiana Eva-Marie and The Avalon Jazz Band		
Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $20
êMarty Ehrlich Trio Exaltation with Michael Formanek, Tomas Fujiwara				Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20• LaDee Streeter Band
Jazz 966 8 pm $20
êScott Robinson/Frank Kimbrough Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34
êEric Harland
The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $30
êRavi Coltrane Quartet with Orrin Evans, Bob Hurst, Jeff “Tain” Watts
		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êPete Malinverni Duo
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pm
• Chuck Redd, John DiMartino, Martin Wind; Tardo Hammer
		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êAndy Bey
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Helio Alves/Tyler Blanton Group with Edward Perez, Tiago Michelin		Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village 8, 9:30 pm• Hudson Horns
Radegast Hall 9 pmêPatience Higgins Quartet
Room 623 at B2 Harlem 10 pm $15-20• Rachel Z. Hakim; Quincy Phillips Group; Wallace Roney, Jr.
		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êEddie Henderson Quintet with Donald Harrison, Peter Zak, Gerald Cannon, Mike Clark		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38• Pablo Vergara
Soapbox Gallery 8 pm $20
êSylvie Courvoisier Trio with Thomas Morgan, Kenny Wollesen
		
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êFred Hersch Trio with John Hébert, Eric McPherson
		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Saturday, February 8• Tyler Blanton/Helio Alves
Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Quentin Angus Trio with Can Olgan, Rogério Boccato

		Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12êLionel Hampton Big Band: Jason Marsalis, Cleave Guyton, Marshall McDonald,
Lance Bryant, Jerry Weldon, James Stewart, Robert Trowers, Alex Jeun, Jeff Nelson,
Anibal Martinez, Jon Mark McGowan, Vinnie Cutro, Reggie Pitman, Kuni Milano,
Christian Fabian, David F. Gibson Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Michael Wolff Trio with Ben Allison, Allan Mednard
		Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êDee Dee BridgewaterBlue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45• Nate Sparks Big Band
Club Bonafide 8 pm $10êCharlie Sepúlveda and The Turnaround with Norberto Ortiz, Bienvenido Dinzey,
Gabriel Rodriguez, Francisco Alcalá, Gadwin Vargas
		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45• Joe Magnarelli Quintet; “King” Solomon Hicks
		The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Vanderlei Pereira Quintet; Darrell Green; Greg Glassman Jam		
Fat Cat 7, 10 pm 1:30 am $10• Jinjoo Yoo Trio
Gin Fizz Harlem 8, 9:15 pm $20• Natu Camara
Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $20
êMarty Ehrlich/Kris Davis
Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20
êJohn McCowen solo
Issue Project Room 8 pmêScott Robinson/Frank Kimbrough Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34
êEric Harland
The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $30
êRavi Coltrane Quartet with Orrin Evans, Bob Hurst, Jeff “Tain” Watts
		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êPete Malinverni Duo
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pm
• Chuck Redd, John DiMartino, Martin Wind; Jon Davis		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êJC Hopkins Biggish Band
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Ben Williams’ I Am A Man
Nublu 151 8 pm $15• Mark Guiliana’s HEERNT
Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 7 pm $20-25êFranklin Kiermyer’s Scatter The Atoms That Remain with Michael Troy, Davis Whitfield,
Otto Gardner
Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 7 pm $12• African Rhythms Tribute Band Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $25• Rachel Z. Hakim; Quincy Phillips Group; Mimi Jones and The Lab Session 				
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êEddie Henderson Quintet with Donald Harrison, Peter Zak, Gerald Cannon, Mike Clark		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38
êAri Hoenig/Dan Weiss
Soapbox Gallery 8 pm $20
êSylvie Courvoisier Trio with Wadada Leo Smith, Kenny Wollesen
		
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êFred Hersch Trio with John Hébert, Eric McPherson
		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35
êDavid Weiss Sextet with Myron Walden, Geoffrey Keezer, Tyrone Allen, Darrell Green		
Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $30• Robert Dick/Thomas Buckner Zürcher Gallery 6 pm $20

Sunday, February 9• Jim Campilongo/Luca Benedetti; Adam Klipple’s Organ Soul Explosion

		
55Bar 6, 9:30 pm• Jihye Lee Orchestra
Birdland 5:30 pm $30• Jane Irving Quartet
Birdland 9:45 pm $30• Svetlana’s Sunday at the Movies Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $39.50
êDee Dee BridgewaterBlue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45
êCharlie Sepúlveda and The Turnaround with Norberto Ortiz, Bienvenido Dinzey,
Gabriel Rodriguez, Francisco Alcalá, Gadwin Vargas and guest Randy Brecker		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êGuillermo Gregorio, Ivan Barenboim, Nick Jozwiak; Jesse Dulman Quintet with
Blaise Siwula, Ras Moshe Burnett, Dave Sewelson, Leonid Galaganov
		
Downtown Music Gallery 6, 7 pm
• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Olegario Diaz		Fat Cat 6, 9 pm $10• Intergenerational Jazz Jam—Charlie Parker Centennial Celebration: Eli Yamin,
Bruce Edwards, Jennifer Vincent, Dwayne “Cook” Broadnax and guest Knoel Scott		
Jazz Museum in Harlem 2 pm $10êRavi Coltrane Quartet with Orrin Evans, Bob Hurst, Jeff “Tain” Watts
		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Eliane Amherd Band
L’Artista 5 pm
• Glenn Zaleski/Mark Zaleski; Panas Athanatos		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Vanisha Gould
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $20• Roz Corral Trio with Paul Meyers, Jay Anderson
		North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm
• Caroline Davis Trio
The Owl Music Parlor 7:30 pm $10• Naadje Noordhuis Quintet
Saint Peter’s Church 6 pm
• Tima Angulo 4tet
SEEDS 8:30 pmêClaire Daly Quartet with Jon Davis, Marcus McLaurine, Peter Grant; Jim Greene Quartet
with Justin Flynn, Steve Einerson, Joe Strasser
		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20

êEddie Henderson Quintet with Donald Harrison, Peter Zak, Gerald Cannon, Mike Clark		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38• Emilio Teubal Trio
Soapbox Gallery 7 pm $20• Linda Presgrave Quartet with Stan Chovnick, Kenji Yoshitake, Seiji Ochiai
		Tomi Jazz 7 pmêFred Hersch Trio with John Hébert, Eric McPherson
		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Monday, February 10êJim Ridl; Mike Stern
55Bar 7, 10 pmêMatt Darriau’s Yo Lateef Band with Peck Allmond, Arthur Kell, Steve Johns		Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Andy Bianco Trio with Nathan Peck, Paul Wells; Dana Reedy Trio with Justin Lees,
James Robbins
Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12• Arianna Neikrug Quartet
Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30• Sofia Kriger, Kenneth Jimenez, Vicente Hansen; Stephen Gauci, Adam Lane,
Kevin Shea; Brian Drye, Jonathan Goldberger, Jeff Davis; Kaelen Ghandhi,
Elinor Speirs, Kyle Motl, Raf Vertessen; Ishmael Ali, Anna Webber, Jake Henry,
Stephen Boegehold, Raf Vertessen; Raf Vertessen/Daniel Silliman		Bushwick Public House 7 pm $10êMelissa Aldana Quartet with Sam Harris, Pablo Menares, Kush Abadey				Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Ned Goold Quartet; Billy Kaye Jam Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am $10• JFA Jam Session
Jazz Museum in Harlem 6:30 pm• Marko Churnchetz, Joris Teepe, Billy Hart; Pasquale Grasso		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Michela Marino Lerman
National Arts Club 9 pm $25• Gene Lake, David Gilmore, Fima Ephron, Federico Gonzalez Pena		
Nublu 151 8 pm $10• Jim Campilongo Trio with Chris Morrissey, Josh Dion and guests Jeff Taylor,Morgan Weidinger
Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 10:15 pm• Shai Bachar solo
Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20• Micah Thomas Trio
SEEDS 8:30 pm• Ari Hoenig Trio with Nitai Hershkovits, Benjamin Tiberio; Joe Farnsworth Group;
Ben Barnett
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êMark Whitfield Trio with Santi Debriano, Victor Lewis
		Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $20

Tuesday, February 11• Stan Killian
55Bar 7 pm
• Nico Soffiato Group with Allison Miller

		
Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Owen Chen Trio with Jae Hyun Cho, Ele Howell		
Bar Next Door 6:30 pm $12êCatherine Russell and Septet with Matt Munisteri, Mark Shane, Tal Ronen,
Mark McLean, Jon-Erik Kellso, Evan Arntzen, John Allred		Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Eli Degibri Quartet with Tom Oren, Alon Near, Eviatar Slivnik
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $25
êPeter Bernstein solo
Café Bohemia 8 pm $15êMelissa Aldana Quartet with Sam Harris, Pablo Menares, Kush Abadey				Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Vanisha Gould
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $5• La Pachamambo
The Django at Roxy Hotel 11 pm• Saul Rubin Zebtet; Peter Brainin Latin Jazz Workshop		
Fat Cat 7, 9 pm $10• Jonathan Goldberger Quartet with Mat Maneri, Simon Jermyn, Gerald Cleaver;Nate Radley Trio
Halyard’s 8, 10 pm $10êMichael Blake’s Eddie Who with Clark Gayton, Tony Mason
		InterContinental New York Barclay’s Penthouse Suite 7 pm $35• Becca Patterson Quartet
Jazz at Kitano 8 pmêMichael Leonhart Orchestra
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Michelle Walker, Sean Fitzpatrick, Sam Bevan; Vanessa Perea		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êEnrico Granafei Trio with Mafalda Minnozzi, Paul Ricci		New York City Baha’i Center 8, 9:30 pm $15êKaze: Satoko Fujii, Kappa Maki, Christian Bezos, Peter Menard		Roulette 8 pm $18êAdam O’Farrill’s Stranger Days
SEEDS 8:30 pmêMarc Ribot with Rose Bianca Claircidor, Woulele Marcelin, Kesler Pierre,Jean E. Montina, Anderson Antoine, Yves Boyer, Ernst Blanc, Morgan Zwerlein
		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êVanguard Jazz Orchestra: Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Ralph Lalama,
Gary Smulyan, Nick Marchione, John Chudoba, Terell Stafford, Scott Wendholt,
Marshall Gilkes, Jason Jackson, Dion Tucker, Douglas Purviance, Adam Birnbaum,
David Wong, John Riley
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Wednesday, February 12êMelissa Stylianou; Mike Stern
55Bar 7, 10 pmêJeremy Pelt Quartet with Stacy Dillard, Clovis Nicolas, Diego Ramirez

		Bar Bayeux 8 pm
• Artur Akhmetov Trio with Nathan Garrett, Samvel Sarkisyan
		Bar Next Door 6:30 pm $12êCatherine Russell and Septet with Matt Munisteri, Mark Shane, Tal Ronen,
Mark McLean, Jon-Erik Kellso, Evan Arntzen, John Allred		Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40
êChampian Fulton Quartet with Stephen Fulton, Hide Tanaka, Xaver Hellmeier				
Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êBobby Watson’s Horizon with Terrell Stafford, Edward Simon, Essiet Essiet,
Victor Lewis
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Vanisha Gould
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $5• Evan Sherman Big Band; Barry Stephenson Quintet
		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pmêDezron Douglas
Drom 8 pm $10• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Joe Farnsworth Trio; Ned Goold Jam		
Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am $10• Leonisa Ardizzone Quartet with Jess Jurkovic, Mark Wade, Justin Jay Hines
		
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18êOded Tzur Quartet with Nitai Hershkovits, Petros Klampanis, Johnathan Blake		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Rale Micic, Nitzan Gavrieli, Steve LaSpina; Sullivan Fortner
		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êLew Tabackin Trio with Boris Kozlov, Mark Taylor
		Michiko Studios 8 pm $20
êSpencer Zahn; Jonah Parzen-Johnson solo; Lisa Hoppe’s Third Reality withDavid Leon, Tal Yahalom
Nublu 151 8 pm $10• A Rhapsody of Gershwin: Matt Baker, Nicole Zuraitis, Curtis Nowosad
		Saint Peter’s Church 1 pm $10• Samir Zarif Quintet with Justin Swiney, Yoshiki Yamada, Noah MacNeil, Natalie Oliveri;
Nasheet Waits/Abraham Burton Blood Brothers with Marvin Sewell, Luques Curtis				
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Alex Claffy Quintet with Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Jaleel Shaw, Julius Rodriguez,
Adam Arruda
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $20• Sean Wayland solo
Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20
êMarc Ribot, Greg Lewis, Gerald Cleaver
		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20• Terraza 7 Jam Session led by John Yao		Terraza 7 9 pmêVanguard Jazz Orchestra: Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Ralph Lalama,
Gary Smulyan, Nick Marchione, John Chudoba, Terell Stafford, Scott Wendholt,
Marshall Gilkes, Jason Jackson, Dion Tucker, Douglas Purviance, Adam Birnbaum,
David Wong, John Riley
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 43

Thursday, February 13• Jinjoo Yoo Duo
1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 8 pm
• Nicole Zuraitis
55Bar 7 pm
• Jackie Williams Quartet
96th Street Library 4:30 pm• Noah Becker Trio with Matthew Tillman, Steve Williams; Tim Mirth Trio with Mike Forfia,
Stephen Renko

Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12êAlyssa Allgood Quartet with Michael Kanan, Joe Strasser, John Sims and guest

Joel Frahm
Birdland 5:30 pm $30
êCatherine Russell and Septet with Matt Munisteri, Mark Shane, Tal Ronen,
Mark McLean, Jon-Erik Kellso, Evan Arntzen, John Allred		Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40
êChampian Fulton Quartet with Stephen Fulton, Hide Tanaka, Xaver Hellmeier				
Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êRoberta Gambarini and Friends Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Endea Owens
David Rubenstein Atrium 7:30 pmêBobby Watson’s Horizon with Terrell Stafford, Edward Simon, Essiet Essiet,
Victor Lewis
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40• Vanisha Gould
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $10• John Dokes; Ian Hendrickson-Smith		The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Jorge Luis Pacheco
Drom 6, 8:30 pm $69• Greg Glassman Quintet
Fat Cat 10 pm $10• Airtrain Jazz Festival: Reggie Woods
		
Jamaica Air Train Station 5 pmêLuis Perdomo Trio with Edward Perez, Daniel Prim		
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning 8 pm $10• Michika Fukumori Quartet with Steve Whipple, Adam Nussbaum
		Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18• Jazz Composers Showcase: Ben Kono, Elijah Shiffer, Jeremy Powell, John Lowery,
Andrew Gutauskas, Sam Hoyt, Dan Blankinship, Jon Challoner, Tony Glausi,
Matthew McDonald, Sam Blakeslee, Nick Grinder, Rebecca Patterson, Olli Hirvonen,
Martha Kato, Evan Gregor, Lee Fish The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $15• Emmaline with Chelsea Baratz, Ryan Mondak, Devon Moore, Sam Reuscher,
Isaiah Cook
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Manhattan School of Music Jazz Student Composers’ Big Band		Manhattan School of Music Neidorff-Karpati Hall 7:30 pm• Benny Benack III, Keelan Dimick, Philip Norris, Joe Peri; Spike Wilner 				
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Cait and The Critters
Radegast Hall 9 pm
• Jay Rodriguez Trio with Nick Dunston, Ches Smith;Nasheet Waits/Abraham Burton Blood Brothers with Marvin Sewell, Luques Curtis				
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êMary Stallings with David Hazeltine, David “Happy” Williams, Joe Farnsworth				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40• Glenn Zaleski/Tomoko Omura Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20
êRobert Dick/Ayman Fanous
SUNY Downstate Campus 7 pm $20
êMarc Ribot solo
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20• Sam Sadigursky’s The Solomon Diaries with Nathan Koci		
Town & Village Synagogue 8 pm $15êHighlights In Jazz 47th Anniversary Gala: Jay Leonhart, Jimmy Cobb, Tomoko Ohno,
Memo Acevedo, Aaron Weinstein, Vito Lesczak		Tribeca Performing Arts Center 8 pm $50• Eugene Pugachov Quartet with Chris Bacas, Chris Wright, Evan Hyde		
Uke Hut 8 pm $20
êVanguard Jazz Orchestra: Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Ralph Lalama,
Gary Smulyan, Nick Marchione, John Chudoba, Terell Stafford, Scott Wendholt,
Marshall Gilkes, Jason Jackson, Dion Tucker, Douglas Purviance, Adam Birnbaum,
David Wong, John Riley
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35
êGeorge Garzone Group with David Kikoski, Peter Slavov, Donald Edwards and guest
		Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $35

Friday, February 14• Anna Kolchina/Jinjoo Yoo
1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 9 pm
• Tessa Souter
55Bar 6 pmêBinky Griptite Orchestra
Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Leandro Pellegrino Trio with Rick Rosato, Lee Fish		Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12êCatherine Russell and Septet with Matt Munisteri, Mark Shane, Tal Ronen,
Mark McLean, Jon-Erik Kellso, Evan Arntzen, John Allred		Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40
êRoberta Gambarini and Friends Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Antonio Ciacca Quartet
Café Bohemia 8, 10 pm $20
êFreddy Cole’s Songs for Lovers with Joel Frahm, Sam Raderman, Elias Bailey,
Jay Sawyer
Dizzy’s Club 7, 9:30 pm $170
• Vanisha Gould
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $10• Danny Jonokuchi and The Revisionists; Rita with Brendan Skidmore		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 6:30, 10:30 pm• Jorge Luis Pacheco
Drom 6, 8:30 pm $69• Vuyo Sotashe
Ginny’s Supper Club 7, 9:30 pm $30• Chris Cochrane with Kevin Bud Jones, Sarah Bernstein, John Thayer				Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20• Annette St. John
Hunts Point Recreation Center 6 pm
• Numillennium 4
Jazz 966 8 pm $20
êValerie Capers Quartet with Alan Givens, John Robinson, Doug Richardson		Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34• John Ellis’ The Ice Siren with Marcus Rojas, Max Light, Chris Dingman, Maxim Moston,Skye Steele, Joanna Mattrey, Christopher Hoffman, JC Sanford
		
The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êMingus Big Band—12th Annual Charles Mingus Festival and High School Competition		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Tatiana Eva-Marie and The Avalon Jazz Band		
Kingsborough Community College 7 pm $40-47• Tom Placido, Zwe Le Pere, Vin Scialla
		
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pmêJoanne Brackeen/Ugonna Okegwo Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20• Nat Adderley, Jr.
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Black Tie Brass Band
Radegast Hall 9 pm
• Nat Dixon Quartet
Room 623 at B2 Harlem 10 pm $15-20
êDianne Reeves
Rose Theater 8 pm $40-135êUri Caine Trio with Mark Helias, Clarence Penn; Eddie Allen Quintet with Bruce Williams,
Oscar Perez, Kenny Davis, Jerome Jennings; JS Williams
		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êMary Stallings with David Hazeltine, David “Happy” Williams, Joe Farnsworth				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40
êMarc Ribot, Nick Dunston, Jay Rodriguez, Chad Taylor
		
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20• NY Jazz Flutet
Symphony Space Bar Thalia 9 pmêVanguard Jazz Orchestra: Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Ralph Lalama,
Gary Smulyan, Nick Marchione, John Chudoba, Terell Stafford, Scott Wendholt,
Marshall Gilkes, Jason Jackson, Dion Tucker, Douglas Purviance, Adam Birnbaum,
David Wong, John Riley
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35
êBria Skonberg Quartet with Devin Starks, Darrian Douglas, Chris Pattishall				
Zankel Hall 9 pm $39-49
êGeorge Garzone/Jerry Bergonzi Group with David Kikoski, Peter Slavov,
Donald Edwards
Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $35

Saturday, February 15• Sandy Ewen; Daniel Carter, Aron Namenwirth, Zach Swanson, Billy Mintz;
Sarah Bernstein/Daniel Carter
Aron’s Place 7:30 pm $20• Pat Bianchi Trio
Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Jostein Gulbrandsen Trio with Mike McGuirk, Dayeon Seuk		
Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12êCatherine Russell and Septet with Matt Munisteri, Mark Shane, Tal Ronen,
Mark McLean, Jon-Erik Kellso, Evan Arntzen, John Allred		Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40
êRoberta Gambarini and Friends Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Roy Meriwether and The Wade Barnes Tribute Band		
Brownsville Heritage House 3 pm
• Fleur Seule
Café Bohemia 10 pm $20
êFreddy Cole’s Songs for Lovers with Joel Frahm, Sam Raderman, Elias Bailey,
Jay Sawyer
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45• Vanisha Gould
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $20• Ken Fowser; Lezlie Harrison
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Jorge Luis Pacheco
Drom 6, 8:30 pm $69• C. Anthony Bryant
Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $25• Chris Cochrane with Gordon Beeferman, Stuart Popejoy, Brian Chase				Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20
êHerbie Nichols Tribute: Julian Priester, David Haney, Adam Lane,
Bernard “Pretty” Purdie
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34• John Ellis’ The Ice Siren with Marcus Rojas, Max Light, Chris Dingman, Maxim Moston,Skye Steele, Joanna Mattrey, Christopher Hoffman, JC Sanford
		
The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êMingus Big Band—12th Annual Charles Mingus Festival and High School Competition		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Tom Placido, Zwe Le Pere, Vin Scialla
		
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pmêJoanne Brackeen/Ugonna Okegwo; John Chin		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Nat Adderley, Jr.
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Demolition Brass Band
Radegast Hall 3 pmêDianne Reeves
Rose Theater 8 pm $40-135• Dwight West
Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $25
êUri Caine Trio with Mark Helias, Clarence Penn; Eddie Allen Quintet with Bruce Williams,
Oscar Perez, Kenny Davis, Jerome Jennings; Brooklyn Circle
		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êMary Stallings with David Hazeltine, David “Happy” Williams, Joe Farnsworth				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40• David Berkman’s Piano Hang with Jeb Patton, Brian Charette		
Soapbox Gallery 3 pm $10• Voice Three: Adam O’Farrill, Mat Muntz, Griffin Brown; Kevin Sun Quartet with Dana Saul,
Walter Stinson, Matt Honor
Spectrum 7 pm $15êMarc Ribot, Shahzad Ismaily, Ches Smith		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êVanguard Jazz Orchestra: Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Ralph Lalama,
Gary Smulyan, Nick Marchione, John Chudoba, Terell Stafford, Scott Wendholt,
Marshall Gilkes, Jason Jackson, Dion Tucker, Douglas Purviance, Adam Birnbaum,
David Wong, John Riley
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35
êGeorge Garzone/Jerry Bergonzi Group with David Kikoski, Peter Slavov,
Donald Edwards
Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $35

Sunday, February 16• Yoon Sun Choi solo
440Gallery 4:40 pm $10êRay Anderson
55Bar 6 pm
• Shoko Nagai’s Tokala with Ron Caswell, Satoshi Takeishi
		Barbès 7 pm $10• Seth Weaver Big Band
Birdland 5:30 pm $30• Haruna Fukazawa Quintet with Steve Wilson, David DeMotta, Bill Moring, Steve Johns		Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $39.50
êRoberta Gambarini and Friends Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Theo Bleckmann/Ben Monder; WORKS Trio: Michel Gentile, Daniel Kelly, Rob Garcia
		
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music 7 pm $15êFreddy Cole’s Songs for Lovers with Joel Frahm, Sam Raderman, Elias Bailey,
Jay Sawyer
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45
êNick Fraser, Tony Malaby, Brandon Lopez; Cheryl Pyle/Robert Dick; Erin Rogers solo		
Downtown Music Gallery 6, 7, 8 pm
• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band Fat Cat 6 pm $10• Lucia Stavros; Frank Meadows/John Bohannon; Jessica Ackerley; Sean Hamilton;
Sandy Ewen
H0l0 7 pm $10êMingus Big Band—12th Annual Charles Mingus Festival and High School Competition		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30
êEddie Allen Aggregation with Marty Bound, Antoine Drye, Mark McGowan,
Vitaly Golovnev, Sam Burtis, Corey Wallace, Nick Grinder, Joe Randazzo,
Bruce Williams, Cleave Guyton, Don Braden, Patience Higgins, Carl Maraghi,
Oscar Perez, Noah Garabedian, Jerome Jennings		
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church 4 pm
• Alex Wintz, Dave Baron, Jimmy Macbride; Chris Flory		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Nat Adderley, Jr.
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Olivia Chindamo Trio with Félix Lemerle, Daniel Duke		
North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm
• Keith A. Dames and Dem Kats In Black Hats with James Weidman, Marvin Horne,
Curtis Lundy
Russian Samovar 3 pm
• Alexa TarantinoSaint Peter’s Church 6 pm
• Kyle Benford
SEEDS 8:30 pm• Nick Hempton Group; JC Stylles Group; David Gibson
		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êMary Stallings with David Hazeltine, David “Happy” Williams, Joe Farnsworth				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40• Vicki Burns
Symphony Space Bar Thalia 7 pmêVanguard Jazz Orchestra: Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Ralph Lalama,
Gary Smulyan, Nick Marchione, John Chudoba, Terell Stafford, Scott Wendholt,
Marshall Gilkes, Jason Jackson, Dion Tucker, Douglas Purviance, Adam Birnbaum,
David Wong, John Riley
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Monday, February 17êMike Stern
55Bar 10 pm• Chris McCarthy Quintet with Michael Blake, Takuya Kuroda
		Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10êLisa Hoppe Trio with Joanna Mattrey, Lukas Akintaya; Beat Kaestli Trio withPete McCann, Gary Wang
Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12êAlexis Cole’s Love Me or Leave Me: Tin Pan Alley Talks Tinder! with David Finck,
Kenny Hassler
Birdland Theater 8:30 pm $20-30• Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life with Mitch Henry, Kyle Miles, Charles Haynes
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $25• Brad Farberman, Daniel Carter, Ras Moshe Burnett, Dave MIller; Stephen Gauci,
Adam Lane, Kevin Shea; David Haney, Hilliard Greene, Daniel Carter, Matt Lavelle,
Reggie Sylvester; Santiago Leibson Trio with Lisa Hoppe, Dayeon Seok; Nick Fraser,
Tony Malaby, Darren Johnston, Michael Bates; Noa Fort/Vinnie Sperrazza				Bushwick Public House 7 pm $10êFreddy Cole’s Songs for Lovers with Joel Frahm, Sam Raderman, Elias Bailey,
Jay Sawyer
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45
êGeorge Braith; Billy Kaye Jam
Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am $10• Danny Fox, Chris van Voorst van Beest, Max Goldman; Pasquale Grasso 				
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Sasha Dobson with Tony Scherr, Kenny Wollesen; Henry Hey with Ryan Scott,Jonathan Maron, Brian Delaney, Daniel Sadownick		Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 8:30, 10 pm $10-12• Joe Farnsworth; Sean Mason Smalls 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êSheryl Bailey 3 with Ron Oswanski, Ian Froman		Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $25

Tuesday, February 18• Maucha Adnet, Helio Alves, Guilherme Monteiro		
Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Helena Kay Trio with Kaisa Maensivu, Angus Mason; Prawit Siriwat Trio with
Daniel Durst, Vinnie Sperazza
Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12• AGUAS Trio: Omar Sosa, Yilian Cañizares, Gustavo Ovalles		
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Matt Baker Oz-Relief 2020 Benefit for the Australian Bushfire Disaster				
Birdland Theater 7 pm $30
êBill Frisell Trio with Thomas Morgan, Kenny Wollesen
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35

44 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDêPasquale Grasso soloêJonathan Batiste

Café Bohemia 8 pm $15
Café Carlyle 8:45 pm $135-185• Elio Villafranca and The Jass Syncopators with Jeremy Pelt, Roxy Coss, James Burton,Peter Slavov, Dion Parson and guest Dreiser Durrutthy Bombalé		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Ed Fast Congabop Septet; Los Hacheros		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Saul Rubin Zebtet
Fat Cat 7 pm $10êTim Berne Quintet with Tony Malaby, Ryan Ferreira, Devon Hoff, Elliott Kavee;
Ben Monder, Gary Wang, Diego Voglino		Halyard’s 8, 10 pm $10• Yuma Uesaka Quartet
Jazz at Kitano 8 pm
• Craig Handy and 2nd Line Smith with Matt Chertkoff, Kyle Koehler, Clark Gayton,
Jerome Jennings
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Paul Jost, Jim Ridl, Dean Johnson; Vanisha Gould		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Bill Warrington GroupNew York City Baha’i Center 8, 9:30 pm $15êMoppa Elliott’s Advancing on a Wild Pitch with Sam Kulik, Charles Evans, Danny Fox,
Christian Coleman; Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Ron Stabinsky, Moppa Elliott,
Kevin Shea; Unspeakable Garbage: Bryan Murray, Nick Millevoi, Ron Stabinsky,
Moppa Elliott, Dan Monaghan
ShapeShifter Lab 7 pm $10êLinda May Han Oh, Fabian Almazan, Ambrose Akinmusire
		
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êEmmet Cohen Trio with Ron Carter, Evan Sherman		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME
TIN PAN ALLEY TALKS TINDER

Wednesday, February 19êMike Stern
55Bar 10 pmêGeorge Garzone Sextet with Neta Raanan, Joe Melnicove, Chris Crocco, Tyrone Allen,

Francisco MelaBar Bayeux 8 pm
• Alec Aldred Trio with Bob Bruya, Jake Richter		
Bar Next Door 6:30 pm $12• AGUAS Trio: Omar Sosa, Yilian Cañizares, Gustavo Ovalles		
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Joe Alterman Trio with Nathaniel Schroeder, Marlon Patton
		Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êBill Frisell Trio with Thomas Morgan, Kenny Wollesen
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35
êJonathan Batiste
Café Carlyle 8:45 pm $135-185• Elio Villafranca and The Jass Syncopators with Jeremy Pelt, Roxy Coss, James Burton,Peter Slavov, Dion Parson and guest Dreiser Durrutthy Bombalé		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Swing Party With Eyal Vilner; Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and Sonic Magic		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Don Hahn/Mike Camacho Band; Ned Goold Jam		
Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am $10êThe Music of Joseph Daley: Dance Clarinets with guest Warren Smith				Greenwich House Music School 7:30 pm $15• Vicki Burns Quartet with Art Hirahara, Sam Bevan, Curtis Nowosad		Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18• Chris Bergson with Ellis Hooks, Steven Bernstein, Michael Blake, Jay Collins, Craig Dreyer,
Matt Clohesy, Tony Mason
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Mark Soskin, Jay Anderson, Adam Nussbaum		Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20• Roz Corral with Jim Ridl, Paul Gill Saint Peter’s Church 1 pm $10• Craig Yaremko Organ Trio with Matt King, Jonathon Peretz		
Silvana 6 pm
• Yuriy Galkin Quartet with Alex LoRe, Lex Korten, Vinnie Sperrazza;
Noah Preminger Quintet with John O’Gallagher, Leo Genovese, Kim Cass, Dan Weiss;
Neal Caine
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20• Laurin Talese with Yesseh Furaha-Ali, Eric Wortham II, Jonathan Michel, Anwar Marshall		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $20• Carmen Staaf/Julian Shore
Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20• Linda May Han Oh, Ganavya Doraiswamy, Rajna Swaminathan
		
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êEmmet Cohen Trio with Ron Carter, Evan Sherman		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Thursday, February 20• Jinjoo Yoo Duo
1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 8 pm
• Adam Cordero Trio with Odin Scherer, Henry Mermer; David Pietro Trio with
Vinicius Gomes, Eduardo Belo Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12• Brian Shankar Adler’s Fourth Dimension with Jonathan Goldberger, Santiago Leibson,
Rob Jost
Barbès 8 pm $10• Ehud Asherie
Birdland 7 pm $30• AGUAS Trio: Omar Sosa, Yilian Cañizares, Gustavo Ovalles		
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Joe Alterman Trio with Nathaniel Schroeder, Marlon Patton

		Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êBill Frisell/Ambrose Akinmusire Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35
êJonathan Batiste
Café Carlyle 8:45 pm $135-185• John “Dandy” Rodriguez’
David Rubenstein Atrium 7:30 pm• Elio Villafranca and The Jass Syncopators with Alex Pope Norris, Roxy Coss,James Burton, Peter Slavov, Dion Parson and guest Dreiser Durrutthy Bombalé				Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40• Sasha Dobson; Jackie Gage
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Pedrito Martinez
Ginny’s Supper Club 7, 9 pm $25• Airtrain Jazz Festival: Bruce Edwards
		Jamaica Air Train Station 5 pmêYayoi Ikawa Trio with François Moutin, Daniel Dor		
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18• Nicola Caminiti Quartet with Lex Korten, Hwansu Kang, Jongkuk Kim
		
The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $15êTrio 3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and guest Vijay Iyer		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êKamasi Washington
Kings Theatre 8 pm $100-238êCyrille Aimée with Ryan Hansler, Lex Warsharsky, Michael Valeanu, Dani Danor		
Le Poisson Rouge 8 pm $25-35
êAlan Broadbent; Spike Wilner
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Mwenso and The Shakes
National Sawdust 8 pm $20
êBobby Previte, Jamie Saft, Nels Cline
		
Nublu 151 7 pm $20
êRobin Verheyen Quartet with Marc Copland, Drew Gress, Eric McPherson;
Michael Feinberg Quintet with Alex Sipiagin, Dave Liebman, Billy Test, Ian Froman		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êThe New Drum Battle: Kenny Washington vs. Joe Farnsworth with Jeremy Pelt,
Eric Alexander, Mike LeDonne, John Webber		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38• Hayes Greenfield Gravity Unplugged Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20• Linda May Han Oh Quintet with Ben Wendel, Matthew Stevens, Fabian Almazan,
Eric DoobThe Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20• Linda Presgrave Quartet with Stan Chovnick, iris Ornig, Seiji Ochiai
		Tomi Jazz 7 pm
• Steve Weintraub Tantshoyz with Lauren Brody, Ken Maltz, Aaron Alexander		Town & Village Synagogue 8 pm $15• Jon B. Roche Trio with Stefano Doglioni, Carol Morgan		
Uke Hut 8 pm $20
êEmmet Cohen Trio with Ron Carter, Evan Sherman		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35• Só Brasil—A Tribute to Egberto Gismonti: Valtinho Anastácio with Hector Martignon,
Eduardo Belo, Paul Ricci, Victor Jones and guests Alex Foster, Michael Wolff
		
Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $30

Friday, February 21• Anna Kolchina/Jinjoo Yoo
1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 9 pm
• Herlin Riley’s Sounds of Cuba and New Orleans with Pedrito Martinez, Nicholas Payton,

Russell Hall and guests Yusa, Oscar Rossignoli, Chuck Perkins, Indio Melendez
		
The Appel Room 7, 9:30 pm $105
• Joe Giglio Trio with Marco Panascia, Eric Peters		Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12• AGUAS Trio: Omar Sosa, Yilian Cañizares, Gustavo Ovalles		
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Joe Alterman Trio with Nathaniel Schroeder, Marlon Patton
		Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êBill Frisell/Ambrose Akinmusire Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35
êJonathan Batiste
Café Carlyle 8:45 pm $135-185• Barbara Martinez
Club Bonafide 9 pm $20• Marilyn Maye
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45• Ken Fowser Quintet; Sonny Step The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• SugarTone Brass Band
Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $20
êBriggan Krauss with Keiskue Matsuno, Eli Rojas		Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20• Alvin Lucier’s Orpheus Variations and Glacier with by Charles Curtis, Abigail Levine		Issue Project Room 8 pm $15-25• Neil Clarke Trio Plus
Jazz 966 8 pm $20
êGene Bertoncini/John Patitucci
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34• Nir Felder
The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êTrio 3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and guest David Virelles		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• Jill McCarron/Dmitri Kolesnik
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pm
• Ehud Asherie, Paul Gill, Willie Jones III; Anthony Wonsey		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Benny Benack III
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Rob Fulton
NY Society for Ethical Culture 7 pm
• The Pointless Forest: Matt Robbins, Caleb Curtis, Paul Jones, Rachel Therrien,

Eric Burns, Doug Berns, Arthur Vint; Caleb Curtis’ Bottom Feeders with
Christopher Hoffman, Noah Garabedian, Rashaan Carter, Martin Nevin,Vinnie Sperrazza
The Owl Music Parlor 7:30 pm $10• Bernard Linnette Interactive with Aimee Allen		
Room 623 at B2 Harlem 10 pm $15-20• Kent State Jazz Orchestra; Kent State Jazz Combo; Nova Jazz Singers				ShapeShifter Lab 7 pm $12êEliot Zigmund Quartet with Matt Garrison, Allen Farnham, David Kingsnorth;Sylvia Cuenca Group with Ralph Bowen, Paul Bollenback, Jared Gold;
Corey Wallace DUBtet
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êThe New Drum Battle: Kenny Washington vs. Joe Farnsworth with Jeremy Pelt,
Eric Alexander, Mike LeDonne, John Webber		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38
êDavid Berkman Trio with Tony Scherr, Billy Mintz
		
Soapbox Gallery 8 pm $20• Linda May Han Oh, Sara Serpa, Jeremy Viner, Fabian Almazan, Tom Rainey		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êSimulacrum: John Medeski, Matt Hollenberg, Kenny Grohowski
		The Sultan Room 8 pm $20-25êEmmet Cohen Trio with Ron Carter, Evan Sherman		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35• Chano Domínguez Trio with Alexis Cuadrado, Henry Cole		Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $35

Saturday, February 22• Bruce Edwards/Hilliard Greene Andrew Freedman Home 3 pm
• Herlin Riley’s Sounds of Cuba and New Orleans with Pedrito Martinez, Nicholas Payton,

Russell Hall and guests Yusa, Oscar Rossignoli, Chuck Perkins, Indio Melendez
		
The Appel Room 7, 9:30 pm $105
• Steve Bloom Trio with Danton Boller, Jeremy Carlstedt
		Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12• AGUAS Trio: Omar Sosa, Yilian Cañizares, Gustavo Ovalles		
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Joe Alterman Trio with Nathaniel Schroeder, Marlon Patton
		Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êBill Frisell Quintet with Greg Tardy, Ambrose Akinmusire, Tony Scherr, Kenny Wollesen
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Bruce Harris Quartet
Café Bohemia 10 pm $20• Marilyn Maye
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45• Sam Taylor Quintet with Larry McKenna; Professor Cunningham and His Old School		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Brandon Ross’ Breath of Air; Charlie Burnham/Warren Benbow
		Greenwich House Music School 7:30 pm $15êBriggan Krauss solo
Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20
êLouise Rogers and Trio with Mark Kross, John Loehrke, Jeff Potter and guests
Suzanne Lorge, Max Pollak
Hudson View Gardens Lounge 7:30 pm $15êYoon Sun Choi/Jacob Sacks
Ibeam Brooklyn 8 pm $15• Alvin Lucier’s Orpheus Variations and Glacier with by Charles Curtis, Abigail Levine		Issue Project Room 8 pm $15-25• Emme Kemp
Jackie Robinson Recreation Center 2 pm
• Marcus Goldhaber Quartet
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34
êTrio 3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and guest Marilyn Crispell		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35• New York Jazz Stories: David Haney and Bernard Purdie		
Joe’s Pub 9:30 pm $20• Jill McCarron/Dmitri Kolesnik
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pm
• Ehud Asherie, Paul Gill, Willie Jones III; Anthony Wonsey		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êJC Hopkins Biggish Band
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Thomas Thorndike; Oxana Chi, Layla Zami, Mara Rosenbloom
		
Mirror Tea House 8 pm $15êOren Ambarchi/Crys Cole
Public Records 7 pm $17.25• Black Tie Brass Band
Radegast Hall 3 pm
• Kenny Davis
Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $25
êEliot Zigmund Quartet with Matt Garrison, Allen Farnham, David Kingsnorth;Sylvia Cuenca Group with Ralph Bowen, Paul Bollenback, Jared Gold;
Mimi Jones and The Lab Session Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êThe New Drum Battle: Kenny Washington vs. Joe Farnsworth with Jeremy Pelt,
Eric Alexander, Mike LeDonne, John Webber		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38• Chano Dominguez Trio with Noam Wiesenberg, Daniel Dor		
Soapbox Gallery 8 pm $20
êLinda May Han Oh’s Aventurine with Greg Ward, Fabian Almazan, Allan Mednard,
Curtis Stewart, Sara Caswell, Benni Von Gutzeit, Jeremy Harman
		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20• Michelle Duda
Symphony Space Bar Thalia 9 pm
• MIXCLA + 1: Zahili Gonzalez Zamora, Gerson Esteban Lazo Quiroga, Takafumi Nikaido,
Paul Sanchez Pacheco
Tribeca Performing Arts Center 7:30 pm $30• Cheryl Kingan, Dave Sewelson, Brad Farberman, Rick Brown; Alina Gregorian;
Middle Blue: Jeremy Danneman, Dave Sewelson, Brad Farberman, Danny Tamberelli,
Tim Kuhl
Troost 8 pmêEmmet Cohen Trio with Ron Carter, Evan Sherman		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35
êFrancisco Mela MPT Trio with Hery Paz, Junama Trujillo and guests William Parker,
Cooper-Moore
Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $30

Sunday, February 23êSylvia Cuenca Trio with Paul Bollenback, Jared Gold		55Bar 9:30 pm• Jim Campilongo/Steve Cardenas Barbès 7 pm $10• Thana Alexa MusicTalks Quartet Birdland 5:30 pm $30• New Orleans Mardi Gras Brunch: Joey Morant and Catfish Stew
		
Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $39.50
êBill Frisell Quintet with Greg Tardy, Ambrose Akinmusire, Tony Scherr, Kenny Wollesen
		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35
êDov Manski/Kristen Slipp; Wendy Eisenberg’s Editrix with Steve Cameron, Josh Daniel		
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music 8 pm $15• Marilyn Maye
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êLaurent David solo; Joe McPhee/Raf Vertessen; Lele Dai		
Downtown Music Gallery 6, 7, 8 pmêEddie Allen Aggregation with Marty Bound, Antoine Drye, Mark McGowan,
Vitaly Golovnev, Sam Burtis, Corey Wallace, Nick Grinder, Joe Randazzo,
Bruce Williams, Cleave Guyton, Don Braden, Patience Higgins, Carl Maraghi,
Oscar Perez, Noah Garabedian, Jerome Jennings		
Duryea Presbyterian Church 3 pm
• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band Fat Cat 6 pm $10êTrio 3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and guest Jason Moran		
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êJay Leonhart; Steve Ash
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Vanisha Gould
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $20• Roz Corral, Josh Richman, Paul Gill North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm
• Bearether Reddy, Rudi Mwongozi, Chris Barnette
		Russian Samovar 3 pm
• Helge Nysted
Saint Peter’s Church 6 pm
• Chris Byars Original Sextet with Zaid Nasser, John Mosca, Stefano Doglioni, Ari Roland,
Phil Stewart; Johnny O’Neal Trio with Mark Lewandowski, Itay Morchi		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êThe New Drum Battle: Kenny Washington vs. Joe Farnsworth with Jeremy Pelt,
Eric Alexander, Mike LeDonne, John Webber		
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $38• Complete Cornelius Cardew Treatise: Hans Tammen Large Ensemble				Spectrum 6 pm $15êEmmet Cohen Trio with Ron Carter, Evan Sherman		Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Photo by Kwaku Alston

FEB DIANNE REEVES
14–15

NEA Jazz Master and Grammy Awardwinning vocalist Dianne Reeves sets themood for Valentine’s Day weekend.

8PM
ROSE THEATER

Bloomberg Philanthropies is a lead sponsor of Dianne Reeves

RILEY PRESENTS: SOUNDSFEB HERLINOF CUBA AND NEW ORLEANS
21–22
7PM & 9:30PM
THE APPEL ROOM

Drummer extraordinaire Herlin Riley
explores the intersection of Latin jazzand the sounds of New Orleans, joined
by Cuban percussion genius Pedrito
Martinez, prolific trumpeter Nicholas
Payton, and bassist Russell Hall.

FEB BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET
28–29
8PM
ROSE THEATER

MAR
6–7

The multi-Grammy Award–winning
Branford Marsalis Quartet plays musicfrom their brand-new record, The Secrets
Between the Shadow and the Soul.
This program is presented as part of the Ertegun
Jazz Concert Series

THE ARTISTRY OF JAZZMEIA HORN
LOVE AND LIBERATION

7PM & 9:30PM
THE APPEL ROOM

In her Appel Room feature debut, soulful
and energetic vocalist Jazzmeia Hornwill perform songs from her sophomore
album, Love and Liberation.

JAZZ.ORG

VENUE FREDERICK P. ROSE HALL
BOX OFFICE BROADWAY AT 60TH ST.
CENTERCHARGE 212.721.6500

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 45

Monday, February 24êMike SternêHelen Sung

55Bar 10 pm
Bar Lunàtico 8:30, 10 pm $10• Panas Athanatos Trio with Kimon Karoutzos, Itay Morchi; Erli Perez Trio withTakaaki Otomoki, Yoshi Waki
Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12• Jimmy Cobb and Friends with Javon Jackson, Benny Green, Christian McBride		Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• Julian Apter Ensemble; Stephen Gauci, Adam Lane, Kevin Shea; Billy Mintz,

Roberta Piket, Tony Malaby, Virginia Mayhew, Hilliard Greene;
Juan Pablo Carletti’s Biggish Ensemble with Yoni Kretzmer, Hery Paz, Kenny Warren,
Jake Henry, Rick Parker, Franco Espindola, Kenneth Jimenez; Vinicius Cajado,
Caleb Wheeler, Lim Yang, Colin Hinton; Andrew Furlong Ensemble		Bushwick Public House 7 pm $10êBuddy Bolden, Jazz Pioneer: Juilliard Jazz Ensembles led by Dr. Michael White				
Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• JFA Jam Session
Jazz Museum in Harlem 6:30 pm• Bob DeVos, Behn Gillece, Steve LaSpina; Pasquale Grasso		Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Jonathan Barber; Sean Mason Smalls 10:30 pm 1 am $20
êEd Cherry Trio with John DiMartino, Gary Wang		
Zinc Bar 7:30, 9 pm $25

Tuesday, February 25êDan Weiss Quartet with Nate Wood, Adam Rogers, Chris Morrissey
		55Bar 10 pm• Andrew Cheng Trio with Guy Bernfeld, Maxime Cholley; Andrew Renfroe Trio with
Barry Stephenson, Curtis Nowosad
		Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12êMichaël Attias and Friends
Barbès 7 pm $10• Jane Monheit Quintet
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Jimmy Cobb and Jazz by 5 with Javon Jackson, Randy Brecker, George Cables,
Eddie Gomez
Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35
êPasquale Grasso solo
Café Bohemia 8 pm $15• Jeffery Miller’s Mardi Gras Party Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45• Micah Thomas
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $5• Jair Oliveira; Eliano Braz and Lily’s Forró		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Saul Rubin Zebtet; Itai Kriss and Gato Gordo; John Benitez Latin Bop		
Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am $10• Peter Watrous Group with Chet Doxas, Jacob Sacks, Carmen Rothwell,Jesse Simpson; Ed Cherry, Gary Wang, Diego Voglino		Halyard’s 8, 10 pm $10• Hashem Assadullahi Quartet
Jazz at Kitano 8 pmêMiho Hazama and m_unit with Kavita Shah, Steve Wilson, Jason Rigby, Owen Broder,
Jonathan Powell, Daniel Salera, Tomoko Akaboshi, Sita Chay, Matt Consul,
Meaghan Burke, James Shipp, Alex Brown, Edward Perez, Jake Goldbas
		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• Tamuz Nissim Quartet with George Nazos, Harvie S, Tony Jefferson; Lucy Yeghiazaryan
			 Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êJD Allen Trio with Ian Kenselaar, Nic Cacioppo; Malik McLaurine
		
Smalls 7:30 pm 1 am $20
ê3Dom Factor: Jon Irabagon, Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul and guests Uri Caine,
Tim Hagans
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êCécile McLorin Salvant with Alexa Tarantino, James Chirillo, Sullivan Fortner,
Keita Ogawa
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35
êTeri Roiger, Joel Frahm, John Menegon
		
Zürcher Gallery 8 pm $20

Wednesday, February 26• Paul Jost; Dezron Douglas
55Bar 7, 10 pm• Marta Sanchez Quintet with Chris Cheek, Roman Filiu, Rick Rosato, Daniel Dor		
Bar Bayeux 8 pm
• Erich Johnson Trio with Leo Catricala, Clemens Grassman
		Bar Next Door 6:30 pm $12• Jane Monheit Quintet
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40• Jazz Vocal Mania: Janis Siegel and Lauren Kinhan with John DiMartino, Boris Kozlov,
Vince Cherico and guest Sinne Eeg Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êKind of Blue: Jimmy Cobb with Javon Jackson, Eddie Henderson, Donald Harrison,
Buster Williams, Benny GreenBlue Note 8, 10:30 pm $35• West Village Word: Puma Perl and Friends with Walter Steding, Danny Ray, Joff Wilson,
Joe Sztabnick, Dave Donen; Lindsey Wilson and The Human Hearts with
Reggie Sylvester, Michael TrotmanCafé Bohemia 8, 10 pm $15êCyro Baptista’s Glosso Lalia with John Lee, Felipe Hostins, Eduardo Belo, Gil Oliveira		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40• Micah Thomas
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $5• Josh Evans Big Band; David Gibson Quintet
		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Ned Goold Jam		
Fat Cat 7 pm 12:30 am $10• Kathleen Landis/Boots Maleson Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18êMiho Hazama and m_unit with Kavita Shah, Steve Wilson, Jason Rigby, Owen Broder,
Jonathan Powell, Daniel Salera, Tomoko Akaboshi, Sita Chay, Matt Consul,
Meaghan Burke, James Shipp, Alex Brown, Edward Perez, Jake Goldbas
		Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $30• The Music of Chick Corea: Juilliard Jazz Orchestra
		
Juilliard School Peter Jay Sharp Theater 7:30 pm $20
êJeremy Pelt/Champian Fulton; Jon Roche, Stefano Doglioni, Tardo Hammer 				
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Tango Jazz Quartet: Alejandro Beelmann, Federico Hilal, Horacio Acosta,
Gustavo Firmenich
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $20
êThe Stone Commissions: Miles Okazaki/Dan Weiss		National Sawdust 7 pm $25• Adam Larson Quartet with Glenn Zaleski, Desmond White, Jochen Rueckert				
Smalls 7:30 pm $20
êVictor Gould Quartet with Jon Beshay, Tamir Shmerling, Anwar Marshall				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $20
êBruce Barth solo
Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20
êI Don’t Hear Nothin’ but the Blues: Ava Mendoza, Mick Barr, Jon Irabagon, Mike Pride		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20• Terraza 7 Jam Session led by John Yao		Terraza 7 9 pmêNick Dunston’s Atlantic Extraction with Louna Dekker-Vargas, Ledah Finck,
Tal Yahalom, Stephen Boegehold Threes Brewing 9 pmêCécile McLorin Salvant with Alexa Tarantino, James Chirillo, Sullivan Fortner,
Keita Ogawa
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Thursday, February 27• Jinjoo Yoo Duo• Fay Victor

1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 8 pm
55Bar 7 pm

Edward Perez, Francisco MelaBar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12êRyan Hernandez Trio with Matthew Holmes, Joe McCaffrey; Uri Gurvich Trio with

• Randy Ingram Trio
Birdland 5:30 pm $30• Jane Monheit Quintet
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40
êPete Malinverni Trio
Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30• Nuevas Voces: Yuri Juárez and Grupo Afroperuano		Bronx Music Heritage Center 7 pm $7• Imani Uzuri’s Conjure Woman David Rubenstein Atrium 7:30 pmêCyro Baptista’s Glosso Lalia with John Lee, Felipe Hostins, Eduardo Belo, Gil Oliveira		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40• Micah Thomas
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $10• Jeffrey Miller Quintet; Jesse Fischer Group with Sarah Elizabeth Charles
		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Pedrito Martinez
Ginny’s Supper Club 7, 9 pm $25• Airtrain Jazz Festival: Camille Gainer Jones		Jamaica Air Train Station 5 pm

• Ayako Shirasaki Trio with Noriko Ueda, Jay Sawyer
		
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $18êGeorge Coleman Quintet with Peter Bernstein, Mike LeDonne, John Webber,
George Coleman, Jr.
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êNicole Mitchell Matape with Val Jeanty, Chad Taylor
		
Jewish Museum 7:30 pm $20• Matt Brewer, Mark Shim, Damion Reid; Spike Wilner		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Tango Jazz Quartet: Alejandro Beelmann, Federico Hilal, Horacio Acosta,
Gustavo Firmenich
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $20• Chris Pitsiokos Unit with Sam Lisabeth, Henry Fraser, Jason Nazary;
Chris Pitsiokos String Ensemble with Joanna Mattrey, Aliya Ultan, Webb Crawford,
Henry Fraser
Roulette 8 pm $25• Mike Bond Quintet with Josh Evans, Steve Wilson, Ben Wolfe, Anwar Marshall;
Pat Bianchi Trio with Paul Bollenback, Adam Nussbaum		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Russell Malone Group with Rick Germanson, Luke Sellick, Neal Smith				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40• Octavio Bugni Trio
Soapbox Gallery 8 pm $20
êJon Irabagon solo
The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20• New York Simcha Heritage Ensemble with Jordan Hirsch		Town & Village Synagogue 8 pm $15• Ivan Polyanskiy Quartet with Arthur Akhmetov, Nathan Garrett, Charlie Steiner		
Uke Hut 8 pm $20
êCécile McLorin Salvant with Alexa Tarantino, James Chirillo, Sullivan Fortner,
Keita Ogawa
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Friday, February 28• Anna Kolchina/Jinjoo Yoo• Kendra Shank

1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 9 pm
55Bar 6 pmêPasquale Grasso Trio with Ari Roland, Keith Balla		Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12• Jane Monheit Quintet
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40
êBen Wolfe Quartet with Giveton Gelin, Sean Mason, Donald Edwards				
Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êMatt Wilson Leap Day Trio with Jeff Lederer, Mimi Jones		
Café Bohemia 8, 10 pm $20• Barbara Martinez
Club Bonafide 8 pm $20
êDave Liebman Expansions with Matt Vashlishan, Bobby Avey, Tony Marino, Alex Ritz
		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40• Micah Thomas
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $10• Ken Fowser; Hudson Horns
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pmêUri Caine
Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20• Victor Wooten
Iridium 8, 10:30 pm $58-68• Patsy Grant Band
Jazz 966 8 pm $20• Ben Rosenblum’s Nebula Project with Wayne Tucker, Jasper Dutz, Marty Jaffe,
Ben Zweig
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34
êGeorge Coleman Quintet with Peter Bernstein, Mike LeDonne, John Webber,
George Coleman, Jr.
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êJoel Forrester, David Hofstra, Matthew Garrity		Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pmêKen Peplowski, Glenn Zaleski, Katie Thiroux, Matt Witek; Gabrielle Stravelli 				
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êBinky Griptite
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25
êLisa Hoppe’s Third Reality with David Leon, Tal Yahalom; Charlotte Jacobs
		
The Owl Music Parlor 7:30 pm $10• The Jazz Bastards
Pangea 9:30 pm $15• Aneleisha Rogers
Room 623 at B2 Harlem 10 pm $15-20
êBranford Marsalis Quartet with Joey Calderazzo, Eric Revis, Justin Faulkner;
Citizens of the Blues: Anthony Hervey, Isaiah J. Thompson, Phillip Norris,
Domo Branch
Rose Theater 8 pm $40-140• Winard Harper Group; E.J. Strickland Group; Corey Wallace DUBtet
		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1 am $20• Russell Malone Group with Rick Germanson, Luke Sellick, Neal Smith				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40
êJon Irabagon Quartet with Matt Mitchell, Chris Lightcap, Dan Weiss		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êCécile McLorin Salvant with Alexa Tarantino, James Chirillo, Sullivan Fortner,
Keita Ogawa
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

Saturday, February 29êBurnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber plays Shaft: Greg Tate, Shelley Nicole,

Abby Dobson, Julie Brown, Mikel Banks, Bruce Mack, Lewis ‘Flip’ Barnes,
V. Jeffrey Smith, Paula Henderson, J.S. Williams, Curtis Stewart, Bobbie Lee Crow III,
Leon Gruenbaum, Ben Tyree, André Lassalle, Jason DiMatteo,
Jared Michael Nickerson, Shawn Banks, LaFrae Sci
		Apollo Theater & Music Café 8 pm $29êRodney Jones Trio with Lonnie Plaxico, Carl Allen		
Bar Next Door 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm $12• Jane Monheit Quintet
Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40
êBen Wolfe Quartet with Giveton Gelin, Sean Mason, Donald Edwards				
Birdland Theater 7, 9:45 pm $20-30êMatt Wilson Leap Day Trio with Jeff Lederer, Mimi Jones		
Café Bohemia 8, 10 pm $20• The New York Nightingales
Club Bonafide 6 pm $20
êDave Liebman Expansions with Matt Vashlishan, Bobby Avey, Tony Marino, Alex Ritz
		Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45• Micah Thomas
Dizzy’s Club 11:15 pm $20• Brandi Disterheft Quintet; Endea Owens and The Cookout
		
The Django at Roxy Hotel 7:30, 10:30 pm• Steve Blum Trio; Greg Glassman Jam		
Fat Cat 7 pm 1:30 am $10êGiveton Gelin and Friends
Ginny’s Supper Club 8 pm $20
êUri Caine
Happylucky no.1 8 pm $20• Victor Wooten
Iridium 8, 10:30 pm $58-68• Ben Rosenblum’s Nebula Project with Wayne Tucker, Jasper Dutz, Marty Jaffe,
Ben Zweig
Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $34• Osmany Paredes Quartet with Yunior Terry, Yusnier Sanchez, Keisel Jiménez				
The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $25
êGeorge Coleman Quintet with Peter Bernstein, Mike LeDonne, John Webber,
George Coleman, Jr.
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35
êJoel Forrester, David Hofstra, Matthew Garrity		Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 9 pmêThe Westerlies: Riley Mulherkar, Chloe Rowlands, Andy Clausen, Willem de Koch				Littlefield 8:30 pm $12êThe Cosmic Synthesis of Sun Ra and Afrofuturism: Nona Hendryx andDisciples of Sun Ra in the Temple with Craig Harris, Francesca Harper, Virgil Ortiz,
Carl Hancock Rux
Metropolitan Museum of Art 7 pm $85
êKen Peplowski, Glenn Zaleski, Katie Thiroux, Matt Witek; John Davis		
Mezzrow 7:30, 10:30 pm $20
êJC Hopkins Biggish Band
Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25
êBranford Marsalis Quartet with Joey Calderazzo, Eric Revis, Justin Faulkner;
Citizens of the Blues: Anthony Hervey, Isaiah J. Thompson, Phillip Norris,
Domo Branch
Rose Theater 8 pm $40-140• Sedition: Blaise Siwula, Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic, Jon Panikkar with guests
Tom Swafford, Erik Plaks
Scholes Street Studio 8 pm $15• Alan Palmer Trio
Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $25• Winard Harper Group; E.J. Strickland Group		
Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20• Russell Malone Group with Rick Germanson, Luke Sellick, Neal Smith				
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40• Matt Morantz
Soapbox Gallery 7:30 pm $20• Brooklyn Wind Quintet: Michel Gentile, Katie Scheele, Mike McGinnis,
Sara Schoenbeck, Nathan Koci with guests Jon Irabagon, Brian Marsella
		The Stone at The New School 8:30 pm $20
êCécile McLorin Salvant with Alexa Tarantino, James Chirillo, Sullivan Fortner,
Keita Ogawa
Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $35

46 FEBRUARY 2020 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDREGULAR ENGAGEMENTS
M O N D AY
• Richard Clements/Murray Wall Band11th Street Bar 8 pm
• Grove Street Stompers
Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm
• Earl Rose
Bemelmans Bar 5:30, 9 pm
• Terry Waldo Gotham City Band Black Door 11 pm• Jordan Young
Bflat 8 pm
• Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks
Iguana 8 pm
• Iris Ornig Jam Session
Jazz at Kitano 8 pm
• Mingus Big Band
Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25• Kyle Colina and Friends
Le Rivage 6:30 pm (ALSO TUE-THU 7:30 pm)• Stan Killian and Friends
Queens Brewery 8 pm
• Gil Defay
Red Rooster 8 pm
• Misha Tsiganov
Russian Vodka Room 7 pm
• Vincent Herring Quartet and Jam Session
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm• Swingadelic
Swing 46 8:30 pm• John Benitez JamTerraza 7 9:30 pm $7• Vanguard Jazz Orchestra Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $30

T U E S D AY
• Yuichi Hirakawa Trio
Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm
• Art Hirahara Trio
Arturo’s 8 pm
• David Budway Trio
Bemelmans Bar 9:30 pm• Janice Friedman
Center Bar 6 pm (ALSO WED-SAT)• Marc Devine Trio
Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm
• Diego Voglino Jam Session Halyard’s 10 pm• Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks
Iguana 8 pm
• Mona’s Hot Four
Mona’s 11 pm• Misha Tsiganov
Russian Vodka Room 7 pm
• Mike LeDonne Quartet
Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm• Hayes Greenfield
Soapbox 7:30 pm• Louisa Lee Poster
The Staybridges Suites 9 pm
• George Gee Orchestra
Swing 46 8:30 pm

W E D N E S D AY
• Bill Wurtzel/Jay Leonhart
American Folk Art Museum 2 pm
• Jason Marshall Trio
American Legion Post 398 7 pm
• Eve Silber
Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm
• Jonathan Kreisberg Trio
Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12• David Budway Trio
Bemelmans Bar 9:30 pm• Jordan Young
Bflat 8:30 pm• David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Centennial Band
Birdland 5:30 pm $20• Joel Forrester solo
Bistro Jules 5:30 pm• Les Kurtz Trio
Cleopatra’s Needle 7 pm
• Django Jam Session
The Django 10:30, 11 pm• WaHi Jazz Jam
Le Chéile 8 pm
• Noah Garabedian Jam
The Nest 9 pm
• Les Goodson Band
Paris Blues 9 pm
• Emmet Cohen
Smoke 11:45 pm• Stan Rubin Orchestra
Swing 46 8:30 pm

T H U R S D AY
• Ray Blue Organ Quartet
American Legion Post 398 7 pm
• Eri Yamamoto Trio
Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm
• Grassroots Jazz Effort
Bar Bayeux 8 pm
• David Budway Trio
Bemelmans Bar 9:30 pm• Café Bohemia Quartet with Jon Erik Kellso
Café Bohemia 8, 10 pm $20		
• John McNeil/Mike Fahie
The Douglass 9 pm
• Joel Forrester
George’s 6:30 pm• Steve Wirts/Joe Cohn Quartet Han Dynasty 6 pm
• Les Goodson Band
Paris Blues 9 pm
• Gene Bertoncini
Ryan’s Daughter 8:30, 10:30 pm• Rob Duguay Low Key Trio Turnmill NYC 11 pm• Ms. Marie Special Showcase Uke Hut 8 pm

F R I D AY
• Jostein Gulbrandsen
Aretsky’s Patroon 6 pm
• Eri Yamamoto Trio
Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm
• Joel Forrester
Baker’s Pizza 7 pm
• The Crooked Trio
Barbès 5 pm
• David Budway Trio
Bemelmans Bar 9:30 pm• Birdland Big Band
Birdland 5:15 pm $25• Bohemia Allstars Jazz Jam Café Bohemia 11:30 pm• Bennett Paster Trio
Hillstone 6 pm
• Gerry Eastman Quartet
Williamsburg Music Center 10 pm

S AT U R D AY
• Eri Yamamoto Trio
• Bill Saxton• Joel Forrester solo
• Stan Rubin Orchestra• Yvonnick Prené• Assaf Kehati Duo• Johnny O’Neal Trio

Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm
Bill’s Place 8, 10 pm $20
Bistro Jules 6 pm
Carnegie Club 8:30, 10:30 pm
Henry’s 12:30 pm
Il Gattopardo 11:30 am
Smoke 11:30 pm 12:45 am

S U N D AY
• Creole Cooking Jazz Band; Stew Cutler and Friends
Arthur’s Tavern 7, 10 pm• Matt La Von Jam Session Bā’sik 7 pm
• Peter Mazza Trio
Bar Next Door 8, 10 pm $12• Stephane Wrembel
Barbès 9 pm $10• Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Birdland 9, 11 pm $30• Joel Forrester solo
Bistro Jules 4 pm
• Renaud Penant Trio
Bistro Jules 7:30 pm• Keith Ingham
Cleopatra’s Needle 4 pm
• Trampelman
Dominie’s Astoria 9 pm
• The EarRegulars
The Ear Inn 8 pm
• Joel Forrester solo
Grace Gospel Church 11 am• Sam Taylor
The Grange 7 pm
• Grassroots Jazz Effort
Grassroots Tavern 9 pm
• Idan Morim Trio
Injera 7:30 pm• Tony Middleton Trio
Jazz at Kitano 12 pm $40• Dennis Hernandez Trio
Minton’s 12 pm• Marjorie Eliot
Parlor Entertainment 4 pm
• Lu Reid Jam Session
Shrine 4 pm
• Nicole Glover
Smoke 10:30 pm• John Benitez Jazz JamTerraza 7 9:30 pm $7• Sean Smith and guest
Walker’s 8 pm

CLUB DIRECTORY• 11th Street Bar 510 E. 11th Street(212-982-3929) Subway: L to 1st Avenue www.11thstbar.com• 54 Below 254 West 54th Street(646-476-3551) Subway: N, Q, R to 57th Street; B, D, E to Seventh Avenue
www.54below.com• 55Bar 55 Christopher Street(212-929-9883) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.55bar.com• 96th Street Library 112 E. 96th Street(212-289-0908) Subway: 4, 6 to 96th Street www.nypl.org• 440Gallery 440 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn(718-499-3844) Subway: F, G to Seventh Avenue www.440gallery.com• 1986 Est. Wine Bar & Lounge 43 W. 32nd Street(212-563-1500) Subway: B, D, F, Q, R to 34th Street-Herald Squarewww.hotelstanford.com• American Folk Art Museum 65th Street at Columbis Avenue(212-595-9533) Subway: 1 to 66th Street www.folkartmuseum.org• American Legion Post 398 248 W. 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• Andrew Freedman Home 1125 Grand Concourse(718-410-6735) Subway: 4, D to 167th Street
www.andrewfreedmanhome.org• 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.jazz.org• Apollo Theater & Music Café 253 W. 125th Street(212-531-5305) Subway: A, B, C, D, 2, 3 to 125th Street
www.apollotheater.org• Aretsky’s Patroon 160 E. 46th Street(212-883-7373) Subway: 4, 5, 6, 7, S to Grand Central-42nd Street
www.aretskyspatroon.com• Aron’s Place 166 N. 12th Street SStreetubway: L to Bedford Avenue• 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• Assinie 201 W. 116th Street (332-201-6914) Subway: B, C to 116th Street• Baker’s Pizza 201 Avenue A(212-777-7477) Subway: L to First Avenue www.bakerspizzanyc.com• Balboa 1655 Bedford Avenue(718-484-8291) Subway: 2, 5 to President Street• Bar Bayeux 1066 Nostrand Avenue(347-533-7845) Subway: 2, 5 to Sterling Street• Bar Lunàtico 486 Halsey Street(917-495-9473) Subway: C to Kingston-Throop Avenues www.barlunatico.com• Bar Next Door 129 MacDougal Street (212-529-5945)
Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.lalanternacaffe.com• Barbès 376 9th Street at 6th Avenue, Brooklyn (718-965-9177)
Subway: F to 7th Avenue www.barbesbrooklyn.com• Bā’sik 323 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn(347-889-7597) Subway: L to Graham Avenue www.basikbrooklyn.com• Bemelmans Bar 35 E. 76th Street (212-744-1600)
Subway: 6 to 77th Street www.thecarlyle.com• Bflat 277 Church Street (between Franklin and White Streets)
Subway: 1, 2 to Franklin Streets• Bill’s Place 148 W. 133rd Street (between Lenox and 7th Avenues)(212-281-0777) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street• Birdland and Birdland Theater 315 W. 44th Street (212-581-3080)
Subway: A, C, E, to 42nd Street www.birdlandjazz.com• Bistro Jules 60 St Marks Place(212-477-5560) Subway: 6 to Astor Place www.julesbistro.com• The Bitter End 147 Bleecker Street between Thompson and LaGuardia
Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th Street• Black Door 127 W. 26th Street(212-645-0215) Subway: R, W to 28th Street www.blackdoornyc.com• 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• Bronx Music Heritage Center 1303 Louis Niñé Boulevard(347-708-7591) Subway: 2, 5 to Freeman www.thisisbronxmusic.org• Brooklyn Bowl 61 Wythe Avenue(718-963-3369) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue www.brooklynbowl.com• Brooklyn Conservatory of Music 58 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn
Subway: F to Seventh Avenue, N, R to Union Street www.bkcm.org• Brownsville Heritage House 581 Mother Gaston Boulevard(718-385-1111) Subway: L to New Lots Avenue• Bushwick Public House 1288 Myrtle Avenue(917-966-8500) Subway: G to Myrtle - Willoughby Avenue then B54
www.bushwickpublichouse.com• Café Bohemia 15 Barrow Street
Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.cafebohemianyc.com• Café Carlyle 35 E. 76th Street (212-744-1600)
Subway: 6 to 77th Street www.thecarlyle.com• Carnegie Club 156 W. 56th Street(212-957-9676) Subway: N, Q, R, W to 57th-Seventh Avenue• Cleopatra’s Needle 2485 Broadway (212-769-6969)
Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 96th Street www.cleopatrasneedleny.com• Club Bonafide 212 E. 52nd Street (646-918-6189) Subway: 6 to 51st Street;
E, V to 53rd Street www.clubbonafide.com• The Cutting Room 44 E. 32nd Street(212-691-1900) Subway: 6 to 33rd Street www.thecuttingroomnyc.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.atrium.lincolncenter.org• 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.jazz.org• The Django at The Roxy Hotel 2 Sixth Avenue (212-519-6600)
Subway: A, C, E to Canal Street; 1 to Franklin Street
www.thedjangonyc.com• Dominie’s Astoria 34-07 30th Avenue Subway: N, Q to 30th Avenue• The Douglass 149 4th Avenue(718-857-4337) Subway: R to Union Street www.thedouglass.com• Downtown Music Gallery 13 Monroe Street (212-473-0043)
Subway: F to East Broadway www.downtownmusicgallery.com• Drom 85 Avenue A(212-777-1157) Subway: F to Second Avenue www.dromnyc.com• Duryea Presbyterian Church 362 Sterling Place(718-783-2451) Subway: 2, 3 to Grand Army Plaza www.pcusa.org• 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• 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• Funkadelic Studios 209 W. 40th Street(212-696-2513) Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, Q, R to 42nd Street-Times Squarewww.funkadelicstudios.com• Gin Fizz Harlem 308 Malcolm X Boulevard(212-289-2220) Subway: 2, 3 to 125th Street www.ginfizzharlem.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 East 164th Street(718-328-0166) Subway: 2, 5 to Prospect Avenue• The Grange 1635 Amsterdam Avenue(212-491-1635) Subway: 1 to 137th Street www.thegrangebarnyc-hub.com• Greenwich House Music School 46 Barrow Street(212-242-4770) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.greenwichhouse.org• H0l0 1090 Wyckoff Avenue Subway: L to Halsey Street www.h0l0.nyc• Halyard’s 406 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn(718-532-8787) Subway: R to 9th Street www.barhalyards.com• Han Dynasty 215 W. 85th Street(212-858-9060) Subway: 1 to 86th Street www.handynasty.net• Happylucky no.1 734 Nostrand Avenue(347-295-0961) Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Franklin Avenue
www.happyluckyno1.com• Hari NYC 140 W. 30th Street, 3rd floor Subway: 1 to 28th Street• Henry’s 2745 Broadway (212-866-0600) Subway: 1 to 103rd Street• Hillstone 153 E. 53rd Street(212-888-3828) Subway: E, M to 53rd Street www.hillstone.com• Hudson View Gardens Lounge 183rd and Pinehurst Avenue
Subway: A to 181st Street• Hunts Point Recreation Center 765 Manida Street(718-860-5544) Subway: 6 to Hunts Point Avenue www.nycgovparks.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• Injera 11 Abingdon Square(212-206-9330) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street www.injeranyc.com• InterContinental New York Barclay’s Penthouse Suite 111 E. 48th Street(212-755-5900) Subway: 6 to 51st Street www.ihg.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• Italian Cultural Institute 686 Park Avenue Subway: 6 to 68th Street• Jackie Robinson Recreation Center 85 Bradhurst Avenue(212-234-9607) Subway: A, B, C, D to 145th Street www.nycgovparks.org• Jalopy 315 Columbia Street, Brooklyn(718-395-3214) Subway: F to Smith Street www.jalopy.biz• Jamaica Air Train Station 93-43 Sutphin Boulevard
Subway: E, J, Z to Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue www.panynj.gov• Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning 161-04 Jamaica Avenue, Queens(718-658-7400 ext. 152) Subway: E to Jamaica Center www.jcal.org• Jazz 966 966 Fulton Street(718-638-6910) Subway: C to Clinton Street
www.fortgreenecouncil.org/jazz966• 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• Jazz Museum in Harlem 58 W. 129th Street between Madison and Lenox
Avenues (212-348-8300) Subway: 6 to 125th Street
www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org• Jazz Standard 116 E. 27th between Park and Lexington Avenue(212-576-2232) Subway: 6 to 28th Street www.jazzstandard.com• Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street(212-423-3200) Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street www.thejewishmuseum.org• 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• Juilliard School Paul Hall and Peter Jay Sharp Theater
155 W. 65th Street (212-769-7406) Subway: 1 to 66th Street
www.juilliard.edu• Kings Theatre 1027 Flatbush Avenue(800-745-3000) Subway: 2, 5, Q to Beverly Road www.kingstheatre.com• Kingsborough Community College 2001 Oriental Boulevard(718-368-6686) Subway:Q to Brighton Beachwww.onstageatkingsborough.org• Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 33 University Place at 9th Street(212-228-8490) Subway: N, R to 8th Street-NYU
www.knickerbockerbarandgrill.com• L’Artista 142 Hamilton Place(646-858-0312) Subway: A, B, C, D to 145th Street www.lartistanyc.com• Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church 85 South Oxford Street(718-625-7515) Subway: G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue• Le Chéile 839 W. 181st Street(212-740-3111) Subway: A to 181st Street www.lecheilenyc.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• Le Rivage 340 W. 46th Street(212-765-7374) Subway: C, E to 50th Street www.lerivagenyc.com• Littlefield 635 Sackett Street(718-855-3388) Subway: D, N, R to Union Street www.littlefieldnyc.com• Manhattan School of Music Neidorff-Karpati Hall Broadway and 122nd Street(212-749-2802, ext 4428) Subway: 1 to 116th Street www.msmnyc.edu• Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street(212-570-3949) Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street www.metmuseum.org• Mezzrow 163 W. 10th Street(646-476-4346) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.mezzrow.com• Michiko Studios 149 W. 46th Street, 3rd Floor(212-302-4011) Subway: B, D, F, M to 47-50 Streets
www.michikostudios.com• Miller Theatre 2960 Broadway and 116th Street(212-854-7799) Subway: 1 to 116th Street-Columbia University
www.millertheater.com• Minton’s 206 W. 118th Street (between St. Nicholas Avenue andAdam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd) (212-243-2222) Subway: B, C to 116th Street
www.mintonsharlem.com• Mirror Tea House 575 Union Street, #A(917-909-0577) Subway: R to Union Street www.mirrorinthewoods.com• MIST 40 W. 116th Street Subway: 2, 3 to 116th Street
www.mistharlem.com• Mona’s 224 Avenue B Subway: L to First Avenue• NY Society for Ethical Culture 2 W. 64th Street at Central Park West(212-873-2848) Subway: 1, 2 to 66th Street-Lincoln Center
www.nysec.org• National Arts Club 15 Gramercy Park South(212-475-3424) Subway: 6 to 23rd Street www.nationalartsclub.org• National Sawdust 80 N. 6th Street(646-779-8455) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue www.nationalsawdust.org• Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village 269 Bleecker Street(212-691-1770) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th Street www.ncgv.net• The Nest 504 Flatbush Avenue(718-484-9494) Subway: B, S, Q to Prospect Park www.thenestbrooklyn.com• New York City Baha’i Center 53 E. 11th Street (212-222-5159)
Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, R to 14th Street-Union Square www.bahainyc.org• Nhà Minh 485 Morgan Avenue(718-387-7848) Subway: L to Graham Avenue• North Square Lounge 103 Waverly Place (212-254-1200)
Subway: A, B, C, E, F to West 4th Street www.northsquareny.com• Nublu 151 151 Avenue C(212-979-9925) Subway: 6 to Astor Place 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• The Owl Music Parlor 497 Rogers Avenue, Brooklyn(718-774-0042) Subway: 2, to to Sterling Street www.theowl.nyc• Pangea 178 Second Avenue(212-995-0900) Subway: L to First Avenue www.pangeanyc.com• Parlor Entertainment 555 Edgecombe Ave. #3F(212-781-6595) Subway: C to 155th Street• Patrick’s Place 2835 Frederick Boulevard(212-491-7800) Subway: B, D to 155th Street
www.patricksplaceharlem.com• The Penrose 1590 2nd Avenue(212-203-2751) Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street www.penrosebar.com• Public Records 233 Butler Street
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q, R to Atlantic Avenue www.publicrecords.nyc• Queens Brewery 1539 Covert Street, Ridgewood
Subway: L to Halsey Street www.queensbrewery.com• Radegast Hall 113 North 3rd Street(718-963-3973) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue www.radegasthall.com• Rizzoli Bookstore 1133 Broadway(212-759-2424) Subway: R, W to 28th Street www.rizzolibookstore.com• Rockwood Music Hall 196 Allen Street (212-477-4155)
Subway: F, V to Second Avenue www.rockwoodmusichall.com• Room 623 at B2 Harlem 271 W. 119th Street(212-280-2248) Subway: B, C to 116th Street www.b2harlem.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.jazz.org• Roulette 509 Atlantic Avenue(212-219-8242) Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Avenue www.roulette.org• Russ & Daughters Café 127 Orchard Street(212-475-4881) Subway: F to Delancey Street
www.russanddaughterscafe.com• Russian Samovar 256 W. 52nd Street(212-757-0168) Subway: C, E to 50th Street www.russiansamovar.com• Russian Vodka Room 265 W. 52nd Street(212-307-5835) Subway: C, E to 50th Street
www.russianvodkaroom.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• Scholes Street Studio 375 Lorimer Street(718-964-8763) Subway: L to Lorimer Street
www.scholesstreetstudio.com• 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• Showman’s 375 W. 125th Street at Morningside(212-864-8941) Subway: 1 to 125th Street• 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 www.silvana-nyc.com• 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 to Christopher Street www.smallsjazzclub.com• Smoke 2751 Broadway between 105th and 106th Streets(212-864-6662) Subway: 1 to 103rd Street www.smokejazz.com• S.O.B.’s 204 Varick Street(212-243-4940) Subway: 1 to Varick Street www.sobs.com• Soapbox Gallery 636 Dean Street Subway: 2, 3 to Bergen Street• Spectrum 70 Flushing Avenue
Subway: B, D, Q to DeKalb Avenue www.spectrumnyc.com• The Staybridges Suites 340 W. 40th Street(212-757-9000) Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, S to 42nd Street/Times Squarewww.ihg.com• The Stone at The New School 55 West 13th Street(212-229-5600) Subway: F, V to 14th Street www.thestonenyc.com• Sugarhill 217 Nostrand Avenue(718-797-1727) Subway: G to Bedford-Nostrand Avenues
www.sugarhillsupperclub.com• The Sultan Room 234 Starr Street(612-964-1420) Subway: L to Jefferson Street www.thesultanroom.com• SUNY Downstate Campus 395 Lenox Road
Subway: 2, 5 to Winthrop Street www.downstate.edu• Swing 46 349 W. 46th Street (646-322-4051)
Subway: A, C, E to 42nd Street www.swing46.com• Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Peter Jay Sharpe Theatre and
Bar Thalia 2537 Broadway at 95th Street(212-864-5400) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 96th Street
www.symphonyspace.org• Terraza 7 40-19 Gleane Street(718-803-9602) Subway: 7 to 82nd Street www.terrazacafe.com• Threes Brewing 333 Douglass Street(718-522-2110) Subway: R to Union Street www.threesbrewing.com• Tomi Jazz 239 E. 53rd Street(646-497-1254) Subway: 6 to 51st Street www.tomijazz.com• Town & Village Synagogue 334 E. 14th Street(212-677-8090) Subway: L to First Avenue www.tandv.org• Tribeca Performing Arts Center 199 Chambers Street(212-220-1460) Subway: A, 1, 2, 3 to Chambers Street
www.tribecapac.org• Troost 1011 Manhattan Avenue(347-889-6761) Subway: G to Greenpoint Avenue www.troostny.com• Turnmill NYC 119 East 27th Street(646-524-6060) Subway: 6 to 27th Street www.turnmillnyc.com• Uke Hut 36-01 36th Avenue(347-458-3031) Subway: N, W to 36th Avenue www.ukehut.com• Village Vanguard 178 Seventh Avenue South (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• 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• Williamsburg Music Center 367 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY(718-384-1654) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue• Zankel Hall 881 Seventh Avenue at 57th Street(212-247-7800) Subway: N, Q, R, W to 57th Street www.carnegiehall.org• Zinc Bar 82 W. 3rd Street (212-477-8337)
Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.zincjazz.com• Zürcher Gallery 33 Bleecker Street(212-777-0790) Subway: 6 to Bleeker Street; B, D, F to Broadway-Lafayettewww.galeriezurcher.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | FEBRUARY 2020 47