DICK

DECEMBER 2015—ISSUE 164 

YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENE 

NYCJAZZRECORD.COM 

DICK 

HYMAN 

jazz class 

HOLIDAY 

GIFT 

GUIDE 

TERRI LYNE 

CARRINGTON 

HELEN 

SUNG 

DOUGLAS 

EWART 

GUNTHER 

SCHULLER

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Laurence Donohue-Greene 

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Staff Writers 

David R. Adler, Clifford Allen, 

Fred Bouchard, Stuart Broomer, 

Katie Bull, Thomas Conrad, 

Ken Dryden, Donald Elfman, 

Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, 

Alex Henderson, Marcia Hillman, 

Terrell Holmes, Robert Iannapollo, 

Suzanne Lorge, Marc Medwin, 

Russ Musto, Joel Roberts, 

John Sharpe, Elliott Simon, 

Andrew Vélez, Ken Waxman 

Contributing Writers 

Duck Baker, Brad Cohan, 

Phil Freeman, Anders Griffen, 

Mark Keresman, Ken Micallef, John Pietaro 

Contributing Photographers 

Richard Conde, Peter Gannushkin, 

Maarit Kytöharju, Tracy Love, 

Alan Nahigian, Susan O’Connor 

Shulamit Seidler-Feller, Frank Stewart, 

Robert I. Sutherland-Cohan, Jack Vartoogian 

nycjazzrecord.com 

New York@Night 

Interview : Terri Lyne Carrington 

Artist Feature : Helen Sung 

On The Cover : Dick Hyman 

Encore : Douglas Ewart 

Lest We Forget : Gunther Schuller 

LAbel Spotlight : Whirlwind 

VOXNEWS 

In Memoriam 

Holiday Gift Guide 

CD Reviews 

Miscellany 

Event Calendar 

DECEMBER 2015—ISSUE 164 

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by anders griffen 

by john pietaro 

by ken dryden 

by kurt gottschalk 

by ken waxman 

by mark keresman 

by katie bull 

by andrey henkin 

Santa Claus is a busy guy. Gazillions of presents in one night and all that, plus weeks of 

appearances at fine shopping malls throughout the world. The guy needs a break. While we 

didn’t pick up any reindeer in our recent trip to Finland (see Festival Report from Tampere), 

we can save him a little time with the whole naughty-nice thing as far as our December issue 

features go: all of them deserve a sleighful of presents (maybe from our Holiday Gift Guide?) 

Pianist Dick Hyman (On The Cover) is a one-man jazz university, seven decades worth of 

performing and recording, keeping the yule log of traditional jazz styles burning. He performs 

two nights solo at Dizzy’s Club just before Christmas. Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington 

(Interview), sidewoman extraordinaire and compelling leader, will spend a week in the toasty 

environs of the Village Vanguard as part of a trio with pianist Geri Allen and bassist Esperanza 

Spalding. Pianist Helen Sung (Artist Feature) has had her star grow ever brighter over the 

years and presents her Sung With Words project, which features a bevy of vocalists, at The 

Jazz Gallery. And multi-instrumentalist Douglas Ewart (Encore) caps off the AACM 50th 

Anniversary Celebration at Roulette as part of the Interpretations series. 

Our present to Santa Claus this year is a new nickname: Jazzy Old St. Nick. 

On The Cover: Dick Hyman (photo by Shulamit Seidler-Feller for Jazz at Lincoln Center) 

All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. 

All material copyrights property of the authors. 

2 DECEMBER 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

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Tammy McCann [vocals] Mike King [piano] 

Kenny Davis [bass] Clif Wallace [drums] 

GEORGE CABLES QUARTET 

Craig Handy [tenor saxophone] George Cables [piano] 

Essiet Essiet [bass] Victor Lewis [drums] 

FREDDIE BRYANT / PETER BERNSTEIN QUARTET 

Freddie Bryant [guitar] Peter Bernstein [guitar] 

Peter Washington [bass] Victor Lewis [drums] 

ERIC REED & THE SOURCE 

Tim Green [alto saxophone] Eric Reed [piano] 

Reuben Rogers [bass] McClenty Hunter [drums] 

AMINA FIGAROVA GROUP 

Amina Figarova [piano] Bart Platteau [flutes] 

Alex Norris [trumpet] Wayne Escoffery [tenor saxophone] 

Pablo Menares [bass] Darrell Green [drums] 

BIG BAND MONDAYS: ORRIN EVANS & THE CAPTAIN BLACK BIG BAND 

B-3 TUESDAYS: MIKE LEDONNE’S GROOVER QUARTET 

SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH WITH ANNETTE ST. JOHN 

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GARY BARTZ QUARTET 

Gary Bartz [alto & soprano saxophones] 

Barney McAll [piano] James King [bass] Greg Bandy [drums] 

ERIC ALEXANDER / HAROLD MABERN QUARTET 

FEATURING JIMMY COBB 

Eric Alexander [tenor saxophone] Harold Mabern [piano] 

Doug Weiss [b, Tu & W] Ray Drummond [b, Th & F] Jimmy Cobb [drums] 

ERIC ALEXANDER / HAROLD MABERN QUINTET 

FEAT. STEVE TURRE (12/26 & 27) 

& VINCENT HERRING (12/28 & 29) 

Steve Turre [trombone & shells] Vincent Herring [alto saxophone] 


John Webber [bass] Joe Farnsworth [drums] 

ERIC ALEXANDER / HAROLD MABERN SEXTET 

FEAT. EDDIE HENDERSON & VINCENT HERRING 

Eddie Henderson [trumpet] Vincent Herring [alto saxophone] 


John Webber [bass] Joe Farnsworth [drums] 

WAYNE ESCOFFERY QUARTET 

Wayne Escoffery [tenor saxophone] Dave Kikoski [piano] 

Ugonna Okegwo [bass] Ralph Peterson [drums]

N EW YO R K @ N I G H T 

English percussionist Paul Lytton and New York-based 

trumpeter Nate Wooley have crafted a significant 

artistic language and performing relationship over the 

better part of a decade, working often as a duo and 

adding a broad range of partners to the equation. On the 

final night of a brief U.S. tour (Nov. 1st), the Lytton- 

Wooley Duo met up with alto saxophonist Chris 

Pitsiokos for a set of music at Brooklyn’s JACK. Lytton 

approaches the kit like a painter or a scientist, with an 

array of “selected and unselected” (to use sparring 

partner Paul Lovens’ term) cymbals, sticks, brushes, 

scraps and blocks. He can shove a band forward with 

the dynamic, rolling ass-kick of Art Blakey or compel 

with methodical movements, which are themselves 

breathtaking. Wooley is, in this setting, something of a 

straight man, eking out delicately withering yet crisp 

lines and eschewing amplification; both players were 

jolted quite heavily by the excoriating sputter and 

nagging shouts of Pitsiokos’ alto, which, although at the 

outset a bit over-played, eventually (un)settled into a 

jagged three-way volley that actually could have easily 

gone for much longer. The evening began with visiting 

Danish alto saxophonist Mia Dyberg in a fine duo with 

trumpeter Herb Robertson (or trio, if you count laterunning 

clarinetist Oscar Noriega). Both Dyberg and 

Robertson utilized a range of ancillary sound-making 

devices and techniques, stretching into AACM/CMIF/ 

BAG-inspired passages of deep conversation, playful 

chatter and bluesy storytelling. —Clifford Allen 

“I hope you saw the aromas, smelled the colors!” 

remarked emcee James Brown at the conclusion of a 

thought-provoking second set at The Jazz Gallery 

(Nov. 6th). Entering its third decade as one of the most 

progressive jazz clubs on the New York scene, the 

venue was hosting saxophonist/flutist Henry 

Threadgill, pianist Vijay Iyer and drummer Dafnis 

Prieto, a triumvirate of talents who helped build its 

reputation. Opening with a medley of Iyer’s “Sketch 

20” and “Passage”, the first a moody bossa with sharp 

punctuations at the phrase ends enhanced by 

Threadgill’s peppery alto saxophone, later by his 

effervescent alto flute, there was instantaneous 

simpatico amongst the musicians, a sense of mutual 

trust as they navigated each others’ complex 

compositions. Prieto went to mallets for his “Nothing 

and Everything”, a grooving 6/8 piece only gradually 

arriving at the melody while Threadgill and Iyer 

deconstructed the form and pulse to suit their 

imaginations. Threadgill’s plodding, hymn-like 

“Where Coconuts Fall” was followed by Iyer’s “Cores”, 

both numbers employing unusual rhythmic phrases 

and featuring Threadgill’s sometimes suggestive, other 

times declarative horn statements, all propelled by 

Prieto’s delicate but definitive polyrhythmic prowess. 

Two Threadgill numbers closed the set, the pushing 

and pulling “Last Night” and the ballad “Sail”, whose 

poignant start wound down to a ruminative finish. 

—Tom Greenland 

Peter Gannushkin/DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET 

Paul Lytton @ JACK 

alan nahigian 

Henry Threadgill @ The Jazz Gallery 

SoHo is a place defined by its architecture. Despite the 

preponderance of chain stores, such grotesqueries 

can’t totally eradicate the history of cast-iron façades, 

vaulted ceilings, massive joists and exposed pipes that 

supported everything from garment factories to largescale 

metal sculpture. Plumbing factored heavily into 

Fluxus-rooted composer Yoshi Wada’s Earth Horns 

with Electronic Drone, presented by Issue Project Room 

at the Emily Harvey Foundation (Nov. 5th-6th). 

Bisecting a SoHo loft were two lengthy copper tube 

constructions, played by Dan Peck and Sam Kulik, 

while Wada and Joe Moffett stuck to smaller cast-iron 

pipe horns (all made by Wada). Wada’s son, composer 

Tashi Wada, played a reed organ and sine wave 

generators for a 70-minute version of the original 

three-hour piece, which turned the smallish loft 

(downstairs from a space Wada once shared with 

choreographer Simone Forti) into singing, undulating 

vibrations of metal, wood and air. The closest thing it 

can be likened to is throat-singing Richard Serra 

sculpture and it wasn’t hard to forget that musicians 

and instruments were behind the gradual, modal 

shifts—it became atmospheric and indelibly tied to the 

building itself, almost as though the water pipes, walls 

and floor beams were ‘playing’, occasionally 

interspersed by sirens and rattle from the busy 

Broadway traffic outside. Decades removed from the 

neighborhood’s artistic high water mark, one can still 

feel the buildings’ contribution to old SoHo. (CA) 

Was that a laptop computer on the hallowed Village 

Vanguard stage (Nov. 3rd)? A sign of changing times, 

perhaps, but John Zorn’s Electric Masada didn’t seem 

bothered by the iconoclastic implications: the musicians 

were far too busy having fun, if the ear-to-ear grins 

glued onto the faces of drummers Kenny Wollesen and 

Joey Baron throughout the second set were any 

indication. Bumped up by the ever-changing 

percussive arsenal of Cyro Baptista, washed in the 

electronic soundscapes of Ikue Mori’s computer and 

Jamie Saft’s Rhodes over Trevor Dunn’s thumping 

electric bass, the ensuing tumult was—dare I say it?— 

downright tribal, encouraging laughs and subdued 

mayhem from the normally polite Vanguard audience. 

Zorn was clearly in charge, cueing new sections with 

hand gestures to effect dramatic dynamic contrasts 

(sudden lulls, ecstatic crescendos) on the turn of a fist. 

“Lilin”, a modal romp with Middle Eastern overtones, 

featured guitarist Marc Ribot in a bluesy, post-Santana 

vein. “Kakabel” (after a false start, Zorn quipped 

“New tune!” and kicked it off a second time) was 

gentler, enlivened by Baptista’s various rattles, 

whistles and wind effects. “Hath-Arob”, introduced as 

“an oldie but goodie”, had a Latin rhythm with heavier 

skronking from Zorn on alto saxophone. “Karaim”, 

revealed another side of his musicality with an 

extended solo full of tenderness and soul. “Yatzar”, the 

encore, included more tone painting by Mori and 

Baptista. 

(TG) 


© R.I. Sutherland-Cohen / jazzexpressions.org 

A synonym for the word instrument is tool. And for 

those sitting up close, a solo performance can be an 

opportunity to see how sound is actually produced. 

Most musicians hide behind their instruments but a 

few work with a palpable physicality. And when 

unconcerned with other players, they can exult in an 

empowerment that goes back to the first Neanderthal 

and his rock. Peter Evans’ solo trumpet concerts are 

what propel him into the upper echelon of improvisers; 

when Evan Parker, himself a soloing pioneer, gives his 

imprimatur by releasing two of your solo albums on his 

own label, you are doing something right. In the 

expansive acoustical environment of Roulette 

(Nov. 4th), Evans played for 57 minutes without 

interruption—and for someone with his circular 

breathing ability that is not hyperbole. Improvisation is 

often derided as ‘winging it’ but there was not a sound 

that Evans produced, whether a series of electrical 

blips, crisp notes opening like budding flowers or an 

approximation of a steel drummer in the subway, which 

was not deliberate and strenuously created. Everything 

was about distance: how far fingers were above the 

keys or lips from the mouthpiece; how near or far (or 

inside) the bell of the trumpet was to the microphone; 

even the use of the third valve slide. It was a personal 

narrative in a language of slurs, groans, squeals, 

squeaks, flutters, burps and gasps. To be reminded of 

the person making the sounds, one needed only to look 

at the lake of spittle at Evans’ feet. —Andrey Henkin 

Peter Evans @ Roulette 

When Nonoko Yoshida began her solo alto saxophone 

set at The Stone (Nov. 11th, her 28th birthday) with 

“Almost Sounds Like Grindcore”, it may have been a 

good idea to move to the back of the small room to save 

one’s ears. Built from a quiet thrum and then stentorian 

honks layered via a Ditto Looper pedal, a pipe-organ 

effect was created, a placid bed over which she added 

shrieks and bellows in a five-minute baptism. She said 

it was her sound check but it was also a red herring. 

Much of the 56-minute-long set, celebrating her new 

solo release Lotus, was built from the same methodology 

yet occupied a place of remarkable beauty. The 

10-minute “Desert Island”, named for an inland 

Japanese sea, had a gentle theme as its foundation; 

Yoshida then added counterpoint, alien trills and a 

pretty melody doubled in fifths, all in a lovely tone. 

It could have been early church polyphony, not 

processed solo saxophone. The five minutes of “Urukas” 

juxtaposed handclapping with short, percussive 

notes, a melody coming together like jigsaw puzzle 

pieces. “M’s Flat”, a dedication to a dear friend in the 

audience, was another gentle ballad with an Enya-like 

quality. “Taka 14” was fast-paced and athletic, inspired 

by Yoshida’s soccer-coaching sister and brother-in-law, 

and featured extended techniques such as her 

mouthpiece submerged in water. After the atmospheric 

“Excerpt From 15 Lunatics”, which had a frenzied 

undercurrent, Yoshida closed with the acoustic “East 

River”, a nod to her old practicing spot. (AH) 

© 2015 Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos 

It has been four decades since Irakere burst out of the 

relative obscurity of Cuba on to the international music 

scene, forever revolutionizing the sound of Latin jazz 

with a unique fusion of contemporary and folkloric 

musical elements juxtaposing modern electronics and 

traditional percussion instruments in a mélange of 

AfroCuban rhythms and jazz harmonies. Since then 

founding member Chucho Valdés has emerged as one 

of the world’s most vital musicians. Commemorating 

the 40th anniversary of the band that introduced U.S. 

audiences to Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo Sandoval, 

Valdés revitalized the brand, bringing a new group of 

fiery young Cuban players to Town Hall (Nov. 10th). 

The tentet, with five rhythm players powering the 

incendiary three trumpet-two saxophone horn section, 

featured members of the pianist’s Afro Cuban Jazz 

Messengers, including vocalist/batá drummer Dreiser 

Durruthy Bombalé. He began the proceedings with a 

ritualistic chant, which segued into the customary 

Irakere concert opener “Juana 1600”, showcasing the 

serpentine unison horn lines that were the group’s 

hallmark. The program mixed Irakere classics “Misa 

Negra” and “Estela va a Estallar” with newer Valdes’ 

Afro Cuban Messenger songbook pieces “Abdel”, 

“Caridad Amaro” and “Las Dos Caras”. Guest vocalist 

Roberta Gambarini joined in on the classic bolero “Que 

Te Pedi” midway through and the show concluded 

with an exciting encore of the usual Irakere closer 

“Bacalao Con Pan”. 

—Russ Musto 

Chucho Valdés @ Town Hall 

Since the late ‘70s, when it first embarked on its 

mission to preserve and advance jazz expression of the 

highest order, the Wilbur Ware Institute, named for 

one of the music’s great bassists, has worked to bring 

the music to wider audiences with concerts, workshops 

and seminars. Dozens of mainstream jazz artists came 

together to show their support for the venerable 

organization during a three-day fundraiser held at 

Harlem’s Cassandra’s Jazz & Gallery. The middle night 

(Nov. 14th) got off to a rousing start with the established 

quartet of tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, pianist 

Harold Mabern, bassist John Webber and drummer Joe 

Farnsworth taking to the raised bandstand looking out 

onto Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. The group 

wasted no time firing things up with Alexander and 

Mabern harmonizing over the rhythmic lines of the 

pianist’s soulful “Mr. Stitt”, the former vacillating 

between screaming upper register cries and bellowing 

bottom notes over the latter’s harmonically rich, 

flowing percussive chords. An uptempo Latin-tinged 

arrangement of “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” 

featuring Farnsworth was up next, followed by 

Mabern’s original arrangements of Coltrane’s “Dear 

Lord” and “Almost Like Being In Love”. Alexander 

softened his sound on the ballad reading of “Sleep 

Warm” before cranking things up again on Mabern’s 

“Rakin’ and “Scrapin’” in anticipation of the addition 

of fellow saxophonist George Coleman to the band for 

their next set. 

(RM) 

WHAT’S NEWS 

The 2016 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz 

Masters have been announced: vibraphonist Gary 

Burton and saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Archie 

Shepp. Wendy Oxenhorn, head of the Jazz Foundation 

of America, will receive the 2016 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz 

Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy. For more information, 

visit arts.gov. 

The winner of the Thelonious Monk Institute 

International Jazz Vocals Competition has been 

announced: Jazzmeia Horn was named First Place 

Winner and Second and Third Place went to Veronica 

Swift and Vuyolwethu Sotashe, respectively. For more 

information, visit monkinstitute.org. And the winner of the 

4th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Vocal 

Competition was also announced: Arianna Neikrug was 

named First Place Winner and Second and Third Place 

went to Angela Hagenbach and Nicole Zuraitis, 

respectively. For more information, visit njpac.org. 

Blue Note Records has announced the release of Detroit 

Jazz City, a compilation album of tracks by Motor City 

artists on the label’s roster (both past and present), the 

proceeds of which will be donated to Focus: HOPE, a 

non-profit organization dedicated to “intelligent and 

practical solutions to the problems of hunger, economic 

disparity, inadequate education, and racial divisiveness in 

Southeastern Michigan.” The album will include new and 

archival songs by Marion Hayden, Kenny Cox, James 

Carter, Joe Henderson, Marcus Belgrave, Elvin Jones, 

Spencer Barefield, Donald Byrd and Sheila Jordan. 

For more information, visit bluenote.com. 

Bending Towards the Light ... a Jazz Nativity, a 

co-production of Chelsea Opera and Kindred Spirits, will 

take place Dec. 20th at Christ and St. Stephen’s Church 

at 5 and 8 pm and will be hosted by Sheila Anderson of 

WBGO and Terrance McKnight of WQXR. For more 

information, visit chelseaopera.org. 

Sound of Redemption, The Frank Morgan Story, a 

documentary on the late alto saxophonist will have its 

local premiere at IFC Center Dec. 2nd-9th. For more 

information, visit ifccenter.com. 

Alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa has been 

named one of 37 United States Artists Fellows for 2015, 

with a prize of $50,000 for professional development. 

For more information, visit unitedstatesartists.org. 

Brice Rosenbloom, founder of the BOOM Collective 

and organizer of Winter Jazzfest, Undead Music Festival, 

BRIC Jazz Festival and Music Director of Le Poisson 

Rouge, will receive the second annual Bruce Lundvall 

Visionary Award at the Jazz Connect Conference in 

January. For more information, visit jazz-connect.org. 

Bringing jazz into the 21st Century are two initiatives by 

two city institutions: the Apollo Theater, in a partnership 

with Hologram USA, will bring back the spirit of Billie 

Holiday (who was a regular performer at the hall 

throughout her career) in holographic form as part of a 

permanent educational exhibition. For more information, 

visit apollotheater.org. And the Blue Note Club has 

outfitted itself for 360-degree virtual reality video filming, 

to be available for viewing via the Google Cardboard 

headset and available on the Rivet YouTube channel, 

with plans to expand the technology to its sister clubs 

B.B. King Blues Club & Grill and Highline Ballroom. For 

more information, visit bluenoteentertainmentgroup.com. 

December 2015 marks the final month of jazz 

programming at the West Village venue The Garage, 

which began presenting jazz in 1996. 

Submit news to info@nycjazzrecord.com 

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | DECEMBER 2015 5

I N TE RV I EW 

tracy love 

Three-time Grammy Award-winning musician Terri Lyne 

Carrington’s prodigious jazz drumming career began at a 

young age. Sitting in with Oscar Peterson at the Globe Jazz 

Festival, she was heard by the founders of Berklee, who 

offered her a scholarship at age 11. By 14 she was working 

professionally and played with many of the greats who 

traveled to Boston. At 16, she made an independent record, 

TLC And Friends, with George Coleman, Kenny Barron 

and Buster Williams, and at 18 she moved to New York. At 

23, she toured with Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz and David 

Sanborn and made the Grammy-nominated record Real Life 

Story before moving to Los Angeles, where she joined the 

band on The Arsenio Hall Show. She continues to manage 

a successful career as a performing artist and educator, both 

independently and as the Zildjian Chair in Jazz Performance 

at the Global Jazz Institute at Berklee College of Music. 

The New York City Jazz Record: The ACS Trio with 

[pianist] Geri Allen and [bassist] Esperanza Spalding is 

at the Village Vanguard in December. Are they also with 

you during your busy month of travel in November? 

Terri Lyne Carrington: No, we haven’t played in 

probably two years, but we have one show in November 

at SFJAZZ. I’m going to Istanbul and London with the 

Mosaic Project and I have a Money Jungle gig in Blue 

Bell, PA. I also have a concert at the Monk Institute out 

in California in November. 

TNYCJR: It’s great that you can keep all of these 

different projects flowing. 

TLC: I kind of learned that from [trumpeter] Lester 

Bowie. He was involved with four groups and I always 

thought that was remarkable. He was in the Art 

Ensemble of Chicago, the group called The Leaders and 

he had Brass Fantasy and another band, Roots to the 

Source. He had those four groups working all the time, 

so I decided to take a page out of his book by being 

involved. I’ve led bands of mine, like the Mosaic Project 

and Money Jungle, based on the recordings I did, and 

then some co-led bands, the trio with Geri and 

Esperanza and another trio with Geri and David 

Murray—we have a new CD coming out next year that 

was just recorded called MCA Power Trio. I’m also doing 

some work next year with Wayne Shorter’s quartet. 

TNYCJR: Have you ever called anyone out for not 

apparently tuning in or calling on the spirit? 

TLC: Sometimes I will give opportunities to young 

people; I’ll hire recent graduates from Berklee, so 

sometimes I have to whip them a little bit more into 

shape, only because they don’t have experience. 

Everything is different now with young people. There 

are some people that are really hungry and that are 

coming at it from the traditional values, but then 

there’s a lot that, I’m not trying to put down a 

generation, but, you know, they don’t do the work, 

TERRI LYNE 

CARRINGTON 

by anders griffen 

maybe not quite as prepared, or… you have to really 

force them to take every opportunity as seriously as 

possible. I don’t mind being a little bit hard on them 

because I think it will help them in the future. 

TNYCJR: You said “traditional values”. Can you 

articulate that a little more? 

TLC: Basically I mean having a little more reverence 

for your elders. When I think how the elders are held 

in high esteem in other cultures, other countries, in the 

jazz tradition that has been the case. You would follow 

somebody around, you would check out what kind of 

cereal they like to eat in the morning and all of it would 

feed your understanding of them, which in turn would 

feed your understanding of the music. I don’t see quite 

as much of that going on anymore. Also, the level of 

focusing, being able to focus on whatever your hobby 

or work, just having that ability to focus on that and 

stick to it. I think it’s because of the internet, video 

games, videos in general and TV. Everything is going 

by so fast. I think there’s something to be said about 

some old-school values in the way of looking at things, 

especially with art, because I think you need a little bit 

of time to digest, you know? 

TNYCJR: How do you prepare this new breed of 

college-educated jazz student for a career, because 

many are probably teaching as opposed to performing? 

TLC: One thing I will say, I’ve definitely noticed a 

higher level of playing in high school—I’ve got a high 

school program at Berklee College of Music. I think 

these band directors at the high school level have done 

remarkable work and that makes it so the college levels 

might be a little stronger too—I haven’t been to enough 

other colleges to judge that, but I imagine. I’m always 

amazed at the thousand people or so graduating each 

year from Berklee and I always wonder: they keep 

tossing out that many music majors from one place, 

I wonder what they’re going to do? But there are so 

many different areas of expertise in the music business 

that we need to prepare people for. The great thing 

about Berklee is that they have to play an instrument 

to get into the school. So, if [they become] a journalist, 

a music business major or anybody at a record company 

or streaming company or wherever, if they are a 

Berklee graduate, they’ve actually studied an 

instrument, so your conversation with them is slightly 

more leveled then with somebody that’s never played 

an instrument at all. So, I think that part is good. Some 

people graduate and think that they are going to go be 

a player and they majored in performance, but it’s 

difficult. Not everybody’s going to reach it in the way 

they think they will. But the beauty of all those different 

classes that they’ve taken at Berklee, I think they’re 

able to much more quickly parlay that into some kind 

of other career in music or something related to music 

and I think that’s a great thing; the more musicconscious, 

jazz-conscious, creative music-conscious 

people in the world the better. 

TNYCJR: One of the big changes is that the number of 

college level jazz programs has grown exponentially. 

I’ve heard some elders express that there are not 

enough qualified teachers to impart the history and 

significance of community in the music. 

TLC: There has to be a balance between the history and 

looking toward the future. I think right now it’s an 

extremely exciting time in jazz. I didn’t feel this way in 

the ‘80s or the ‘90s. I don’t know why, maybe I wasn’t 

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 46) 

Maurício de Souza 

Bossa Brasil 

The Garage, Dec. 19th 

12-4 pm New York 

$7 minimum. 99 7th Ave. South 

212-645-0600 garagejazz.com 

Maurício de Souza (drums), 

Bob Rodriguez (piano), 

Anthony Perez (bass) 

mauriciodesouzajazz.com 

For an up-to-date calendar, please visit 


A RT I S T F E AT U RE 

photo courtesy of helen sung 

“Jazz is one of the generous art forms,” Helen Sung 

remarked. “It’s based on interaction, expressiveness. I 

came to the music late in life and had to understand 

the soul of jazz before I could revel in the tradition.” 

After years of classical training and while preparing 

for a career as a concert pianist, Sung stumbled upon 

jazz in an odd turn of events and then nothing was the 

same. 

The daughter of Chinese immigrants she describes 

as having been “very integrated” into Western culture, 

Sung’s relationship with European classical music 

began in the earliest stages of childhood. “My parents 

played it in the house all of the time and I had this little 

red plastic piano I used to carry around everywhere. 

I was very attached to it and used to try to pick out 

little bits of melodies. As soon as my mother noticed 

this, she decided I needed to pursue the instrument. 

We acquired an upright and I began lessons at age 

five.” Sung’s studies were, from the start, rather strict 

and she developed an understanding of music notation 

and harmony along with technique early on. 

Simultaneously, she became part of a Suzuki-inspired 

violin ensemble. While the piano lessons offered her 

formal musical foundation, the ensemble afforded her 

the first opportunity to appear onstage. “I remember 

feeling a sense of familiarity and comfort being on 

stage and I guess it just stayed with me.” 

Stay with her it did. Studies brought Sung to the 

University of Texas. The school has a history of sporting 

serious jazz careers, but the budding pianist neglected 

to cross the hall to investigate the genre, so focused 

was she on classical repertoire, until a friend brought 

her to a Harry Connick, Jr. concert. “The music seemed 

so free, so driving, I had to learn more about this!” 

The revelation led her to an almost obsessive regimen 

of listening to jazz pianists across the spectrum and 

history of the music. Quickly, she was drawn to the 

playing of two giants of divergent eras: McCoy Tyner 

(“he’s a force of nature”) and James P. Johnson, a 

standout among the stride pianists whose playing she 

absorbed. The influences of both Johnson and 

especially Tyner would remain a core aspect of her 

musicianship. 

“I took a beginning jazz course and then had to 

beg the jazz piano teacher to take me on as a student. It 

took quite some time as I was still a classical piano 

major, but he finally agreed to give me lessons.” 

The jazz studies continued on through college, more of 

a secret desire, even as she completed her Masters of 

Music in Classical Piano. 

Explorations of the art form finally led Sung to 

audition for the Thelonious Monk Institute’s inaugural 

class in 1995. She became a part of a small cadre of 

students that kicked off the program, which was based 

on a master/apprentice relationship within the New 

England Conservatory. Bassist Ron Carter directed the 

Institute and a series of top-line jazz masters came 

through including trumpeter Clark Terry and 

saxophonists Jackie McLean and Jimmy Heath. 

HELEN 

SUNG 

by john pietaro 

“The Institute was an invaluable godsend,” Sung 

stated, recalling the immersion. She focused on 

learning the techniques and feel of bebop, which she 

delved into with a vengeance. In addition to learning 

modern jazz, she also began composing it. “Ron Carter 

told us that if we wanted to find our own voice, we 

needed to write our own music.” 

A final project of the inaugural class was a tour of 

India and Thailand with Herbie Hancock and Wayne 

Shorter. For Sung, there was no turning back. She 

relocated to New York City in 1999 and established her 

own ensemble, recording her first album as a leader 

within three years. As of this writing, she is working 

on her sixth, in between a barrage of tours not only as 

a leader but also in bands led by others including 

Regina Carter, TS Monk, Steve Turre, Lonnie Plaxico 

and Terri Lyne Carrington. In 2011 she also became the 

pianist of the Mingus Big Band. 

“I’d pretty much had shelved my classical playing, 

attempting to remake myself, but I’m incorporating it 

into my music in recent years. Yes, I’d had ambitions of 

melding classical and jazz but then I realized that 

Charles Mingus had done it already—and beautifully. 

He was so relevant as a composer and had such a wide 

scope, from the blues to Stravinsky influences and 

social issues. It’s amazing to help carry on his legacy.” 

Sung’s 2013 recording on the Concord label, 

Anthem for a New Day, was in itself a statement about 

the growth of her art and the reckoning of the two 

musical worlds through which she has coursed. When 

asked exactly where the nexus lies for her, Sung stated. 

“It’s still being formed.” 

But the breadth of this album, ranging from 

audacious original works, unique takes on jazz 

standards and a free improvisation, reaches in many 

directions at once. Sung’s performance practice quietly 

demands the full attention of the listener with 

impeccable technique careening through emotional, 

swinging harmonies of an advanced nature. Her 

rhythmic drive, particularly in ensemble settings, 

drops intrepid tacits within thickets of comping and 

wistfully compelling leads. As much as Sung gives on 

stage or in studio, she always sounds like she’s keeping 

it all just below the rim, holding back with the learned 

control of the conservatory musician, patiently waiting 

to turn up the heat. 

Another layer to the Sung canon is the new project 

“Sung With Words”, a collaboration with poet/former 

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana 

Gioia, who writes not only with the literary content in 

mind, but the rhythmic aspects of the words. It’s poetry 

that cries midnight blue, refusing to be static, to sit 

quietly on the page. “I’ve always envied how singers 

can have a more direct connection to the audience, so 

after meeting Dana a few years ago, I conceived of this 

pairing. There’s a powerful depth connecting the 

words and the music and pieces were written largely 

through our interaction, growing the poems and the 

music together. v 

For more information, visit helensung.com. Sung is at Jazz 

at Kitano Dec. 4th with Scott Robinson and 19th with Mark 

Sherman, The Jazz Gallery Dec. 17th with her Sung With 

Words project and Jazz Standard Dec. 31st with the Mingus 

Big Band. See Calendar. 

Recommended Listening: 

• Helen Sung—Push (Fresh Sound-New Talent, 2001) 

• Ronnie Cuber—RONNIE (SteepleChase, 2008) 

• Brother Thelonious Quintet—Eponymous 

(Northcoast Brewing Co., 2009) 

• Helen Sung—re(Conception) (SteepleChase, 2009) 

• Helen Sung—Going Express (Sunnyside, 2009) 

NYCJR12thPageAd1115.qxp_Layout 1 11/2/15 11:21 AM Page 1 

• Helen Sung—Anthem for a New Day (Concord, 2013) 

Photo: 

Dennis Connors 

Diane Moser’s Composers Big Band 

with guest composer Phil Engsberg 

Wednesday, December 9th • 8–11 p.m. 

For more info: dianemosermusic.com 

TRUMPETS 

6 Depot Square Montclair, NJ 07042 

For reservations, call 973-744-2600 

JSnycjr1215 J A Z Z C11/13/15 L U B www.trumpetsjazz.com 

1:19 PM Page 1 

“Best Jazz Venue of the Year” NYC JAZZ RECORD ★“Best Jazz Club” NY MAGAZINE+CITYSEARCH 

TUE DEC 1 

MIKE MORENO QUARTET 

AARON PARKS - DOUG WEISS - ERIC HARLAND 

WED DEC 2 

ALAN HAMPTON 

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO - PETE RENDE - BILL CAMPBELL 

THU-SUN DEC 3-6 

SINATRA AT 100, VEGAS TO 

NY: BASIE, DUKE & RIDDLE 

ALL–STAR O’ROURKESTRA DIRECTED BY DAVID O’ROURKE 

TUE-WED DEC 8-9 

LIONEL LOUEKE TRIO 

MASSIMO BIOLCATI - KENDRICK SCOTT 

THU-SUN DEC 10-13 

JOEY DeFRANCESCO TRIO 

FROM 

DAN WILSON - JASON BROWN 

TUE-SUN DEC 15-20 


WITH 

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WED-THU DEC 24-25HCLOSED. MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

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HOUSTON PERSON QUARTET 

JOHN DI MARTINO - MATTHEW PARRISH - CHIP WHITE 


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AMY CERVINI - HILARY GARDNER - MELISSA STYLIANOU 

JEFF LEDERER - MICHAEL CABE - MATT ARONOFF - JARED SCHONIG 

CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR WITH US! 

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JAZZ FOR KIDS WITH THE JAZZ STANDARD YOUTH ORCHESTRA EVERY SUNDAY AT 2PM [EXCEPT DEC 27]-DIRECTED BY DAVID O’ROURKE 


O N TH E COVER 

frank stewart for jazz at lincoln center 

DICK HYMAN 

jazz class 

by ken dryden 

Dick Hyman is one of the most versatile pianists in 

jazz. His career spans nearly 70 years, with an extensive 

discography of numerous solo recordings, several duo 

meetings with cornet player Ruby Braff, piano duets 

with Derek Smith, Ralph Sutton, Dick Wellstood and 

Roger Kellaway and writing for larger ensembles and 

film soundtracks. Hyman’s vast knowledge of 

standards, jazz works and forgotten gems makes him, 

as Gene Lees wrote, “a virtual encyclopedia of the 

history of jazz piano.” 

Hyman credits his older brother with inspiring 

him to become a jazz pianist. “He showed me around 

the keyboard, how to play elementary harmonies. 

I managed to figure out triad harmonies for songs that 

we knew. I give him credit for any piano playing that I 

latched onto. I began taking lessons a bit after that. My 

brother brought home 78 rpm records of classic jazz 

records, which were beginning to be reissued after he 

went off to college. He got me interested in figures of 

the ‘20s: Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll 

Morton, after a bit, solo pianists like Art Tatum. I still 

have his collection of 78s, which he gave to me. I still 

refer to them; 78s are a useful artifact because I know 

where they are and they require one’s entire 

concentration. You put it on the turntable, work the 

needle and then three-and-a-half minutes later at the 

most, you’ve got to do something else. You can’t just 

relegate it to background music. That was the step in 

between becoming a professional player, because I 

wanted to figure out how those people on the records 

did that. It wasn’t because I wanted to analyze them. 

They were a constant force in my hearing in those 

days. I just learned them. I knew every note on those 

old records.” 

Hyman put his recall of favorites to work early in 

his career. “There were many different styles 

represented on those records. More because I was put 

into a very competitive market in New York in the late 

‘40s, ‘50s and thereafter, in which it was advantageous 

to be able to play in as many ways as possible. The 

so-called society bandleaders specialized in club dates, 

parties and dances. I was often the piano player under 

leaders such as Lester Lanin and Emil Coleman. There 

were a whole bunch of competing people and a great 

deal of work that way. This before Top 40 and DJs. The 

requirement was that you had to know the tunes—that 

was being familiar, at the drop of a eyelash, to be able 

to play ‘Night and Day’, ‘’S Wonderful’, all those old 

tunes by Cole Porter, Gershwin, Harold Arlen and so 

forth.” 

The pianist filled whatever role was required in 

New York: television, soundtracks and record dates of 

all kinds. Hyman continued, “I fit into a great many 

local circles of musicians and producers who had 

specialized needs, so I was willing to oblige them in 

any way I could. [Fellow pianist] Hank Jones and I 

were similar in this way and I counted him as a good 

friend in those days. We were doing very much the 

same thing, playing whatever was on paper and, as an 

improvising pianist, to go far beyond that to play 

whatever needed to be played that wasn’t on paper. 

We performed together quite a few times. He is on my 

recording of the music I did for the film Scott Joplin. 

There’s a scene in that film called the ‘Cutting Contest’, 

where I played both pianos as a succession of players 

compete with each other. Eubie Blake is the moderator 

who declares you ‘Out’ and eventually he declares 

Joplin’s buddy, who has connived with him to play the 

‘Maple Leaf Rag’, the winner. Originally I constructed 

music that all of the actors mimed to. When it came 

time to make the recording, it seemed a good idea to 

play the arrangement on two pianos, so Hank and I did 

that. That’s the only duet I can think of that is on 

record, but I did play with him on a number of 

occasions in different concerts. I have tape recordings 

of us but it’s a nuisance to research all that stuff.” Jones 

and Hyman appeared together on the sole recording 

by the Jazz Piano Quartet (Let It Happen, RCA, 1974) 

with Roland Hanna and Marian McPartland. 

The pianist was also good friends with McPartland, 

another player with a vast musical memory. She told 

me in a 1988 interview of her dream to have a contest 

with Hyman where someone would call tunes until 

one of them was stumped, though she quipped, “He’d 

probably win.” When I shared that story, Hyman 

graciously said, “She knew things that I didn’t know.” 

He appeared on her long-running Piano Jazz NPR series 

several times and frequently performed with her and 

classical pianist Ruth LaRedo in concert, billed as 

Keyboard Crossover. 

One of Hyman’s most productive musical 

partnerships was with Braff, with whom he worked 

many times from the late ‘60s until the cornet player’s 

death in 2003. Hyman recalled, “Ruby and I were 

assigned by George Wein to prepare a Louis Armstrong 

concert. I suppose it was George’s suggestion for Ruby 

to be a part of it. I arranged a lot of Louis’ great 

recordings for three trumpets or five trumpets for big 

band. The concert was successful enough that we did it 

a number of times and took a State Departmentsponsored 

tour of Europe and the Soviet Union. Ruby 

didn’t go on that one but took part at Carnegie Hall 

and some of the others. After that I did a lot of things 

with him.” Highlights of their work include organ/ 

cornet duets of Fats Waller material (Heavenly Jive, 

Chiaroscuro, 1976), an LP of James P. Johnson’s music 

(Charleston, Columbia Masterworks, 1975) and the 

brilliant arrangements of tunes from South Pacific 

(Younger Than Springtime, Concord 1990). 

Even though Hyman celebrated his 88th birthday 

this past spring, he’s still adding new songs to his 

repertoire. “I learn from records but sometimes sheet 

music is a shorter way. In some ways it’s not as good, 

because you’re depending on having the sheet music 

in front of you for those tunes for at least awhile. 

Whereas, if you learn it from a recording, you may 

know it forever.” Hyman’s seemingly encyclopedic 

recall of thousands of songs is buoyed by his 

preparation for concerts. “I have to review things and 

I’ll construct a list, among the many lists I have in my 

files. I may not remember a song accurately and want 

to be sure that I do. Then some of the technical things 

like Fats Waller or ragtime, just because I did them 20 

years ago doesn’t mean I can do them now if I haven’t 

played them much in between.” One of the joys of 

hearing Hyman in a solo piano concert is that he takes 

time to talk to the audience, frequently giving 

background about a song or an anecdote about playing 

it. He’ll often ask for requests toward the end of a set. 

Not all of Hyman’s focus has been on jazz. In 2012, 

he recorded a CD with his violinist daughter Judy, who 

composed a series of diverse waltzes. He remains 

interested in composing classical music. “I wrote a 

second piano concerto, which we premiered down here 

[Florida] and I’ve written various chamber music 

(some of it included on the CD Jazz Sonatas, Angel 

1993). I’m writing a clarinet concerto for [clarinetist 

and tenor saxophonist] Ken Peplowski, which we’ll 

play at a festival in Lincoln City, Oregon early in July. 

That’s what’s literally on my piano right now. These 

are things that take a long while to do and they keep 

me busy.” 

Since moving to Florida, Hyman isn’t spending 

much time in New York City. “I’ve been playing more 

concerts in Florida since I’ve been living here and far 

more concerts than I used to, up to a point. I tapered 

that off last year. I’m running around the country more 

than when I was tethered to New York. We like it down 

here and there’s a lot of local activity here, in Naples, 

St. Petersburg and Tampa and on Florida’s east coast. 

Even in Venice, now that we have a new performing 

hall. I’ll be playing the Clearwater Jazz Party in March. 

I’ve done a lot more solo concerts, a number of twopiano 

dates with Derek Smith and occasionally with 

other pianists farther back. Recently I’ve teamed with 

Ken Peplowski. Ken and I have found that we’re able 

to play entirely free and we don’t need to rehearse 

things much. We just plan tunes and follow each other, 

I don’t know quite how it works, but we’re on the same 

wavelength.” 

Hyman has several projects planned for the 

immediate future. He explained, “I hope to record the 

clarinet concerto. I have another solo piano album 

ready that I did for the House of Pianos people [Arbors 

Records]. I’m going to Madison, Wisconsin this May 

for a third time. The things that keep me busy are these 

long orchestral pieces.” v 

For more information, visit dickhyman.com. Hyman plays 

solo at Dizzy’s Club Dec. 21st-22nd. See Calendar. 


• Dick Hyman—Genius at Play 

(Monmouth-Audiophile, 1973) 

• Dick Hyman—The Music of Jelly Roll Morton 

(Smithsonian, 1978) 

• Dick Hyman—Kitten on the Keys: The Piano Music of 

Zev Confrey (RCA, 1983) 

• Ruby Braff/Dick Hyman—Younger Than Springtime 

(Concord, 1990) 

• Dick Hyman/Tom Fletcher—If Bix Played Gershwin 

(Arbors, 2003) 

• Dick Hyman—House of Pianos (Arbors, 2014) 


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E N CO RE 

DOUGLAS EWART 

by kurt gottschalk 

Douglas Ewart was likely not the name most known 

to the thousands of people at the Chicago Jazz Festival 

over Labor Day, but he made one of the strongest 

showings of the weekend. Besides delivering a set at 

once ebullient and thought-provoking, he wore a vivid 

red marching band coat with the letters “A-A-C-M” 

and the numerals “5” and “0” sewn onto the back, in 

what looked to be hand-cut felt. 

Even among followers of the Association for the 

Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Ewart’s 

may not be the most recognized name among members 

of the seminal collective, which marked its 50th 

anniversary with concerts in its two bases of operations: 

Chicago, at the city’s annual jazz festival, and New 

York, as a part of its seasonal concert series. But if he 

hasn’t racked up an international reputation like Muhal 

Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell 

and some of the organization’s other acclaimed artists, 

the saxophonist and instrument-builder still has long 

been one of the most vocal champions of the cause. And 

despite having built a career that often takes him far 

from the concert stage, he continues to work with the 

musicians he met when he first encountered the AACM 

not long after its inception. “It’s one of the most 

amazing things about staying in the flow of things, as 

Roscoe says, when you build these relationships with 

kindred spirits and something comes of it,” he said. 

Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Ewart grew 

up interested in music even if he wasn’t yet altogether 

pursuing it. “I made instruments out of tin cans,” he 

remembered. But, he added, he had nothing “in terms 

of having formal training or even having a drum kit, 

which is what I wanted to play.” 

His mother left for New York in hope of forging a 

better life when he was a child. Visa problems soon had 

her fleeing to Chicago, where she was able to find work 

and, eventually, legal residency. She sent for her son to 

join in 1963, when he was 17. At that time he was 

LEST WE FORGET 

GUNTHER SCHULLER 

by ken waxman 

During his long professional career Gunther Schuller, 

who died this past June and was born Nov. 22nd, 1925, 

was a French horn player, composer, conductor, author, 

university professor, record company and orchestra 

founder, festival administrator and conservatory 

president. But for certain segments of the music world 

he’s best-known for a term coined during a 1957 lecture 

at Brandeis University: “Third Stream”. While his idea 

of uniting the streams of jazz and classical music into a 

tributary melding influences from both was initially 

greeted with derision, nearly a half-century later 

crossover between the two is increasingly common. 

Schuller himself was an early example. Although 

he was playing French horn in his teens with the 

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan 

Opera Orchestra (until 1959), he described himself as 

“a high school dropout without a single earned 

degree”. An interest in jazz, sparked by exposure to 

Duke Ellington’s orchestra, led eventually to 

participation in Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool nonet 

sessions of 1949-50. Although thoroughly embedded in 

the notated side of the divide—“Of Reminiscences and 

Reflections”, one of his many compositions, won the 

considering a career as a tailor but he still had an 

interest in music and when a classmate took him to an 

early AACM concert he saw what would become his 

life’s pursuit. He befriended AACM members Fred 

Anderson and Joseph Jarman and at 21 had his first 

formal music lesson, studying saxophone at the AACM 

school on Chicago’s south side. Following the multiinstrumentalist 

mold of the organization, he soon 

added the flute and clarinet and, not long after that, 

returned to his old practice of making instruments out 

of salvaged materials. Inspiration wasn’t hard to find 

for the young musician. “There was a lot going on,” he 

said. “Coming from an island of relative quiet, the 

music was in foment. It was a powerful time, Coltrane, 

Eric Dolphy was still around. 63rd Street at that time 

was a bustling street with lots of theaters and 

nightclubs. Howlin’ Wolf was at a place called The 

Palace every week.” 

At the same time, the unrest of the era was leaving 

its mark on Ewart, who lived on the same block as 

Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Political 

concerns continue to be a big part of Ewart’s music 

today. At the Chicago Jazz Festival, Ewart’s four 

singers called out the increasing number of reports of 

police using violence against civilians, intoning “Shoot 

him in the back, he’s black” alongside Sun Ra chants. 

And this month when he plays at Roulette, Ewart said 

he’ll present a piece addressing another problem 

besieging America. “I want to address some aspects of 

homelessness because it has become so ubiquitous 

throughout the country,” he said. “When I think of all 

the wealth and all the empty buildings in this country, 

it’s become so desperate. 

“One of the things that I’ve realized is that people 

who you think are really compassionate have difficulty 

giving money to people on the street,” he added. 

“I don’t know what they’re going to do with it and I 

can’t monitor that but I can, out of compassion, give 

somebody a few dollars. I think if we could see 

ourselves in those circumstances, we’d live in a 

different world.” 

Ewart left Chicago for Minneapolis in the ‘90s, 

moving with his wife who had been offered a job up 

north, but his connections to the city, and to the his old 

Pulitzer Prize for music in 1994—his association in the 

‘50s-60s with pianist John Lewis, music director of The 

Modern Jazz Quartet, helped put Third Stream ideas 

into practice. When MJQ recorded with expanded 

ensembles, Schuller usually conducted and, during a 

memorable New York concert in 1960, Bill Evans, Eric 

Dolphy, Jim Hall, Ornette Coleman and others 

improvised on Schuller’s Third Stream compositions 

such as “Variants on a Theme of Thelonious Monk”. 

Along with Lewis and Harold Faberman, Schuller also 

put these ideas into practice on a larger scale with 

Orchestra U.S.A. from 1962-65. 

Coleman had been introduced to the East Coast 

after he attended the Lenox School of Jazz in 

Massachusetts, which Lewis and Schuller initiated and 

oversaw from 1957-60. By that point Schuller had 

already taught at the Manhattan School of Music and 

at Yale from 1964-67. Aaron Copland recruited him for 

Tanglewood’s Berkshire Music Center and Schuller 

became its Artistic Director from 1969-84. Schuller’s 

ideas about jazz education came to fruition at the New 

England Conservatory (NEC) when he became its 

president from 1967-77. Not only did the venerable 

institution become the first major classical conservatory 

to grant jazz degrees, but he hired experienced jazz 

theorists like Jaki Byard and George Russell. With Ran 

Blake as its first chair, in 1972 Schuller also established 

NEC’s Third Stream department, now called the 

Contemporary Improvisation program. 

school, have remained strong. He has taught at the Art 

Institute of Chicago and has been a co-chair and 

corresponding secretary of the AACM. His commitment 

to the organization, which teaches self-expression and 

communal support, is unwavering. “It’s an integral 

part of my life,” he said plainly. 

Ewart has released some stellar records, but those 

have been few and far between. Much of his work 

simply doesn’t fit the recorded medium. His efforts 

often revolve around children and artistic expression— 

for example, dribbling a basketball to teach concepts of 

rhythm, counter-rhythm, soloing and composition. He 

holds an enduring fascination for the creative potential 

that can be found in spinning tops or medical crutches 

and for building environments where people can 

discover their own creative potential. His “Crepuscule”, 

for example, can involve as many as 400 people in a 

large, outdoor area—not just musicians but also 

dancers, painters, martial artists and doll-makers. As 

much a fair as it is a concert, it is orchestrated not for a 

listening audience so much as passers-by who decide 

to participate. Such projects may not have earned him 

a place on the shelves of record collectors, but they 

have been the building blocks of an unusual career. 

“Playing will always be close to my heart,” he said, 

“but I’m looking for other ways to engage myself and 

engage the communities I visit.” v 

For more information, visit douglasewart.com Ewart is at 

Roulette Dec. 10th as part of Interpretations. See Calendar. 


• George Lewis/Douglas Ewart—Jila-Save! Mon.: 

The Imaginary Suite (Black Saint, 1978) 

• Muhal Richard Abrams—Lifea Blinec 

(Arista Novus, 1978) 

• George Lewis—Homage to Charles Parker 

(Black Saint, 1979) 

• Douglas R. Ewart & Inventions—Newbeings 

(Aarawak, 2001) 

• Yusef Lateef/Roscoe Mitchell/Adam Rudolph/ 

Douglas R. Ewart—Voice Prints (Meta, 2008) 

• Douglas R. Ewart & Inventions—Velvet Fire 

(Dedicated to Baba Fred Anderson) (Aarawak, 2009) 

Along with his other activities Schuller founded 

the New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble 

whose LP Joplin: The Red Back Book won a Grammy 

award for Best Chamber Music Performance in 1974. In 

1989 he conducted an all-star orchestral version of 

Mingus’ Epitaph, later released on record; and in 1990, 

after he and fellow jazz educator David Baker 

organized the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks 

Orchestra, he programmed, conducted and recorded 

many infrequently performed jazz classics. In 1980 he 

founded the GM record label, which over the years has 

released discs featuring among others, his sons Ed, a 

bassist, and George a drummer. If that wasn’t enough 

Schuller wrote prose as well as music. Horn Technique 

is a standard reference for musicians while Early Jazz: 

Its Roots and Musical Development and The Swing Era: 

The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 are considered 

essential works. v 

A Schuller tribute is at ShapeShifter Lab Dec. 12th. See Calendar. 


• John Lewis—Jazz Abstractions (Atlantic, 1960) 

• Eric Dolphy—Vintage Dolphy (GM, 1962-63) 

• Orchestra U.S.A.—Debut (Coolpix, 1963) 

• Charles Mingus—Epitaph (Columbia, 1989) 

• Joe Lovano—Rush Hour (Blue Note, 1994) 

• Gunther Schuller—Journey Into Jazz (Boston Modern 

Orchestra Project Sound, 1999/2002/2004) 


L A B E L S P OT L I G H T 

WHIRLWIND 

by mark keresman 

Poets, songwriters and barstool philosophers have 

been saying since time immemorial: “Follow your 

heart.” Romantics and cynics (well, this cynic, at any 

rate) often relish the success stories arising from this 

advice/concept and, Dear Reader, here comes one such 

tale-in-progress. 

Whirlwind is a U.K.-based label providing a pulpit 

from which a diverse lot of jazz can be heard preaching 

globally. Bassist and label founder Michael Janisch 

explains the mission statement: “Whirlwind to date 

releases an eclectic catalogue of adventurous and 

visceral music that spans genres, is rooted in originality 

and with emphasis on the improvised. The artists on 

the label range from established masters to guiding 

lights of their generation to undiscovered stars in the 

making.” This, as the hipsters of legend have put it, 

ain’t no jive. The established masters include American 

alto saxophone icon Lee Konitz. Among the guiding 

lights are John Escreet, Joel Harrison, Samuel Blaser 

and Pete McCann, not forgetting Janisch himself. And 

leading lights-to-be are Zhenya Strigalev, The Bannau 

Trio, Jochen Rueckert, Rachel Cohen, Ollie Howell and 

Gareth Lockrane. 

Style and genre are less imperative than singularity 

and freshness of approach—“We don’t like to call it any 

one genre as some records get put in jazz, some in 

world and some in experimental,” asserts Janisch—as 

is the label’s dark-hued, generally captivating cover 

art. As to the scope of his label, the late great Jim Hall 

once said that many jazz albums sound rather similar; 

that observation would not fit the output of Whirlwind 

anymore than straight hair on Kenny G. 

Regarding the origins of Whirlwind, that too is a 

quite literal story of the heart. “I met an English woman 

in the U.S. and went over to visit her,” Janisch says. 

“Over time I acquired the necessary work permits to 

stay and we’re now married with two kids living in the 

leafy Southwest suburbs of London.” As many a 

musician before him, he had something to say and 

needed a way to present it to the world. Janisch relates, 

“Officially, in January of 2010 I started Whirlwind to 

release my own debut album, Purpose Built. The reason 

I started the label was to release music on my own 

terms,” in the tradition of musician-run labels such as 

Charles Mingus and Max Roach’s Debut and Mary Lou 

Williams’ Mary. “I shopped it around and didn’t like 

any of the deals on offer…I had a pile of concert dates 

and didn’t want to be purchasing stock [from a label] at 

a silly amount so I just invested myself [in the beginning 

of a label] and I believe it was the best move I could 

have made at the time.” Janisch is entirely too modest. 

Not only is Whirlwind an outlet for his own works, it is 

a platform for creative musicians on both sides of the 

Atlantic. He doesn’t merely put out product, he 

cultivates talent and the results of said talent. He says, 

“Sometimes a finished record finds its way to us or I 

instigate an album project and record and produce it 

from the first note.” 

He has inspired great confidence in the artists 

recording for his label. “I think what Michael has done 

with the label is remarkable,” says saxophonist John 

O’Gallagher. “The commitment of time and energy he 

puts into running the label with all its facets of 

production and promotion combined with his career as 

a top-level bassist is something very few people could 

pull off successfully.” Guitar whiz Joel Harrison 

concurs: “I came to Whirlwind because musician 

friends of mine spoke highly of Michael Janisch. He has 

a strong work ethic, a no-B.S. mentality about the 

business and a vision for what he wants to achieve. He 

has made good inroads over in Europe in a difficult 

time in the industry. I like the fact that he, too, is a 

musician.” Guitarist Pete McCann, who appears as a 

both sideperson and leader on Whirlwind sessions, 

affirms, “My experience on Whirlwind has been great. 

I came to find out about them through John O’Gallagher, 

who plays sax in my band. I played on John’s Anton 

Webern Project [on Whirlwind], so that was my ‘in’ with 

Michael Janisch. Michael works hard for his artists and 

he seems to have an endless amount of energy. I have a 

lot of respect for what he has done…since my music 

does not fit a traditional jazz CD model, I am glad he 

took a chance on me.” 

We know of the chefs, but what of the dishes? The 

seemingly funhouse-mirror inspired cover art of the 

Tori Freestone Trio’s In the Chop House belies its 

rollicking, somewhat straightahead contents. The 

London-based tenor saxophonist’s 2014 debut cursorily 

evokes that gold standard of saxophone trios, the 

Sonny Rollins Trio of the late ‘50s. Very different yet 

equally impressive is Points of View by The Bannau 

Trio, comprised of the compelling voice of Nia Lynn, 

flutist Gareth Lockrane and pianist Ross Stanley. 

Whereas some jazz vocalists concentrate on standards 

and others on (wordlessly) improvising as an 


Robin Goodie 

Zhenya Strigalev 

Spring Rain 

Samuel Blaser 

Spirit House 

Joel Harrison 

Range 

Pete McCann 

Paradigm Shift 

Michael Janisch 

VOX N EWS 

Holiday Tradition 

by katie bull 

It has been an honor to write in support of diverse 

vocal jazz sounds for VOXNews these past three years, 

following in the footsteps of the previous singer/ 

writers. Pulled in new directions, I’m passing back the 

torch; next month the column continues on with the 

returning Suzanne Lorge! It’s fitting that this last 

submission is as my first—a holiday offering. Let’s 

unwrap some festive vocal jazz events and CDs. 

Inside Jazz at Lincoln Center’s signature windows 

overlooking Columbus Circle, don’t miss the sonic 

champagne toast of “Singers Over Manhattan: Divas of 

the Silver Screen” at The Appel Room (Dec. 18th-19th), 

featuring Tony award-winning Broadway actor 

Adriane Lenox leading three up-and-coming jazz 

singers as they invoke the sounds of singer/actor icons 

Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney and Ethel Waters: 

Martina DaSilva (of tradition-rooted The Ladybugs) 

sings with deeply embodied phrasing; bubbling 

American-born, Sorbonne-trained singer/actor/poet 

Tatiana Eva-Marie has a Gypsy-song history that adds 

spice; and Hartford-born Shenel Johns offers gutsy 

dramatic engagement of all things traditional. 

Four holiday must-hear events at Dizzy’s Club are 

the richly nuanced and assured tonality of 2015 

DownBeat Critic’s Poll Rising Jazz Vocalist Allan Harris 

(Dec. 3rd-6th); “Holiday Swing”, with three swinging 

scat master vocalists: Michael Mwenso, Brianna 

Thomas and Charenée Wade (Dec. 11th-13th); 

powerhouse octogenarian Ed Reed, five-time DownBeat 

Critics’ Poll winner for Rising Male Vocalist, joining 

forces with octogenarian pianist George Cables’ trio 

(Dec. 15th-17th); and explosive all-women DIVA Jazz 

Orchestra bringing down the house, celebrating “Ella’s 

Swingin’ Christmas”, featuring saxophonist/singer 

Camille Thurman, trumpeter/singer Christine 

Fawson and Ella-channeling vocalist Sue Giles (Dec. 

18th-20th). 

At The Jazz Gallery, instrumentalists are 

transforming December into voice month. Awardwinning 

pianist Gerald Clayton returns for The Jazz 

Gallery 20th Anniversary Concert Series with two of 

today’s strongest jazz singers, Gretchen Parlato and 

Becca Stevens (Dec. 5th). Drummer E.J. Strickland’s 

Transient Beings, featuring saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, 

puts an Esperanza Spalding-esque Sarah Elizabeth 

Charles front and center with her own sonic bounce 

and verve (Dec. 10th); extraordinary pianist Helen 

Sung’s “Sung With Words” event features Carmen 

Lundy and Carolyn Leonhart, with poet Dana Gioia 

(Dec. 17th); and melodic and flowing Sachal Vasandani 

will be “Celebrating Sinatra” (Dec. 22nd). Vasandani 

will also appear at Rockwood Music Hall with pianist 

Kevin Hays (Dec. 17th) and Parlato and Stevens will 

join Rebecca Martin to complete their fusion-edged 

harmonic trio Tillery (Dec. 6th). 

Speaking of Sinatra, perhaps one of the grandest 

gifts of this month is a film retrospective in honor of 

Sinatra’s Centennial Birthday, “Scenes Through the 

Cinema Lens: The Sinatra Century”, at Tribeca 

Performing Arts Center (Dec. 15th). 

For aesthetic contrast, this month’s holiday 

treasure trove of notably wild and wonderful CDs 

includes Magically Inclined (Skirl), the unique project of 

tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist Sean Sonderegger, 

featuring Areni Agbabian, whose clarion vocals move 

throughout like a lithe bird gliding on the shifting air. 

Sonderegger’s compositions (four of which were 

commissioned by Roy Nathanson) evoke numerous 

forms, including free jazz, post-modern jazz harmonics 

and folk, giving Agbabian an opportunity to display 

her operatic range and Armenian-influenced palette. 

Extremely unpredictable and coherently incoherent 

colors build and flow on the epic Luxatio (Leo), the 

second CD from the dazzling vocal quartet VocColours. 

Recorded live in Cologne with electronics/bass player 

Eberhard Kranemann, singers Brigitte Küpper, Gala 

Hummel, Norbert Zajac and Iouri Grankin go way 

outside the box, remaining connected in a matrix all 

their own. 

Happy VOX Holidays and may vocal jazz 

traditions and new directions be with you, always. v 


I N M E MO R I A M 

Mitja Arzensek 

MARK MURPHY 


Mark Murphy, vocalist, multiple Grammy nominee 

and regular jazz poll winner, who had nearly 50 albums 

as leader, died Oct. 22nd at 83 of complications from 

pneumonia. 

Murphy was born Mar. 14th, 1932 in Fulton, NY, 

15 miles south of Syracuse. In a 2007 interview with 

our own Suzanne Lorge, Murphy credited two early 

experiences for his interest in music: Fulton was a mill 

town and, “at 7 am and 5 pm there’d be a call to let out 

the factories. There’s a rhythm to that, if you can dig 

it”; and his Aunt Mary, a pianist, played in a swing 

band, “...where I learned most of the early gems of 

music that you have to get in order to tell yourself 

where you are going.” 

When he was a student at Syracuse University in 

the early ‘50s, Erroll Garner, Stan Kenton, June Christy 

and, most importantly for Murphy, Peggy Lee were on 

the radio and Murphy sat in with local bop musicians 

at local clubs: “There were one or two little fascinating 

joints that fostered and featured jazz—you had to look 

for it,” he recalled to Lorge. It was in one of these spots 

that Murphy met Sammy Davis, Jr., who inspired the 

former to pursue a singing career. Murphy moved 

south to New York City and in 1956 recorded his debut, 

Meet Mark Murphy for Verve. 

While in New York, Murphy became ensconced in 

the jazz scene and met a fellow singer who would 

become a lifelong friend, Sheila Jordan (they recorded 

a co-led album, One For Junior, in 1991 for Muse). The 

early ‘60s saw Murphy make a handful of records for 

Riverside and then, in 1973, begin a nearly two-decade 

partnership with Muse, including what are probably 

his two most beloved sessions, 1975’s Mark Murphy 

Sings, featuring his lyrics to Freddie Hubbard’s “Red 

Clay”, John Coltrane’s “Naima” and Herbie Hancock’s 

“Maiden Voyage”, and 1981’s Bop for Kerouac, with 

texts taken from On The Road. The new millennium 

found Murphy recording for HighNote and a onealbum 

return to Verve (2006’s Love Is What Stays). And 

while his career has featured only the occasional turn 

as a sideman (though many vocalists have covered his 

tunes), he has appeared throughout the years on 

albums by Charlie Byrd, Herb Geller, Jeff Hamilton 

and, most recently, a star turn on The Royal Bopsters 

Project (Motéma). 

Explaining his methodology to Lorge, Murphy 

simply said, ““To be a jazz singer it takes a lot of study. 

You’ve got to know the chord changes and the words 

[but when it came to improvisation] the way I learned 

was I’d just get up there and at first the more complex 

parts of the improv weren’t there. But you try them 

again and it flows a little more. You have to fall in love 

with it and that’s what gives you the courage and the 

inspiration to go on further and further and further. 

And then, all of a sudden, things start to happen.” 

COLERIDGE GOODE (Nov. 29th, 

1914—Oct. 2nd, 2015) The Jamaican 

bassist made his career in London after 

moving there in 1942, working early on 

with guitarist Django Reinhardt and 

then violinist Stéphane Grappelli and 

also was a part of fellow Jamaican Leslie 

“Jiver” Hutchinson’s all-black band but is best known 

for his contributions to the more progressive ‘60s 

British jazz scene on albums led by alto saxophonist 

Joe Harriott and pianist Michael Garrick. Goode died 

Oct. 2nd at 100. 

NAT PECK (Jan. 13th, 1925—Oct. 24th, 

2015) The Brooklynite trombonist spent 

time in England as part of Glenn 

Miller’s Army Air Force Orchestra, 

moved to Paris where he recorded with 

Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clarke, 

became a mainstay of Clarke’s big band 

with Francy Boland as well as amassing credits with 

Coleman Hawkins, Carmen McRae, Michel Legrand 

and Phil Woods, later giving up playing in lieu of 

orchestral contracting. Peck died Oct. 24th at 90. 

DAVE PIKE (Mar. 23rd, 1938—Oct. 3rd, 

2015) The vibraphonist’s early career 

was as part of Herbie Mann’s 1963-67 

groups and he also worked with Slide 

Hampton, Kenny Clarke and Volker 

Kriegel and had a steady career as a 

leader starting with 1961’s It’s Time for 

Dave Pike (Riverside) and continuing through the 

decades with releases on Epic, Moodsville, Verve, MPS, 

Muse and Criss Cross. Pike died Oct. 3rd at 77. 

DON RENDELL (Mar. 4th, 1926—Oct. 

20th, 2015) The British saxophonist 

bridged the worlds of trad jazz and 

more experimental fare, working early 

on with Johnny Dankworth and Ted 

Heath (as well as being part of the 

touring bands of Stan Kenton and 

Woody Herman) and then co-founding a modern jazz 

quintet with trumpeter Ian Carr (which gave 

opportunities to younger British jazz musicians), 

recording several albums, and appearing on sessions 

by Michael Garrick, Neil Ardley and Amancio d’Silva 

while continuing to record as a leader into the new 

millennium. Rendell died Oct. 20th at 89. 

LARRY ROSEN (May 25th, 1940—Oct. 

9th, 2015) The music industry figure 

and one-time drummer co-founded 

GRP Records along with Dave Grusin 

(Billboard’s #1 Contemporary Jazz label 

for five consecutive years, the roster of 

which included Chick Corea, Diana 

Krall, Ramsey Lewis, Arturo Sandoval, Michael and 

Randy Brecker, Kevin Eubanks, Gary Burton and many 

others), created the PBS series Legends of Jazz, produced 

the Jazz Roots series and Sarah Vaughan International 

Jazz Vocal Competition and won numerous Grammys 

as an album producer. Rosen died Oct. 9th at 75. 

LEE SHAW (Jun. 25th, 1926—Oct. 25th, 

2015) The pianist was perhaps best 

known for teaching John Medeski but 

studied off and on with Oscar Peterson, 

co-led a trio with her husband, drummer 

Stan Shaw, for decades, which backed 

up numerous visiting musicians in their 

adopted region of upstate New York, and played 

regularly with her own long-standing trio, recording 

the acclaimed Live in Graz (ARC) when she was 81 and 

then a quartet album with Medeski, Together Again: 

Live At The Egg (ARC) two years later. Shaw died Oct. 

25th at 89. v 


F ESTIVA L REPORT 

TAMPERE 


KRAKOW 

by ken waxman 

EXIT ZERO 

by joel roberts 

Photo by Maarit Kytöharju 

Ricky-Tick Big Band and Julkinen Sana 

(c) Susan O’Connor www.jazzword.com 

Peter Brötzmann 

Richard Conde Photography 

Wynton Marsalis 

The Tampere Diaries begin on a chilly, overcast Friday 

in the southern Finland town, which once harbored 

Vladimir Lenin and, for the past 34 years, has done the 

same for an array of artists as part of its Tampere Jazz 

Happening (Oct. 29th-Nov. 1st). In an era of festivals 

using the term jazz as a marketing ploy, TJH remains 

committed to as wide a definition of the art form as 

possible, wildly different acts following one another 

on the stage of the Old Customs House (the Finnish 

acts across a small square at the ski-lodge-esque 

Telakka and late-night sets at Klubi’s night club stage). 

Each night featured a ‘big-name’ act as the closing 

performance. Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion, the 

British drummer’s project devoted to muscular takes 

on jazz standards, suffered from lethargy on the second 

night while Carla Bley’s trio with electric bassist Steve 

Swallow and saxophonist Andy Sheppard, which 

closed the festival, never emerged from a narrow 

bandwidth of placid beauty, becoming onedimensional. 

But the first evening’s Ricky-Tick Big 

Band and Finnish rap trio Julkinen Sana (Paleface, 

Redrama and Tommy Lindgren) was a wonderful 

surprise. While the concept is not new and the band’s 

soloists underwhelming, that is just nit-picking. For 

over 70 minutes, the Old Customs House, chairs 

removed, turned into a dance party. This correspondent 

is a lover of the Finnish language and to hear it ‘spit’ 

by three very different rappers was simply fabulous. 

The rest of Friday’s program displayed the 

aforementioned variety. Mats/Morgan Band, the 

co-led quartet of Mats Öberg (Nord electro keyboard 

and harmonica) and Morgan Ågren (drums), is the 

completely unironic love child of several eras of Jan 

Hammer. Stefan Jernståhl alternated between a second 

Nord Electro and guitar while bassist Gustaf Hielm 

kept things chugga-chugging along through the varied 

terrain. The band lurched between prog-rock, industrial 

metal, synth-pop, alt-country and even circus music in 

lengthy pieces, which were convincing because of 

Öberg’s sincerity and Ågren’s precision. This was 

followed by the international trio of Cuban pianist 

Omar Sosa, Indian drummer/percussionist Trilok 

Gurtu and Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu in a set that 

often felt over-rehearsed and usually left Fresu in the 

background between the irresistible Sosa and 

immovable Gurtu. The evening’s late night set was 

tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist David Murray’s 

Infinity Quartet (pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Jaribu 

Shahid and drummer Hamid Drake) featuring guest 

hip-hop poet Saul Williams. While both components 

were accomplished—Evans is an excellent covalent foil 

for Murray’s exuberance—it felt like people playing 

next to, rather than with, each other. 


Krakow’s Kazimierz district, which includes Poland’s 

oldest standing synagogue building and architecture 

dating mostly from the 18th century, was once a center 

of intellectual ferment and more recently known for its 

large concentration of bars and restaurants. But it is 

unlikely the area witnessed such an open display of 

power and emotion as took place during Peter 

Brötzmann’s four-day residency at the Alchemia Club 

during Krakow Jazz Autumn (Nov. 5th-8th). 

Billed as the German reedplayer’s special project, 

one performance also took place in the soft-seated 

auditorium of the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art 

and Technology, situated on the banks of the Vistula 

River, which snakes throughout the city. Unlike the 

somewhat cramped Alchemia, Manggha gave the 

players more leg—and more importantly—elbowroom, 

but the quality of the sounds remained the same. 

Whenever Brötzmann, 74 and with 50-plus years 

of recording and touring, rears back and ejaculates a 

sound, his tone is instantaneously identifiable whether 

on tenor or soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet 

or tarogato. Over the course of the residency, he 

worked in a variety of settings, from duos to a sextet, 

facing each situation uniquely, whether restrained and 

chesty balladic tones or reed thrusts so raw they 

suggested molten lead. His associates ranged from 

peers like American trumpeter/saxophonist Joe 

McPhee, Swedish drummer Peeter Uuskyla and 

American bassist William Parker and mid-career 

players like British drummer Steve Noble, American 

drummer Hamid Drake and Swedish tuba player Per- 

Åke Holmlander to even younger associates such as 

Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and Texanturned-Glaswegian 

pedal steel guitarist Heather Leigh. 

All had previously worked with Brötzmann; only a 

few with one another. But despite the stage sometimes 

looking like the arrival and departure gates of a busy 

international airport, almost every set followed 

astutely planned flight paths. 

Leigh, with whom Brötzmann had played only a 

few times, was a new challenge. Using effects pedals to 

add a synthesizer-like ostinato to her 12-string laptop, 

Leigh’s fretless narratives seemed to be the place 

where Stockhausen and Speedy West meet. As her 

reverberations coalesced into stinging Hendrix-style 

guitar flanges or pulsating bass guitar-like bounces, 

Brötzmann turned from repetitive renal lowing on 

clarinet to a warm bagpipe-like sound nestled 

passionately among her tremolo tones. Joined by Noble 

during another set, subtle cymbal coloring added the 

third ingredient, resulting in comfortingly headswaying 

swing. 

McPhee and Brötzmann, especially when backed 


For a weekend each year in November and then again 

in May, the Exit Zero Festival takes over the bucolic 

Jersey Shore resort town of Cape May and turns it into 

a jazz mecca. This year’s fall event (Nov. 6th-8th) was 

the biggest and most eclectic in the festival’s four-year 

history, presenting artists from a wide variety of jazz 

and non-jazz genres and adding a large new concert 

venue, which allowed some big-name bookings. 

The biggest of those names was the Jazz at Lincoln 

Center Orchestra (JLCO), under trumpeter Wynton 

Marsalis’ direction, which filled the Schmidtchen 

Theater, located just outside of Cape May’s downtown, 

but easily accessible by free shuttle buses, with a 

packed Saturday night crowd. 

Marsalis and his 15-piece ensemble offered one of 

their patented jazz history lessons, going decade by 

decade from the ‘20s through the ‘50s, covering Duke 

Ellington and Count Basie before moving onto Dizzy 

Gillespie’s ridiculously fast “Things to Come”, with 

parts that Marsalis described as “impossible to play”, 

though he and the band did just fine. The evening’s 

highlight was a performance of “Moody’s Mood for 

Love” featuring saxophonist Ted Nash’s elegant 

rendition of James Moody’s original solo, followed by 

a cheeky turn on the famous vocal version by 

trombonists Vincent Gardner and Chris Crenshaw. 

This was not one of the JLCO’s more imaginative 

setlists, sticking perhaps a bit too close to Jazz 101, but 

the real joy of this group is the sheer power of its sound 

and overall excellence of its members and both of these 

were showcased to fine effect. 

Friday night in the same concert hall belonged to 

drummer Terri Lyne Carrington’s The Mosaic Project, a 

much more contemporary group covering everything 

from Charlie Parker to The Beatles in styles ranging 

from avant garde to neo-soul. Vocalist Jaguar Wright 

made a strong impression on an old Nancy Wilson 

tune, “Imagine This”, before giving way to R&B legend 

Valerie Simpson, who offered a moving take on “God 

Bless the Child” as well as some of her own 

compositions written with late husband Nick Ashford. 

Some of the festivals best shows were held at the 

beachfront Cape May Convention Hall, including a 

dynamic afternoon performance by Marc Cary and his 

Harlem Sessions group. The acclaimed keyboard 

player led a rotating lineup of more than a dozen 

young musicians, singers, poets and even a tap dancer 

through a wildly entertaining and creative set of ultrahip 

soul, funk and hip-hop flavored jazz. Cary, on 

electric keyboards, and his horn-heavy band created a 

late-night party atmosphere, playing engaging 

originals, like the catchy “Harlem River Drive”, as well 

as tunes by everyone from George Duke and Pharoah 



H O L I DAY G I F T G U I D E 

THE COMPLETE 

REMASTERED 

RECORDINGS ON BLACK 

SAINT & SOUL NOTE 

JAZZ CUFFLINKS 

Go out in style with this 

handsome set of cufflinks, 

honoring two of the greats: 

Duke Ellington and 

Billie Holiday. Made from 

a high-quality zinc alloy 

and presented in a 

commemorative storage box. 

retroco.com, £16.99 

The catalogues of Italian labels Black Saint 

and Soul Note comprise over 500 albums 

made between 1975-2008. Some of 

the most important figures in jazz waxed 

multiple sessions for one or both, reissued 

in these handsome boxed sets. 

The latest releases in the collection 

feature Andrew Hill, Archie Shepp, 

Max Roach and Roscoe Mitchell. 

store.harmoniamundi.com— 

$30 

Don’t let a single melody or lyric slip your mind as you jot them 

down in one of these classy and classic Moleskine notebooks, 

released as part of Blue Note Records’ 75th Anniversary and 

honoring seminal albums like Kenny Burrell’s Midnight Blue, 

Art Blakey’s Night in Tunisia, Freddie Hubbard’s Hub-Tones 

and Thelonious Monk’s Genius of Modern Music. 

MOLESKINE Limited Edition 

Notebook Collection 

moleskine.com/us/news/blue-note-dexter-gordon— 

$18.95—24 

THE SOUND OF THE NORTH— 

NORWAY AND THE 

EUROPEAN JAZZ SCENE 

Just around the corner from the home of Santa 

Claus, Norway has been a leading light in the 

international jazz scene since composer George 

Russell came there in 1968 to work with local 

players. This comprehensive guide by Luca Vitali, 

newly available in an English translation, covers 

the country’s various cities, scenes, traditions 

and players, from the circle around Jan Garbarek 

documented on early ECM albums to younger 

players like Trygve Seim, Paal Nilssen-Love and 

Håkan Kornstad. Skål! 

thesoundofthenorth.net—£18 

DEJUNO 

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home...bring it with you on 

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with this three-piece hardside 

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dejuno.com/shop/jazz— 

$459.97 

SUN RA—A JOYFUL NOISE 

Available once more on DVD and Blu-Ray, this 

1980 documentary by Robert Mugge, restored 

fron the original 16mm print, was the culmination 

of two years on the road and at home with the 

legendary bandleader and his Arkestra. It includes 

plenty of performance footage and interviews 

with bandmembers of the period. 

mvdshop.com/products/sun-rasun-ra-a-joyful-noise-dvd—$19.95 


JACO— 

THE FILM 

ADOLPHE SAX T-SHIRT 

Celebrate the legacy of everyone’s favorite Belgian inventor 

with this striking shirt available in various styles and colors. 

cafepress.com/mf/98978909/adolphe-sax_ 

tshirt?productId= 1584915911—$16.95-29.99 

Love him or hate 

him, there is no 

way to ignore the 

impact of the late 

bassist Jaco 

Pastorious on 

modern jazz. 

A member of Weather Report during 

the fusion band’s glory days and 

participant on albums by everyone 

from Al DiMeola and Albert 

Mangelsdorff to Joni Mitchell, 

Pastorius led a trafically short life that 

often overshadowed his music. 

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo has 

put together a loving documentary, 

a two-DVD or Blu-Ray set featuring 

unseen live footage and photos and 

interviews. Running time 217 minutes. 

mvdshop.com/products/ 

jaco-pastorius-jaco-dvd—$19.95 

MUSIC TO SILENCE TO MUSIC: 

A BIOGRAPHY OF HENRY GRIMES 

The bassist’s life should be the subject 

of a Hollywood feature. Henry Grimes 

played on hundreds of sessions in the 

late ‘50s-60s, albums by everyone 

from Sonny Rollins and Gerry Mulligan 

to Albert Ayler and Sunny Murray. 

After 1966, he disappeared into the 

jazz ether, only to be discovered in 

2002 working as a janitor and 

subsequently brought back to music, 

where he has been nearly as prolific as 

in his youth. This biography by Barbara 

Ina Frenz explores Grimes’ fascinating 

story and includes a forward by the 

bassist’s former employer Sonny Rollins. 

inpressbooks.co.uk—£20 

TURTLE RECORDS—PIONEERING 

BRITISH JAZZ 1970 - 1971 

This British label existed from 1970-71 and released only 

three LPs. But what albums they were: Mike Osborne and 

John Taylor’s debuts as leaders and the first album by 

Howard Riley’s trio with Barry Guy and Tony Oxley, These 

impossible-to-find albums have finally been reissued, 

complete with an informative essay on British jazz by music 

journalist Colin Harper and lots of archival photos. 

shop.cherryred.co.uk/shopexd. 

asp?id=5169—£17.99 

Christmas Soul 

Barbara Dennerlein (MPS) 

Creole Christmas 

Etienne Charles (Culture Shock Music) 

Big Band Holidays 

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (Blue Engine) 

by Andrey Henkin 

The true meaning of Christmas is obvious: unrepentant 

capitalism. It seems that even before Halloween, every 

store imaginable has been transforming itself into a winter 

wonderland to boost year-end sales. While a sad statement 

on the world’s priorities, it is a useful analogy for discussing 

three fine new jazzy Christmas releases. 

Hammond organ player Barbara Dennerlein’s 

Christmas Soul has the charming lived-in variety of a vintage 

clothing shop. The quintet (saxophonist/flutist/clarinetist 

Magnus Lindgren, bassist Luca Alemanno, drummer Robert 

Ikiz and percussionist Abdissa Assefa, expanded to a sextet 

on several tracks with either guitarist Nicola Conte or 

vocalist Zara McFarlane) offers a relaxed 13-track program 

of classic fare like “Christmas Time Is Here”, “We Three 

Kings”, “Little Drummer Boy”, “Old Tannenbaum” and both 

“Blue” and “White Christmas”. Dennerlein’s other releases 

have shown a player with a catholic view of the organ’s place 

but here she is almost self-effacing, a gentle snowfall rather 

than a Nor’easter. “Let It Snow” is played with a hip swing; 

“We Three Kings” sounds like a delicious outtake from a ‘60s 

Charles Lloyd album; “Little Drummer Boy” is recast with a 

reggae groove; “Sleigh Ride” is pure ‘70s soul. The inclusion 

of “Chim Chim Cheree” from Mary Poppins is a bit peculiar for 

a Christmas album but is hardly a lump of coal. 

Putting on trumpeter Etienne Charles’ Creole Christmas 

is like entering an emporium selling spices of the world. In 

an unusual move for a Christmas album, Charles offers few 

cinnamon sticks or nutmeg cloves, instead playing “Go Tell It 

On The Mountain” (vocals by Mykal Kilgore), Donny Hathaway’s 

soul-funk “This Christmas”, two pieces from Calypso pianist 

Lionel Belasco and modern Trinidadian Christmas tunes 

“Make A Friend for Christmas” and “Christmas is Yours, 

Christmas is Mine”, both featuring composer/vocalist 

Relator, and “Indian Parang Chick”. Tchaikovsky makes two 

appearances: “Spanish Dance” from Swan Lake and “Dance 

of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker, the former 

Flamenco-ized, the latter transplanted from 19th Century 

Saint Petersburg to modern-day New York City. The album 

was recorded with various personnel over three days in 

July 2014, which explains the steamy vibe throughout, as 

warming as zesty hot cider. 

Big Band Holidays by the Jazz at Lincoln Center 

Orchestra (JLCO) is Macy’s, or maybe even Gimbel’s. All the 

glitzy ornaments are here: “Jingle Bells”, “Have Yourself a 

Merry Little Christmas”, “We Three Kings” and “I’ll Be Home 

for Christmas”, along with some presents that required 

a bit more thought like “’Zat You, Santa Claus?”, “Merry 

Christmas Baby” and season-appropriate standard “It’s 

Easy to Blame the Weather”, with featured soloists like 

Walter Blanding, Ted Nash and Sherman Irby (saxophones) 

and leader Wynton Marsalis (trumpet). Like moving from 

one department to another, a variety of feels is on display, 

courtesy of arrangements by band members like Victor 

Goines, Chris Crenshaw and Irby as well as the inclusion of 

some helper elves in vocalists Cécile McLorin Salvant, René 

Marie and Gregory Porter on several tracks. This music is 

guaranteed for good cheer, whether you are vomiting from 

too much eggnog, sick of spending time with family or waiting 

in an endless line to pay for your presents. 

For more information, visit mps-music.com, etiennecharles.com 

and jazz.org/blueengine. Charles’ Creole Christmas is at Dizzy’s 

Club Dec. 2nd. JLCO’s Big Band Holidays is at Rose Hall Dec. 

17th-19th. See Calendar. 


C D REVIEWS 

Live at the Village Vanguard 

Christian McBride Trio (Mack Avenue) 

by Ken Dryden 

Christian McBride’s big sound and effortless swing 

caught the attention of many bandleaders early on. By 

the mid ‘90s, the bassist’s career as a leader was 

underway and there were comparisons to the master 

bassist Ray Brown, with whom he played and recorded. 

But McBride has long since forged his own voice and 

has regularly produced acclaimed and often surprising 

CDs. These live trio sessions, recorded over several 

days at the Village Vanguard, feature his long time 

drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. and up-and-coming 

pianist Christian Sands. 

McBride’s band can’t help but be compared to 

Benny Green’s trio, of which he was a member for 

several years in the early ‘90s. Of course, McBride’s 

then-formidable technique has grown tremendously 

since and he’s calling the songs, a diverse program of 

music he’s heard or performed dating back to his teens, 

including neglected jazz works, familiar chestnuts and 

some surprises. Among the less-frequently-performed 

songs are Wes Montgomery’s infectious blues “Fried 

Pies” and J.J. Johnson’s driving bop number “Interlude”, 

both great features for the talented Sands and gems that 

need further exploration. The leader generously 

includes a Sands original, the enticing ballad “Sand 

Dune”, demonstrating that the young man’s lyricism 

measures up to his chops at blazing tempos. 

The warhorse “Cherokee” has long been a favorite 

for rapid-fire performances and a chance to show off; 

the trio takes a slightly different approach, switching 

back and forth from the faster tempo, with McBride 

stealing the solo spotlight. “Good Morning, Heartache”, 

made famous by Billie Holiday, is a showcase for the 

leader’s warm arco technique. The spiritual favorite 

“Down By the Riverside” is a joy in a breezy 

arrangement with a touch of funk and inspired 

moments by the trio. McBride sends the crowd off 

laughing with a rollicking, playful interpretation of the 

‘70s pop tune “Car Wash”, putting the spotlight on 

Owens. No matter what size ensemble he is leading, 

Christian McBride is a master at grabbing an audience’s 

attention and retaining it throughout a concert. 

For more information, visit mackavenue.com. This project is 

at Village Vanguard Dec. 1st-6th. See Calendar. 

Book II 

Yoni Kretzmer 2Bass Quartet (OutNow) 

by Brad Cohan 

A small but crucial scene of pioneering, Israeli-born 

jazz musicians spreading their creative fire is afoot in 

New York. Add tenor saxophonist Yoni Kretzmer to 

that freethinking canon. A Brooklyn transplant, 

Kretzmer has been documenting his own musical 

happenings, as well as those of his peers, through his 

OutNow Recordings and by the off-and-on concert 

series of the same name. 

The imprint has seen a flurry of releases, including 

a set by reedplayer Josh Sinton and double bassist 

Dominic Lash and a couple of offerings by Kretzmer 

himself: one a duo record with drummer Andrew 

Drury, the other the sophomore effort by his 2Bass 

Quartet. The band—as its moniker conveys—is a 

singular behemoth supported by the dueling double 

bass assault team of Reuben Radding and Sean Conly 

and the bold drummer Mike Pride. The two-CD sprawl 

of Book II is a free-minded yet disciplined tour de force 

of melodicism fused with experimentation, where no 

player assumes the role of genuine leader. Instead, each 

musician ostensibly takes turns handing off the baton 

as they impart their own unique sonic language to nine 

spacious explorations. Throughout this sonic journey, 

there’s nary a moment for a breath to be exhaled, the 

quartet relentless in pursuit of exhilarating sounds yet 

the aesthetic is not of the firebreathing variety. 

That vibe is established with opener “Haden”, a 

mini-tribute to the late, great bassist. At a compact 

three-and-a-half minutes, it’s more than enough time 

for the four to converge and converse, each equipped 

with salvos of ideas and running wild with them, 

giving the listener the gamut of what’s to come. Some 

compositions mirror their titles. “Soft” is akin to a 

freight train steadily rumbling down the tracks but 

with a one-two bass punch as its engine while “Ballad” 

is just that, a sublime slow burner complete with 

Kretzmer shining with melodic phraseology. 

While it’s easy to say the lethal Radding/Conly 

combo is this album’s heartbeat, with its bow on strings 

buzzsawing and beefy rhythmic plucking, this is clearly 

a group effort and collective vision. Book II’s epic 

middle section is evidence: nearly-ten-minute “Stick 

Tune” is primal energy music as Kretzmer takes the 

spotlight, his hurricane-force blows dancing, swinging 

and screaming; “Metals” features classical musicflavored 

abrasive stroking and caressing of the basses; 

and Pride puts his heavy stamp on “Freezaj” with a 

devastating drum clinic. Meanwhile, the 19-minute 

long “Number Four” fittingly stands alone on the 

second disc, its rollercoaster of a freebop ride a furiously 

bobbing and weaving beast. 

For more information, visit outnowrecordings.com. Kretzmer 

is at Muchmore’s Dec. 1st. See Calendar. 

RelativE ResonancE 

Devin Gray (Skirl) 

by Stuart Broomer 

As a drummer, Devin Gray has performed with a 

spectrum that includes some of the most creative 

figures in jazz, including duos with Ellery Eskelin and 

Gerald Cleaver, the trio Transit Heavy with Satoko Fujii 

and Natsuki Tamura, a trio with Uri Caine and Michael 

Formanek and bands led by Nate Wooley and Mark 

Helias. He launched his career as a composer in 2012 

with the quartet Diego Rataplan and he continues here 

with another, RelativE ResonancE, with tenor 

saxophonist/clarinetist Chris Speed, pianist Kris Davis 

and bassist Chris Tordini. 

It’s clear very quickly that there’s nothing casual 

about Gray’s compositional impulses or the group that 

he’s assembled to play them. The opening “City 

Nothing City” presents a leaping line that suggests a 

kind of post-serial bop, an effective introduction to this 

very tight-knit, rhythmically adroit music. There’s an 

initial sense of abstract, interlocking parts densely 

woven around a central theme, but, as the pieces 

proceed, a more complex methodology emerges. Most 

of the pieces have been composed as a group of distinct 

etudes, each assigned to a member of the quartet. The 

development consists in the musicians adjusting their 

individual scores to one another’s to create a coherent 

piece of music. 

“Notester”, the first of these, has Speed at times 

playing an arpeggiated line to which Davis and Tordini 

adjust ostinato figures. The method is an intriguing 

philosophical response to notions of group 

communication and vocabulary as they arise in a 

musical situation, the written component isolating 

individuals, the situation requiring close interaction. 

What’s remarkable is the kind of freedom and dialogue 

the group achieves on some of the pieces, developing 

an original kind of swing on pieces like “Transatlantic 

Transitions” and “Undo the Redo”. Gray has 

successfully combined the timbres and techniques of 

contemporary jazz with indeterminacy techniques 

associated with composer Morton Feldman. 

The individual musicians’ lightness of line 

contributes tremendously to the process. Speed’s 

particularly dry sound on both clarinet and tenor 

saxophone (at times he actually sounds like a bassoon) 

gives the group an original sound while Davis, Tordini 

and Gray seem to defy the usual gravity of a rhythm 

section. Davis is particularly adroit in blurring the line 

between the composed and the improvised, seemingly 

reading spontaneously and improvising with rare 

precision. In a period rich in methodological inquiry, 

Gray is developing his own way. 

For more information, visit skirlrecords.com. This project is 

at Korzo Dec. 1st. See Calendar. 

R 

eco 

m 

m 

ended 

n 

e 

w 

r 

ele 

a 

ses 

• Aram Bajakian—Music Inspired by The Color 

of Pomegranates (s/r) 

• Dave Ballou—Solo Trumpet (Clean Feed) 

• Bambi Pang Pang (featuring Andrew 

Cyrille)—Drop Your Plans (El Negocito) 

• Kenny Barron—At the Piano 

(Xanadu-Elemental Music) 

• Scott Dubois—Winter Light (ACT Music) 

• George Garzone/Jerry Bergonzi/ 

Ra-Kalam Bob Moses/Richard Andersson— 

Splitting Up In Boston (Hobby Horse) 

• Sheila Jordan—Better Than Anything: Live 

(There Records) 

• Ingrid Laubrock—Ubatuba (Firehouse 12) 

• Larry Ochs—The Fictive Five (Tzadik) 

• Steve Swell—The Loneliness of the Long 

Distance Improviser (s/r) 

Laurence Donohue-Greene, Managing Editor 

• Joseph Daley/Warren Smith/ 

Scott Robinson—The Tuba Trio Chronicles 

(JoDa Locust Street Music) 

• Tim Daisy—October Music Vol. 1: 

7 Compositions for Duet (Relay) 

• Scott Dubois—Winter Light (ACT Music) 

• Logan Hone—Similar Fashion 

(pfMENTUM) 

• Le Rex—Wild Man (Cuneiform) 

• Livio Minafra/Louis Moholo-Moholo— 

Born Free (Egea) 

• The Necks—Vertigo (Northern-Spy) 

• Evan Parker/Keith Rowe/Barry Guy/ 

Eddie Prévost—Supersession (Matchless) 

• Premature Burial—The Conjuring 

(New Atlantis) 

• Matthew Shipp Trio—The Conduct of Jazz 

(Thirsty Ear) 

Andrey Henkin, Editorial Director 


Take One 

Christian Sands/Thomas Fonnesbæk/Alex Riel 

(Storyville) 

by Phil Freeman 

Pianist Christian Sands started out as a child prodigy, 

releasing his first album, Footprints, at 14 and a second, 

Harmonia, two years later. He’s currently a member of 

bassist Christian McBride’s trio while continuing to 

work on his own, as this two-CD set documents. For 

this live set from Copenhagen’s Jazzhus Montmartre, 

he’s teamed with two Danes, bassist Thomas 

Fonnesbæk and veteran drummer Alex Riel, for a 

collection of extremely standard standards and a few 

surprises, including one original composition. 

Sands was mentored by Billy Taylor early on and 

pays tribute to the late master with a version of his 

“Lonesome Lover”. It’s a slow blues, with melodic 

ornamentations tumbling smoothly from his fingers; 

the bass is rock steady, the drums nearly imperceptible 

save the occasional soft cymbal crash as punctuation. 

Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia” is taken at a bouncy 

tempo, Sands seeming to hint at a modal approach 

before launching into almost McCoy Tyner-esque 

extrapolations. He hammers the keys into place 

without exploding into full-on free play, as Fonnesbæk 

and Riel gallop behind him, the drummer dropping 

bomb after bomb to encourage the pianist to greater 

and greater heights. Mary Lou Williams’ “Syl-O-Gism” 

is tackled in a muscular, ’70s manner recalling players 

like Kenny Barron, George Cables and Barry Harris. 

The piece has an emphatic swing and Fonnesbæk takes 

a patient but emotionally resonant bass solo. 

“Sand Dune”, the sole Sands original performed 

here, finds the pianist adopting a frilly, but still 

powerful style reminiscent of Ahmad Jamal, full of 

heavy chords and extended melodic runs, sweeping 

across the keys. In the piece’s final moments, Riel 

attacks the kit with furious energy. It makes a good 

argument for Sands as more than an interpreter, 

something that’s not always true of players who first 

enter the public eye as children. 

The set also includes versions of “Stella By 

Starlight”, “So What”, “In a Sentimental Mood”, 

“Moanin’”, “Body and Soul” and “Someday My Prince 

Will Come”. They’re all fine. 

For more information, visit storyvillerecords.com. Sands is 

at Village Vanguard Dec. 1st-6th with Christian McBride. 

See Calendar. 

Eclipse 

Russ Lossing (Aqua Piazza) 

by Fred Bouchard 

When I read that this solo piano album was performed 

as a consecutive series of short improvisations, I tried 

to experience it as such—put the album on, stretched 

out and listened intently, unarmed with pen and pad. 

Impressions flew in, but I suppressed a habitual desire 

to jot and scribble, instead listening and reflecting, 

trying to identify Lossing’s favored textures, effects 

and results. Next time through, I ventured a few 

comments and aural analogies: “Paul Bley. Not for 

driving! Horace Tapscott. Angry gnomes. Elliott Carter. 

Taut abstractions. Dark humors.” On the third pass, I 

tried track-by-track: “Chattering intensity; single-note 

runs with overlapping hands; slow-creeping 

chromaticism; spidery, atonal motifs; pointillist 

moments; occasional bluesy thirds. Clouds of Bill 

Evans (or Federico Mompou) post-Impressionism.” 

That was all from the opening “Eclipse”! “Moving 

Shadow”: slow single notes and triads yield (not build) 

to graceful arabesques; an oblique reference to 

Debussy’s “Golliwog’s Cakewalk”. “Distant Earth”: 

febrile dipsy-doodles meet raggy galumphing—with 

momentum! “Upper and Lower Unite”: leaves slowly, 

silently turn yellow. “If Ever”: low, damped gallopings 

alternate with reverberating plucked strings. Macabre! 

There’s lots going on during Lossing’s hour alone 

with his piano and his thoughts (aptly dubbed 

‘mercurial’ by guitarist Ben Monder) have more galaxywandering 

freedom than in his duos with bassist John 

Hébert, but lightning turnarounds, too. By the time he 

winds down this intense, introverted, demanding 

excursion Lossing goes hushed, cosmic: “Not So”—a 

pulsating nebula—is followed by “Water Over Fire”’s 

starburst and asteroid shower. Fade to black. 

For more information, visit russlossing.com. Lossing is at 

Ibeam Brooklyn Dec. 2nd with Terrence McManus and 

11th-12th with Samuel Blaser. See Calendar. 

(Dance to) The Early Music 

Nate Wooley Quintet (Clean Feed) 

by David R. Adler 

Maintaining the quintet personnel from his 2010 gem 

(Put Your) Hands Together, trumpeter Nate Wooley 

embarks on a journey through the landmark early ’80s 

repertoire of Wynton Marsalis. This is material “that 

stoked a very powerful fire in me,” Wooley writes of 

his 12-year-old self in the liner notes. But (Dance To) 

The Early Music is not a tribute to Marsalis, Wooley 

insists; it’s “a person’s attempt to look at his history 

and to remember what it feels like to be home.” 

Wooley goes about this with integrity and 

intelligence and what he documents is through and 

through the sound of his own band. But one comes 

away with renewed wonder at the compositional 

richness and sheer swing fervor of Marsalis’ tunes. 

“Hesitation”, from the trumpeter’s eponymous debut, 

leads off with its tricky staccato head and punishing 

tempo, returning to end the album as the more 

expansive “Hesitation/Post-Hesitation”. “For Wee 

Folks” is more tempestuous than the version on Black 

Codes (From the Underground), though the rubato duo 

intro by bass clarinetist Josh Sinton and bassist Eivind 

Opsvik preserves its chamber-jazz essence. “Blues” and 

“On Insane Asylum”, more loosely derived from pieces 

on Black Codes and J Mood respectively, find Wooley in 

capricious form on trumpet, blurring and bending and 

wailing, bringing his experimental vocabulary to bear 

on the music. The unaccompanied trumpet intro on 

“Skain’s Domain” is another case in point. 

Sinton, playing bass clarinet exclusively as he did 

on Hands Together, brings an improvising sensibility 

and sonic imprint quite unlike the tenor saxophone of 

Branford Marsalis and the same can be said for 

vibraphonist Matt Moran in regard to prized Marsalis 

pianists Kenny Kirkland and Marcus Roberts. Opsvik 

and drummer Harris Eisenstadt are burning, endlessly 

responsive, highly attuned to the layers of color and 

space in the music. Wooley’s arrangements push the 

band even further into the unfamiliar: “J Mood” 

becomes a thick and dissonant rubato ode and a drum 

feature while Sinton opens “Phryzzinian Man” with 

solo bass clarinet in an almost Braxton-ian vein before 

bringing in the tune’s telltale bassline. These are among 

the slyest moves in an album full of them. 

For more information, visit cleanfeed-records.com. Wooley 

is at The Stone Dec. 4th with PROOFReaders. See Calendar. 

UNEARTHED GEM 

Creative Music Studio: Archive Selections, Volume 2 

Various Artists (Planet Arts) 

by Duck Baker 

Here is a second batch of recordings culled from 

performances recorded between 1971-84, at Creative 

Music Studio (CMS), the Woodstock-based collective 

dedicated to bringing together musicians from 

different cultural backgrounds. The three CDs cover, 

respectively, small ensembles, large ensembles and 

world music. CD 1 runs the gamut from straightahead 

bop to an invigorating piano duet by Karl Berger 

and Frederic Rzewski. Hearing Lee Konitz jam with 

George Lewis is delicious, as is Charles Brackeen 

with Paul Motian and David Izenzon. But the first 

meeting of Anthony Braxton and Marilyn Crispell 

takes the cake. An amazing moment to have been 

captured, it lives up to all expectations. 

The large-ensemble tracks on CD 2 are led by 

Don Cherry, Baikida Carroll and Gerry Hemingway. 

The orchestras are mostly filled by CMS students 

and records of who was on hand seem not to have 

survived. Cherry leads his mostly unidentified 

group through a series of riff-like themes, allotting 

solo space to himself and a few others, including 

flutist Steve Gorn. Carroll’s track moves from 

shimmering impressionism to a section somewhat 

reminiscent of Ascension and then into a modal/ 

postbop line and features strong blowing from the 

leader and Crispell, among others. But Gerry 

Hemingway’s “Revolution Poem” is the most 

ambitious. Evoking a sped-up George Russell big 

band, this uptempo romp presents a series of very 

hot soloists over dense but effective writing. 

A built-in danger with cross-cultural musical 

meetings is that things can easily boil down to the 

lowest common denominator of shared musical 

language, the highly rhythmic modal jam being a 

usual result and this does loom at times on CD 3, 

though of course with modal jamming this good and 

rhythms this hot, it hardly matters. Even on tracks 

that do go on a bit (Amoudou Jarr’s track, for 

example), things can get very interesting at a 

moment’s notice. But the lack of information about 

performers here is somewhat frustrating. The track 

credited as being led by Collin Walcott on sitar 

instead features a santoor player, to give one example. 

For more information, visit planetarts.org. Karl Berger is 

at El Taller LatinoAmericano Dec. 5th. See Calendar. 


GLOBE UNITY:SLOVENIA 

Bums 

Feecho (Kaja Draksler/Onno Govaert) (El Negocito) 

Hramo 

Kombo B (Sazas) 

The Life Sound Pictures of Jure Pukl 

Jure Pukl (Fresh Sound-New Talent) 

by Tom Greenland 

Tucked into the northern corner of the Adriatic Sea, 

mountainous, sparsely populated Slovenia is not an 

obvious hotspot for jazz, but its artistic output 

suggests otherwise, to judge by three recent CDs. 

Emphasizing the might of the meek, Feecho, 

named for the Serbian-made Zastava 750 coupe, puts 

a picture of its namesake on the cover of Bums, a live 

album by pianist Kaja Draksler and Dutch drummer 

Onno Govaert. A highly satisfying adventure, the 

concert is divided into three extended improvisations 

(“Goshi Goshi”, “Nya” and the title track), each 

developing organically, without urgency, but leaving 

a lasting impression. At times Draksler leads the 

explorations with light rippling figurations or oddlength 

‘riffs’, but there are as many times when she 

becomes a second percussionist, blending into the 

musical woodwork. The duo is not afraid to insert 

pregnant silences or negative spaces into the texture, 

inviting the audience to fill in its own version of the 

story. Even at their most climactic, midway through 

the title track, Draksler and Govaert know just when 

to pull back and save a little excitement for later. 

Kombo B is a student ensemble led by drummer 

Zlatko Kaučič, a newer, younger (the musicians are 9 

to 17) version of his groundbreaking Kombo A, all 

part of the ongoing “Sound Springs” project. Hramo, 

the fifth album of the series, finds Kaučič conducting 

a series of ensembles, all featuring guitarists Jan 

Jarni and Peter Kastrin and bassist Matjaž Bajc, 

drums and percussion supplied from a pool of 12 

musicians, with additional firepower from guest 

trumpeter Damijan Valentinuzzi, trombonist Matija 

Mlakar and saxophonists Boštjan Simon (on alto) 

and Jani Šepetavic (on tenor). Tracks like “Dedek 

Mraz” and “Urbanova Očala” have a strong Latinrock 

feel, but others are more mercurial, displaying a 

range of moods and textures, especially closer “Joy 

of Joy!”, which features stop-and-go traffic, gaping 

silences and four-way exchanges by the guest horns. 

The Life Sound Pictures of Jure Pukl is the tenor/ 

soprano saxophonist’s seventh album as a leader, his 

second with New York-based musicians. Pooling the 

talents of guitarist Adam Rogers, pianist Sam Harris, 

bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Rudy Royston, 

Pukl unveils various facets of his artistic vision: 

analytical, impressionistic, hard-edged and romantic. 

His full yet effortless tone retains a sense of pacing 

and restraint, even on its most muscular flights, 

lending ballad passages an extra poignancy. A 

generous leader, his compositions encourage 

interactivity, an overlapping of ideas and 

personalities. Rogers’ burnished tone serves as a 

second horn, shadowing Pukl’s lines or ad libbing 

obbligati and counterpoint. Vocalist/lyricist Sachal 

Vasandani cameos on “Quiet Skies Come Back”. On 

“Journey to the One”, guest tenor saxophonist 

Melissa Aldana’s approach melds so closely with 

Pukl’s it’s difficult to tell who is playing what. 

For more information, visit elnegocitorecords.com, 

kaucic-zk.si and freshsoundreccords.com. Pukl is at Fat 

Cat Dec. 5th. See Calendar. 

Marais Del Sueño 

Javier Moreno (Fresh Sound-New Talent) 

by Elliott Simon 

Whether dreams are truly a window into our 

unconscious or not, it is a daunting thought to invite 

other people in to share them. On Marais Del Sueño 

bassist Javier Moreno does just that. He is a wistful 

romantic and his dreams are elegant statements that 

highlight a delicate touch along with drummer Gerald 

Cleaver’s ability to go with the flow but maintain 

compositional integrity. The two are wonderful 

together and they create a supple organic jazz that 

explores mood and emotion across these eight reveries. 

Pianist George Dulin and saxophonist Tony 

Malaby complete the quartet. The former supports the 

rhythm and mood while the latter is the primary 

explorer, investigating these rhythmical landscapes on 

both tenor and soprano. Originally from Spain, Moreno 

shows his worldliness on several tunes: “Música 

Callada” is a beautifully sinuous piece featuring 

Moreno’s Spanish-informed intro while Malaby turns 

his soprano eastward for inspiration on “Interludio 

Oriental”. Malaby is nimble on soprano and can be 

surprisingly tender on tenor; his soprano states, shapes 

and twists the theme to “La Cornette” and flits quickly 

from place to place on the sweet “Miel de Brezo” but 

he chooses his tenor to express gentle emotion on “Lu”. 

“Freia Power” is an extended piece beginning, 

as other tunes do, with Cleaver and Moreno gracefully 

depicting a sleepy descent into a dream. Once there, 

tempos pick up, tension builds and ideas coalesce, 

dissociate and reform. The structurally sound “Títeres” 

is a highpoint and Malaby (on tenor) navigates one of 

the rhythm section’s finest dreamscapes as it turns on 

Dulin’s keystrokes. Compare this to the initial tight 

organization of “Tramándote”, which gives way to 

Cleaver and Moreno’s relentless attempts to break it 

down only to then be quickly built back up. 

This is a rare rhythm section and the tunes stand 

alone as complete compositions even without Malaby’s 

saxes. But Moreno’s invitation into the sea of his 

dreams cleverly uses Malaby’s insights and 

improvisations to reflect sequences of feelings, 

impressions, surroundings and sensations. 

For more information, visit freshsoundrecords.com. 

Covered 

Robert Glasper (Blue Note) 

by Joel Roberts 

After winning two Grammy Awards and a large 

audience outside of jazz circles for the R&B and hip 

hop-infused Black Radio (2012 Best R&B Album) and 

Black Radio 2 (2014 Best R&B Album and Best Traditional 

R&B Performance for “Jesus Children”), Robert 

Glasper returns to his roots on his new release—at 

least sort of. 

The album, recorded live at Capitol Studios in Los 

Angeles, features the pianist in an extremely relaxed 

acoustic trio setting with bassist Vicente Archer and 

drummer Damion Reid, with whom he recorded 

Canvas and In My Element, his first dates for Blue Note 

a decade ago. But this is anything but a traditional jazz 

trio album, as Glasper continues his genre-busting 

ways, mingling imaginative covers of tunes by 

Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Musiq Soulchild and John 

Legend, among others, with a rendering of the standard 

“Stella by Starlight” steeped in the sumptuous lyricism 

of Bill Evans (the tune was a staple in the pianist’s ‘60s 

repertoire). 

The originals here include updates on some of his 

Black Radio fare, like opener “I Don’t Care”, which 

seamlessly mixes postbop and dance grooves. The 

pointedly titled “In Case You Forgot” serves as a 

13-minute reminder that Glasper can play the heck out 

of just about anything. He jumps effortlessly from 

adventurous cascades of free jazz to quotes from 

plaintive pop fare like Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make 

You Love Me” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” 

(a song, not incidentally, that Miles Davis received flak 

from jazz critics for covering in the ‘80s). 

The final two tracks delve quite effectively into 

social commentary. “Got Over” is a stirring spokenword 

piece featuring reflections on race and history 

from Harry Belafonte while “I’m Dying of Thirst” 

includes a children’s chorus reciting the names of 

victims of police violence over an ethereal drum-andbass 

groove. It’s a powerful ending to a quietly 

convincing album that makes no concession to genre or 

preconceived notions of what a jazz artist is supposed 

to be or what kind of songs he’s supposed to play. 

For more information, visit bluenote.com. This project is at 

Zankel Hall Dec. 5th. See Calendar. 

ARTURO 

SANDOVAL 

DEAR DIZ 

(EVERY DAY I THINK OF YOU) 

A TRIBUTE TO DIZZY GILLESPIE 

WED, DEC 2, 8 PM 

Co-presented with 

92ND & LEX, NYC 

FOR TICKETS 

92Y.ORG/CONCERTS 

212.415.5500 

An agency of UJA-Federation 


ADRIANE 

LENOX 

big band holidays 

DEC 17–18 • 8PM | DEC 19 • 2PM & 8PM 

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton 

Marsalis and special guest vocalists Audrey 

Shakir and Denzal Sinclaire 

divas of the silver screen: 

celebrating lena horne, 

rosemary clooney 

& ethel waters 

DEC 18–19 • 7PM & 9:30PM 

Featuring TONY Award–winning vocalist Adriane 

Lenox, vocalists Martina DaSilva, Tatiana Eva- 

Marie, and Shenel Johns, tap dancers Michela 

Marino Lerman and Joseph C. Wiggan, and 

pianist Chris Pattishall 

PHOTO BY JOE MARTINEZ 

Rambling Confessions 

John Hébert (Sunnyside) 

by Ken Micallef 

Though Rambling Confessions is the fourth release from 

bassist John Hébert, he is still best known as a sideman. 

And that’s a shame because while his rock-steady time 

feel and huge, tone-rich presentation is an asset to the 

bands of others, Hébert’s intelligence as an arranger 

and composer deserves greater exposure. 

In an era when musicians sometimes compose 

music favoring complexity over conversation, Rambling 

Confessions follows a different, very open path. While 

Hébert’s experiments don’t always work, the eight 

tracks unfold gently and expansively, the music’s easy 

caress welcoming listeners with winding melodies and 

beautiful vocals. Those vocals, by Jen Shyu, act as a 

kind of ethereal glue. Sometimes wordless, always 

willowy, compelling and frequently haunting, Shyu 

transforms scatting into a melismatic art. Her flowing 

spell casts “70’s and 80’s Remix”, for instance, into a 

feverish voodoo chant driven by Hébert’s propulsive 

groove and Andy Milne’s pristine piano. 

The inclusion of drummer Billy Drummond also 

alludes to Herbert’s careful, clever choices. Drummond 

can swing as old school as anyone, but he’s also an 

extremely modern drummer, his at-times Cubist 

approach to dissecting rhythm and creating forward 

motion a pure energy thrill. Drummond, Hébert and 

Milne are perfectly attuned to the smallest shift, the 

kinetic dance of mind and fingers. The trio with Shyu 

transforms “September Song” into a dramatic tightwire 

walk, Burt Bacharach’s “Alfie” into a clearheaded 

rumination unruffled by the song’s inherent reflection 

and Hébert’s original compositions into, well, rambling 

confessions. 

For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com. Hébert 

is at JACK Dec. 5th with Peter Evans and The Jazz Gallery 

Oct. 15th-16th with Mary Halvorson. See Calendar. 

Spanish Donkey, whose 2011 album XYX put Morris 

into a thornier thicket than any of his previous 

recordings. They broadened the scope on last year’s 

Plymouth but it was Slobber Pup’s debut Black Aces in 

2013 (with drummer Balazs Pandi and bassist Trevor 

Dunn), that really built on the Spanish Donkey grind. 

Pole Axe, their followup, brilliantly subs Dunn out for 

saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, who is likewise able to 

hit adrenaline-pumping levels without condensing into 

an unchanging monolith. The album calls back to 

dynamite blasts from the past by Machine Gun and 

Massacre but also admits to some space rock motivations 

over three (two epic and one bite-sized) jams. 

Morris’ second career as a double bassist is hardly 

new news by this point, but at Saft’s behest he has 

plunged into holy waters on Ticonderoga, mining one of 

the great (and often overlooked) records in John 

Coltrane’s later years. After discovering a common 

love for Live at the Village Vanguard Again, Saft 

suggested they do a recording inspired by that 

remarkable album, putting Morris in the role of the 

late Jimmy Garrison. To round out the quartet, they 

invited drummer Charles Downs and saxophonist Joe 

McPhee, who, unbeknownst to them, was in the 

audience at the Vanguard when that record was made. 

The four don’t try overly hard to emulate the record— 

there’s no “My Favorite Things” or extended bass 

solos—but the spirit reigns strongly (with McPhee 

giving perhaps a bit more than a nod on the third of the 

disc’s four tracks). The original was a more relaxed 

record than much of Trane’s later output and they 

respect that vibe, remaining open to exploration 

without trying to blow down the walls. 

Like Saft (or Ellington or Prince), John Zorn has a 

talent for getting the best out of his bands and when he 

first debuted his Dreamers project it seemed a bit like a 

well played (and well played) joke. Here was the cream 

of the Downtown on throwback exotica music inspired 

by easy listening and fake ethnic records from the ‘50s. 

It’s hard to imagine that seven years and five albums 

later the concept is still viable but, no better or worse, 

it is. The fun in Pellucidar: A Dreamers Fantabula is in 

the musicianship. With a band like Saft, guitarist Marc 

Ribot, vibraphonist Kenny Wollesen, bassist Trevor 

Dunn, drummer Joey Baron and percussionist Cyro 

Baptista it’d be hard to go wrong and one thing Zorn 

doesn’t do is go wrong. It’s cheesy, sure, but it’s some 

high-grade cheese and Saft and Ribot in particular 

shine across the album’s nine tracks. Like the old jazz 

adage “you don’t have to swing but I have to be able to 

tell you know how to”, Dreamers shows the importance 

of being able to play in to play out. 

fred hersch & friends: 

intimate moments 

JAN 15–16 • 7PM & 9:30PM 

Pianist Fred Hersch joined by Sullivan Fortner, 

clarinetist Anat Cohen, guitarist Julian Lage, 

and vibraphonist Stefon Harris 

For more information, visit rarenoiserecords.com, 

cleanfeed-records.com and tzadik.com. Saft is at The Stone 

Dec. 6th. See Calendar. 

jazz in the key of life 

JAN 15–16 • 8PM 

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton 

Marsalis and music director Vincent Gardner 

plays the music of Stevie Wonder, Don Hathaway, 

and more 

jazz at 

lincoln center 

jazz.org 

Venue Frederick P. Rose Hall 

Box Office Broadway at 60th, Ground Fl. 

CenterCharge 212-721-6500 

Pole Axe 

Slobber Pup (RareNoise) 

Ticonderoga 

Joe McPhee/Jamie Saft/Joe Morris/Charles Downs 

(Clean Feed) 

Pellucidar: A Dreamers Fantabula 

John Zorn (Tzadik) 

by Kurt Gottschalk 

Jamie Saft is an artist of many talents. Beyond his skills 

as a keyboardist (and guitarist and bassist), he has a 

deep understanding of the use of sound, from the 

distinct qualities of vintage synthesizers and amplifiers 

to how to engineer audio for a record or concert hall. 

He also has a knack for arranging musicians—the 

music but also the people. He can bring out hidden 

sides of a fellow player, from drummer Bobby Previte 

on the brilliant Doom Jazz to, more recently, projects 

that have pulled guitarist Joe Morris into heavier rock 

and metal-informed atmospheres. 

Saft and Morris have known each other since the 

former was studying at the New England Conservatory 

and the latter was gigging around Boston. They first 

found common ground on record years later with 


Gaïa 

Lionel Loueke (Blue Note) 

by Tom Greenland 

Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke is one of the most 

exciting new voices on jazz guitar, a finger-picker who 

combines deep feeling for pulse and intuitive phrasing 

with cutting-edge approaches to rhythm and melody. 

On Gaïa, his eighth outing as a leader, he regroups with 

two colleagues from his student days at Berklee College 

of Music, bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer 

Ferenc Nemeth, for an unadulterated set (i.e., live 

studio audience, no overdubs) of originals. 

“Broken”, the opener, immediately sets the tone 

for the rest of the date, with a robotic guitar sound and 

a complicated yet flowing rhythmic structure over an 

earthy riff, sounding grounded and extraterrestrial all 

at the same time. On many of his compositions, Loueke 

takes a symmetrical structure and slightly shortens or 

lengthens the final phrase by a pulse. For example, 

“Aziza” dances along with a 4+4+4+5 beat grouping 

while the funky “Veuve Malienne” is grouped 4+4+4+3. 

In hands less competent than Biolcati and Nemeth’s 

these long-form rhythmic phrases would limp and 

stutter, but here they flow seamlessly. 

Loueke’s guitar style is biting, not lush, with terse 

chords and stabbing lines, his improvised lines often 

hewing to a modal tone center, but full of surprises as 

well, as when they slip outside the harmonies. He 

reveals a blues-rock edge on several tracks: “Wacko 

Loco”, “Even Teens” and especially “Procession” 

(phrased 4+5+5+5), turning up the distortion and 

pedaling the wah-wah à la Cream-era Eric Clapton. 

His softer sentiments come out on “Sources of Love”, 

where he fleshes out the melodic line with just the 

right amount of chordal accompaniment; “Rain Wash”, 

which opens pensively, becoming more definitive in 

the middle; and a cover of The Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is 

Your Love”, reimagined as a typically asymmetrical 

(4+4+4+3) but infectiously festive samba send-up. The 

title track pulls together all of his best qualities: 

graceful ornamentation, deft touches, liquid phrasing 

and unpredictability, all over a bedrock groove. 

For more information, visit bluenote.com. This project is at 

Jazz Standard Dec. 8th-9th. See Calendar. 

Restive Soul 

Kyle Nasser (Aisa) 

Vol. 01 

Beekman (Discos Pendiente) 

by Donald Elfman 

Kyle Nasser, saxophonist and composer, is intelligent 

and soulful, has a sense of freedom yet understands 

the concept of structure and is a leader with a finely 

tuned sense of organization and order. The two albums 

featured here present all of these facets and transcend 

them to make vital new music. 

Restive Soul is a quintet showcase for which Nasser 

composed challenging but appealing music. “For Rick 

B.” is a perfect illustration of the way Nasser thinks 

and writes: a tribute to a teacher who passed away, it’s 

a deeply felt work that is uptempo and positive with a 

spirit that all can dig into. The theme is stated by 

Nasser on tenor and guitarist Jeff Miles, but the rhythm 

section of Dov Manski (piano), Chris Van Voorst Van 

Beest (bass) and Devin Drobka (drums) anchor the 

tune with propulsive rhythm and keen phrases. Nasser 

solos fervently as does Miles, making good use of the 

electricity coming through his instrument. 

The tunes are diverse and expressive of the 

album’s title. “Angelique” is a gorgeous and dreamy 

ballad with the leader again on tenor. The title tune has 

a rock-like sensibility with Miles in a heavy groove and 

Drobka and Van Voorst Van Beest pushing the band 

forward. “Shadow Army” and “Radiator Lady” are 

both dark and pictorial, with the latter at a faster tempo 

and both having tenor, guitar and piano playing 

attractive melodies. This is a well-seasoned group, 

with each member contributing to the soundscape. 

Beekman is a collective group of Nasser and three 

international players. The tunes on Vol. 01 are richly 

eclectic and satisfying, reflecting the players’ 

backgrounds and a sense of group adventure and 

musical and personal harmony. Nasser plays mostly 

soprano saxophone and pianist Yago Vázquez is found 

exclusively on Rhodes keyboard, both offering finely 

drawn colors. The latter contributes the opener, the 

quietly haunting “Mirrors”, Rhodes providing the 

intro vamp and then Nasser and Vázquez playing the 

inviting and mysterious melody. Nasser’s “Sticky 

Hipster” is up next and it’s another enigmatic melody, 

played on deep-throated tenor, with drummer Rodrigo 

Recabarren doing a quiet rockish shuffle and Vázquez 

delivering an elegant and bittersweet complement. 

Each of the musicians demonstrates compositional 

prowess and group ethos. Recabarren’s boppish 

“Tamborcitos y Huevaditas” flies by with free-form 

grace while bassist Pablo Menares’ “Lem” is an 

intimate ballad. And Nasser, Vázquez and Recabarren 

each offer additional tunes—delicately shaded works 

with feeling, gracious pacing and expressive playing. 

For more information, visit kylenasser.com and 

discospendiente.com. Nasser’s quintet is at Cornelia Street 

Café Dec. 8th. See Calendar. 

Time and the River 

David Sanborn (OKeh) 

by Terrell Holmes 

Alto saxophone icon David Sanborn has endured over 

the years with his distinctive and popular style, 

applying his skyscraping range expertly to every 

project. He steps into his seventh decade with Time and 

the River, an album that proves he has lost none of his 

energy or passion and is still among the best in the 

business. 

The great band that Sanborn has behind him 

includes a dynamite heartbeat composed of drummer 

Marcus Baylor, percussionist Javier Diaz and nonpareil 

bassist Marcus Miller, who also produced the album. 

They lead the way on Sylvain Luc-Alice Soyer’s 

pulsating “A La Verticale”, clearing the path for one of 

the typically vigorous solos that have defined 

Sanborn’s career. The reflective and mysterious 

“Ordinary People” (by Sanborn, not John Legend) has 

fine underscoring on Hammond organ by Ricky 

Peterson and the slight roughness around the edges of 

Sanborn’s tone suits the tune perfectly. Roy Assaf’s 

keyboards and Miller’s sighing bass support Sanborn 

wonderfully on the excellent Sanborn original “Drift”; 

oddly, though, Sanborn’s entry after the dreamy intro 

seems so abrupt it’s almost as though he’s intruding. 

Singer Larry Braggs, of Tower of Power fame, leads the 

band’s cover of “I Can’t Get Next to You”. There’s a 

nod to The Temptations toward the end but the song 

faithfully references Al Green’s version, thus making it 

more Memphis than Motown. Sanborn’s lines 

laughingly mock Braggs’ dilemma, embodying the 

siren he will never get. 

The sensual march of Alice Soyer’s “Oublie Moi” 

and “Seven Days, Seven Nights”, penned by Miller, are 

exceptional because they’re well-spaced and have 

added color and texture, specifically from Peter Hess’ 

excellent work on soprano and tenor saxophones and 

bass clarinet. In the same vein, Randy Crawford’s 

caressing vocals are a perfect match for the lyrical 

opulence of Alan Bergman-Marilyn Bergman-Michel 

Legrand’s ”The Windmills of Your Mind”. Sanborn 

cooks up a faithful version of D’Angelo’s silky “Spanish 

Joint” and things end on a nicely rendered, if somber, 

note with a duet between Sanborn and Assaf on David 

Amram’s theme from The Manchurian Candidate. 

Some of the fade-outs are a little frustrating, 

especially after Nicky Moroch’s blistering guitar solo 

on “A La Verticale”, because one would like to hear 

what’s on the other side of those fading vamps. That 

caveat aside, Sanborn still plays with the bright-eyed 

enthusiasm of someone who’s just starting out and 

Time and the River not only confirms his status in jazz 

but serves notice to Father Time that he has a fight on 

his hands. 

For more information, visit okeh-records.com. Sanborn is at 

Blue Note Dec. 8th-13th. See Calendar. 

VTY Jazz 

creating the 

best jazz 

experience 

on Earth 

Is Proud To Announce 

Another Sunday Serenade 

Dedicated To 

Charlie Parker 

“Bird & Strings” 

Mark Gross Quartet 

+ String Quartet 

Mark Gross: Alto Saxophone 

Theo Hill: Piano 

Kenny Davis: Bass 

Carl Allen: Drums 

*Live from The West End Lounge* 

Sunday, December 20th, 4-7 pm 

$25 with one drink minimum 

The West End Lounge 

955 West End Avenue @ W. 107th Street 

Reservation Hotline: 917-882-9539 

Sunday Street Parking No Meters 

Food & Beverages Are Available 

vtyjazz.com 


Signal Gain 

Josh Sinton/Dominic Lash (OutNow) 

by John Sharpe 

Signal Gain presents the results of a fierce investigation 

of tone and timbre by reedplayer Josh Sinton and 

English bassist Dominic Lash, recorded during the 

latter’s 2011 sojourn in NYC. Sinton’s main axe here is 

amplified contrabass clarinet rather than his more 

customary baritone saxophone and bass clarinet. He 

explores the full gamut of possibilities inherent in the 

setup, from subterranean rumbles to percolating 

susurrations, via vocalized muttering and a range of 

less expected sonorities. Lash, among the first rank of 

adventurous bassists, contributes a dark undertow to 

the date, switching between bow and fingers to match 

Sinton blow for blow. 

Although the core duo features on each of the eight 

cuts, the principals invited four additional collaborators 

to join them in a supplementary session: trumpeter Nate 

Wooley, Ingrid Laubrock (tenor and soprano saxophone), 

Lash’s countryman Alex Ward (clarinet) and Kyoko 

Kitamura (voice). The album is artfully programmed to 

intersperse duet outings between varied small group 

permutations drawn from the guests, with the titles 

indicating the participants. “Las-Lau(t)-Sin-War-Woo” 

proceeds in explosive fits and starts, contrabass clarinet 

snorts and abrasive bass scrapes becoming embroiled in 

a braying but carefully controlled colloquy of 

overlapping voices. “Las-Sin-Woo” develops into an 

exploration of drone tonalities, not unexpected given 

Wooley’s fondness for sustained textures, though that 

doesn’t prepare one for the remarkable passage where 

his trumpet resembles a slowed-down scream. 

But whoever takes part, the various ensembles 

demonstrate a great shared sense of dynamics and 

silence. Kitamura makes her only appearance on “Kit- 

Las-Sin-War” alongside Ward, as the two contrasting 

higher register lines interweave with a staccato bottom 

end. The high point of the disc comes on “Las-Lau(s)- 

Sin”, where soprano saxophone darts, yelps and 

curdles amid spiky bass pizzicato and marauding 

contrabass clarinet murmurs and cries. Whether taken 

one by one or considered as a suite the outcome 

remains compelling. 

For more information, visit outnowrecordings.com. Sinton is at 

Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar Dec. 7th and 14th, Bar Chord Dec. 

9th, The Firehouse Space Dec. 17th, Ibeam Brooklyn Dec. 18th 

with Adam Hopkins and The Stone Dec. 25th. See Calendar. 

Spring Rain 

Samuel Blaser Quartet (Whirlwind) 

by Ken Waxman 

Like the bird that is able to replicate others’ songs, 

Swiss-born, Berlin-based trombonist Samuel Blaser 

adopts particular musical personae for each project. 

On his recent A Mirror to Machaut (Songlines), he 

sophisticatedly reimagined early Renaissance motifs 

for the 21st Century while Spring Rain honors clarinetist 

Jimmy Giuffre’s early ‘60s trio with pianist Paul Bley 

and bassist Steve Swallow by recording five of its 

tunes, plus seven originals in that chamber-jazz style. 

Russ Lossing plays far more Fender Rhodes, 

Wurlitzer and mini-Moog than piano and drummer 

Gerald Cleaver’s rhythmic skills, alongside bassist’s 

Drew Gress’ sympathetic prodding, invest the tunes 

with just enough bottom so that they swing subtly 

while staying true to Giuffre’s elaborate clockworktimed 

concepts. These classics continue to resonate, yet, 

like a new engine inserted in a classic chassis, pieces 

like Bley’s “Temporarily” are souped up, with drum 

rolls adding to the stop-time arrangement. “Trudgin’”, 

a Giuffre line, is stretched past its initial theme with 

elastic-band tautness, as Lossing tints the result with 

baroque-like filigree from electric piano. Even a 

respectful reading of Giuffre’s “Cry Want”, which 

meanders as if the band is motoring along a rural Texas 

trail, has its surface smoothness disrupted by raucous 

trombone snorts and percussive piano key clips. 

Blaser’s compositions broaden the mood with 

uncommon methods. The pensive performance of 

“Missing Mark Suetterlyn” is serrated with in-thepocket 

drum beats and splattering glissandi from 

Wurlitzer. “The First Snow” may swirl with tones, 

courtesy of Fender Rhodes, more akin to ‘70s electric 

jazz, but the narrative’s tough center hardens the 

performance to hail-like consistency. “Umbra”, a 

piano-trombone duo, is a relaxed ballad while two solo 

tracks showcase Blaser’s exquisite instrumental 

command. Spring Rain uniquely salutes a jazz hero 

while showcasing the skills of improvisers who propel 

the tradition in their own manner. 

For more information, visit whirlwindrecordings.com. 

Blaser is at Nublu Dec. 10th, Ibeam Brooklyn Dec. 11th-12th 

and 15th with Max Johnson and Cornelia Street Café Dec. 

13th. See Calendar. 

Paris Frère 

Todd Capp’s Mystery Train (Noncept) 

by John Pietaro 

Though Paris Frère was recorded in Brooklyn, the 

sounds captured could almost be derived from an 

ancient Nordic culture that predicted avant trends. 

But the assemblage doesn’t do ‘world music’; this 

release casts a secret night journey into the avant heart 

of new music. And you’ll want to pay close attention to 

the content lest it envelop you like an aural haunting. 

Drummer-leader Todd Capp directs this brilliant 

ensemble securely from behind. His musicianship is 

exported often times through what he does not play. 

This has been written before about such rare drummers, 

but Capp creates boiling points at pianissimo as needed, 

with marked tacits to increase tension. Stinger accents 

via muted cymbals or atmospheric rim-shots allow the 

mind’s ear to fill in the rest. Or not. Capp experimented 

early on with prime movers of the AACM in Chicago 

before becoming embedded in his native NY’s 

Downtown ‘80s hotbed. In Mystery Train, Capp’s 

contrapuntal drumming works in startling accord with 

Kurt Ralske’s yearning, adventurous cornet, Watson 

Jennison’s beautifully pained reeds and flute (and 

drums on one track), Andrew Lafkas’ driving bass and 

the deep gray tapestries generated by Gao Jiafeng or 

Michael A. Holmes, alternating spots on electronics. 

Add the other-worldly voice tracks of Jiafeng and the 

music crosses into other places, other times. 

Modal phrases, pedal-centered basslines, echoey 

cornet and timpani mallets rolling across toms offers 

something of an ECM vibe, yet there is an urgency that 

cuts to the core of free jazz: a revolutionary declaration 

of sound. The restless foray of Paris Frère may begin on 

the continent but quickly disappears into the highlands 

of the East and out. This is visceral music. Capp and 

company, through five bold pieces, would deny you 

the opportunity ever to categorize Mystery Train. 

For more information, visit toddcappmusic.com. Capp is at 

Scholes Street Studio Dec. 12th as part of 577 Forward 

Festival. See Calendar. 

LISA 

HILTON 

NOCTURNAL 

SUN JAN 17TH 2PM 

WEILL RECITAL HALL AT CARNEGIE HALL 

The world premiere of NOCTURNAL, including 

Midnight Sonata will feature RUDY ROYSTON, J.D. 

ALLEN, INGRID JENSEN and BEN WILLIAMS. 

BOX OFFICE 57th & 7th Ave (student tix avail) 

www.carnegiehall.org / 212-247-7800 

For more info go to: www.LisaHiltonMusic.com 

WATCH “SEDUCTION”: YouTube.com/LisaHiltonMusic 

BUY NOCTURNAL JAN 22ND AT: Amazon.com/iTunes/CDBaby. 

TREVOR DUNN 

THE STONE RESIDENCY 

december 1 - 6 8 and 10pm 

Avenue C and 2nd street 

DECEMBER 1ST 

• Trevor Dunn, Colin Stetson, Greg Fox 

• Trevor Dunn, Thomas Morgan 

DECEMBER 2ND 

• Chamber Pieces 

Marika Hughes, Ben Goldberg, Kris Davis, 

Trevor Dunn, The Secret Quartet: 

Jennifer Choi, Cornelius Dufallo, 

Lev Zhurbin, Yves Dharamraj 

• Trevor Dunn, Eric Slick, Brandon Seabrook 

DECEMBER 3RD 

• SpermChurch: Trevor Dunn/Sannety 

DECEMBER 4TH 

• The Music of Ornette Coleman 

PROOFReaders: Trevor Dunn, Darius Jones, 

Nate Wooley, Ryan Sawyer and guests 

Kevin Shea, Ben Goldberg, Brandon Seabrook 

DECEMBER 5TH 

• trio-convulsant avec des cordes 

Trevor Dunn, Mary Halvorson, Ches Smith, 

The Secret Quartet: Jennifer Choi, 

Cornelius Dufallo, Lev Zhurbin, 

Jeffrey Zeigler 

DECEMBER 6TH 

• Trevor Dunn, Phillip Greenlief, TBA 

• Endangered Blood: Trevor Dunn, 

Chris Speed, Oscar Noriega, Jim Black 


MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT 

NEW HOLIDAY MUSIC 

ALSO NEW 

The Count Basie Orchestra 

A VERY SWINGIN’ 

BASIE CHRISTMAS! 

The legendary orchestra celebrates 

80 years together with their first 

Christmas recording! Includes 11 

holiday tracks and special guests 

Johnny Mathis, Ledisi, Ellis Marsalis 

& Carmen Bradford. 

The David Benoit Trio 

BELIEVE 

FEAT. JANE MONHEIT & 

THE ALL-AMERICAN BOYS CHORUS 

The founding father of contemporary 

jazz’s all-new holiday album 

features trio, choral and orchestral 

renditions of heart-warming, 

holiday-themed favorites. 

Jeff Lorber Fusion 

STEP IT UP 

One of the founding fathers of fusion, 

Lorber continues to ‘step it up’ by 

crystallizing jazz, funk, rock 

and world music with this exciting 

all-new release. 

Fourplay 

SILVER 

In celebration of their 25th 

anniversary, and just like its 

namesake… Silver shines! Features 

10 new compositions and special 

guests Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour 

& Kirk Whalum. 

TROST – Cien FuegOS – The Thing 

upCOming aFTeR SummeR bReak … 

TROST 

TR134 Serries | Dikeman | Noble LP/CD 

TR135 Gustafsson | Pupillo | Chippendale LP/CD 

TR136 Schlippenbach | Takase | Lovens | Dj Illvibe 

LP/CD 

TR137 Sven-Ake Johansson – Konzert für 12 Traktoren 

Picture LP 

TR138 Brötzmann | Hopkins | Ali – Songlines DoCD 

TR139 Vandermark | Harnik | Kern LP/CD 

TR140 Gustafsson 50 th birthday CD-Boxset 

TR141 Made to Break new studio album LP/CD 

TR142 O’Malley | Noble LP/CD 

JukebOx 7” SeRieS 

JBX003 McPhee | Boni 

JBX004 The Thing | Shit & Shine 

Cien FuegOS 

CFX010 Orchester 33 1/3 DoLP 

CF013 Peter Brötzmann Sextet – Nipples LP 

CF014 Peter Brötzmann Group – Alarm LP 

The Thing ReCORdS 

TTR005 The Thing new studio album LP/CD 

www.trost.at 

www.cienfuegosrecords.com 

JR-Trost-Feb-242x153.indd 1 18.06.15 10:59

Blue Whisper 

Amina Figarova (In+Out) 

by George Kanzler 

Since emerging from Azerbaijan over two decades 

ago, pianist Amina Figarova has released a dozen 

albums featuring her compositions for small bands. 

Blue Whisper is her 13th and again features the sextet 

format. Figarova creates a unique musical atmosphere 

and landscape, one undeniably lyrical—veering 

toward but never succumbing to sentimentality—yet 

also full of rhythmically scintillating moments and 

passionate expression. On this album she employs her 

favorite frontline: flute (Bart Platteau) along with 

trumpet/flugelhorn (Alex Pope Norris) and saxophone. 

There is some interchange between members of her 

American and world touring band, but constants are 

Platteau (also her husband) and drummer Jason Brown. 

Wayne Escoffery and Marc Mommaas share saxophone 

duties, as do bassists Luques Curtis and Yasushi 

Nakamura. Flugelhorn and guitar guest on one track 

apiece. And two include voices. 

The album begins and ends with hymn-like pieces. 

The opening title track is a haunting ballad set up by 

liturgical piano chords, with tenor keening a melody 

over flute and flugelhorn; Escoffery then turns to 

soprano to solo over a more insistent beat, which 

morphs to drum rolls under piano, as it calms the 

tempo down to return to the melody. Closer “Hewa”, 

with Sarah Elizabeth Charles singing Swahili lyrics, 

evokes African landscapes in a brooding theme over 

brushes with tenor (Mommaas this time), flute and 

voice taking turns on top. In between, Figarova proves 

adept at a variety of strategies, employing speed, 

syncopation, broken rhythms and even a foray into 

funk (“The Traveler”). Standout tracks include both 

guest spots: “Pictures” conjures tropical breezes with a 

supple AfroLatin undercurrent for Anthony Wilson’s 

enticing guitar solo, evolving into a counterpoint with 

the leader from which she emerges with one of her 

own most forceful solos of the date. Ernie Hammes’ 

flugelhorn feature, the impressionistic “Moonrise”, 

finds his warm tone emerging over arco bass and 

piano, limning an alluring solo over semi-rubato time, 

giving way to musing piano, returning to close over 

pizzicato bass. Like the rest of this CD, the track is 

distinctively a Figarova creation. 

For more information, visit inandout-records.com. Figarova 

is at Smoke Dec. 16th-17th. See Calendar. 

Something Personal 

Houston Person (HighNote) 

by Alex Henderson 

Having recorded more than 70 albums as a leader in 

addition to all of his work as a sideman, veteran tenor 

saxophonist Houston Person is an elder statesman of 

soul jazz. Person’s followers will not be disappointed 

by Something Personal, which finds him joining forces 

with engineer Rudy Van Gelder and leading a swinging 

quintet of Steve Nelson (vibraphone), John di Martino 

(piano), Ray Drummond (bass) and Lewis Nash 

(drums). The quintet becomes a sextet with the addition 

of guitarist James Chirillo on four selections: Carl 

Sigman’s “Crazy He Calls Me”, Irving Berlin’s “Change 

Partners”, Gus Kahn’s “Guilty” and Marvin Hamlisch’s 

theme song from the 1973 movie The Way We Were. 

Person’s recordings have become more laid-back 

in recent years and that holds true here. There are 

uptempo moments, including spirited performances of 

Rudy Toombs’ “Teardrops from My Eyes” and Jimmy 

McHugh-Dorothy Fields’ “On the Sunny Side of the 

Street”. But mostly Something Personal favors a laidback 

sense of swing, from midtempo performances of 

“Change Partners” (transformed into a bossa nova), 

“The Way We Were” and Sammy Cahn’s “The Second 

Time Around” to ballads such as “Guilty” and Benny 

Golson’s “I Remember Clifford”. 

Person’s interpretation of “The Way We Were” is 

an interesting departure from the way Barbra Streisand 

envisioned the song 42 years ago. Person increases the 

tempo and approaches it as an instrumental mixture of 

bop and R&B. Hamlisch’s song received R&B 

makeovers in the ‘70s but seldom has it been heard in 

an instrumental soul jazz setting. And Person’s version, 

for all its R&B-minded grit, is as sentimental as 

Streisand’s. A sense of nostalgia often prevails on this 

CD, which looks back on different musical eras of 20th 

century with appealing results. 

For more information, visit jazzdepot.com. Person is at Jazz 

Standard Dec. 26th-27th. See Calendar. 

Eggs Up High 

Bizingas (NCM East) 

by Clifford Allen 

In 2015, it is almost to be expected—if not required— 

that a jazz musician draw from outside the ‘jazz’ 

sphere of influence in order to create music. The 

amount of music available is pretty staggering, yet the 

ones able to distill this vast sonic landscape into a 

cohesive, taut approach are few. Trombonist Brian 

Drye’s Bizingas (with cornet player Kirk Knuffke, 

guitarist Jonathan Goldberger and drummer Ches 

Smith) has done just that: distilling everything he has 

heard and experienced, from minimalism to creative 

improvisation and post-punk rock, into a band. 

The instrumentation of Bizingas is unique, though 

not limiting, and on the most liberated tunes they 

present a spry, top-heavy and pointillist charge. 

“Hawaii”, the opening piece on Eggs Up High (their 

second disc), begins with overlapping synthesized 

cells in the vein of Laurie Spiegel or Terry Riley, the 

ensemble in a lilting unison that falls away into the 

break-heavy chug of Smith’s kit. Both Drye and 

Knuffke have fat, clear tones and an exacting sense of 

pace and sound stately against the electrified ensemble, 

giving massive and open-ended direction. Whether or 

not they’ve spent countless hours playing together à la 

Ornette and Don Cherry (one would assume so), the 

frontline exudes a hefty, measured telepathy. The 

presence of Smith’s time, whether cluttered or sparsely 

didactic, and Goldberger’s fuzzy whine are cake icing 

when horn players are as in tune as Drye and Knuffke. 

In practice, the quartet balances darting precision 

with ragged tumble—the sputtering volleys between 

drums and Drye’s organ on “Along”, for example—and 

orchestrating meticulous lyrical craft and chaotic 

funkiness is what makes Bizingas’ music intriguing. At 

Brooklyn’s Manhattan Inn’s CD release last month, the 

quartet split Eggs Up High in half and bookended a 

short, deliberately odd solo trombone and electronics 

set by Curtis Hasselbring. If Smith’s explosiveness was 

a little too front-and-center for the small room, the deft 

interplay between trombone, cornet and guitar shaped 

these beguiling, progressive rock-tinged tunes out of 

flexible, gutsy improvisation and infused densely 

scored music with honest, loving openness. 

For more information, visit ncmeast.com. Brian Drye is at 

Ibeam Brooklyn Dec. 11th-12th. See Calendar. 


An Evening With (Live in Europe 2009) 

Herb Geller/Roberto Magris Trio (JMood) 

by Mark Keresman 

The late Herb Geller, who died two years ago this 

month at 85, was a California alto saxophonist, 

arranger and composer who spent much of his post- 

1958 life in Europe. Pianist Roberto Magris was born in 

Italy and currently is musical director of and records 

regularly for the Kansas City label JMood Records. 

This disc captures Geller with Magris’ trio live in Novi 

Sad, Serbia and Vienna, Austria in 2009. 

The album begins with a lovely midtempo semiballad, 

Cole Porter’s “After You”. Geller mixes elegance 

with a touch of sternness, as if he didn’t want to give in 

(too much) to bittersweet reminiscence; Magris’ solo is 

gently probing, as a friend might implore someone to 

let himself feel suppressed emotion(s). Nikola Matosic’s 

bass throbs solidly and Enzo Carpentieri’s drumming 

is full of beautiful, effortless swing. Zoot Sims’ “The 

Red Door” is a bit of hard-swinging bop in which Geller 

aims for and gets a slightly rougher tone. Magris swings 

like a small waterfall, playfully/proudly quoting 

“Groovin’ High”, bass and drums like a real cool, 

steady breeze. The lesser-known Billy Strayhorn ballad 

“Orson” slightly resembles “Jitterbug Waltz”—Geller’s 

crooning narrative is one of the more lovely discourses 

NEW 

236 West 26 Street, Room 804 

New York, NY 10001 

Monday-Saturday, 10:00-6:00 

Tel: 212-675-4480 

Fax: 212-675-4504 

Email: jazzrecordcenter@verizon.net 

Web: jazzrecordcenter.com 

LP’s, CD, Videos (DVD/VHS), 

Books, Magazines, Posters, 

Postcards, T-shirts, 

Calendars, Ephemera 

Buy, Sell, Trade 

Collections bought 

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USED 

Also carrying specialist labels 

e.g. Fresh Sound, Criss Cross, 

Ayler, Silkheart, AUM Fidelity, 

Nagel Heyer, Eremite, Venus, 

Clean Feed, Enja and many more 

jazz ears will glom this year. “9:20 Special” is a Count 

Basie gem featuring smartly swaggering horn going to 

town while drums crackle and pop underneath. “If I 

Were A Bell” brings the Serbian concert portion to an 

end, Geller twisting and winding his way through this 

oft-covered standard with almost reckless passion and 

invention. 

Two tracks from a Vienna performance conclude 

the album. A deliriously artful and intense version of 

Jimmy Rowles’ ballad “The Peacocks” features Geller 

unaccompanied, with hints of Ornette Coleman’s 

pinched, tart sound. Stephen Sondheim’s “Pretty 

Woman” is romantically yearning and yearningly 

romantic but never cloying. Magris’ solo is more than 

slightly percussive but gleamingly lyrical and succinct, 

with Carpentieri adding punchy accents and asides. It 

flows yet there’s a bit of volatility as well. 

Geller is sharp and inventive throughout. There’s 

no coasting on his considerable rep and he and Magris’ 

trio make for a nigh-on-ideal, hand-in-glove alliance. 

While Geller had a few more years to go on this planet, 

An Evening With is as grand a capstone to a long and 

varied career as one may get. 

For more information, visit jmoodrecords.com 

Live In Studio 

Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio (Whaling City Sound) 

by Ken Dryden 

Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio is literally a dream 

come true for the drummer. His third release with two 

NEA Jazz Masters, pianist Kenny Barron and bassist 

Ron Carter, is similar in concept to the earlier CDs, 

though this session was taped live in the studio, adding 

trumpeter Roy Hargrove and/or vocalist Cassandra 

Wilson as guests on several tracks. 

There were a few twists added to the challenge of 

performing before invited audiences. Gibbs chose Top 

40 hits from different decades and didn’t pass out lead 

sheets to Barron and Carter until right before recording, 

though they made valuable suggestions to change a 

few chords. Elegant piano stands out in Burt 

Bacharach’s “Wives and Lovers” with a brief but 

distinctive bass solo and snappy brushwork adding 

icing on the cake. “Spartacus Love Theme” is associated 

with Bill Evans’ poignant solo piano interpretations, 

but Gibbs recasts it as a breezy samba for Barron’s 

driving, inventive playing. Hargrove’s muted trumpet 

adds a sublime touch to “On a Clear Day” while Wilson 

never sounded better on a masterful rendition of 

“Alfie”, a performance that so moved Hargrove that he 

spontaneously joined on flugelhorn in the midst of it. 

Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” has 

always had a bit of Latin flavor, but Gibbs’ conception 

takes it into the Caribbean and adds some dissonance. 

Hargrove conveys the unheard lyric in “What Are You 

Doing the Rest of Your Life?” with an emotional solo. 

Gibbs transforms the sometimes pedestrian ‘60s bossa 

nova “Music to Watch Girls Go By” with his skilled 

brushwork. The CD closes with a rapid-fire bop 

treatment of Henry Mancini’s “Charade”, powered by 

an inspired bassline and showcasing a sassy trumpet 

solo. Let’s hope Barron and Carter will find time to 

make future recordings with the talented Gibbs. 

For more information, visit whalingcitysound.com. Gibbs is 

at Smalls Dec. 8th and Rockefeller 620 Loft Dec. 16th. See 

Calendar. 

New Releases From 

www.inandout-records.com 

AMINA FIGAROVA 

Blue Whisper 

“A consistently satisfying listen.” 

— Jazz Inside Magazine 

Dec. 16 & 17 Smoke Jazz & Supper Club N.Y.C 

SUN RA ARKESTRA 

Babylon Live 

“Celestial mayhem, gleeful abandon, vestigial swing and 

a joyously loose big band come together beautifully.” 

— DownBeat HHHH 

*Deluxe CD/DVD version also available 

RON CARTER & WDR BIG BAND 

My Personal Songbook 

“The first recording of Carter’s original compositions 

performed with an extended jazz orchestra finds 

Carter in a role he was born to play: bandleader!” 

— DownBeat 


RAMÓN VAllE 

Take Off 

“Technical virtuosity and a unique improvisational style, 

deeply influenced by his love for classical music 

and his Cuban heritage, are the ingredients of 

this young piano player.” 

— Jazziz 


Available at 

“Your Source for Jazz, Blues and R&B.” 

www.cduniverse.com 

and fine retailers everywhere 

Distributed by 

www.allegro-music.com 


Radiate 

Liberty Ellman (Pi) 


A glance at his slim discography might suggest that 

guitarist Liberty Ellman is a reluctant bandleader, with 

Radiate his first release since Ophiuchus Butterfly 

appeared in 2006. Listen to the work, though, and it 

may not be reluctance at all, but an intense sense of 

precise statement. A key contributor to Henry 

Threadgill’s Zooid since 2000, Ellman balances clarity 

and feeling, constructing ambiguous, evocative 

structures, which trigger subtly nuanced, yet 

spontaneous improvisations, creating a kind of multidirectional 

lyricism with his bell-like guitar. 

Ellman has put together a remarkable band here, 

with three of the musicians present on Ophiuchus 

Butterfly returning almost a decade later: alto 

saxophonist Steve Lehman, bassist Stephan Crump 

and Jose Davila on tuba and trombone. Trumpeter 

Jonathan Finlayson and drummer Damion Reid 

complete the sextet. For a band that’s rarely convened, 

there’s a rare communication, collective improvisation 

one of the key tools animating this work. The very 

durability of the associations resonates with the style, 

one that links Buddy Bolden and Steve Coleman. 

From the opening “Supercell” the band touches on 

the spirit of New Orleans polyphony. Tuba and trombone 

lines dovetail with guitar and the other horns, updating 

the origins of jazz with playful exuberance. That spirit 

inspires other moments as well, whether it is Ellman 

with acidic alto or piercing, laconic trumpet. Part of the 

charm is the joy that Ellman and Davila clearly take in 

their timbral contrasts (something here harkens back, 

oddly, to a Kid Ory recording session of 1954 that 

included Barney Kessel’s electric guitar). “Furthermore” 

is a highlight, a timeless piece shaped by dramatic, 

oracular drumming. Guitar lines cascade downward, 

their shapes echoed by the responsorial horns. 

For more information, visit pirecordings.com. Ellman is at 

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Dec. 19th with Stephan 

Crump. See Calendar. 

Howard Peach 

Chris Speed/Simon Jermyn/Lander Gyselinck 

(El Negocito-De W.E.R.F.) 

by Phil Freeman 

Howard Peach is the name saxophonist Chris Speed, 

bassist Simon Jermyn and drummer Lander Gyselinck 

have given to their collaborative project. Like FLY, a 

similarly structured ensemble of Mark Turner, Larry 

Grenadier and Jeff Ballard, they are a collective rather 

than a platform for a horn and their music has a 

subdued, gently exploratory quality, which sounds like 

a three-way conversation held from comfortable chairs. 

This is a concise album; six tracks slip past in just 

under 34 minutes. Still, most of them unfold with nearinfinite 

patience. They are not ‘tuneless’—some are 

quite melodic—but built around interaction, not heads 

and solos. The most traditionally ‘jazzy’ pieces, like 

“Chris the Crafty Cockney” and “Sycamore Sea”, offer 

small pleasures like the rumble of Jermyn’s very electric 

bass and Gyselinck’s fascinatingly unpredictable 

approach to the kit, but still feel like concessions. 

By contrast, seven-minute “Hidden Word” takes 

things closer to something unique. Speed emits long, 

low notes, almost heading into the range of a baritone 

saxophone. Drums start out at the edge of perceptibility, 

gradually building up to a tribal thumping, with 

ominous cymbal clatter as an additional way to jangle 

the listener’s nerves. Electric bass is reduced to a nearly 

subsonic throb, occasionally augmented by subtle 

keyboard hums. The piece as a whole recalls Painkiller 

(the trio of John Zorn, Bill Laswell and drummer Mick 

Harris) circa their dubby, ambient-influenced Execution 

Ground set; it’s marvelously creepy. 

They return to this territory on the album’s closing 

track, “Atlantis 1987”, with Jermyn strumming weirdly 

fusion-y ripples between a sleepwalking Speed and 

Gyselinck’s rattles and whispers, which almost sound 

more like a field recording than a musical instrument 

being ‘played’ in any traditional sense. This group has 

a surprising, present-day sound, which offers enough 

challenges to the listener to make further releases a 

very enticing prospect. 

For more information, visit elnegocitorecords.com. Speed 

and Jermyn are at The Stone Dec. 6th with Endangered 

Blood and 27th with Jim Black, respectively. See Calendar. 

Flip-Flop 

John Yao and his 17-Piece Instrument (See Tao) 

by Elliott Simon 

John Yao and his “Instrument” have been showcasing 

a new take on postmodern swing in NYC venues of 

late. And although he eschews guitar for a fifth 

trombone, the remaining classic big band setup serves 

as his 17-Piece Instrument. Rooted in the importance of 

composition and arranging that made the ‘30s swing, 

Flip-Flop takes the genre into infrequently charted big 

band territory. 

Yao’s trombone is nice and warm but it can also be 

cutting, as on the contemplative “Reflection”, 

morphing into slightly off-kilter decisiveness. Yao’s 

time with both the Vanguard and Afro Latin Jazz 

Orchestras has left its mark—a facility for complex 

tight arrangements—but compared to those environs 

this session is way riskier. Yao is also well connected 

and top players such as saxophonists John O’Gallagher 

and Rich Perry, trombonist Luis Bonilla and trumpet 

players Andy Gravish and David Smith enable Yao 

to pull off his genre bending remarkably well. 

“Soundscape No. 1”’s ethereal ambience and “No. 2”’s 

moody atmosphere stray furthest from the comfort of 

head/solo/head but most of these 10 new compositions 

have their own edgy moments. 

The title track is a mixture of changing sonic 

environments. It is part what Miles Davis called “the 

stuff that makes one feel that shit all up in your body” 

and crisscrossing O’Gallagher alto and Perry tenor 

saxophones make for an expansive opener. “Ode to the 

Last Twinkie” seductively sucks one in and then 

devolves into freeformish cacophony while “Hellgate” 

takes a familiar path before veering off into Jon 

Irabagon’s tenor bop. There is a plaintive innocence to 

“Slow Children at Play”, which easily channels a Latin 

groove and “Illumination”’s classically informed 

interchange between Frank Basile’s baritone saxophone 

and Alejandro Aviles’ flute is superb. “New Guy”, with 

flowing comfortable solos from Gravish and Yao, is in 

danger of being soppy but drummer Vince Cherico 

does not let that happen. The surprisingly traditional 

“Out of Socket” closes out the session as a platform set 

up by pianist Jesse Stacken for sweet soloing from 

Aviles (alto), Kajiwara Tokunori (trombone) and Jason 

Wiseman (trumpet). Flip-Flop…not your grandfather’s 

big band. 

For more information, visit johnyao.com. This project is at 

Greenwich House Music School Dec. 10th. See Calendar. 

LESLIE PINTCHIK TRIO 

Saturday, December 12th @ Alvin & Friends 

From 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM 

14 Memorial Highway, New Rochelle, (914) 654-6549 

Thursday, December 17th @ Jazz at Kitano 

Sets at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM 

66 Park Avenue @ 38th Street, NYC (212) 885-7119 

Leslie Pintchik - piano 

Scott Hardy - bass 

Michael Sarin - drums 

“...a gorgeous display 

of the trio...” 

WBGO 

www.lesliepintchik.com 

Hosted by trombonist/composer CRAIG HARRIS, 

a major figure in jazz for over thirty years. 

Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 

59 W. 137 th Street 

(between Lenox and Fifth Aves.) 

1 st set 12 – 12:45pm ~ 2 nd set 1 – 1:45pm 

Admission is just $15! 

(discount for students, seniors and groups) 

212-662-7779 

Tickets at the door or welcometoharlem.com 

TOUR COMPANIES ARE WELCOME 

December 1 st 

December 8 th 

December 15 th 

John Clark 

Rod Williams 

Marvin Sewell 

December 22 nd Richard Fairfax 

December 29 th 

Dick Griffin 


He’s available now! Call Steve’s cell at 630-865-6849. 

Manhattan’s 

Only Independent 

Drum Shop 

• Great vibe 

• Friendly, knowledgeable staff 

• Vintage and custom specialists 

• Stock always changing 

• Always buying 

Midtown Manhattan 

723 Seventh Avenue, 3rd / 4th Floor 

New York, NY 10019 Ph: 212-730-8138 

www.maxwelldrums.com 

“My rst impulse is always to describe Lou Donaldson as 

the greatest alto saxophonist in the world.” 

LOU DONALDSON 

QUARTET 

SAT | DEC 12 | 8 PM 

@ flushing town hall 

(Will Friedwald, New York Sun) 

Lou Donaldson (saxophone) | Eric Johnson (guitar) 

Fukushi Tainaka (drums) | Pat Bianchi (Hammond B3 organ) 

Tickets: $42/$32 Members/$20 Students; 

Table Packages: $125/$100 Members (Reserved Table for 2, Wine & Snacks) 

JAZZ 

CONCERTS & JAMS 

@ FLUSHING TOWN HALL 

MONTHLY JAZZ JAMS 

First Wednesday each month at 7pm; FREE for students and jamming musicians 

Jazz Jams are a fun way to hone your skills, and jam each month with your peers. Don’t play? Come listen! 

use JR20 & get 20 % off! (general tickets only) 

tickets & info: www.flushingtownhall.org | (718) 463-7700 x222 

Only minutes walk from 

Flushing-Main St. 

LIRR BUS

Machine Language 

Bob Belden Animation (RareNoise) 

In An Ambient Way 

Powerhouse (Chesky) 

by Ken Micallef 

Bob Belden, who passed away May 20th at 58, was not 

simply another saxophonist or bandleader or producer. 

He possessed the kind of deep passion, profound 

knowledge and searing intelligence seldom seen in the 

music business, cared deeply about the music, never 

suffered fools gladly and was honest to a fault. Belden 

could be difficult, but only because he insisted on 

getting it right, every time. Le Poisson Rouge hosted a 

tribute to Belden last month, attended by fans and 

fellow musicians. Emceed by producer Michael 

Cuscuna, the event featured performances, video 

salutes and remembrances by Chick Corea, Herbie 

Hancock and Bret Primack. 

What was as striking as the emotion on display 

and performances by Belden’s Animation, Animation/ 

Imagination and Treasure Island bands was the 

realization that Belden’s music was never beholden to 

the past. He may have used historical compositional 

elements, but his music was forever moving forward. 

The music performed by trumpeter Tim Hagans, 

trombonist Conrad Herwig, drummer Billy Kilson, 

pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Jay Anderson and others 

was deeply rooted in Belden’s love of such Miles Davis 

albums as Bitches Brew and Decoy. Belden worked on 

various Davis projects and was committed to exploring 

the master’s oeuvre. But two of Belden’s final works 

are informed by modern electronic/dance music and 

science fiction scenarios, not nostalgia. 

Framed by Kurt Elling’s regal narration, 

Animation’s Machine Language describes an unsettling 

scenario spelled out over 12 largely drum-and-bass 

propelled pieces. Performed by Belden, trumpeter Pete 

Clagett, keyboardist Roberto Verastegui, bassist Bill 

Laswell and drummer Matt Young, Machine Language is 

curious and musically adventurous. Opener “A Child’s 

Dream”’s sullen trumpet tones and dark atmospheres 

surround Elling’s introduction of a child who is really 

an embryonic Artificial Intelligence. Laswell’s bass 

spreads like a lava flow and grooves upend pastoral 

vibes. Pure machines and human machines combine in 

“Eternality”. Filtered Rhodes and long held trumpet 

notes imbue “Evolved Virtual Identity” with a spectral 

hue. Melodic/rhythmic stasis suspends “A Machine’s 

Dream”, which is the end note of the album and the 

end of the human. 

Lenny White’s galloping funk drumming and Oz 

Noy’s chomping guitar signal In An Ambient Way, a 

unique take on Miles Davis material, the approach to 

which Laswell has said is, “open to interpretation and 

reinterpretation, it continues on and on and on, it never 

resolves. Because there’s no foundation, it’s just 

floating through the ether.” In that way, while In An 

Ambient Way is grounded in Davis’ electric period, it 

primarily establishes a palette of open improvisation. 

Belden’s soprano sax and flute inform only the edges 

of this meditative set, such burns as “Early Minor” and 

“It’s About That Time” explored respectfully, but 

without regard to directions or culminations. Belden’s 

playing in closer “In A Silent Way” is heraldic and 

thoughtful, subtle and beautiful. A fitting final note 

from an American master. 

For more information, visit rarenoiserecords.com and chesky.com 

the concluding “Chewy”; his playing can be soothing, 

sparkling or supple. Ughi supplies necessary pitches 

and rhythms at crucial points, never bringing attention 

to himself, subtly strengthening each musical foray. 

If only the same could be said of drummer Grant 

Calvin Weston. His every move appears to be 

telegraphed with crude pumps and cranked-up 

battering, though it must be admitted that his strategy 

locks in positively with Lucas Brode’s strained guitar 

wiggles and repeated sound loops on Flying Kites. The 

12 numbers appear to involve studio wizardry, with 

Weston recording his drum, percussion and synthesizer 

parts in Philadelphia while Brode’s guitar, effects and 

loops were recorded in Somers, N.Y. Occasionally 

fireworks are put aside for more restrained fare: 

“As Luck Would Have It” and “Slowly Wandering” 

pull back from metal-styled excess, but in the same 

fashion a rock band introduces an obligatory ballad in 

the middle of an arena set. Built on folksy strums, the 

former show Brode’s controlled dynamics, almost lutelike 

in execution, until Weston’s synths add some 

oomph with spluttering processes. On the latter, 

repetitive steel guitar-like licks move with the 

simplicity of updated Santana and McLaughlin. “What 

It Is” stands out as what the two could have achieved 

with more restraint. A hard shuffle taking inspiration 

from both hip-hop and blues, the track alone justifies 

Brode’s effects collection, since he applies them with 

an artist’s not a house-painter’s strokes. Meanwhile, 

Weston’s buzzing smacks add drama and emotion to 

the exposition while showcasing a theme that deserves 

the restatement it gets before the track ends. 

For more information, visit 577records.com. These projects 

are at Scholes Street Studio Dec. 13th-14th as part of 577 

Forward Festival. See Calendar. 

Coordinate Orientali 

Gabriele Meirano/Federico Ughi (577 Records) 

Flying Kites 

Grant Calvin Weston/Lucas Brode (577 Records) 

by Ken Waxman 

Astute scholars of American politics could find more 

similarities in the policies of Donald Trump and Bernie 

Sanders than between these CDs. Released on the same 

label, both are duos that highlight powerhouse 

drumming, but after that everything diverges. 

Coordinate Orientali showcases the interplay 

between pianist Gabriele Meirano, a presence on the 

London and Copenhagen scenes, and New York 

drummer Federico Ughi. The eight tracks were recorded 

in Shanghai, where Meirano now lives. Both born in 

Italy, Meirano and Ughi’s session could be one of the 

most significant Italian excursions into China since 

Marco Polo. But these are jazz players not ethnic music 

adaptors so, despite temple bell pealing and guzheng 

string-plucking inferences in tunes such as “Jin Ling 

Road”, piano solos lean more towards Chick Corea’s 

Latin side and Thelonious Monk’s angularity. A 

gentleness characterizes pieces such as “Double 

Happiness” and “Magic Moe”, though the former 

cloaks a core of steel underneath tangy sweetness and 

cascading piano glissandi threaten to turn the latter 

excessively formalist until tuned cymbal vibrations 

help it relax into a stark ballad. Meirano uses a classy 

variant of hunt-and-peck to source the proper notes on 


A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters 

John Coltrane (Impulse!-Verve) 


Returning from overseas in the spring of 1965, one of 

the first sounds this reviewer heard from a phonograph 

in the Southern States barracks that was then home 

was saxophonist John Coltrane’s album A Love Supreme. 

Later in the decade, I would hear it in Africa—on the 

radio and referenced by Highlife and AfroPop 

musicians—and in America on sound systems during 

rock concert intermissions. And guitarist Carlos 

Santana’s experience, recounted in the notes written 

by Coltrane scholar Ashley Kahn, of first having been 

turned on to this music while smoking pot, was not an 

unusual one in the ‘60s-70s. 

For A Love Supreme is one of those very rare 

albums, or any artifact for that matter, that transcends 

labels and genres. It was one of the avatars of the 

cultural zeitgeist that has come to be known as The 

Sixties. Beyond its ‘spiritual’ influence—echoing 

worship and mysticism—so new to jazz, its core 

musical phrases and riffs were disseminated far and 

wide, popping up in rock music as diverse as Santana 

and Steely Dan. And thanks to the FCC’s “FM nonduplication 

rule” issued the year before, the album 

also became part of the new free-form FM radio format. 

Here, in its 50th anniversary year of release, we 

have the complete original LP expanded to two CDs 

(three LPs) or, in a deluxe version of three CDs and 

including a booklet of photos, Coltrane’s handwritten 

charts and even fascsimile of the reel boxes. The latter 

includes the only recording of a live performance of 

the complete A Love Supreme, from the French Antibes 

Jazz Festival (Jul. 26th, 1965) on the third CD. Added to 

the original LP music on the first CD are two monaural 

“reference” tracks given to Coltrane of the last two 

parts of the suite. CD 2 contains both alternate takes 

and overdubs from the quartet sessions, including the 

vocal overdubs of Part I and the undubbed version of 

Part IV (Coltrane added his own alto saxophone to the 

tenor saxophone coda on the released version). The 

quartet session was Dec. 9th, 1964; the next day 

Coltrane brought a sextet in and recorded four takes 

and two breakdowns of Part I— “Acknowledgement”, 

which makes up the rest of the second disc. 

The inclusion of alternate takes and the concert 

recording here further emphasize the singular 

achievement of the original album. There is a 

concentrated focus to the music achieved in the 

legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ 

that day because, more than was usual for Coltrane, he 

oversaw every detail of the performance. The 

overdubbing of the vocal chant—associating words, 

however brief, with the music cannot be discounted as 

a major reason for the album’s astounding popular 

success—demonstrates that detail, as does hearing 

“Part IV—Psalm” before Coltrane added the 

overdubbed alto, which gives the final version the 

choir-like quality of a hymn. 

The roles of his sidemen were also carefully 

monitored, with bassist Jimmy Garrison repeating the 

1-2-5 “love supreme” motif introduced in “Part I— 

Acknowledgement” toward the conclusion of “Part 

III—Pursuance”. Elvin Jones’ drumming was also more 

directed than was usual on other quartet sessions and 

performances, as Coltrane seems to have restricted his 

sonic palette and range, so that certain tones and 

timbres, like tympani (probably tuned toms) or tight 

snare and/or cymbal rolls dominate at specific times. 

Adding tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp and bassist 

Art Davis to the basic quartet (pianist McCoy Tyner 

rounded out the group) the next day in the studio, 

Coltrane tried more elaborate approaches to “Part I— 

Acknowledgement” and the results are fascinating on 

their own. But we should be grateful he decided not to 

tamper with the concentrated, almost austere quartet 

version that became the classic album. 

How focused and singular that album is becomes 

even more clear when compared to the live recording 

of the work from Antibes, a fine example of the passion 

and energy of the Coltrane Quartet typical of other live 

recordings, but not much related to the iconic sound of 

the studio LP. 

For more information, visit vervemusicgroup.com 

the first people journalists would contact when they 

needed an authority on jazz-related topics. In addition 

to his work in jazz education, Taylor was a superb 

pianist and he is in fine form on this 1969 session, 

released by MPS Records in Europe as Sleeping Bee but 

titled Billy Taylor Today when Prestige rereleased it in 

the United States. 

Stylistically, Taylor favored a melodic but hardswinging 

approach along the lines of Wynton Kelly, 

Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones and Red Garland, all of 

whom are valid comparisons on Sleeping Bee. Taylor 

leads a trio of bassist Ben Tucker and drummer Grady 

Tate, the same band for his 1968 session I Wish I Knew 

How It Would Feel to Be Free. Now 83, Tate is the trio’s 

lone survivor. Tucker, who played with everyone from 

guitarist Grant Green to flutist Herbie Mann, died in 

2013. 

The performances are straightahead hardbop and 

include memorable Taylor originals such as the 

exuberant “Don’t Go Down South”, sentimental 

“Theodora” and infectious blues “Bye, Y’all”. Taylor is 

equally appealing on the program’s non-originals, 

which range from Oscar Brown, Jr.’s “Brother, Where 

Are You?” to Tin Pan Alley standards by Harry Warren 

(“There Will Never Be Another You”) and Harold Arlen 

(“A Sleeping Bee”). 

It’s no secret that Taylor was a major admirer of 

Erroll Garner, who he respected as both a pianist and 

composer. And his affection for Garner’s work comes 

through on an inspired performance of “Le Petite 

Mambo”, a Garner blues with an AfroCuban influence. 

Taylor’s improvisations acknowledge Garner’s 

distinctive style, although not at the expense of his 

own pianistic identity. 

For more information, visit mps-music.com 

Sleeping Bee 

Billy Taylor (MPS-Edel) 


Dr. Billy Taylor, who was 89 when he died of a heart 

attack in Manhattan five years ago on Dec. 28th, 2010, 

went down in history as one of jazz’ most articulate 

and passionate cheerleaders. The educator/broadcaster 

knew the history of jazz inside and out and was one of 


THE GET UP AND DANCE 

MUSICAL CELEBRATION! 

Starring Bob Baldori 

and Arthur MIGLIAZZA 

“Sets the stage 

ON FIRE” 

-NY THEATER PIZAZZ 

“breathtaking” 

-Theater Scene 

“explosively 

memorable” 

-The knockturnal 

The Straight Horn of Africa: A Path to Liberation 

(The Art of the Soprano, Vol. 2) 

Sam Newsome (Some New Music) 


If the story of saxophonist Sam Newsome’s personal 

journey isn’t well known by this point, it should be. 

A star soloist in Terence Blanchard’s band, he started 

focusing on solo work under the influence of Anthony 

Braxton, Steve Lacy and Evan Parker recordings and 

promptly headed back to the woodshed. Quickly 

mastering the reed-popping and overblowing 

vocabulary of extended improvisers, he returned 

playing solo shows in small venues around town. What 

makes his use of it so special, however, is that he wasn’t 

looking to change religions. His music is still in the 

pocket, still faithful to the tradition he came up in and 

focusing in particular on Monk’s twisting melody lines. 

The Straight Horn of Africa: A Path to Liberation 

expands the effort in a couple of ways. First, the tunes 

are all his own this time around and he shows himself to 

be an adept composer. Second, he multi-tracks his horn, 

making him his own backing band and percussion 

section. The album works around a theme of African 

music and Newsome doesn’t consider the enormous 

continent passively. He references the scope of the land, 

with nods to Arabic and Ethiopian Jewish traditions. At 

the same time, he isn’t looking to mimic the music. Just 

as he did with so-called ‘avant garde’ techniques, he 

absorbs the ideas and uses them to his advantage. 

And the technique, if the point is not already clear, 

is exceptional. When Newsome forces his horn into the 

upper register, it’s never with anything but pitch-perfect 

melodies. When he builds a drum track from layered 

pops, he ends up with something that doesn’t sound 

exactly like congas and tribal drums but still feels like it. 

At times the record bears the feel of classic World 

Saxophone Quartet albums except, of course, it’s all just 

him. It’s rare that a traditionalist creates something so 

unique. Count Newsome among Dave Burrell and Aki 

Takasi as respectful reinventors of history. 

For more information, visit samnewsomemusic.com. 

Newsome is at Cornelia Street Café Dec. 20th with Dave 

Liebman. See Calendar. 

European model than the American variant. Melody is 

more hinted at than stated, but there is a harmonious 

quality to much of Inside The Sun. Opener “Stars” is 

reflective, piano notes gracefully in the ether among 

cymbal washes and plucked guitar. Then a pensive 

motif occurs, as the band (Ryan Ferreira: guitar; Pat 

Reid: bass; Nathan Ellman-Bell: drums) buttresses 

Toren’s playing and disposition. The title piece begins 

with a gentle piano ostinato while electric guitar sighs 

and rings as if from afar. Toren makes with some 

attractive brightly lyrical exposition and Ferreira 

responds by getting slightly agitated and seagull-call 

surreal (an earlier generation would call it psychedelic)— 

it’s a compelling use of contrasts, which nonetheless 

maintains the inward journey vibe. Closer “Old Friend” 

begins as a furious free blowout before its evolution into 

a meandering space-out. Decent enough, but nothing 

avant-jazz fans haven’t heard many times before. 

Everyone Knows Everyone 1 by Pugs & Crows comes 

from a different place entirely. This Canadian sextet, of 

which Toren is a member, is closer in essence to the 

Chicago-based post-rock ensemble Tortoise. While there 

are aspects of jazz, rock, world music, film music and 

free improvisation, it’s difficult to pinpoint where one 

leaves off and another begins—in other words, a true 

example of fusion that has nothing to do with marketing 

labels. 

“Goya Baby” could be an outtake from The 

Mahavishnu Orchestra’s The Inner Mounting Flame. 

Meredith Bates’ Balkan-hued violin cries soulfully while 

the rest of the band (guest Tony Wilson and Cole 

Schmidt: guitars; Russell Sholberg: bass; Ben Brown: 

drums; Chris Gestrin: alto sax) swirls like a rising storm 

beneath, one of the guitarists pealing out haunting slide 

playing. A Spanish-hinted melody asserts itself and 

there’s some darting ensemble playing. Toren plays 

gently driving and lyrical acoustic piano, which 

gradually rises in intensity. Southwestern European 

motifs, perky, somewhat angular ensemble playing, jazz 

improvisation and rock instrumentation and dynamics— 

and it’s all in one compelling track. “Long Walk 

(Reprise)” juxtaposes Grateful Dead-like jamming 

(sparkling electric guitar) and punchy, jazz fusionstyled 

unison playing and the finale “Slowpoke” has a 

languid, way-out-West/in-the-desert feel with subtle 

blues undertones from guitar and keening violin that 

stings like a cactus needle. And there’s keyboards that 

shimmer and smoke like rainwater evaporating from 

hot pavement or rocks in the wilderness. 

Those predisposed to jazz that puts improvisational 

interplay out front are recommended to check out Inside 

The Sun. Eclectics partial to genre-blurring bands should 

rush to Everyone Knows Everyone 1. 

For more information, visit cat-toren.com and 

pugsandcrows.bandcamp.com 

jazz, blues, swing, stride, 

rhythm & blues, and rock n' roll 

Elektra Theatre in the Heart of Broadway 

300 W. 43rd @ 8th Ave 

Wed, Thurs, Fri 8PM & Sat 8:30PM 

866-811-4111 • BOOGIESTOMP.COM 

Inside The Sun 

Cat Toren Band (Green Ideas) 

Everyone Knows Everyone 1 

Pugs & Crows & Tony Wilson (Noschmo) 

by Mark Keresman 

Pianist Cat Toren is originally from Vancouver, Canada 

and now calls Brooklyn home. Her style evokes the 

iconic ECM sound without being derivative of it. There 

is plenty of space between the notes and use of judicious 

silence is a big part of her recent album Inside The Sun. 

This is moody chamber jazz, wherein atmosphere, 

improvisation and emotive shades take prominence 

over conventional melody and swing. 

Inside The Sun might be described as a combination 

of space rock and free improvisation closer to the 


From The Attic of My Mind 

Sam Most (Xanadu-Elemental Music) 

by Ken Dryden 

Flute players have rarely gotten their due. The late 

Sam Most, who was born 85 years ago this month and 

passed away in 2013, made it even harder to gain 

recognition by his reluctance to promote himself. 

Although he played tenor saxophone and occasionally 

clarinet, Most was known for his work on flute while 

being one of the first to sing as he played. Following a 

number of records in the ‘50s, he didn’t make any new 

albums under his own name until approached by Don 

Schlitten of Xanadu Records in the mid ‘70s. 

This 1975 session features a strong supporting 

cast: pianist Kenny Barron, bassist George Mraz, 

drummer Walter Bolden and percussionist Warren 

Smith. The set focuses exclusively on Most’s potent 

originals, all excellent blowing vehicles. There are 

plenty of fireworks in “What Is, Is”, a fast-paced 

opener featuring frequent song quotes, ranging from 

the operas Carmen and Pagliacci to jazz and pop 

favorites. The sensuous samba “Breath of Love” finds 

Most switching to the deeper sound of alto flute, 

enriched by spacious, dreamy piano. The spry, upbeat 

ballad “You Are Always the One” is a treasure awaiting 

discovery, in which flute practically sings a vocal line; 

it would be perfect for a vocalist with an added lyric. 

“Child of the Forest” is a peppy bossa nova marked by 

the leader’s pronounced vibrato and Barron’s 

contrasting laidback solo. The bittersweet “One 

Forgotten Yesterday”, Most returning to alto flute, is 

an emotional ballad played as a duet with Barron in a 

strong supportive role. “Keep Moving” is an 

unexpected detour into funky blues accented by offcenter 

percussion at unpredictable moments, along 

with Most’s sung lines as he plays. 

Like other CDs in Elemental Music’s Xanadu 

reissue series, no expense has been spared in restoring 

the Hurricane Sandy-damaged master tapes while 

reproducing both the original cover and liner notes, in 

addition to new notes and reissue producer Zev 

Feldman’s comments. This unjustly neglected 

recording will hopefully make flute fans aware of 

Most’s contributions. 

For more information, visit elemental-music.com 

Everybody Digs Michel Doneda 

Michel Doneda (Relative Pitch) 


In 1959, Riverside Records released Everybody Digs Bill 

Evans, hoping to garner attention for the relatively 

unrecognized pianist’s second LP with a cover devoted 

to accolades from Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal and 

Cannonball Adderley. Relative Pitch has wittily 

adapted the title and design for this solo recital by 

Michel Doneda, covering it with quotes from fellow 

soprano saxophonists including John Butcher, Sam 

Newsome and Dave Liebman, beginning with Evan 

Parker’s acrostic “May I commend his excellent legato? 

Don’t our needy ears delight anew?” The homage is 

fitting, not only as tacit declaration that history does 

belong to the experimenters, but to emphasize 

Doneda’s stature: a significant voice in Europe for over 

30 years, he is relatively unknown in America. 

Doneda applies an array of techniques to create a 

highly personal vision. The music was recorded at La 

Chapelle De La Planques, an ancient stone church in 

the town of Tanus in the French Pyrenees, but while 

the church undoubtedly contributes to the resonance, 

there’s more here than the delay provided by its 

Romanesque architecture. 

Exploring the nooks and crannies of his horn as 

much as those of the church, Doneda creates a labyrinth 

of air, breath passing through the horn in various 

densities, sometimes creating more than one phantom 

pitch, sometimes simply a series of pitch shifts in air. 

Pad slaps can signal ominously in what appears to be a 

vast echo chamber. At times his sound is flute-like, 

achieving the effect of both a monk’s shakuhachi and 

the mountain that echoes it. At other times it’s a wind 

tunnel and the insects, birds and animals that have 

found their way inside. So profound is Doneda’s 

involvement in the interior, almost secret, life of his 

horn that it comes as a shock when it suddenly blares 

forth as a saxophone. 

While Doneda brings a host of techniques to his 

work, the music is never simply about that. He 

simultaneously creates both the perspective of the 

explorer and the world through which he moves. 

For more information, visit relativepitchrecords.com. 

Doneda is at Cornelia Street Café Dec. 20th with Dave 

Liebman and Soup & Sound Dec. 21st. See Calendar. 

Anomic Aphasia 

Han-earl Park Quartet (SLAM) 

by Ken Waxman 

Guitarist Han-earl Park joins those improvisers who 

conceive of a playbook for interactive tactics—his is 

called Metis 9. He uses what he calls “focused 

complexity” to formulate strategies alongside tenor 

and soprano saxophonist Catherine Sikora throughout 

Anomic Aphasia, as well as baritone saxophonist/bass 

clarinetist Josh Sinton on three tracks and guitarist 

Nick Didkovsky on two others. 

Like a plucky heroine faced with rebellious robots 

in a sci-fi flick, Sikora’s vocally inflected timbres, 

especially on the nearly 27½ minute “Monopod”, add 

necessary human-sourced harmony to the complex 

jangles and static interference from the guitars. As the 

guitarists clip staccato whines with ingot-like density 

from below the bridges and along the necks, her wistful 

soprano saxophone variations preserve the linear form, 

eventually making common cause with offbeat folksy 

strums from one string player. Hear Sikora’s final 

unaccompanied cadenza as potential human triumph 

over, or coexistence with, the widening machineproduced 

tremolo pumps. A folk-like overlay also 

makes its appearance on the concluding “Stopcock”, 

although the tenor saxophonist’s concentrated 

upwards snarls and magnetic near-string-tearing pops 

from guitar strings make the track so atmospheric as to 

become almost frightening. 

The wailing vigor of Sinton’s bottom-pitched horns 

adds to the reeds’ aleatoric strategies on the other three 

tracks. Nearly verbalized reed tones are so euphonious 

on “Flying Rods” that the subsequent layered lines 

nearly move into songbook territory. But Park’s parallel 

flanges and hard thumping keeps the results 

electronically plugged in as well as pointedly blended. 

Sardonically printing a faux questionnaire about 

Metis 9 application in the CD booklet shows that Park 

champions music over theory. With associates like 

Sikora, Didkovsky and Sinton, it appears he can have it 

both ways. 

For more information, visit slamproductions.net. Park is at 

New Revolution Arts Dec. 12th and Delroy’s Cafe and Wine 

Bar Dec. 14th. See Calendar. 

IN PRINT 

Don Alias: Stories of a Legendary Percussionist 

Melanie Futorian (s/r) 

by Russ Musto 

Despite the collaborative nature of jazz, sidemen 

rarely receive media coverage commensurate with 

the importance of their musical contributions. The 

prototypical sideman, percussionist Don Alias 

(pronounced a–lie–us) appeared on numerous 

record dates and concert performances during his 

50-year career, playing drums, congas and bongo 

with many of the music’s most important artists. 

To honor the memory of Alias, born Christmas 

Day 1939 and who passed away suddenly in 2006 at 

the age of 66, Melanie Futorian has assembled a 

brief but engaging narrative of the life of her 

longtime companion, culled from their many 

conversations and his own journal entries. The 

resultant tome offers an illuminating glimpse not 

only into a life of the first-call percussionist, but the 

various music worlds of which he was such an 

important part. 

Alias recounts tales of growing up in a West 

Indian household in ‘40s Harlem, first hearing and 

then playing AfroCuban music in his multicultural 

neighborhood, prior to his first professional gig 

playing for Eartha Kitt dance performances, 

including one at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival 

with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie that introduced him 

to the jazz world. He tells how a stint with pianist/ 

vocalist Nina Simone brought him to the attention of 

Miles Davis (on whose Bitches Brew date he played) 

after which he became the ‘go-to’ percussionist on 

the burgeoning fusion scene of the ‘70s. 

Anecdotal tales of work with jazz drum masters 

Tony Williams and Elvin Jones and popular music 

icons Lou Rawls and Trini Lopez testify to the broad 

range of his experience. His brutally honest accounts 

of working with jazz-rock outfit Blood, Sweat & 

Tears and mercurial bassist Jaco Pastorius are most 

telling, as is a chapter regarding his period as 

songwriter/vocalist Joni Mitchell’s significant other. 

There are plenty of tears and laughter along the way, 

with remembrances of many tours with saxophonist 

Dave Sanborn and others that took him around the 

world many times, giving keen insight into the 

thrills and travails of life on the road. Futorian’s 

photos and Yoko Yamabe’s artwork offer a 

compelling visual complement to the revealing 

chronicle. 


AwwlRIGHT! 

Mike LeDonne (Savant) 


Around the turn of the century, pianist Mike LeDonne 

moved his Hammond B3 organ from his apartment to 

Manhattan’s Smoke jazz club and began showcasing 

his playing of it with The Groover Quartet in a longrunning 

Tuesday continuing to this day. He made his 

recording debut on B3 with that quartet in 2003 and 

AwwlRIGHT! is its latest album. Besides the core 

members—tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, guitarist 

Peter Bernstein and drummer Joe Farnsworth— 

trumpeter Jeremy Pelt guests on three tracks, two of 

them also with guest Bob Cranshaw on electric bass. 

LeDonne, now 59, grew up playing organ as well 

as piano and his style is thoroughly organ-centric, i.e., 

he doesn’t sound like a doubling pianist. For example, 

his solo on “Love Don’t Love Nobody” employs 

different registers and shifting organ stops and his 

piping right-hand lines are backed by deep, drone-like 

sustained chords. That Spinners hit is one of three popsoul 

ballads essayed here, suggesting the influence of 

the late Charles Earland, in whose band Alexander was 

a mainstay. The other two, “Never Can Say Goodbye” 

and “You Are So Beautiful”, are both given brisk, 

uptempo treatments typical of hard-bop-tinged soul 

jazz, a dominant mode on the album. LeDonne’s title 

tune and “The Boss” are blues, the latter with a boogaloo 

shuffle backbeat feel. But his most distinctive originals 

are “Mary Lou’s Blues”, a minor blues based on a (nonblues) 

melodic idea of Mary Lou Williams incorporated 

into the refrain, and “Hadley Joe”, a crisp, boppish 

feature for Farnsworth. It all adds up to a superior jazz 

organ outing exuding musical camaraderie. 

For more information, visit jazzdepot.com. This band is at 

Smoke Tuesdays. See Regular Engagements. 

It’s Nice To Be With You (In Berlin) 

Jim Hall (MPS-Kultur Spiegel) 


Ask Pat Metheny to discuss some of his influences on 

the guitar and Jim Hall appears at the top of the list. 

Hall, who was 83 when he died two years ago this 

month, favored a style making extensive use of space 

and influenced not only Metheny, but also guitarists 

ranging from John Abercrombie to Bill Frisell. 

Recorded during a June 1969 visit to Berlin when 

Hall was 38, this reissue finds the guitarist leading an 

intimate trio of Philadelphia native Jimmy Woode 

(bass) and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair. Hall 

delivers postbop improvisations on everything from 

Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” and Johnny 

Green’s “Body and Soul” to three originals: “Blue Joe”, 

“Young One, For Debra” and “Romaine” (previously 

recorded with Bill Evans as a piano/guitar duet in 

1962). Another highlight is Jimmy Webb’s “Up, Up and 

Away”, a major hit for sunshine pop band The 5th 

Dimension in 1967 but, in Hall’s hands, successfully 

transformed into modal jazz. Hall’s interpretation of 

Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart’s “My Funny Valentine” 

is also a pleasant surprise. That Tin Pan Alley standard 

has been recorded numerous times since it was 

unveiled in 1937, mostly as a ballad. Hall, however, 

approaches it at a faster tempo, although he doesn’t 

make it any less melodic. 

Hall would have celebrated his 85th birthday on 

Dec. 4th. Thankfully, he left behind a large and diverse 

catalogue and It’s Nice To Be With You is a rewarding 

demonstration of his formidable skills. 


ON SCREEN 

The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith 

(WNYC Studios-Lumiere Productions) 


Before the fabled loft scene that gave birth to New 

York’s Downtown jazz, there was another loft, 

further uptown and less remembered today. But 

where the lofts of the ‘70s were run by musicians 

(who often lived there as well), the “Jazz Loft” on 

6th Avenue in Chelsea was the home of 

photojournalist W. Eugene Smith. 

Smith, a successful photographer for Life 

magazine and other outlets, gradually acquired 

floor upon floor in the rundown building as his 

archives grew, but one level remained home to allnight 

jams. The building and the man are the heroes 

of The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith, a 

valuable documentary by Sara Fishko, who has also 

produced radio segments and a gallery show on the 

loft era. 

The film isn’t a treasure chest of unseen footage. 

Actors are deployed (tastefully) to flesh out the 

bustling loft, but most of the documentary is 

interviews, stock footage, archival audio and rich 

black-and-white photos of musicians jamming, as 

well as laborers and street scenes and natural 

disasters and children. 

An obsessive documentarian, Smith found like 

spirits in the jams, in the energy and the exploration. 

And, as a workaholic, he made the efficient decision 

to bring the scene into his home, working upstairs 

and heading down when the party was in progress 

to catch images of the musicians and such guests as 

Salvador Dali and Norman Mailer. The entire 

building was wired for sound so that with the flip of 

a switch he could listen to (and record) the goingson, 

even tuning in to the stairwell to discern who 

was arriving. 

From the vantage of the Flower District loft, 

free jazz fragmented the scene, creating dueling 

aesthetics, the Downtown eventually winning out as 

Smith’s building became uninhabitable with its piles 

of records and books, reels of tape and mounds of 

prints and negatives. He was evicted in 1971 and 

died in 1978. 

Fishko gets storytelling and the film is 

exquisitely paced and edited, preserving a forgotten 

flower in New York’s history. 

For more information, visit wnyc.org/jazzloftthemovie 

Wed, Dec 2 

Thu, Dec 3 

Fri, Dec 4 

Sat, Dec 5 

ALON ALBAGLI TRIO 8PM 

Martin Nevin, Craig Weinrib 

BEN VAN GELDER QUARTET 9:30PM 

Sam Harris, Rick Rosato, Craig Weinrib 

SARA SERPA QUARTET 8:30PM 

André Matos, Guillermo Klein, Aubrey Johnson 

ANDRÉ MATOS 4TET 10PM 

Tony Malaby, Masa Kamaguchi, Billy Mintz 

TONY MALABY’S PALOMA RECIO 9PM & 10:30PM 

Kris Davis, Eivind Opsvik, Nasheet Waits 

TONY MALABY’S TAMARINDO 9PM & 10:30PM 

Michael Formanek, Nasheet Waits 

Sun, Dec 6 PAUL JONES QUARTET + 

THE SNAP SAXOPHONE QUARTET 8:30PM 

Phil Markowitz, Leon Boykins, Sam Dillon, 

Nicholas Biello, Andrew Gould, Clarence Penn 

Tue, Dec 8 

Wed, Dec 9 

Thu, Dec 10 

Fri, Dec 11 

Sat, Dec 12 

Sun, Dec 13 

Tue, Dec 15 

Wed, Dec 16 

Thur, Dec 17 

Fri, Dec 18 

Sat, Dec 19 

Sun, Dec 20 

Mon, Dec 21 

Tue, Dec 22 

Sat, Dec 26 

Sun, Dec 27 

Tue, Dec 29 

Wed, Dec 30 

Thu, Dec 31 

KYLE NASSER QUINTET 8:30PM 

Jeff Miles, Dov Manski, Matt Aronoff, Jason Nazary 

IGOR LUMPERT & INNERTEXTURES 8PM 

Ben Monder, Matt Brewer, Thomas Crane 

LAGE LUND / BRYN ROBERTS QUARTET 8:30PM 

Matt Brewer, Jochen Rueckert 

MARK HELIAS-QUARTET MUSIC 9PM & 10:30PM 

Quinsin Nachoff, Kirk Knuffke, Nasheet Waits 

GUILLERMO KLEIN QUINTET 9PM & 10:30PM 

Seamus Blake, Ben Monder, Petros Klampanis, Jochen Rueckert 

WILLIAM HOOKER TRIO 6PM 

Adam Lane, James Brandon Lewis 

SAMUEL BLASER / SEBASTIEN AMMANN 8:30PM 

Michael Blake, Toto Gucci, Billy Mintz 

DAN TEPFER / THOMAS MORGAN DUO 8:30PM 

RANDY INGRAM QUARTET 8PM 

Lage Lund, Matt Brewer, Jochen Rueckert 

CAMERON BROWN 70TH BIRTHDAY BASH 

OC/DC 8:30PM 

Dave Ballou, Jane Ira Bloom, Anthony Pinciotti 


HEAR AND NOW 9PM & 10:30PM 

Sheila Jordan, Don Byron, Dave Ballou, Tony Jefferson 


DANNY’S CALYPSO 9PM & 10:30PM 

Russ Johnson, Lisa Parrott, Jason Rigby, Tony Jefferson 

SOPRANO SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS 8:30PM 

Michel Doneda, Sam Newsome, Dave Liebman, Tatsuya Nakatani 

ZIV RAVITZ, COLIN STRANAHAN 8:30PM 

Mark Shim, Charles Altura, Ben Wendel 

JASON YEAGER GROUP 8:30PM 

Tomoko Omura, Kevin Hailey, Matt Rousseau 

PETROS KLAMPANIS 9PM & 10:30PM 

ERI YAMAMOTO TRIO 8:30PM 

David Ambrosio, Ikuo Takeuchi 

KORAN AGAN QUARTET 8:30PM 

Peter Sparacino, Josh Kaye, Eduardo Belo 

TOM RAINEY TRIO 8:30PM 

Mary Halvorson, Ingrid Laubrock 

NEW YEAR’S EVE: 

SHEILA JORDAN & CAMERON BROWN 8:30PM & 10:30 


BOXED SET 

Exclusively For My Friends 

Oscar Peterson (MPS) 

by Russ Musto 

Arguably the most popular mainstream jazz pianist 

of his time, Oscar Peterson, who died eight years ago 

this month at 82, recorded prolifically throughout 

his 50+year career, thanks in no small part to the 

efforts of Norman Granz, who released scores of 

dates on his Verve and Pablo labels. The sides 

collected here represent the efforts of another of 

Peterson’s more ardent supporters, Hans Georg 

Brunner-Schwer, who invited the pianist, then under 

exclusive contract with Verve, to record before an 

invited audience in his intimate Villingen, Germany 

studio, with the understanding that they would be 

later released on the MPS label. 

The recordings, collected under the title 

Exclusively For My Friends, document three of 

Peterson’s great working trios. Things begin with the 

March 1963/April 1964 date with bassist Ray Brown 

and drummer Ed Thigpen issued as Action. The 

program starts with Cole Porter’s “At Long Last 

Love”, on which the then-38-year-old Peterson’s 

virtuosity is tastefully displayed, as he inserts 

keyboard-traversing arpeggios between bouncing 

strides and bluesy runs. The pianist is at his most 

relaxed on Billy Taylor’s “Easy Walker”, the mood 

continuing on “Tin Tin Deo”, with bass and cowbell 

marking the easy pace as Peterson delves into 

Gillespie’s harmonic architecture. Polished readings 

of Gershwin classics “I’ve Got A Crush On You” and 

“A Foggy Day” follow, before the group caps things 

off with an introspective examination of “Like 

Someone In Love”, lyrical bass and impeccable 

brushwork buoying delicately reflective piano. 

Volume Two of the collection, titled Girl Talk, a 

collection of recordings from 1965-68, opens with a 

brightly swinging 1967 recording of “On A Clear 

Day” with bassist Sam Jones and the largely 

unheralded drummer Bobby Durham. The group 

takes its time with an achingly slow 17-minute 

reading of “I’m In The Mood For Love”, which 

begins with a ruminative extended solo piano 

introduction. The mood turns bluesy on the title 

track then brightens on a “I Concentrate on You”/ 

“Moon River” medley, with Louis Hayes replacing 

Durham here and on the Count Basie-ish closer, 

“Robbins Nest”, both from a 1965 session. 

The Peterson-Jones-Durham trio is back for the 

set’s third volume, The Way I Really Play, recorded on 

Nov. 12th, 1967. The disc opens with a hard-swinging 

version of Brown’s “Waltzing Is Hip”, a feature for 

Durham, played at a brisk tempo. Things mellow a 

bit for “Satin Doll”, with easy walking bass setting 

up the midtempo pace. Peterson opens the relaxed 

reading of the Gershwins’ “Our Love Is Here To 

Stay” with a tasteful Art Tatum-esque solo piano 

introduction. A pair of the pianist’s original pieces— 

soulful “Sandy’s Blues” and classically-tinged 

“Noreen’s Nocturne”—bookend the brightly 

waltzing “Alice In Wonderland” to fill out the date. 

Volume 4, My Favorite Instrument, recorded in 

April 1968, nearly 25 years into his career, 

surprisingly was Peterson’s first complete solo piano 

effort. The album shines a bright light on his virtuoso 

technique, which synthesized the influences of 

Tatum, James P. Johnson and Nat Cole into a 

singularly original style. The set is comprised of nine 

well-known compositions from the jazz canon, 

including Ellington classics “Perdido” and “Take 

The ‘A’ Train” and popular standards like “I Should 

Care”, “‘Someone To Watch Over Me”, “Bye Bye 

Blackbird” and “Body and Soul”. Encompassing a 

variety of moods, from melancholy to exuberant, this 

is easily one of Peterson’s best dates. 

Volumes 5 and 6, Mellow Mood and Travelin’ On 

(both also from April 1968), bring back the trio with 

Jones and Durham. The former is a far from mellow 

outing, featuring some of the compilation’s liveliest 

performances, despite the breezy opener “In A 

Mellotone”, perhaps the basis for the somewhat 

misleading title. Other highlights include original 

arrangements of “Summertime”, “On Green Dolphin 

Street” and Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream”. The 

final volume of the collection highlights less familiar 

fare, including the traditional gospel title track, 

Johnny Mandel-Johnny Mercer ballad “Emily”, 

Francy Boland’s “Sax No End” and Antônio Carlos 

Jobim’s “Corcovado”, before closing with Benny 

Carter’s “When Lights Are Low”. 


Cobi Narita Presents 

DEC 1 

manhattan school of music 

afro-cuban jazz orchestra 

DEC 2 

etienne charles presents: 

creole christmas 

DEC 3–6 

allan harris: love came, the 

songs of strayhorn featuring 

the eric reed trio 

DEC 7 

marquis hill quintet 

DEC 8 

new york youth symphony: 

with robin eubanks 

DEC 9–10 

andy farber & his orchestra 

DEC 11–13 

holiday swing with michael 

mwenso, brianna thomas, and 

charenee wade 

DEC 14 

juilliard jazz ensembles 

swing by tonight 

set times 

7:30pm & 9:30pm 

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall 

DEC 15–17 

ed reed trio with special guest 

george cables 

DEC 18–20 

diva jazz orchestra 

celebrates ella fitzgerald’s 

swingin’ christmas 

DEC 21*–22 

dick hyman solo piano 

*monday nights with wbgo 

DEC 23 

ted rosenthal trio: 

“wonderland” holiday show 

DEC 24–25 

closed 

DEC 26–29 

chris potter trio 

DEC 30 

winard harper 

DEC 31 

new year’s eve celebration 

*special pricing applies 

jazz.org / dizzys 

Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor, nyc 

HAPPY 

AND JAZZY 

HOLIDAYS 

FROM 

COBI! 

cobinarita.com 


M I SCELLANY 

ON THIS DAY 

by Andrey Henkin 

It Don’t Mean A Thing 

Lester Young (Norgran) 

December 10th, 1954 

By the time of this session, Lester 

Young hadn’t made a record under his 

own name in a year minus a day, the 

tenor saxophonist’s health declining 

due to alcoholism. The band is the 

same as that earlier side: Jesse Drakes 

(trumpet), Gildo Mahones (piano) and 

Connie Kay (drums), with John Ore on 

bass instead of Gene Ramey. This 

penultimate album for Norgran 

features the Duke Ellington/Irving 

Mills title track, Harold Arlen-Johnny 

Mercer’s “Come Rain or Come Shine” 

and a number of tunes unique to this 

period of Young’s career. 

December 1 

†Ike Isaacs 1919-96 

†Dick Johnson 1925-2010 

Ted Brown b.1927 

†Hadley Caliman 1932-2010 

†Jimmy Lyons 1933-86 

Carlos Garnett b.1938 

†Jaco Pastorius 1951-87 

December 2 

†Charlie Ventura 1916-92 

†John Bunch 1921-2010 

†Wynton Kelly 1931-71 

†Ronnie Mathews 1935-2008 

Jason Rigby b.1974 

Tal Wilkenfeld b.1986 

December 3 

†Corky Cornelius 1914-43 

†Herbie Nichols 1919-63 

December 4 

†Eddie Heywood 1915-89 

Frank Tiberi b.1928 

†Jim Hall 1930-2013 

†Denis Charles 1933-98 

Andy Laverne b.1947 

Cassandra Wilson b.1955 

Andrew Drury b.1964 

December 5 

†Art Davis 1934-2007 

Enrico Pieranunzi b.1949 

Anders Bergkrantz b.1961 

December 6 

†Ira Gershwin 1896-1985 

†Dave Brubeck 1920-2012 

†Bob Cooper 1925-93 

†Frankie Dunlop 1928-2014 

Jay Leonhart b.1940 

Miroslav Vitous b.1947 

Harvie S b.1948 

Steve Swell b.1954 

Jason Stein b.1976 

December 7 

†Teddy Hill 1909-78 

Sonny Phillips b.1936 

Mads Vinding b.1948 

Matthew Shipp b.1960 

Fire Down Below 

Ted Curson (Prestige) 


Trumpeter Ted Curson didn’t make 

many albums under his own name— 

about 20 between 1961-2008—but he 

offset volume by high quality. This was 

his second release, a rare session of the 

period without saxophonist Bill 

Barron, a quintet with Gildo Mahones 

(piano), George Tucker (bass), Roy 

Haynes (drums) and Montego Joe 

(congas). Though his debut and 

subsequent recordings all included 

originals, here he plays music from 

Broadway and movies, including the 

Lester Lee-Ned Washington title track 

from the 1957 film of the same name. 

December 8 

Sol Yaged b.1922 

†Jimmy Smith 1928-2005 

Tim Armacost b. 1962 

December 9 

†Matty Malneck 1903-81 

†Bob Scobey 1916-63 

†Donald Byrd 1932-2013 

Jimmy Owens b.1943 

December 10 

†Irving Fazola 1912-49 

†Ray Nance 1913-76 

†George Tucker 1927-65 

Bob Cranshaw b.1932 

Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky 

b.1933 

December 11 

†Perez Prado 1916-89 

McCoy Tyner b.1938 

Mara Rosenbloom b.1984 

December 12 

†Eddie Barefield 1909-91 

†Frank Sinatra 1915-98 

†Joe Williams 1918-99 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

9 10 

11 12 

13 14 

15 16 17 

By Andrey Henkin 

18 19 20 21 

22 23 

24 25 26 

27 28 

29 30 

Bob Dorough b.1923 

†Dodo Marmarosa 1925-2002 

Toshiko Akiyoshi b.1929 

Juhani Aaltonen b.1935 

Michael Carvin b.1944 

†Tony Williams 1945-97 

Bruce Ditmas b.1946 

December 13 

†Sonny Greer 1895-1982 

Ben Tucker b.1930 

†Borah Bergman 1933-2012 

Reggie Johnson b.1940 

December 14 

†Budd Johnson 1910-84 

†Spike Jones 1911-64 

†Clark Terry 1920-2015 

†Cecil Payne 1922-2007 

†Phineas Newborn 1931-89 

†Leo Wright 1933-91 

†Jerome Cooper 1946-2015 

December 15 

†Stan Kenton 1911-79 

†Jimmy Nottingham 1925-78 

†Gene Quill b.1927-89 

Barry Harris b.1929 

Curtis Fuller b.1934 

†Dannie Richmond 1935-88 

Eddie Palmieri b.1936 

Toshinori Kondo b.1948 

Kris Tiner b.1977 

December 16 

†Andy Razaf 1905-73 

†Turk Murphy 1915-87 

†Steve Allen 1921-2000 

†Johnny “Hammond” Smith 

1933-97 

visit nycjazzrecord.com for answers 

36 DECEMBER 2015 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD 

Good News From Africa 

Dollar Brand/Johnny Dyani (Cameo) 


This release from the short-lived Swiss 

label Cameo (whose two albums were 

both duos featuring covers of the same 

image in different colors) presents two 

of South Africa’s leading musicians— 

pianist Dollar Brand (AKA Abdullah 

Ibrahim, also flute and vocals) and 

bassist Johnny Dyani (also vocals and 

bells) in the first of two duo meetings 

(the other 1979’s Echoes From Africa on 

Enja, also recorded at Tonstudio Bauer 

in Ludwigsburg). Brand wrote five of 

the eight tunes appearing herein, the 

other three traditional pieces from 

their shared South African heritage. 

BIRTHDAYS 

†Joe Farrell 1937-86 

Radu Malfatti b.1943 

John Abercrombie b.1944 

December 17 

†Ray Noble 1903-78 

†Sonny Red 1932-81 

†Walter Booker 1933-2006 

†John Ore 1933-2014 

Vyacheslav Ganelin b.1944 

Chris Welcome b.1980 

December 18 

†Fletcher Henderson 

1897-1952 

†Willis Conover 1920-96 

†Harold Land 1928-2001 

†Nick Stabulas 1929-73 

Wadada Leo Smith b.1941 

December 19 

†Erskine Tate 1895-1978 

†Bob Brookmeyer 1929-2011 

†Bobby Timmons 1935-74 

Milcho Leviev b.1937 

Lenny White b.1949 

Kuni Mikami b.1954 

December 20 

†John Hardee 1918-84 

†Sam Falzone 1933-2013 

Larry Willis b.1940 

Ehud Asherie b.1979 

December 21 

†Marshall Brown 1920-83 

†Rita Reys 1924-2013 

†Hank Crawford 1934-2009 

†John Hicks 1941-2006 

Cameron Brown b.1945 

CROSSWORD 

ACROSS 

At The Bimhuis 1982 

Steve Lacy/Mal Waldron (Challenge) 


Saxophonist Steve Lacy and pianist 

Mal Waldron first recorded together in 

New Jersey on the former’s 1958 

album Reflections. Meeting up in 

Europe 13 years later, the pair would 

appear regularly on each other’s 

albums over the next several years and 

first record as a duo in August 1981. 

This live set from Amsterdam’s 

Bimhuis, released 24 years after the 

fact (and after both players had died) 

features a tune each by Lacy (“Blues 

For Aida”) and Waldron (“Snake Out”) 

alongside three songs by Lacy’s 

longtime muse Thelonious Monk. 

Quinsin Nachoff b.1973 

December 22 

†Ronnie Ball 1927-84 

†Joe Lee Wilson 1935-2011 

†Nick Ceroli 1939-85 

John Patitucci b.1959 

December 23 

†Chet Baker 1929-88 

†Frank Morgan 1933-2007 

December 24 

†Baby Dodds 1898-1959 

†Jabbo Smith 1908-91 

†Henry Coker 1919-79 

†Ray Bryant 1931-2011 

†Chris McGregor 1936-90 

†Woody Shaw 1944-89 

Ralph Moore b.1956 

Paal Nilssen-Love b.1974 

December 25 

†Louis Cottrell 1878-1927 

†Kid Ory 1886-1973 

†Big Jim Robinson 1892-1976 

†Cab Calloway 1907-94 

†Oscar Moore 1912-81 

†Pete Rugolo 1915-2011 

†Eddie Safranski 1918-74 

†Don Alias 1939-2006 

†Don Pullen 1941-95 

Ronnie Cuber b.1941 

December 26 

†Butch Ballard 1917-2011 

†Monty Budwig 1929-92 

†Billy Bean 1933-2012 

Brooks Kerr b.1951 

John Scofield b.1951 

1. Group founded by Keith Rowe, Lou Gare 

and Eddie Prévost 

4. Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “One-Note ____” 

9. Trombonist Winding 

10. Danish bassist Peter ____ Nielsen 

11. Who’ll remember April? 

12. Jazz advocate Herb Wong lived in 

this California “Park” 

13. Cal Tjader ‘60s drummer Johnny 

14. Line of Yamaha trombones 

15. Aria Pro II jazz guitar string series 

16. Location of the Pit Inn 

18. 1974 Frank Wright/Muhammad Ali 

album _____ Little Man 

20. Dudu Pukwana song 

22. Eric Dolphy’s Miss 

23. Paul Bley’s record label 

24. You can do this with a cadence 

26. Record Label ___East 

27. ‘40s big band pianist Sam 

28. True Life Jazz catalogue prefixes 

29. “Before The ____” from Nir Felder 

Golden Age album 

December 27 

†Bunk Johnson 1889-1949 

†Booty Wood 1919-87 

Bill Crow b.1927 

†Walter Norris 1931-2011 

TS Monk b.1949 

Pablo Held b.1986 

December 28 

†Earl “Fatha” Hines 1903-83 

†Al Klink 1915-91 

†Moe Koffman 1928-2001 

†Ed Thigpen 1930-2010 

Bob Cunningham b.1934 

†Dick Sudhalter 1938-2008 

Ted Nash b.1960 

December 29 

†Cutty Cutshall 1911-68 

†Irving Ashby 1920-87 

Jan Konopasek b.1931 

Joe Lovano b.1952 

George Schuller b.1958 

Danilo Pérez b.1960 

Reuben Radding b.1966 

George Colligan b.1969 

December 30 

†Jimmy Jones 1918-82 

†Jack Montrose 1928-2006 

Wolfgang Dauner b.1935 

Jerry Granelli b.1940 

Lewis Nash b.1958 

Frank Vignola b.1965 

December 31 

†John Kirby 1908-52 

†Jonah Jones 1909-2000 

†Peter Herbolzheimer 

1935-2010 

Four for time 

Steve Wilson (Criss Cross) 


Saxophonist Steve Wilson, now firmly 

a veteran with hundreds of credits as a 

sideman, was a relative youngster by 

the time of this session, his fourth as a 

leader (and final for Criss Cross). 

Wilson leads a standard quartet of 

Bruce Barth (piano, who appeared on 

Wilson’s second Criss Cross album), 

Larry Grenadier (bass) and Leon 

Parker (drums) on a program of two of 

his originals, a pair by Barth and one 

by Parker alongside “Everything Must 

Change” (Bernard Ighner), “Perdido” 

(Juan Tizol) and “Woody ‘N’ You” 

(Dizzy Gillespie). 

TOSHINORI KONDO 


The trumpeter is a citizen of 

the world, having resided in 

his native Japan, New York 

City and Europe. His 

collaborators have been 

equally diverse: John Zorn, 

Henry Kaiser, Paul Lovens, 

Derek Bailey, Larry Ochs, 

Evan Parker, Peter Kowald, 

Peter Brötzmann, Bill 

Laswell, Tristan Honsinger 

and many others in a career 

that began on record in 1978 

and continues to this day in 

projects led by Brötzmann 

and Laswell. Kondo, a sort 

of free-improvising Miles 

Davis, to use reductionist 

terminology, has released 

dozens of albums as a leader 

or co-leader on labels like 

DIW, Tzadik, Ictus, 

Metalanguage, Sony and, 

most recently his own label, 

featuring the solo project 

Blow The Earth, recorded all 

over the world. (AH) 

30. 1985 Daunik Lazro hatART album 

Sweet _____ 

DOWN 

1. Saxophonist Sakata or drummer Tana 

2. Stan Kenton piece named for Spanish city 

3. The Dark Magus 

4. Publishing org. founded by Don Sickler 

5. John McLaughlin tune “______ the One?” 

6. Duke Ellington played in this Eastern 

Bloc capital in 1971 

7. Drummer who can help with halitosis? 

8. 1993 Takehisa Tanaka Enja album 

When I Was At ____-Mountain 

16. You can take your Dolphy sweet or ? 

17. 1994 Gary Peacock/Ralph Towner 

ECM album 

19. 2011 Amir ElSaffar Pi Recordings album 

21. Singer Cyrille 

24. 1972-75 group of Alfred Harth, 

Sven-Åke Johansson and 

Nicole Van den Plas 

25. 1983 Terje Rypdal ECM album

JAZZ ALL YEAR LONG 

AT NJPAC! 

NJPAC’s Brick City Jazz Orchestra 

Photo: Norman DeShong 

Michael Feinstein: 

Sinatra Centennial 

Celebration 

Saturday, December 12 at 8pm 

Michel 

Camilo 

Solo Piano 

Dorthaan’s Place Jazz Brunches 

Sundays at 11am and 1pm at NICO Kitchen + Bar 

Sunday, April 17 at 4pm & 7pm 

Bill 

Charlap 

Solo Piano 

Saturday, June 18 at 7:30pm 

Rufus Reid Trio Jan 24 

Bobby Sanabria 

& Quarteto Ache’ Mar 6 

The Antoinette Montague 

Experience Feb 14 

Freddy Cole Quartet Apr 10 

Arts Education 

Jazz Auditions: 

Instrumental • Vocal 

Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens and 

Brick City Jazz Orchestra 

January 23 from 10am-2pm 

Visit njpac.org/arts-training for details. 

The American Song series at NJPAC is presented, in part, through 

the generous support of the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation 

and David S. Steiner and Sylvia Steiner Charitable Trust 

For tickets & full schedule visit njpac.org/moodyjazz 

or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC • Groups 973.297.5804 • One Center Street, Newark, NJ 

9.5x12_NYCJazzRecord_dec_njpac.indd 1 

11/12/15 2:24 PM

CALENDAR 

Tuesday, December 1 

êSaxophone Summit: Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Greg Osby, Phil Markowitz, 

Cecil McBee, Billy Hart Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 

êChristian McBride Trio with Christian Sands, Jerome Jennings 

Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $30 

• Fourplay: Bob James, Chuck Loeb, Nathan East, Harvey Mason 

Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 

êTrevor Dunn, Colin Stetson, Greg Fox; Trevor Dunn/Thomas Morgan 

The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

• MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra directed by Bobby Sanabria 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 

Corey Wilcox Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 

• Mike Moreno Quartet with Aaron Parks, Doug Weiss, Eric Harland 

Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

• Joel Harrison and Infinite Possibility with Seneca Black, Dave Smith, Matt Holman, 

Marshall Sealy, Alan Ferber, Jacob Garchik, Andy Clausen, Ben Staap, Ben Kono, 

John O’Gallagher, Stacy Dillard, Jason Rigby, Lisa Parrot, James Shipp, Jesse Stacken, 

Gregg August, Jeremy Clemons, JC Sanford and guest Jerome Kitzke 

Roulette 8 pm $20 

• Donny McCaslin Quartet with Jason Lindner, Tim Lefebvre, Nate Wood 

55Bar 10 pm 

êProtestMusic: Yoni Kretzmer, Pascal Niggenkemper, Weasel Walter; 

Tone Collector: Tony Malaby, Eivind Opsvik, Jeff Davis; The Ghost: Michael Foster, 

Henry Fraser, Connor Baker Muchmore’s 9, 10, 11 pm $10-15 

êJames Carney; Devin Gray’s RelativE ResonancE with Kris Davis, Christopher Tordini 

Korzo 9, 10:30 pm 

• George Spanos; Jake Hertzog Band; Rob Garcia 4 with Noah Preminger, Gary Versace, 

Masa Kamaguchi ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8, 9:30 pm $10 

Peter Zak/Stephen Riley Duo Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20 

• Spike Wilner Trio; Theo Hill Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 

• Ai Murakami Quartet; El Montuno; Reid Taylor 

Fat Cat 7, 9 pm 12:30 am 

Steve Gorn/Shane Shanahan SEEDS 9 pm 

• Tommy Holladay Trio with Shin Sakainu, Dan Nadeau; Kevin Wang Trio with 

Rick Rosato, Owen Erikson Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Marie-Claire with Alberto Pibiri, Luc Decker, Clifford Barbaro 

The Piano Room 7:30 pm $10 

Mikhail Romanov solo 

Jazz at Kitano 8 pm 

Michael Gallant Trio 

Tomi Jazz 8 pm 

• La Voz de Tres; Bill Stevens Quintet with Charlie Gushee, Elliot Honig, Paul Pricer, 

Eric Peters 

The Garage 6, 10:30 pm 

Alessandro Fadini 

Silvana 6 pm 

• The Order 

Shrine 6 pm 

êJohn Clark Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15 

Wednesday, December 2 

êDear Diz: Arturo Sandoval with John Belzaguy, Dave Siegel, Kemuel Roig, Tiki Pasillas, 

Johnny Friday 92nd Street Y 8 pm $25-65 

êValery Ponomarev Sextet Zinc Bar 8, 10 pm 

• Etienne Charles’ Creole Christmas with Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Godwin Louis, 

Corey Wilcox, Victor Gould, Alex Wintz, David “Happy” Williams, McClenty Hunter, 

D’Achee, Keith Prescott Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 


• Alan Hampton with Meshell NDegeocello, Peter Rende, Bill Campbell 


• Lafayette Harris solo; Aaron Parks/George Garzone Duo; Sarah Slonim 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 

• Chamber Pieces: Marika Hughes, Ben Goldberg, Kris Davis, Trevor Dunn, 

The Secret Quartet: Jennifer Choi, Cornelius Dufallo, Lev Zhurbin, Yves Dharamraj; 

Trevor Dunn, Eric Slick, Brandon Seabrook 


• Eric Alexander Quartet with Harold Mabern, John Webber, Joe Farnsworth 

An Beal Bocht Café 8, 9:30 pm $15 

• Ayako Shirasaki Trio with Noriko Ueda, Lewis Nash 

Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 

The Hot Sardines Holiday Stomp Joe’s Pub 7, 9:30 pm $35 

• Tammy McCann with Mike King, Kenny Davis, Clif Wallace 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 

• Jean-marie Corrois Quartet with Janusz Kowalski, Nick Grondin, Flavio Lira; 

Gene Ess and Fractal Attraction with Thana Alexa, Glenn Zaleski, Thomson Kneeland, 

Clarence Penn Club Bonafide 7:30, 10 pm $15 

• Thomas Marriott Quartet; Todd Herbert Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Kate Cosco/Laura Dreyer Project; Groover Trio; Ned Goold Jam 


• Frank Sinatra Centennial Concert: The Hunter Symphony and Jazz Ensemble 

Hunter College Assembly Hall 8 pm $12 

• Alon Albagli Trio with Martin Nevin, Craig Weinrib; Ben van Gelder Quartet with 

Sam Harris, Rick Rosato, Craig Weinrib 

Cornelia Street Café 8, 9:30 pm $10 

• Terrence McManus Duos and Trio with Russ Lossing, Billy Mintz 

Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30, 9:15 pm $15 

• Maestro Day: Henry Fraser, Sam Weinberg, Connor Baker; Sean Ali, Joanna Mattrey, 

Leila Bordreuil 

Rye 9, 10:15 pm 

• Aaron Alexander and The Klez Messengers with Michael Winograd, Patrick Farrell 

Mehanata Bulgarian Bar 8 pm $10 

• Tom Beckham/Brad Shepik Duo; Roy Nathanson Duos 

SEEDS 8:30, 10 pm 

Burak Bedikyan 

Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 10 pm 

• Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic, Douglas Bradford, Peter Kronreif 

Bar Chord 9 pm 

• Queens Jazz OverGround Clinic and Jazz Jam 

Flushing Town Hall 6, 7 pm $10 

Yasuno Katsuki Trio 


• Yvonnick Prene Quartet; David Love Trio 







Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 

Nick Grinder Group 

Silvana 6 pm 

Anton Kosachev 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Roz Corral Trio with Michael Kanan, Jay Leonhart 

Saint Peter’s 1 pm $10 

Thursday, December 3 

• Allan Harris and Eric Reed Trio with Gerald Cannon, McClenty Hunter 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

• Corey Wilcox Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 

• Richard Bona Iridium 8:30, 10:30 pm $30 

êTim Berne’s Snakeoil with Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith 

The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 

• Sinatra At 100, From Vegas To New York: All–Star O’Rourkestra directed by 

David O’Rourke with Sachal Vasandani, Tim Ries, David Lee Jones, 

Jonathan Ragonese, Doug DeHayes, Greg Gisbert, Jeremy Pelt, Phillip Harper, 

Dylan Canterbury, Ryan Keberle, Clark Gayton, Paul Dunlea, James Borowski, 

Neal Kirkwood, Bucky Pizzarelli, Peter Washington, Lewis Nash 


• Jason Lindner’s Breeding Ground National Sawdust 9:30 pm $25 

• Katsuko Tanaka Trio with Corcoran Holt, Willie Jones III 


• SpermChurch: Trevor Dunn/Sannety and guests 


• Sara Serpa/André Matos Quartet with Guillermo Klein, Aubrey Johnson; 

André Matos Quartet with Tony Malaby, Masa Kamaguchi, Billy Mintz 

Cornelia Street Café 8:30, 10 pm $10 

• Laurie Dapice with Art Hirahara, Lonnie Plaxico, Paul Lieberman, 

Dwayne Cook Broadnax; Jordan Scanella/Shirazette Tinnin 

Club Bonafide 7:30, 10 pm $15-20 

• Burak Bedikyan Trio with Harvie S, Donald Edwards 

ShapeShifter Lab 8:15 pm $15 

• Jovan Alexandre Quintet; Saul Rubin Zebtet; Tadataka Unno 


• Benjamin Bryden Trio with Marty Kenney, Peter Kronreif; Aki Ishiguro Trio with 

Pablo Menares, Rodrigo Recabarren 

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

Ben Cassara/Addison Frei Beethoven Pianos 7:30 pm $20 

• Akihiro Yamamoto Trio Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 

Ray Parker Duo 

Cleopatra’s Needle 7 pm 

• Champian Fulton Quartet; Cheryl Pyle Trio 


• Spike Wilner solo; Aaron Parks/George Garzone Duo; Jon Davis 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 

The Hot Sardines Holiday Stomp Joe’s Pub 7 pm $35 

• Tammy McCann with Mike King, Kenny Davis, Clif Wallace 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 

• Marlene VerPlanck Birdland 6 pm $25 






Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 

Max Seigel/Matt McDonald Quintet Silvana 6 pm 

• Lauren Lee Space Jazz Trio Shrine 6 pm 

Friday, December 4 

êGeorge Cables Quartet with Craig Handy, Essiet Essiet, Victor Lewis 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 

êScott Robinson Quartet with Helen Sung, Rufus Reid, Dennis Mackrel 


• Valerie Capers/John Robinson Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9 pm $3.50 

êPROOFReaders - The Music of Ornette Coleman: Trevor Dunn, Darius Jones, 

Nate Wooley, Ryan Sawyer and guests Kevin Shea, Ben Goldberg, Brandon Seabrook 


êTim Berne’s Snakeoil with Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith 

Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30 pm $15 

êTony Malaby’s Paloma Recio with Kris Davis, Eivind Opsvik, Nasheet Waits 


ê20th Anniversary Series: Gerald Clayton with Godwin Louis, Joel Ross, Russel Hall, 

Rodney Green The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

• Ehud Asherie solo; Steve Wilson/David Hazeltine; Johnny O’Neal 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12:30 am $20 

• Alex Graham Quartet; Aaron Parks Quartet; Joe Farnsworth 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1:30 am $20 

êJon Irabagon Trio with Peter Brendler, Vinnie Sperrazza 


êKirk Knuffke Trio 

Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village 8, 9:30 pm 

êMatt Darriau’s Paradox Trio BAMCafé 9:30 pm 

• Swedish Energies V - Nordic Edition: John Duncan; Jana Winderen; 

SØS Gunver Ryberg; Saturn and the Sun; Åke Hodell 

Saint Vitus 8 pm 

• OWL Trio: Orlando Le Fleming, Will Vinson, Lage Lund 

Greenwich House Music School 8 pm $15 

• Tammy Scheffer Sextet; Dave Smith Quartet 

Prospect Range 7:30, 9 pm $20 

• Tad Shull Quartet with Ray Gallon, Paul Gill, Joe Strasser; Jared Gold/Dave Gibson; 

Chris Beck Quartet 

Fat Cat 6, 10:30 pm 1:30 am 

• Marcelo Toledo, Stelios Michas, Jack Daniel, Julieta Tenenbaum, Dan Blake 

The Firehouse Space 8 pm $10 

• Soul Understated with Mavis “Swan” Poole 

Gin Fizz Harlem 9:30 pm 

Kuni Mikami Trio Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 

• Jeremy Noller Quartet 

Bloomingdale School of Music 7 pm 

Matt Baker Trio 


• Fukushi Tainaka Trio; King Solomon Hicks Trio 

The Garage 6:15, 10:45 pm 

• Allan Harris and Eric Reed Trio with Dave Baron, McClenty Hunter 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 


Richard Bona Iridium 8:30, 10:30 pm $30 












Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 

• James Francies’ Kinetic with Jeremy Dutton, Matt Stevens 

Blue Note 12:30 am $10 

Ally Hany 

• Rodrigo Bonelli Septet 

Silvana 6 pm 

Shrine 6 pm 

Saturday, December 5 

êCharles Tolliver Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $20 

êDon Friedman Quartet with Vincent Herring, Harvie S, Carl Allen 


êRobert Glasper Trio with Vicente Archer, Damion Reid 

Zankel Hall 8:30 pm $44-52 

êSonelius Smith Trio 


• Trio-Convulsant Avec Des Cordes: Trevor Dunn, Mary Halvorson, Ches Smith, 

The Secret Quartet: Jennifer Choi, Cornelius Dufallo, Lev Zhurbin, Yves Dharamraj 


êPeter Evans’ Zebulon Trio with John Hébert, Kassa Overall; Ikue Mori, Sam Pluta, 

Rajna Swaminathan, Travis Reuter JACK 8 pm 

• Je Suis Soul!: A Salute To French And African Jazz And Soul: Manu Dibango, 

Ben l’Oncle Soul and The Monophonics; Les Nubians 

Apollo Theater 8 pm $25-65 

êMichael Bisio/Kirk Knuffke 5C Café 8 pm 

• 3 Become 1: William Hooker, Mari Kimura, David First, Welf Dorr, Andrea Wolper, 

Mazz Swift Funkadelic Studios 7 pm $15 

• Karl Berger Improvisers Orchestra El Taller LatinoAmericano 8 pm $10 

êCharenée Wade Gil Scott-Heron Project 

Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 

• Jure Pukl Quartet with Glenn Zaleski, Harish Raghavan, Rodney Green; 

Raphael D’lugoff Quintet; Greg Glassman Jam 


• Marvalous with Frank Lacy, Noël Simoné Wippler and Francisco Mela Trio with 

Darwin Noguera, Eddy Khaimovich 

Metropolitan Room 11:30 pm $20 

• Dan Rochlis Trio with Sean Smith, Diego Voglino 


• Linda Presgrave Quartet with Stan Chovnick, Dimitri Moderbacher, Seiji Ochiai; 

Craig Brann Trio Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 


Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 

• Valerie Capers/John Robinson Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9 pm $3.50 

êTony Malaby’s Tamarindo with Michael Formanek, Nasheet Waits 


ê20th Anniversary Series: Gerald Clayton with Gretchen Parlato, Becca Stevens, 

Alan Hampton, Obed Calvaire The Jazz Gallery 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

• Spike Wilner; Steve Wilson/Bruce Barth 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 

• Alex Graham Quartet; Aaron Parks Quartet; Philip Harper Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1:30 am $20 

êSwedish Energies V - Nordic Edition: Anna Asplind, Daniel AlmgrenRecén, 

Anna Koch with Mats Lindström; Hild Sofie Tafjord; Tommi Keränen; Ragnhild May; 

Lukasz Szlankiewicz 

Saint Vitus 8 pm 

• Allan Harris and Eric Reed Trio with Gerald Cannnon, McClenty Hunter 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 













Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 

Bite Trio 

Silvana 6 pm 

• Larry Newcomb Quartet; Evgeny Sivstov Trio; Akiko Tsuruga Trio 

The Garage 12, 6:15, 10:45 pm 

Sunday, December 6 

êTrevor Dunn Trio with Phillip Greenlief; Endangered Blood: Trevor Dunn, Chris Speed, 

Oscar Noriega, Jim Black The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

êHarmolodics NYC 2015: Bern Nix Quartet; The 12 Houses Orchestra with guest 

Jemeel Moondoc 

ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm 

• Tillery: Rebecca Martin, Gretchen Parlato, Becca Stevens 

Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 7 pm $20 

• Paul Jones Four X with Phil Markowitz, Leon Boykins, Clarence Penn and 

SNAP Saxophone Quartet: Nicholas Biello, Andrew Gould, Sam Dillon 

Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 

Pete Malinverni Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

• Lezlie Harrison; Bruce Harris Quintet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Jade Synstelien’s Fat Cat Big Band; 

Brandon Lewis/Renee Cruz Jam Fat Cat 6, 8:30 pm 1 am 

• Red Metal: Patrick Breiner, Anaïs Maviel, Sana Nagano, Chris Hoffman; 

Sarah Bernstein/Stuart Popejoy Duo 

JACK 8 pm 

• Lauren White and Quinn Johnson Trio 


Sein Oh Trio 


• La Banda Ramirez: Chacho and Carolyn Ramirez with Tehrin Cole, Khuent Rose 

Paris Blues Harlem 9 pm 

• Shrine Big Band 

Shrine 8 pm 


Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 

• Allan Harris and Eric Reed Trio with Gerald Cannon, McClenty Hunter 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 










Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $45 

êGordon Grdina/Jon Irabagon; Ben Goldberg/Tyshawn Sorey 

Downtown Music Gallery 6, 7 pm 

• Jasper Dutz 

Silvana 6 pm 

êIke Sturm + Evergreen with guest Dave Douglas 

Saint Peter’s 5 pm 

êMasa Kamaguchi solo Gallery 440 4:40 pm $5 

êJohn Zorn’s Bagatelles: Jamie Saft Trio with Brad Jones, Kenny Wollesen 

The Stone 3 pm $20 

Alan Ferber ‘s NYU Ensemble Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $35 

Dandy Wellington and His Band Minton’s 12 pm $10 

• Roz Corral Trio with Yotam Silberstein 

North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm 

Sweet Megg and The Wayfarers Rainbow Room 12:30 pm $125 

• Kyoko Oyobe Trio; David Coss Quartet; Abe Ovadia Trio 

The Garage 11:30 am 6:30, 11 pm 

Monday, December 7 

• John Scofield/John Cleary B.B. King’s Blues Club 8 pm $35 

êMarquis Hill Quintet with Christopher McBride, Victor Gould, Eric Wheeler, 

Makaya McCraven Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

êSLM Ensemble: Ray Anderson, David Taylor, Samir Chatterjee, Jane Ira Bloom, 

Zafer Tawil, Joe McPhee, Miya Masaoka, Sarah Weaver 

The Cell 8 pm $15-20 

• David Amram and Co. with Kevin Twigg, Rene Hart, Elliot Peper 


• Luisito Quintero Y Su 3er Element Project with Felipe Fornier, Samuel Torres, 

Gabriel Chakarji, Carlos Mena, Rey David, Roman Lajara-Tres, Sergio Maestre 

Subrosa 8, 10 pm $20 

• Patrick Breiner, Michael Foster, Jake Henry, Adam Hopkins, Anaïs Maviel, Josh Sinton 

Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 9, 10 pm $10 

êMingus Big Band Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

êOrrin Evans Captain Black Big Band 

Smoke 7, 9 pm $9 

• John Merrill and guests; Peter Bernstein/Neal Miner Duo; Sacha Perry 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 

• Greg Tardy Quintet; Ari Hoenig Group 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Paris Wright Quintet; Billy Kaye Jam 

Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am 

• Arath Corral Trio with Greg Gonzales, Joe Spinelli; Rachel Caswell Trio with 

Dave Stryker, Jay Anderson Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Juilliard Jazz Ensembles led by Andy Farber 

Juilliard School Paul Hall 7:30 pm 

Nick Russo’s Hot Jazz Jumpers Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 11 pm 

• Cameron Mizell and Charlie Rauh solo and duo 

LIC Bar 9:30 pm 

Yuki Shibata Trio 


• Howard Williams Jazz Orchestra; Dmitry Baevsky Trio 


• Tiger’s Milk 

Silvana 6 pm 



êChristian McBride Quartet with Josh Evans, Marcus Strickland, Justin Brown 


êHal Galper’s Youngbloods Quartet with Nathan Bellott, Dean Torey, David Frazier 

Club Bonafide 7:30, 10 pm $15 

• Lionel Loueke Trio with Massimo Biolcati, Kendrick Scott 


David Sanborn Electric Band Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $55 

Eliane Elias Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 

• New York Youth Symphony with guest Robin Eubanks 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

Luke Sellick Quintet Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 

Lou Volpe Group NYC Baha’i Center 8, 9:30 pm $15 

• Isaac Darche Quintet with Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Glenn Zaleski, Desmond White, 

E.J. Strickland; The Relative Trio: John Stetch, Michael Bates, Owen Howard; 

Gordon Grdina Quartet with Jon Irabagon, Matt Mitchell, Satoshi Takeishi 

ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15, 9:30 pm $10 

• Cantata Profana: Jacob Ashworth, Kate Maroney, John Taylor Ward, Hannah Collins, 

Arash Noori, Gleb Kanasevich, Doug Perry, Dan Schlosberg; Suzana Bartal 

The Stone 8, 10 pm $15-20 

êHill Greene solo; Andrew Lamb/Andrew Drury 

Soup & Sound 7, 8 pm $20 

• Kyle Nasser Quintet with Jeff Miles, Dov Manski, Matt Aronoff, Jason Nazary 


• Richard Bonnet, James Carney, Devin Gray; Danny Fox Trio with 

Chris Van Voorst Van Beest, Max Goldman 

Korzo 9, 10:30 pm 

Barbara Rosene Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20 

• Mike Lipskin Duo; Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Drum Band 

Smalls 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 

• Saul Rubin Zebtet; Peter Brainin Latin Jazz Workshop; Pablo Bencid 


• Eugene Marlow Heritage Ensemble 

Baruch College Engelman Recital Hall 7 pm $25 

• Alicyn Yaffee Trio with Jake Silverman, Cory Cox; Alex Sugerman Trio with 

George Delancey, Joe Strasser Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Stan Killian Quartet with David Kikoski, Corcoran Holt, McClenty Hunter 

55Bar 7 pm 

• Daiana Segovia with Pablo Cafici, Juancho Herrera 

The Piano Room 9:30 pm $10 



Elijah Thomas Trio; Doug White Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm 

• Rob Edwards Quartet; Pablo Masis Quartet 


Ally Hany 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Rod Williams Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15 


êFreddie Bryant/Peter Bernstein Quartet with Peter Washington, Victor Lewis 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $15 

êBill Mays solo Jazz at Kitano 8, 10 pm $15 

Andy Farber Orchestra Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 


Yoshimio/Ikue Mori Roulette 8 pm $20 

• Tyshawn Sorey 6tet with Fung Chern Hwei, Kyle Armbrust, Rubin Kodheli, 

Chris Tordini, Cory Smythe SEEDS 9 pm 

• Lafayette Harris solo; Lawrence Fields; Sarah Slonim 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 

• Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra; Willie Jones III Quintet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Harold Mabern Trio; Ned Goold Jam 


• Matthew Welch solo; The Library of Babel: Brendon Randall-Myers, Matthew Welch, 

Brian Chase The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

êJohnathan Blake Group with Joe Dyson, John Ellis, Dayna Stephens, Ben Street 


• Igor Lumpert Innertextures with Ben Monder, Matt Brewer, Tommy Crane 


• Douglas Bradford’s Longest Day Of Year with Patrick Breiner, Chris Hoffman, 

Nick Anderson; Kenny Warren Group 

Rye 9, 10:15 pm 

• Khanike Tantshoyz with Steve Weintraub 


• Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic, Josh Sinton, Nick Anderson 

Bar Chord 9 pm 

Hiroko Kanna Duo 


• Ray Blue Trio; Jim Piela Group The Garage 6, 10:30 pm 



• Lionel Loueke Trio with Massimo Biolcati, Kendrick Scott 




Mark Lockett Trio 

Silvana 6 pm 

• Sinatra Centennial Tribute: Chris Gines, Hilary Kole, Eric Comstock, Ronny Whyte, 

Boots Maleson, David Silliman Saint Peter’s 1 pm $10 


êInterpretations: Wadada Leo Smith with Thurman Barker, Thomas Buckner, 

Joseph Kubera, Amina Claudine Myers, Bobby Naughton, Miriam Parker, 

The Secret Quartet; Douglas Ewart and Quasar with Mankwe Ndosi, Mary Oliver, 

J.D. Parran, Thomas Buckner, Adegoke Steve Colson, Steve Goldstein 


êJazz Takes on the Classics: Ted Rosenthal Trio with Noriko Ueda, John Riley; 

Inventions Trio: Bill Mays, Marvin Stamm, Alisa Horn 

Riverdale Y 7:30 pm $35 

• Joey DeFrancesco Trio with Dan Wilson, Jason Brown 


• Dave Schnitter Quintet; Greg Glassman Quintet; Alexi David 


êMade in China: Michael Blake, Michael Sarin, Samuel Blaser 

Nublu 10 pm 

• EJ Strickland and Transient Beings with Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Mark Whitfield, 

Raymond Angry and guest Ravi Coltrane 


êTobias Meinhart Trio with Marcos Varela, Alex Wyatt; Amanda Monaco Trio with 

Joe Fiedler, Marcos Varela Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Scott Morgan Quartet with Fred Hersch, Matt Aronoff, Ross Pedersen 


• Clocks In Motion: Sean Kleve, Dave Alcorn, Michael Koszewski, James McKenzie, 

Matthew Welch; Dan Friel/Matthew Welch 


êBriggan Krauss The Firehouse Space 8 pm $10 

êThe Jazz Gallery Mentoring Series: Johnathan Blake Group with Joe Dyson 

ShapeShifter Lab 8 pm $10 

• Royal Hartigan’s Blood, Drum, Spirit with David Bindman, Art Hirahara, Wes Brown 

Soup & Sound 8 pm $20 

• Lage Lund/Bryn Roberts Quartet with Matt Brewer, Jochen Rueckert 


êGabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet 

Zinc Bar 8 pm 

• John Yao and his 17-piece Instrument with Billy Drewes, Alejandro Aviles, Rich Perry, 

Jon Irabagon, Frank Basile, John Walsh, John Wiseman, John Raymond, 

Josh Deutsch, Luis Bonilla, Nick Grinder, Kajiwara Tokunori, Jennifer Wharton, 

Jesse Stacken, Robert Sabin, Vince Cherico 

Greenwich House Music School 7:30 pm 

• Jaimie Branch/Ståle Smith; Jaimie Branch, Matt Bauder, Brandon Lopez, Ståle Smith 

Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30, 9:30 pm $15 

êMilton Suggs Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 

• Colleen Clark Collective with Bria Skonberg, Julian Shore, Bam Bam Rodriguez and 

guest Rolando Morales 


Robin Aleman 

Symphony Space Bar Thalia 9 pm 

• Harlem Rent Party with Evan Sherman 

Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 

• The Highliners: Melissa Fogarty, Debra Kreisberg, Steve Newman, Rick Faulkner, 

Tommy Mattioli Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 

Larry Newcomb Duo 


• Maya Gour and Trio; Assaf Kehati Trio 


êFreddie Bryant/Peter Bernstein Quartet with Peter Washington, Victor Lewis 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $15 

Andy Farber Orchestra Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 




• Spike Wilner solo; Lawrence Fields; Jon Davis 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 

• Melissa Aldana Quartet; Willie Jones III Quintet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 




• Barbara Fasano with John di Martino, Boris Kozlov, Vince Cherico 

Birdland 6 pm $25 


• Mercedes Beckman 

Silvana 6 pm 


êEd Reed and The Source with Tim Green, Reuben Rogers, McClenty Hunter 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 

êMichael Carvin Quartet with Keith Loftis, Yayoi Ikawa, Jansen Cinco 


êMark Helias Quartet with Quinsin Nachoff, Kirk Knuffke, Nasheet Waits 


êValery Ponomarev “Our Father Who Art Blakey” Big Band 

Zinc Bar 10 pm 12 am 

• Manuel Valera and Groove Squared with John Ellis, Nir Felder, James Genus, 

E.J. Strickland Club Bonafide 8, 10:30 pm $20 

• Dearly Beloved—The Music of Prince: Ben Williams with Goapele, Frank McComb, 

W. Ellington Felton, Jason Samuels Smith, Christie Dashiell and guests 

Harlem Stage Gatehouse 7:30 pm $40 

• Holiday Swing with Michael Mwenso, Brianna Thomas, Charenée Wade, 

Chris Pattishall, Jamison Ross, Joe Saylor, Gabe Schnider, Alphonso Horne, 

Bruce Harris, Riley Mulhekar, Corey Wilcox, Matt Musselman, Tivon Pennicott, 

Godwin Louis, Julian Lee, Michela Marino Lerman 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 

• Michael Mwenso’s Holiday Nightcap 

Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 

• Ehud Asherie solo; Harry Allen Trio; Johnny O’Neal 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12:30 am $20 

• Antonio Ciacca Trio; Scott Wendholt/Adam Kolker Quartet; Tivon Pennicott Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1:30 am $20 

êBria Skonberg Rubin Museum 7 pm $20 

êSamuel Blaser Quartet with Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi, Billy Mintz; 

Brian Drye Trio with Matt Pavolka, Jeff Davis 


êJoel Forrester Trio 


• Fabian Almazan’s Rhizome with Camila Meza, Megan Gould, Tomoko Omura, 

Karen Waltuch, Noah Hoffeld, Linda Oh, Henry Cole 


• Blarvuster: Matthew Welch, Will Northlich-Redmond, Ian Riggs, Brian Chase; 

Will Northlich-Redmond/Matthew Welch 

The Stone 8, 10 pm $15-20 

êOded Tzur Quartet with Shai Maestro, Petros Klampanis, Colin Stranahan and guest 

Meytal Blanaru ShapeShifter Lab 10:30 pm $10 

Antoinette Montague 

BAMCafé 9:30 pm 

• Paul Bollenback Trio with Nelson Matta, Rogério Boccato 


• Billy Kaye Quintet; Ed Cherry Quartet; Jared Gold 

Fat Cat 6, 10:30 pm 1:30 am 

Ray Gallon/Paul Gill Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9 pm $3.50 

Chante Cann Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

Florencia Cuenca/Jaime Lozano Metropolitan Room 9:30 pm $20 

• Christian Finger Ananda Band with Sebastian Noelle, Adam Armstrong 

Inkwell Café 7 pm 

Takenori Nishiuchi Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 

• Al Marino Quartet; Peter Valera Jump Blues Band 








• David Sanborn Electric Band Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $55 


• Isak Gaines 

Shrine 6 pm 


êA Tibute to Gunther Schuller: Brooklyn Primal: Ed Schuller, Donny McCaslin, 

Jerome Harris, Nicole Kämpgen, Pete Davenport; George Schuller’s Circle Wide with 

Peter Apfelbaum, Brad Shepik, Dave Ambrosio, Tom Beckham; guests Russ Johnson, 

Roy Nathanson, Matt Darriau ShapeShifter Lab 8:15, 9:30 pm $10 

êLou Donaldson Quartet with Eric Johnson, Pat Bianchi, Fukushi Tainaka 

Flushing Town Hall 8 pm $42 

êRudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls with Adam O’Farrill, Matt Mitchell, 

Thomson Kneeland, Rudy Royston 

Miller Theatre 8 pm $20-30 

ê577 Forward Festival - Celebrating Daniel Carter’s 70th Birthday: The First Third: 

Todd Capp, Stephen Gauci, Reuben Radding; Eri Yamamoto; Federico Ughi Quartet 

with David Schnug, Mike Irwin, Jeff Snyder; Steve Dalachinsky; Daniel Carter, 

William Parker, Federico Ughi Scholes Street Studio 6:30 pm $25 

• Guillermo Klein Quintet with Seamus Blake, Ben Monder, Petros Klampanis, 

Jochen Rueckert Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 

• Robby Ameen Days in Night Band with Bob Franceschini, Troy Roberts, 

Conrad Herwig, Manuel Valera, Lincoln Goines 

Club Bonafide 8, 10:30 pm $20 

• Blarvuster and Mantra Percussion: Kate Maroney, Daniel Neer, Ben Holmes, 

Joe Bergen, Al Cerulo, Jude Traxler, Emily Manzo, Ian Riggs, Brian Chase, 

Matthew Welch; Matthew Welch, Jeremiah Cymerman, Toby Driver 


• Revive Big Band Ginny’s Supper Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 

• Bonnie Kane/Melissa Lohman; Shayna Dulberger/Jaimie Branch; Angela Morris, 

Aryeh Kabrinsky, Kate Gentile, Jaimie Branch 

The Firehouse Space 8 pm $10 

• Joanna Mattrey, Leila Bordreuil, Sean Ali; Ingrid Laubrock/Han-earl Park Duo; 

James Ilgenfritz’ Trio Caveat New Revolution Arts 8, 9, 10 pm 

êUnderground Horns Drom 8 pm $15 

Camille Thurman Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

• Ben Eunson Trio with Alex Claffy, Kush Abadey 


• Steve Blum Trio; Darryl Yokley Latin Project; Greg Glassman Jam 


• Swedish Lucia Celebration: Elsa Nilsson Quartet with Jeff McLaughlin, Alex Minier, 

Cody Rahn 


• Tali Rubinstein Quartet; Marianne Sullivan Quintet 

The Cell 7:30, 9 pm $20 

Martina Fiserova 

Sidewalk Café 10 pm 

Alan Rosenthal Trio 


• Standard Procedures; German Gonzalez Trio 

Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 


Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 

êMichael Carvin Quartet with Keith Loftis, Yayoi Ikawa, Jansen Cinco 


• Dearly Beloved—The Music of Prince: Ben Williams with Goapele, Frank McComb, 

W. Ellington Felton, Jason Samuels Smith, Christie Dashiell and guests 

Harlem Stage Gatehouse 7:30 pm $40 





Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 

• Michael Mwenso’s Holiday Nightcap 

Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $20 

• Spike Wilner; Harry Allen Trio; Anthony Wonsey 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12:30 am $20 

• Scott Wendholt/Adam Kolker Quartet; Brooklyn Circle 

Smalls 10:30 pm 1:30 am $20 

êSamuel Blaser Quartet with Russ Lossing, Masa Kamaguchi, Billy Mintz; 

Brian Drye Trio with Matt Pavolka, Jeff Davis 


• Fabian Almazan’s Rhizome with Camila Meza, Megan Gould, Tomoko Omura, 

Karen Waltuch, Noah Hoffeld, Linda Oh, Henry Cole 


Ray Gallon/Paul Gill Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9 pm $3.50 








Mimi Jones Band Blue Note 12:30 am $10 


Michael Sarian and The Chabones Silvana 6 pm 

Asako Takasaki 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Marsha Heydt Project of Love; Guy Mintus Trio; Virginia Mayhew Quartet 

The Garage 12, 6:15, 10:45 pm 



ê577 Forward Festival - Celebrating Daniel Carter’s 70th Birthday: David Schnug Trio 

with Zach Swanson, Max Goldman; Steve Swell; Extra Moon: Daniel Carter, 

Connie Crothers, Adam Caine, Federico Ughi; Flying Kites: G. Calvin Weston/ 

Lucas Brode Scholes Street Studio 7 pm $25 

• MoonJune Records Night: Mark Wingfield/Kevin Kastning; Yagull: Sasha Markovic, 

Kana Kamitsubo and guest Beledo; Beledo with Tony Steele, Doron Lev and guest 

Mark Wingfield 

ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8, 9 pm 

• Larry Carlton B.B. King’s Blues Club 8 pm $40 

êWilliam Hooker Trio with James Brandon Lewis, Adam Lane 

Cornelia Street Café 6 pm $10 

êSebastian Ammann/Samuel Blaser Quartet with Masa Kamaguchi, Billy Mintz 


• Samuel Torres Group with Alex Norris, Will Vinson, Marshall Gilkes, Luis Perdomo, 

Ricky Rodriguez, Ludwig Afonso Club Bonafide 7 pm $20 

• Matthew Welch/Gamelan Dharma Swara 


• Jon Lundbom’s Big Five Chord with Jon Irabagon, Bryan Murray, Moppa Elliott, 

Jason Tiemann; Jessica Lurie’s Bravadas with Mazz Swift, Marika Hughes; 

Eivind Opsvik’s Overseas with Tony Malaby, Jacob Sacks, Brandon Seabrook, 

Kenny Wollesen Threes Brewing 8, 9, 10 pm $15 

• Ståle Smith with Michael Foster, Leila Bordreuil; Ståle Smith with Joe McPhee, 

Pascal Niggenkemper JACK 8 pm $12 

Joel Frahm Trio Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

• Johnny O’Neal Trio; Behn Gillece Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Victor Gould Sextet; Brandon Lewis/Renee Cruz Jam 

Fat Cat 6, 8:30 pm 1 am 

Alice Ricciardi Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 7 pm $10 

• John “Satchmo” Mannan with Terri Davis, Wink Flythe, Vinnie Ruggiere, Makiko 

Malcolm Shabazz Cultural Center 7:30, 10:30 $20 

Norihiro Kikuta Trio 


• J-Music Ensemble 

Shrine 8 pm 


Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 





Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 






Tamio Shiraishi; Chris Pitsiokos Downtown Music Gallery 6, 7 pm 

Stephan Goranov 

Silvana 6 pm 

• Joe Fonda, Carlo Morena, Jeff Hirshfield 


êJohn Zorn’s Bagatelles: John Medeski Trio with David Fiuczynski, G. Calvin Weston 


Scot Albertson/Dan Furman Scholes Street Studio 3 pm $15 

• Jesse Fischer with Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Takuya Kuroda, Godwin Louis, 

David Cutler Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $35 

• Jeremy Warren Group Minton’s 12 pm $10 

êAlexis Cole/David Finck Duo North Square Lounge 12:30, 2 pm 

The Ballsmen Rainbow Room 12:30 pm $125 

• Lou Caputo Not So Big Band; David Coss Quartet 

The Garage 11:30 am 6:30 pm 


êHenry Threadgill’s Ensemble Double Up with Christopher Hoffman, Craig Weinrib, 

Curtis MacDonald, David Bryant, David Virelles, Jason Moran, José Davila, Román Filiú 

Roulette 8 pm $30-35 

ê577 Forward Festival - Celebrating Daniel Carter’s 70th Birthday: Coordinate Orientali: 

Gabriele Meirano/Federico Ughi; Daniel Carter, Matthew Putman, Federico Ughi; 

James Brandon Lewis/Chad Taylor; The Listening Group: Daniel Carter, 

Claire de Brunner, Stelios Michas, Jonah Rosenberg, Zach Swanson, Kyungmi Lee 

Scholes Street Studio 7:30 pm $25 




êJon Irabagon solo; Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park, Josh Sinton 

Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 9, 10 pm $10 

• Rie Akagi/Chiemi Nakai Noche Especial 

Subrosa 8, 10 pm $10 

• Amanda Ferguson’s December with Joshua Richman, Dave Baron 


Peter Martin/Robert Hurst Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20 

• Brenda Earle Stokes Quartet; Ari Hoenig Group 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

Ned Goold Quartet; Billy Kaye JamFat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am 

• Bobby Katz Trio with Adrian Moring, David Tim Rachbach; Chiara Izzi Trio with 

Pat Bianchi, Luca Santaniello Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

Chris Botti Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $95 

Juilliard Jazz Ensembles Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $30 

Suzanne Ross Trio 


• Cecilia Coleman Big Band; Ken Kobayshi Quartet 


• Mano A Mano 

Silvana 6 pm 


êGeri Allen, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington 


• Bill Charlap/Renee Rosnes Jazz Standard 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

êEd Reed and Trio with George Cables, Ugonna Okegwo, Akira Tana 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

• Evan Sherman Entourage Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 

êCatherine Russell Septet with Jon-Erik Kellso, Matt Munisteri, Mark Shane, Tal Ronen, 

Mark McLean Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 

êSusie Ibarra solo 

BRIC House Stoop 7 pm 

êMary Halvorson Octet with Jonathan Finlayson, Jon Irabagon, Ingrid Laubrock, 

Jacob Garchik, Susan Alcorn, John Hébert, Ches Smith 


êDan Tepfer/Thomas Morgan Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 

• Celebrating Sinatra at 100: Jerry Costanzo 

Iridium 8:30, 10:30 pm $30 

• Yoshimio/Chuck Bettis; Silver Process: Chuck Bettis, Joe Merolla, Brian Chase, 

Kevin Norton, Motoko Fukuyama The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

• Larry Corban 3 with Harvie S, Sylvia Cuenca 

Club Bonafide 10 pm $20 

• Igor Lumpert, Ben Monder, Christopher Tordini, Nasheet Waits; Will Bernard, 

Devin Hoff, Ches Smith 

Korzo 9, 10:30 pm 

• Nadje Noordhuis Quintet with Sara Caswell, Vitor Goncalves, Matt Aronoff, 

Richie Barshay; Josh Deutsch’s Pannonia with Zach Brock, Ryan Keberle, 

Edward Perez, Ronen Itzik; Andy Clausen Wishbone Project with Riley Mulherker, 

Mitch Lyon, Addison Frei, Jason Burger 

ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15 , 9:30 pm $10 

êMax Johnson’s Winter Quintet with Ben Goldberg, Samuel Blaser, Kris Davis, 

Billy Mintz Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30 pm $15 

• Chase Baird Trio with Dan Chmielinski, Chris Williams; Peter Brendler Trio with 

Jason Rigby, Jochen Rueckert Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Spike Wilner Trio; Smalls Legacy Band 

Smalls 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 

Saul Rubin Zebtet 

Fat Cat 7 pm 

• Marie-Claire with Alberto Pibiri, Luc Decker, Clifford Barbaro; Aida Brandes Trio with 

Kevin Hailey The Piano Room 7:30, 9:30 pm $10 



• Nick Holtzman; Kira Daglio Fine Duo 

Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm 

• Carl Bartlett, Jr. Trio; Lawrence Clark Trio 


êHenry Threadgill’s Ensemble Double Up with Christopher Hoffman, Craig Weinrib, 

Curtis MacDonald, David Bryant, David Virelles, Jason Moran, José Davila, Román Filiú 

Roulette 8 pm $30-35 

Peter Martin/Robert Hurst Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20 

• Chris Botti Blue Note 8, 10:30 pm $95 

Julphan Tilapornputt 

Silvana 6 pm 

Wataru Uchida 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Marvin Sewell Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15 


• Brian Lynch Quartet; Harold Mabern Trio 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Lafayette Harris solo; Sullivan Fortner; Sarah Slonim 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 

• Fire Breathing: David Byrd-Marrow, Peter Evans, Steve Lehman, Anthony Orji 


• Amina Figarova Group with Alex Norris, Wayne Escoffery, Bart Platteau, 

Pablo Menares, Darrell Green Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 

• Adam Kolker Trio with Steve Cardenas, Billy Mintz; Ohad Talmor, Mary Halvorson, 

Gerald Cleaver 

SEEDS 8:30, 10 pm 

• Gabrielle Stravelli Quartet with Jim Ridl, Pat O’Leary, Jordan Young 


• Chuck Bettis, Dafna Naphtali, Hans Tammen, Levy Lorenzo; Galactic Scorpion Council: 

Dave Scanlon, Dave Miller, Chuck Bettis 


• Randy Ingram Quartet with Lage Lund, Matt Brewer, Jochen Rueckert 


• Jeff Ratner; Your Daddy’s Company Christmas Party: Eric Trudel, Adam Hopkins, 

Nathan Ellman-Bell 

Rye 9, 10:15 pm 

• Steve Picataggio Trio; Costas Baltazanis End of Seas with Dan Brantigan, 

Panagiotis Andreou, Engin Gunaydin 

Club Bonafide 7:30, 10 pm $15 

• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Don Hahn/Mike Camacho Band; Ned Goold Jam 


• Kate Chaston with Ben Stivers, Al Street, Danton Boller, Diego Voglino 


• Tsibele: Eleanor Weill, Hannah Temple, Eva Boodman, Zoe Aqua 


• Ugene Romashov Trio; Chris Beaudry Trio 

Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm 

• George Weldon Trio; Chris Carroll Trio 






Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

• Evan Sherman Entourage Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $5 



êMary Halvorson Octet with Jonathan Finlayson, Jon Irabagon, Ingrid Laubrock, 

Jacob Garchik, Susan Alcorn, John Hébert, Ches Smith 



• Matt Criscuolo, Pat Bianchi, Gerry Gibbs 

Rockefeller 620 Loft 6 pm 

Alex Bryson Quartet 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Warren Chiasson/Alex Gressel Saint Peter’s 1 pm $10 


êHelen Sung’s ‘Sung With Words’ with Carmen Lundy, Carolyn Leonhart, Dana Gioia, 

John Ellis, Ingrid Jensen, Reuben Rogers, Donald Edwards, Samuel Torres 


êCameron Brown Festival: Cameron Brown OC/DC with Dave Ballou, Jane Ira Bloom, 

Anthony Pinciotti Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 

• Big Band Holidays: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with guests Audrey Shakir, 

Denzal Sinclaire Rose Hall 8 pm $40-140 

• Paul Winter’s 36th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration with guests Renato Braz, 

Theresa Thomason Cathedral of St. John the Divine 8 pm $35-90 

• Leslie Pintchik Trio with Scott Hardy, Michael Sarin 


êGabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet 

Zinc Bar 8 pm 

êFour Pianos: Ron Stabinsky, Cory Smythe, Craig Taborn, Sylvie Courvoisier, 

Brian Marsella JACK 8 pm $20 

Theo Bleckmann/Uri Caine National Sawdust 7 pm $35 

• Surface to Air: Jonathan Goldberger, Jonti Siman, Rohin Khemani; Tongues in Trees: 

Samita Sinha, Grey McMurry, Sunny Jain 

Greenwich House Music School 7:30 pm $12 

• Brian Lynch Quartet; JC Stylles Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

Point of Departure 

Fat Cat 10 pm 

• Annie Chen Setxte with Alex LoRe, Isaac Darche, Sean Wayland, Orlando Le Fleming, 

Jerad Lippi; Gracie Terzian Club Bonafide 7:30, 10 pm $15 

êPretty Clicks: Berangere Maximin/Chuck Bettis; Period: Mike Pride, Charlie Looker, 

Chuck Bettis and guest The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

• Álvaro Domene, Briggan Kraus, Josh Sinton, Mike Pride; Underworld Alchemy: 

Sarah Manning, Briggan Krauss The Firehouse Space 8, 9:30 pm $10 

• Pittsburgh Collective: Ted Levine, Kelley Hart-Jenkins, Steve Moran, Geoff Vidal, 

Brad Hubbard, Tim Leopold, Tom Bergeron, Sycil Mathai, Hugh Ragin, Jim Messbauer, 

Ben Herrington, Steve Gehring, Amy Peterson-Stout, Geoff Burleson, Dave Fabris, 

Dave Phillips, Mark Raynes, Theo Moore, Maria Tegzes, David Sanford; 

IMPetus: Maria Tegzes, Geoff Burleson, Dave Fabris 

ShapeShifter Lab 8:15, 9:30 pm $15 

• Sachal Vasandani/Kevin Hays Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 7 pm $15 

êMilton Suggs Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 

• Yuto Kanazawa Trio with Zack Westfall, Ray Belli; Nelson Riveros Trio with Peter Slavov, 

Jay Sawyer Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

Eileen Howard Trio Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 

C.J. Everett Trio 


• Rick Stone Trio; Steve Picataggio Trio 


• Spike Wilner solo; Sullivan Fortner; Jon Davis 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12 am $20 

• Amina Figarova Group with Alex Norris, Wayne Escoffery, Bart Platteau, 

Pablo Menares, Darrell Green Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $9 





Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

• Evan Sherman Big Band Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 




John Eckert 

Silvana 6 pm 

• Funkgology 

Shrine 6 pm 


êGotham Holiday Swing: Henry Butler, Steven Bernstein & The Hot 9 

Town Hall 8 pm $45 

êGary Bartz Quartet with Barney McAll, James King, Greg Bandy 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 

• Divas of the Silver Screen - Celebrating Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney & Ethel Waters: 

Adriane Lenox, Martina DaSilva, Tatiana Eva-Marie, Shenel Johns, Chris Pattishall, 

Michela Marino Lerman, Joseph C. Wiggan, Alphonso Horne, Patrick Bartley, 

Corey Wilcox, Bryan Carter, Yasushi Nakamura 

The Appel Room 7, 9:30 pm $40 

êNed Rothenberg’s Inner Diaspora Quintet with Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, 

Jerome Harris, Satoshi Takeishi Greenwich House Music School 8 pm $15 

• David Gilmore Energies of Change with Marcus Strickland, Luis Perdomo, 

Ben Williams, Rudy Royston Club Bonafide 8, 10:30 pm $20 

• Ehud Asherie solo; Aaron Goldberg; Johnny O’Neal 

Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm 12:30 am $20 

• Ralph Lalama and Bop-juice; Jay Collins Quintet; Jeremy Manasia Trio 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1:30 am $20 

Sullivan Fortner Trio Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

• Mark Sherman Quartet with Bruce Barth, Ray Drummond, Carl Allen 


êElla Fitzgerald’s Swingin’ Christmas: DIVA Jazz Orchestra with guests 

Camille Thurman, Christine Fawson, Sue Giles 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 

Evan Sherman Entourage Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $10 

• Sylvie Courvoisier, Ikue Mori, Chuck Bettis; Gamma Reverse Dream Logic: 

Jessica Pavone, Jeremiah Cymerman, Chuck Bettis 


• Mark Guiliana Quartet with Jason Rigby, Shai Maestro, Chris Morrissey 


• James Langton New York Swing Stars and All-Star Band 

Rainbow Room 6, 8:30 pm $195 

êRyan Keberle’s Catharsis Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 11:30 pm 

êJagged Spheres: Devin Gray, Teddy Klausner, Anna Webber; Adam Hopkins Sextet 

with Josh Sinton, Ed Rosenberg III, Anna Webber, Jonathan Goldberger, Devin Gray 

Ibeam Brooklyn 8:30, 10 pm $15 

• Patrick Brennan’s Transparency Kestra with Angelo Branford, Gene Coleman, 

Ken Filiano, Haruna Fukuzawa, Jason Kao Hwang, Richard Keene, 

Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic, Michael Lytle, David Sidman; Fido: Shoko Nagai, 

Ken Filiano, Ron Horton, Maryanne de Prophetis 

The Firehouse Space 8, 9 pm $10 

• Josh Deutsch’s No Chairs Ensemble with Dylan Heaney, Danny Fox, Peter Brendler, 

Alex Wyatt 

Terraza 7 9 pm 

• Polyfold Collective Showcase: Amanezca: Phil McNeal, Marty Jaffe, Chris McCarthy, 

Charmaine Lee, Molly Jones; Rafael Statin’s A Fate Supreme with Alex White, 

Alex Levine; Michael Malis/Matthew Daher Duo; Ambitus: Jon Taylor, Aakash Mittal, 

Jake Shadik, Ben Rolston, Alex Levine; Alex Levine Quartet with Caleb Curtis, 

François Moutin, Nathan Ellman-Bell 


The Pretzel Club The Drawing Room 7 pm $15 

• Steve Kovalcheck Trio with Marco Panascia, Chris Smith 


• Kathleen Landis, Dan White, Saadi Zain 

Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9 pm $3.50 

• Beat Kaestli with Ben Stivers, Jesse Lewis, Derek Nievergelt, Eric Kalb, Keisha Whitney, 

Anita Ward 

BAMCafé 9:30 pm 

• Alison Shearer with Sean Richey, Wade Ridenhour, James Quinlan, Mike Gordon 

Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 10 pm $10 

• Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 

Sarah Slonim Trio 


• Joe Pino Quartet; Hot House The Garage 6:15, 10:45 pm 

êCameron Brown Festival: Cameron Brown and the Hear and Now with Sheila Jordan, 

Dave Ballou, Don Byron, Tony Jefferson 


• Big Band Holidays: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with guests Audrey Shakir, 

Denzal Sinclaire Rose Hall 8 pm $40-140 


Theresa Thomason Cathedral of St. John the Divine 8 pm $35-90 









Corin Stiggall Quintet 

The Order 

• Valentina Marino 

Fat Cat 6 pm 

Silvana 6 pm 

Shrine 6 pm 



êShunzo Ohno with David Berkman, Clifford Carter, Billy Kilson and guests 

The Cutting Room 7:30 pm $25 

êTRIO vs TRIO: Stephan Crump’s Rosetta Trio with Liberty Ellman, Jamie Fox and 

WORKS: Michel Gentile, Daniel Kelly, Rob Garcia 

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music 7:30 pm $10 

• Lucian Ban/Mat Maneri Barbès 8 pm $10 

• Jazz Is Phish: Michael Ray, Jeff Coffin, Chris Bullock, Scott Flynn, Anthony Wellington, 

Adam Chase, Matthew Chase, Josh Thomas 

Brooklyn Bowl 8 pm $15-20 

• Carl Bartlett, Jr. Quintet Sistas’ Place 9, 10:30 pm $20 

êChristian Sands Trio with Russell Hall, Kush Abadey 

Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

• Sheryl Bailey Trio with Ron Oswanski, Ian Froman 


• Matmos: Drew Daniel/M.C. Schmidt and Chuck Bettis; Big Blood: Colleen Kinsella/ 

Caleb Mulkerin and Chuck Bettis The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

êKatie Bull Group with Landon Knoblock, Ratzo Harris, George Schuller, Joel Frahm 


êSIMPLE Trio: Matt Mitchell, John Hollenbeck, Anna Webber; Jagged Spheres: 

Devin Gray, Teddy Klausner, Anna Webber 


• Sharèl Cassity; Greg Glassman Jam 


• Yaniv Taubenhouse Trio with Rick Rosato, Jerad Lippi 


• Emi Takada Trio; Kathrine Vokes Trio 

Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 

• Justin Lees Trio 



Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 

• Divas of the Silver Screen - Celebrating Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney & Ethel Waters: 

Adriane Lenox, Martina DaSilva, Tatiana Eva-Marie, Shenel Johns, Chris Pattishall, 

Michela Marino Lerman, Joseph C. Wiggan, Alphonso Horne, Patrick Bartley, 

Corey Wilcox, Bryan Carter, Yasushi Nakamura 

The Appel Room 7, 9:30 pm $45 

• Spike Wilner; Aaron Goldberg Mezzrow 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 

• Tardo Hammer Trio; Jay Collins Quintet; Philip Harper Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm 1:30 am $20 

• Mark Sherman Quartet with Helen Sung, Ray Drummond, Carl Allen 




Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $45 

• Evan Sherman Big Band Dizzy’s Club 11:30 pm $20 

• Kathleen Landis, Dan White, Saadi Zain 


êCameron Brown Festival: Cameron Brown and Dannie’s Calypso with Russ Johnson, 

Lisa Parrott, Jason Rigby, Tony Jefferson 


• Big Band Holidays: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra 

Rose Hall 2, 8 pm $40-140 


Theresa Thomason Cathedral of St. John the Divine 2, 7:30 pm $35-90 









• Wade Barnes Tribute Band: Roy Meriwether, Bill Saxton, Vincent Chancey, 

Philip Harper, Alex Grassel, Dave Gibson 

Brownsville Heritage House 3 pm 

• Bossa Brasil: Maurício de Souza, Bob Rodriguez, Anthony Perez; Mark Marino Trio 



êDave Liebman’s Soprano Saxophone Colossus with Michel Doneda, Sam Newsome, 

Tatsuya Nakatani Cornelia Street Café 8:30 pm $10 

êRonnie Cuber, Mark Egan, Toninho Horta 

Iridium 8:30 pm $25 

êBending Towards the Light ... a Jazz Nativity hosted by Terrance McKnight, 

Sheila Anderson with guest Deborah Voigt 

Christ and St. Stephen’s Church 5, 8 pm $45-50 

êRichard Sussman’s Evolution Suite with Scott Wendholt, Rich Perry, 

Mike Richmond, Anthony Pinciotti, Sirius String Quartet and guest Zach Brock 

Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia 8 pm $25 

• Gene Bertoncini The Drawing Room 7 pm $20 

• Chuck Bettis, Franke Vogl, Evan Rapport; Mossenek: Mick Barr, Chuck Bettis, 

Colin Marston, Larry Kwartowitz The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

• Theo Bleckmann Elegy with Ben Monder, Shai Maestro, Chris Tordini, John Hollenbeck; 

SIMPLE Trio: Matt Mitchell, John Hollenbeck, Anna Webber 


êMolly Ryan Metropolitan Room 9:30 pm $20 

• Oded Tzur 


• Grant Stewart Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

• The Songbook Quartet; Joe Magnarelli Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Gamelan Dharma Swara; 


• James Muller and the Sydney Con Jazz Orchestra with David Theak, Sam Gill, 

Nish Manjunuth, Evan Harris, Michael Avgenicos, Chris O’Dea, James Harris, 

Kyle Eardley, Joseph Lisk, Tom Avgenicos,, Nick Calligeros, Ellie Shearer, Matt O’Brien, 

Kaygan Kang, Des Canning, Felix Lalanne, David Allen, Nick Henderson, Oliver Nelson 

ShapeShifter Lab 8, 9 pm $8 

• Kengo Yamada 


• La Banda Ramirez: Chacho and Carolyn Ramirez with Tehrin Cole, Khuent Rose 

Paris Blues Harlem 9 pm 


Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $40 



Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $40 





êBen Goldberg, Charles Burnham, Ellery Eskelin, Stephan Crump 

Downtown Music Gallery 6 pm 

• Filipe Duarte Band 

Silvana 6 pm 

• Ana Hernandez/Fran McKendree Saint Peter’s 5 pm 

• David White Jazz Orchestra Full Gospel Assembly of Brooklyn 4:30 pm 

êDedicated to Charlie Parker: Mark Gross Quartet with Theo Hill, Kenny Davis, Carl Allen 

The West End Lounge 4 pm $25 

êJohn Zorn’s Bagatelles: Asmodeus: Marc Ribot, Trevor Dunn, Tyshawn Sorey 


• Kaoru Watanabe Boonenkai ShapeShifter Lab 3 pm 

êMarianne Solivan Quartet with Bruce Barth, Matthew Parrish, McClenty Hunter 

Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $35 

• The Minton’s Players Minton’s 12 pm $10 

• Roz Corral Trio with Freddie Bryant, Neal Miner 


• Fleur Seule Rainbow Room 12:30 pm $125 

• Iris Ornig Quartet; David Coss Quartet; Joonsam Lee Trio 



êDick Hyman solo Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

êMichel Doneda/Tatsuya Nakatani; Michel Doneda, Tatsuya Nakatani, Jason Kao Hwang, 

Ingrid Laubrock, Sara Schoenbeck, Andrew Drury 

Soup & Sound 7 pm $20 

• George Braith; Billy Kaye Jam Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am 

• Peter Bernstein/Rueben Rogers Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

• Ari Hoenig Group Smalls 10:30 pm $20 

• Charles Waters; Luke Stewart Delroy’s Cafe and Wine Bar 9, 10 pm $10 




• Jessica Jones 

ShapeShifter Lab 7, 8:15 pm 

• James Langton New York Swing Stars and All-Star Band 

Rainbow Room 6, 8:30 pm $195 

• Ziv Ravitz/Colin Stranahan Quartet Quintet with Mark Shim, Charles Altura, Ben Wendel 


• Gioel Severiini Trio with Shin Sakaino, Kazuhiro Odagiri; Alexis Parsons Trio with 

Jack Wilkins, Dean Johnson Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Marla Sampson Duo 


• Lou Caputo Not So Big Band; Nobuki Takemen Trio 



• Norihiro Kikuta Trio 

• Josh Marcus Band 

Silvana 6 pm 

Shrine 6 pm 

The RichaRd SuSSman enSemble 

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Rich peRRy-TenoR Sax, mike Richmond-baSS, anThony pincioTTi-dRumS, 

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êMatt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O with Jeff Lederer, Paul Sikivie and guest Jason Moran 


êFreddy Cole Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 

êKenny Barron Quintet with Stefon Harris, Elena Pinderhughes, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, 

Johnathan Blake Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $30 

• Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Quartet with Doug Weiss, Jimmy Cobb 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 

• The Living Wheel - The River of Tears: Jessica Pavone, Brent Arnold, Ches Smith, 

Mike Lockwood, Timba Harris; The Living Wheel - Ring of Echoes: Michael Frasconi, 

Kenny Grohowski, Jessica Pavone, Brent Arnold, Timba Harris 


• Tatum Greenblatt; Rosetta’s Tone: Dana Herz, Shachar Elnatan, Gadi Lehavi, 

Tal Mashiach, Erez Feuer Club Bonafide 7:30, 10 pm $15 

• Celebrating Sinatra: Sachal Vasandani 


• Jason Yeager Group with Tomoko Omura, Kevin Hailey, Matt Rousseau 


• Roseanna Vitro with Mark Soskin, Sara Caswell 

Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20 

• Spike Wilner Trio; Lucas Pino Nonet 

Smalls 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 

• Saul Rubin Zebtet 

Fat Cat 7 pm 

• Isaac Darche Trio with Adrian Moring, Corey Cox; Assaf Kehati Trio with 

Peter Traummueller, Yoni Marramer 


• Mikhail Romanov solo 


• Stephen Fuller Duo 


• Giedrus Nakas; Megumi Hakuba Silvana 6, 8 pm 

• Mayu Saeki Trio; Alex Karakis Trio The Garage 6, 10:30 pm 

êDick Hyman solo Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 


• Beavin Lawrence 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Phill Niblock Winter Solstice Roulette 5 pm $20 

• Richard Fairfax Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15 


êTed Rosenthal Wonderland Trio with Noriko Ueda, Tim Horner 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

êFrank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars 


• Probosci: Timba Harris/Gyan Riley; Clefter: Timba Harris, Gyan Riley, Toby Driver 


• Vicki Burns Quartet with Lee Tomboulian, Tom Hubbard, Brian Woodruff 


• David Berkman/Ray Drummond Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

• Jared Gold Trio Smalls 10:30 pm $20 

• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Ned Goold Jam 


Academy Records 

& CDs 

Cash for new and used 

compact discs,vinyl 

records, blu-rays and 

dvds. 

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 

• Rebecca Angel with Dennis Angel, Gottfried Stoger, Jon Werking, Gregory Jones, 

Nadav Snir-Zelniker Metropolitan Room 7 pm $20 

• Ian Bass Trio 


• Dre Barnes Trio; Tsutomu Naki Trio 


êMatt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O with Jeff Lederer, Paul Sikivie and guest Jason Moran 





• Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Quartet with Doug Weiss, Jimmy Cobb 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 


• Erena Terakubo 

Silvana 6 pm 

• Joe Pino Quintet 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Yuletide Celebration: Alex Leonard, Ronny Whyte, Boots Maleson, David Silliman, 

Marlene VerPlanck, Joyce Breach, Daryl Sherman 



êBrianna Thomas Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $15 

• Kelley Suttenfield Quartet with Michael Kanan, Matt Aronoff, Ronen Itzik 


• Gene Segal Trio with Jared Gold, Diego Voglino 

Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Alter Jazz Ensemble Joe’s Pub 7 pm $12 

• Tal Ronen Quintet Smalls 10:30 pm $20 

• Paul Lee Trio Tomi Jazz 9 pm $10 

• Kazu Trio 





• Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Quartet with Ray Drummond, Jimmy Cobb 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 


• Champian Fulton Quartet The Garage 5:30 pm 


• The Living Wheel - A Gathering in the Sky: Josh Sinton, Michael Frasconi, 

Kenny Grohowski, Timba Harris; The Living Wheel - Zeus Rising: Jeremiah Cymerman, 

Nicolas Shellenberger, Josh Sinton, Timba Harris 


• Steve Nelson Trio Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

• Tivon Pennicott Quartet Smalls 1:30 am $20 

• Diallo House 

Fat Cat 10:30 pm 

• Svetlana and Seth Weaver Big Band 

Zinc Bar 10, 11 pm 1 am $10-20 

• Mike Lattimore Band Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 8 pm 

• Masami Ishikawa Trio; Peter Valera Jump Blues Band 





• Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Quartet with Ray Drummond, Jimmy Cobb 

Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 



êHouston Person Quartet with John di Martino, Matthew Parrish, Chip White 


• Chris Potter Trio Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

• Celebrating Sinatra at 100: Diane Schuur with Joel Frahm, Ben Wolfe, Donald Edwards 

Iridium 8:30, 10:30 pm $35 

êWinard Harper Minton’s 7:30, 9:30 pm $25 

• Marlene VerPlanck Trio with Jon Weber, Jay Leonhart 


• The Living Wheel - Cracks in the Desert Floor: Gyan Riley, Shahzad Ismaily, 

Jeremiah Cymerman, Nicolas Shellenberger, Timba Harris; The Living Wheel - 

The Infernal Embrace: Toby Driver, Matt Hollenberg, Gyan Riley, Shahzad Ismaily, 

Timba Harris The Stone 8, 10 pm $15 

• Joel Forrester/David Hofstra Knickerbocker Bar and Grill 9 pm $3.50 

• Petros Klampanis Cornelia Street Café 9, 10:30 pm $10 

• Billy Mintz Quintet; Brooklyn Circle 

Smalls 10:30 pm 1:30 am $20 

• Orlando Le Fleming; Greg Glassman Jam 


• Monday Michiru; Nick Di Maria Quintet 

Club Bonafide 8, 10:30 pm $15-35 

• Jeff McLaughlin Trio with Sharik Hassan, Nathan Ellman-Bell 


• Yuko Ito Trio; Yusuke Seki Tomi Jazz 8, 11 pm $10 

• Kayo Hiraki Trio 


• Blu Cha Cha 

Silvana 8 pm 

• Steve Nelson Trio Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 




• Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Quartet with Jon Webber, Joe Farnsworth and guest 

Steve Turre Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 


• Blue Wind Quartet 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Brian Pareschi Quartet; Champian Fulton Quartet; King Solomon Hicks Trio 

The Garage 12, 6:15, 10:45 pm 


• The Living Wheel - Medusa’s Gaze: Kenny Grohowski, Larry Kwartowitz, Toby Driver, 

Matt Hollenberg, Timba Harris; The Living Wheel - Roots of Rock, Bones of Stone: 

Ches Smith, Mike Lockwood, Kenny Grohowski, Larry Kwartowitz, Timba Harris 


êMichael Bisio/Kirk Knuffke Zürcher Gallery 6:30 pm 

• Eri Yamamoto Trio with David Ambrosio, Ikuo Takeuchi 


• Alí Bello Sweet Wire Band with Gabriel Chakarji, Bam Bam Rodríguez, 

Ismael “Maelo” Baiz, Neil Ochoa Club Bonafide 7 pm $15 

• New York Jazzharmonic Trio: Jay Rattman, Chris Ziemba, Ron Wasserman and guests 

Jim Saporito, Harrison Hollingsworth 

Symphony Space Bar Thalia 7 pm 

• George Gee Swing Orchestra; Johnny O’Neal Trio; Dmitry Baevsky Quartet 

Smalls 4:30, 7:30, 10:30 pm $20 

• Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band; Pablo Bencid Latin Quintet; 


• Yako Eicher Trio 


êHouston Person Quartet with John di Martino, Matthew Parrish, Chip White 




Iridium 8:30, 10:30 pm $35 




Steve Turre Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 


êAndrew Lamb Quartet 


êJohn Zorn’s Bagatelles: Jim Black Guitar Quartet with Keisuke Matsuno, 

Jonathan Goldberger, Simon Jermyn 


• Geoffrey Keezer Trio with Gillian Margot 

Blue Note 11:30 am 1:30 pm $35 

• Julie Eigenberg with Yaron Gershovsky, Alex Blake, Tommy Campbell 

Highline Ballroom 12:30 pm $22-30 

• The Minton’s Players Minton’s 12 pm $10 

• Paul Jost Trio with Jim Ridl, Boris Kozlov 


• Dandy Wellington Rainbow Room 12:30 pm $125 

• Michika Fukumori Trio; David Coss Quartet; Dave Kain Group 






• Deb Auer with Neal Kirkwood, Don Moore 

Café Noctambulo 7:30, 9 pm $20 

• Nicole Zuraitis Mezzrow 7:30 pm $20 

• Alex David; Billy Kaye Jam Fat Cat 9 pm 12:30 am 

• NanJo Lee Trio with Shin Sakaino, James Simpson; Dana Reedy Trio with Ed Cherry, 

James Robbins Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Atsushi Ouchi Trio 


• Eyal Vilner Big Band; Kenny Shanker Quartet 




Iridium 8:30, 10:30 pm $35 


Vincent Herring Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 


• Stefan Goranov 

Shrine 6 pm 



êThe Bad Plus: Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, David King 


êJohn Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit: John Zorn, Joe Morris, Marc Ribot, 

Jeremiah Cymerman, Kenny Grohowski, Gyan Riley, Uri Gurvich; 

John Zorn’s Bagatelles By Night: Matt Hollenberg/Nick Millevoi Quartet with 

Johnny DeBlase, Kenny Grohowski 


êDuchess: Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner, Melissa Stylianou with Michael Cabe, 

Matt Aronoff, Jared Schonig, Jeff Lederer and guests 


• Birdland Big Band directed by Tommy Igoe 

Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 

• Joel Forrester, David Hofstra, Matt Garrity 

The Rum House 9:30 pm 

• Jazzin’ Around Baroque: Paola Quagliata, Bruce Barth, Joseph Lepore, Rudy Royston 

ShapeShifter Lab 8:15 pm $10 

• Q Morrow Quartet with Evan Francis, Noah Jackson, Charles Goold; Alpha Band; 

Mind Open Club Bonafide 7:30, 9:30, 10:30 pm $10-15 

• Ark Ovrutski Quartet with Patience Higgins, Willerm Delisfort, Jason Brown 

Zinc Bar 8 pm 

• Spike Wilner Trio; Josh Evans Quartet 

Smalls 7:30, 9:30 pm $20 

• Saul Rubin Zebtet; Itai Kriss and Gato Gordo; John Benitez Latin Bop 


• Koran Agan Quartet with Peter Sparacino, Josh Kaye, Eduardo Belo 


• Caroline Davis Trio with Will Slater, Jay Sawyer; Casey Berman Trio with Elliot Berman, 

Hayden Hawkins Bar Next Door 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 



• Yuko Kimura Trio 




Vincent Herring Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 


• Allison Philips 

Silvana 6 pm 

• Mike Dick 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Justin Lees Trio 

The Garage 6 pm 

êDick Griffin Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 12, 1 pm $15 


êRebirth Brass Band Highline Ballroom 8 pm 12 am $39.50-55 

êWinard Harper and Jeli Posse with Tadataka Unno, Anthony Ware, Ted Chubb, 

Momadou Konate, Vince DuPont, Michela Lerman 

Dizzy’s Club 7:30, 9:30 pm $35 

• Dean Johnson’s Triology with Jim Ridl, Rogério Boccato 


êTom Rainey Trio with Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson 


• JC Hopkins Biggish Band with Jazzmeia Horn, Brandon Bain 

Club Bonafide 7:30 pm $15 

• Jason Lindner’s Now vs. Now Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 9:15 pm $10 

• Alex Sipiagin/Dave Kikoski Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

December 8th 

Lou Volpe Group 

January 12th 

Mike Longo’s NY State 

of the Art Jazz Ensemble 

with Ira Hawkins 

January 26th 

Dave Chamberland’s 

Band of Bones 

Tribute to J. J. Johnson 

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 

• Raphael D’lugoff Trio +1; Alex Claffy; Ned Goold Jam 


Scot Albertson Trio 


• Marc Devine Trio; Adam Moezinia Trio 




êJohn Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit: John Zorn, Mark Helias, Ikue Mori, Uri Caine, 

Anthony Coleman, Severine Ballon, Erik Friedlander, Frank London; 

John Zorn’s Bagatelles By Night: Gyan Riley/Julian Lage 


êDuchess: Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner, Melissa Stylianou with Michael Cabe, 

Matt Aronoff, Jared Schonig, Jeff Lederer and guests 


• Birdland Big Band directed by Tommy Igoe 

Birdland 8:30, 11 pm $40 

• Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Quartet with Jon Webber, Joe Farnsworth and guests 

Eddie Henderson, Vincent Herring Smoke 7, 9, 10:30 pm $48 


• Steve Kaiser Group 

Silvana 6 pm 

• NY Jazz Force 

Shrine 6 pm 

• Martha Lorin, Jon Weber, Sean Harkness 



• Richard Bona; Davi Vieira Club Bonafide 7, 10 pm $50-150 

êMingus Big Band: Alex Sipiagin, Philip Harper, Alex Norris, Alex Foster, 

Wayne Escoffery, Abraham Burton, Alex Terrier, Lauren Sevian, Frank Lacy, 

Helen Sung, Boris Kozlov, Adam Cruz 

Jazz Standard 7:30, 10:30 pm $135-195 

êSheila Jordan/Cameron Brown Cornelia Street Café 8:30, 10:30 pm $10 

• Nilson Matta’s Samba Meets Jazz with Don Braden, Fabiana Masili, Vitor Gonçalves, 

Vince Cherico Jazz at Kitano 9 pm $125 

• Valerie Capers, John Robinson, Richie Goods 


Johnny O’Neal Trio Mezzrow 9:30 pm $20 

• Colin Stranahan Trio with Glenn Zaleski, Rick Rosato 

Bar Next Door 8:15, 11 pm $77.50 

• 4th Annual Emmanuel Baptist Church Holiday Jazz Vespers: Vivian Sessoms 

Emmanuel Baptist Church 7 pm $20 

Senri Oe 


Kazu Trio 


• David Coss Quintet 

The Garage 8 pm 


Village Vanguard 9, 11 pm $150 

êJohn Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit: John Zorn, Jim Staley, Ikue Mori, 

Okkyung Lee, Chuck Bettis, Mike Nicolas, Ned Rothenberg, Brian Chase; 

John Zorn’s Bagatelles By Night: Trigger: Will Greene, Simon Hanes, Aaron Edgcomb 


• Birdland Big Band directed by Tommy Igoe with guest Carole Bufford 

Birdland 8, 11 pm $50-100 

• Eric Alexander/Harold Mabern Quartet with Jon Webber, Joe Farnsworth and guests 

Eddie Henderson, Vincent Herring Smoke 6:30, 9:45 pm $175-275 

• Chris Botti Blue Note 7, 10 pm $155-175 

Harlem Jazz Parlor Festival 

Welcome to Harlem celebrates the 

Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend with 

3 trios, featuring 

Craig Harris January 16th 

Bob Stewart January 17th 

Joe Daley January 18th 

7pm 

Admission is just $25! 

27 Mount Morris Park West 

(bet. 122 nd and 123 rd @ Fifth Ave.) 

This two-hour intimate experience 

provides a haven where music lovers 

can relax, enjoy the music, and engage 

with musicians while enjoying 

hors d’oeuvres, wine, and dessert. 

welcometoharlem.com 

212-662-7779 

REGULAR ENGAGEMENTS 

MONDAY 

• Ron Affif Trio 

Zinc Bar 9, 11pm, 12:30, 2 am 

• Richard Clements and guests 11th Street Bar 9 pm 

• Dr. Dwight Dickerson Cassandra’s Jazz and Gallery 8, 10 pm (ALSO TUE-SUN) 

• Joel Forrester solo 

Brandy Library 8 pm 

• Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks Iguana 8 pm (ALSO TUE) 

• Grove Street Stompers Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm 

• Patience Higgins Band with Lady Cantrese Nabe Harlem 7 pm 

• Jazz Foundation of American Jam Session Local 802 7 pm 

• Arthur Kell and Friends Bar Lunatico 8:30 pm 

• Renaud Penant Trio Analogue 7:30 pm 

• Earl Rose solo; Earl Rose Trio Bemelmans Bar 5:30, 9 pm 

• Stan Rubin All-Stars Charley O’s 8:30 pm 

• Smoke Jam Session Smoke 10:30 pm 

• Svetlana and the Delancey 5 The Back Room 8:30 pm 

• Swingadelic 

Swing 46 8:30 pm 

• Gracie Terzian 

Bar Hugo 6 pm 

• Vanguard Jazz Orchestra Village Vanguard 8:30, 10:30 pm $25 

• Jordan Young Group Bflat 8 pm (ALSO WED 8:30 pm) 

• James Zeller Duo 

Spasso 7 pm (ALSO SUN) 

TUESDAY 

• Orrin Evans Evolution Series Jam Session Zinc Bar 11 pm 

• Irving Fields 

Nino’s Tuscany 7 pm (ALSO WED-SUN) 

• George Gee Orchestra Swing 46 8:30 pm 

• Earl Rose; Chris Gillespie Bemelmans Bar 5:30, 9:30 pm (ALSO WED-SAT) 

• Loston Harris 

Café Carlyle 9:30 pm $20 (ALSO WED-SAT) 

• Art Hirahara Trio 

Arturo’s 8 pm 

• Yuichi Hirakawa Trio Arthur’s Tavern 7, 8:30 pm 

• Mike LeDonne Quartet; Emmet Cohen Band Smoke 7, 9, 10:30, 11:30 pm 

• Mona’s Hot Four Jam Session Mona’s 11 pm 

• Annie Ross The Metropolitan Room 9:30 pm $25 

• Diego Voglino Jam Session The Fifth Estate 10 pm 

WEDNESDAY 

• Astoria Jazz Composers Workshop Waltz-Astoria 6 pm 

• Rick Bogart Trio 

L’ybane 9:30 pm (ALSO FRI) 

• Sedric Choukroun and the Eccentrics Chez Oskar 7 pm 

• Rob Duguay’s Low Key Trio Turnmill NYC 11 pm 

• Jeanne Gies with Howard Alden and Friends Joe G’s 6:30 pm 

• Martin Kelley’s Affinity John Brown Smoke House 5:30 pm 

• Mark Kross and Louise Rogers WaHi Jazz Jam Le Chéile 8 pm 

• Les Kurtz Trio 


• Jonathan Kreisberg Trio Bar Next Door 8:30, 10:30 pm $12 

• Ron McClure solo piano McDonald’s 12 pm (ALSO SAT) 

• David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Centennial Band Birdland 5:30 pm $20 

• Saul Rubin Vocalist Series Zeb’s 8 pm $10 

• Stan Rubin Orchestra Swing 46 8:30 pm 

• Eve Silber 

Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm 

• Reggie Woods with Greg Lewis Organ Monk Sapphire NYC 8 pm 

• Bill Wurtzel/Mike Gari American Folk Art Museum Lincoln Square 2 pm 

THURSDAY 

• Marc Cary’s The Harlem Sessions Gin Fizz Lounge 10 pm $10 

• Sedric Choukroun 

Brasserie Jullien 7:30 pm (ALSO FRI, SAT) 

• Joel Forrester/Christina Clare Vespa 7:30, 9 pm 

• Craig Harris and the Harlem Night Songs Big Band MIST 9, 10:30 pm $15 

• Jazz Jam Session 

American Legion Post 7:30 pm 

• Kazu Trio 

Cleopatra’s Needle 11:30 pm 

• Martin Kelley’s Affinity Domaine Wine Bar 8:30 pm 

• Lapis Luna Quintet 

The Plaza Hotel Rose Club 8:30 pm 

• Curtis Lundy Jam Session Shell’s Bistro 9 pm 

• Sol Yaged 

Grata 8 pm 

• Eri Yamamoto Trio 

Arthur’s Tavern 7 pm (ALSO FRI-SAT) 

FRIDAY 

• Scot Albertson 

Parnell’s 8 pm (ALSO SAT) 

• Gene Bertoncini 

Ryan’s Daughter 8 pm 

• Birdland Big Band Birdland 5:15 pm $25 


New York Yankees Steakhouse 5 pm 

• The Crooked Trio: Oscar Noriega, Brian Drye, Ari Folman-Cohen Barbès 5 pm 

• Day One Trio 

Prime and Beyond Restaurant 9 pm (ALSO SAT) 

• Gerry Eastman Quartet Williamsburg Music Center 10 pm 

• John Farnsworth Quartet Smoke 11:45 pm 12:45 am 

• Finkel/Kasuga/Tanaka/Solow San Martin Restaurant 12 pm $10 

• Sandy Jordan and Friends ABC Chinese Restaurant 8 pm 

• Bernard Linnette Jam Session University of the Streets 11:30 pm 

• Frank Owens Open Mic The Annex at Hamilton House 7 pm $10 

• Richard Russo Quartet Capital Grille 6:30 pm 

• Bill Saxton and the Harlem Bebop Band Bill’s Place 9, 11 pm $15 (ALSO SAT) 

• Joanna Sternberg Trio Cleopatra’s Needle 12:30 am 

SATURDAY 

• Rob Anderson Jam Session University of the Streets 10 pm 


Broadway Thai 7:30 pm (ALSO SUN) 

• The Candy Shop Boys Duane Park 8, 10:30 pm 

• Curtis Lundy Trio with guests Shell’s Bistro 9 pm 

• Jonathan Moritz/Chris Welcome/Shayna Dulberger The Graham 1 pm 

• Ruben Steijn.Sharik Hasan/Andrea Veneziani Farafina Café & Lounge 8:30 pm 

• Nabuko and Friends Nabe Harlem 12 pm 

• Johnny O’Neal and Friends Smoke 11:45 pm 12:45 am 

• James Zeller Trio 

Spasso 1pm 

SUNDAY 

• Avalon Jazz Quartet The Lambs Club 11 am 


New York Yankees Steakhouse 12 pm 

• The Candy Shop Boys The Rum House 9:30 pm 

• ChuLu Guitar Duo 

Cafe Paulette 7 pm 

• Creole Cooking Jazz Band; Stew Cutler and Friends Arthur’s Tavern 7, 10 pm 

• Glenn Crytzer Group Pegu Club 6:30 pm 

• The EarRegulars with Jon-Erik Kellso The Ear Inn 8 pm 

• Marjorie Eliot/Rudell Drears/Sedric Choukroun Parlor Entertainment 4 pm 

• Broc Hempel/Sam Trapchak/Christian Coleman Trio Dominie’s Astoria 9 pm 

• Ian Hendrickson-Smith The Strand Smokehouse 7 pm 

• Jazz Brunch 

Harlem Besame Latino Soul Lounge 1:30 pm 

• Bob Kindred Group; Junior Mance Trio Café Loup 12:30, 6:30 pm 

• Peter Mazza Trio Bar Next Door 8, 10 pm $12 

• Tony Middleton Trio Jazz at Kitano 11 am $35 

• The Minton’s Players Minton’s 12, 1:30, 3 pm $10-20 

• Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Birdland 9, 11 pm $30 

• Earl Rose solo; Tony DeSare Bemelmans Bar 5:30, 9 pm 

• Lu Reid Jam Session Shrine 4 pm 

• Annette St. John; Wilerm Delisfort Quartet Smoke 11:30 am 11:45 pm 

• Ryo Sasaki Trio 

Analogue 7 pm 


CLUB DIRECTORY 

• 11th Street Bar 510 E. 11th Street 

(212-982-3929) Subway: L to 1st Avenue www.11thstbar.com 

• 440Gallery 440 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn 

(718-499-3844) Subway: F, G to Seventh Avenue www.440gallery.com 

• 5C Café 68 Avenue C 

(212-477-5993) Subway: F, V to Second Avenue 5ccc.com 

• 55Bar 55 Christopher Street (212-929-9883) 

Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.55bar.com 

• 92nd Street Y Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street 

(212-415-5500) Subway: 6 to 96th Street www.92y.org 

• ABC Chinese Restaurant 34 Pell Street 

(212-346-9890) Subway: J to Chambers Street 

• ABC - No Rio 156 Rivington Street (212-254-3697) 

Subway: F to Second Avenue, J,M,Z to Delancey Street www.abcnorio.org 

• American Folk Art Museum 45 W 53rd Street (212-265-1040) 

Subway: E to 53rd Street www.folkartmuseum.org 

• American Legion Post 248 West 132nd Street 

(212-283-9701) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street www.legion.org 

• An Beal Bocht Café 445 W. 238th Street 

Subway: 1 to 238th Street www.LindasJazzNights.com 

• Analogue 19 West 8th Street (212-432-0200) 

Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.analoguenyc.com 

• The Annex at Hargrove House 111 W. 71st Street (between Columbus and 

Amsterdam Avenues) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 72nd Street 

• Apollo Theater & Music Café 253 W. 125th Street 

(212-531-5305) Subway: A, B, C, D, 2, 3 to 125th Street apollotheater.org 

• The Appel Room Broadway at 60th Street, 5th floor (212-258-9800) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3, 9, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.jalc.org 

• Arthur’s Tavern 57 Grove Street (212-675-6879) 

Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.arthurstavernnyc.com 

• Arturo’s 106 W. Houston Street (at Thompson Street) 

(212-677-3820) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street 

• BAMCafé 30 Lafayette Avenue (718-636-4139) Subway: M, N, R, W to 

Pacific Street; Q, 1, 2, 4, 5 to Atlantic Avenue www.bam.org 

• B.B. King’s Blues Club 237 W. 42nd Street (212-997-2144) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7 to 42nd Street/Times Square www.bbkingblues.com 

• BRIC House Stoop 647 Fulton Street (718-683-5600) 

Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins Street www.bricartsmedia.org 

• Bflat 277 Church Street (between Franklin and White Streets) 

Subway: 1, 2 to Franklin Streets 

• The Back Room 102 Norfolk Street 

(212-228-5098) Subway: F to Delancey Street; J, M, Z to Essex Street 

www.backroomnyc.com 

• Bar Chord 1008 Cortelyou Road 

(347-240-6033) Subway: Q to Cortelyou Road www.barchordnyc.com 

• Bar Hugo 525 Greenwich Street 

(212-608-4848) Subway: C, E to Spring Street www.hotelhugony.com 

• Bar Lunatico 486 Halsey Street 

(917-495-9473) Subway: C to Kingston-Throop Avenues 

• Bar Next Door 129 MacDougal Street (212-529-5945) 

Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.lalanternacaffe.com 

• Barbès 376 9th Street at 6th Avenue, Brooklyn (718-965-9177) 

Subway: F to 7th Avenue www.barbesbrooklyn.com 

• Baruch College 17 Lexington Avenue at 23rd Street 

(646-312-3924) Subway: 6 to 23rd Street www.baruch.cuny.edu/bpac 

• Beethoven Pianos 211 W 58th Street (212-765-7300) 

Subway: 1, A, B, C, D to 50th Street www.beethovenpianos.com 

• Bemelmans Bar 35 E. 76th Street (212-744-1600) 

Subway: 6 to 77th Street www.thecarlyle.com 

• Bill’s Place 148 W. 133rd Street (between Lenox and 7th Avenues) 

(212-281-0777) Subway: 2, 3 to 125th Street 

• Birdland 315 W. 44th Street (212-581-3080) 

Subway: A, C, E, to 42nd Street www.birdlandjazz.com 

• Bloomingdale School of Music 323 West 108th Street 

(212-663-6021) Subway: 1 to Cathedral Parkway www.bsmny.org 

• 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 

• Brandy Library 25 N. Moore Street 

(212-226-5545) Subway: 1 to Franklin Street 

• Broadway Thai 241 West 51st Street 

(212-226-4565) Subway: 1, C, E to 50th Street www.tomandtoon.com 

• Brooklyn 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 

• Café Carlyle 35 E. 76th Street (212-744-1600) 

Subway: 6 to 77th Street www.thecarlyle.com 

• Café Loup 105 W. 13th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues 

(212-255-4746) Subway: F to 14th Street www.cafeloupnyc.com 

• Café Noctambulo at Pangea 178 Second Avenue 

(212-995-0900) Subway: L to First Avenue www.pangeanyc.com 

• Caffe Vivaldi 32 Jones Street Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, Q, V 

to W. 4th Street-Washington Square www.caffevivaldi.com 

• Capital Grille 120 Broadway 

(212-374-1811) Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Wall Street www.thecapitalgrille.com 

• Cassandra’s Jazz and Gallery 2256 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard 

(917-435-2250) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street www.cassandrasjazz.com 

• The Cathedral of St. John the Divine 1047 Amsterdam Avenue 

(212 316-7490) Subway: 1 to 110th Street www.stjohndivine.org 

• The Cell 338 West 23rd Street 

(646-861-2253) Subway: C, E to 23rd Street www.thecelltheatre.org 

• Charley O’s 1611 Broadway at 49th Street 

(212-246-1960) Subway: N, R, W to 49th Street 

• Chez Oskar 211 Dekalb Ave, Brooklyn (718-852-6250) 

Subway: C to Lafayette Avenue www.chezoskar.com 

• Christ and St. Stephen’s Church 120 W. 69th Street 

Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 72nd Street 

• 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 

• Cornelia Street Café 29 Cornelia Street 

(212-989-9319) Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street 

www.corneliastreetcafé.com 

• The Cutting Room 44 E. 32nd Street (212-691-1900) 

Subway: 6 to 33rd Street www.thecuttingroomnyc.com 

• Delroy’s Café and Wine Bar 65 Fenimore Street 

Subway: Q to Parkside Avenue www.facebook.com/65fenmusicseries 

• Dizzy’s Club Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor (212-258-9800) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.jalc.org 

• Domaine Wine Bar 50-04 Vernon Boulevard (718-784-2350) 

Subway: 7 to Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue www.domainewinebar.com 

• Dominie’s Astoria 34-07 30th Avenue Subway: N, Q to 30th Avenue 

• Downtown Music Gallery 13 Monroe Street (212-473-0043) 

Subway: F to East Broadway www.downtownmusicgallery.com 

• The Drawing Room 56 Willoughby Street #3 (917-648-1847) 

Subway: A, C, F to Jay Street/Metrotech www.drawingroommusic.com 

• Drom 85 Avenue A (212-777-1157) 

Subway: F to Second Avenue www.dromnyc.com 

• The Ear Inn 326 Spring Street at Greenwich Street (212-246-5074) 

Subway: C, E to Spring Street www.earinn.com 

• El Taller LatinoAmericano 225 West 99th Street 

(212-665-9460) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 96th Street 

• Emmanuel Baptist Church 279 Lafayette Avenue (718-622-1107) 

Subway: G to Classon Avenue www.ebcconnects.com 

• Farafina Café & Lounge Harlem 1813 Amsterdam Avenue (212-281-2445) 

Subway: 1 to 145th Street www.farafinacafeloungeharlem.com 

• Fat Cat 75 Christopher Street at 7th Avenue (212-675-6056) 

Subway: 1 to Christopher Street/Sheridan Square www.fatcatmusic.org 

• Feinstein’s/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 

• The Fifth Estate 506 5th Avenue, Brooklyn 

(718-840-0089) Subway: F to 4th Avenue www.fifthestatebar.com 

• The Firehouse Space 246 Frost Street 

Subway: L to Graham Avenue www.thefirehousespace.org 

• Flushing Town Hall 137-35 Northern Boulevard, Flushing 

(718-463-7700) Subway: 7 to Main Street www.flushingtownhall.org 

• Full Gospel Assembly of Brooklyn 131 Sullivan Place 

(718-940-9687) Subway: 2, 5 to Sterling Street www.fgany.org 

• Funkadelic Studios 209 W. 40th Street (212-696-2513) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, Q, R to 42nd Street-Times Square 

www.funkadelicstudios.com 

• The Garage 99 Seventh Avenue South (212-645-0600) 

Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.garagerest.com 

• Gin Fizz Lounge 308 Malcolm X Boulevard at 125th Street 

(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 

• The Graham 190 Graham Ave (718-388-4682) 

Subway: L to Montrose Avenue www.thegrahambrooklyn.com 

• The Grange 1635 Amsterdam Avenue 

(212-491-1635) Subway: 1 to 137th Street www.thegrangebarnyc-hub.com 

• Grata 1076 1st Avenue (212-842-0007) 

Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to 59th Street www.gratanyc.com 

• Greenwich House Music School 46 Barrow Street 

(212-242-4770) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.greenwichhouse.org 

• Harlem Besame Latino Soul Lounge 2070 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. 

Subway: 2, 3 to 125th Street www.harlembesame.com 

• Harlem Stage Gatehouse 150 Convent Avenue at West 135th Street 

(212-650-7100) Subway: 1 to 137th Street www.harlemstage.org 

• Highline Ballroom 431 W 16th Street (212-414-5994) 

Subway: A, C, E to 14th Street www.highlineballroom.com 

• Hunter College Assembly Hall 695 Park Avenue at 68th Street 

(212-772-5207) Subway: 6 to 68th Street 

• Ibeam Brooklyn 168 7th Street between Second and Third Avenues 

Subway: F to 4th Avenue www.ibeambrooklyn.com 

• Iguana 240 West 54th Street (212-765-5454) 

Subway: B, D, E, N, Q, R to Seventh Avenue www.iguananyc.com 

• Indian Road Café 600 West 218th Street @ Indian Road 

(212-942-7451) Subway: 1 to 215th Street www.indianroadcafe.com 

• Inkwell Café 408 Rogers Avenue between Lefferts and Sterling 

Subway: 5 to Sterling Street www.plgarts.org 

• Iridium 1650 Broadway at 51st Street (212-582-2121) 

Subway: 1,2 to 50th Street www.theiridium.com 

• JACK 505 Waverly Avenue 

(718-388-2251) Subway: C to Clinton-Washington Avenue www.jackny.org 

• Jazz 966 966 Fulton Street 

(718-638-6910) Subway: C to Clinton Street www.jazz966.com 

• 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 Standard 116 E. 27th between Park and Lexington Avenue 

(212-576-2232) Subway: 6 to 28th Street www.jazzstandard.net 

• Joe G’s 244 W. 56th Street (212-765-3160) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle 

• Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater 425 Lafayette Street (212-539-8770) 

Subway: N, R to 8th Street-NYU; 6 to Astor Place www.joespub.com 

• John Brown Smokehouse 10-43 44th Drive, Queens (347-617-1120) 

Subway: 7, E, M to Court Square www.johnbrownseriousbbq.com 

• Juilliard School Paul Hall 155 W. 65th Street 

(212-769-7406) Subway: 1 to 66th Street www.juilliard.edu 

• Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 33 University Place at 9th Street (212-228-8490) 

Subway: N, R to 8th Street-NYU www.knickerbockerbarandgrill.com 

• Korzo 667 5th Avenue Brooklyn (718-285-9425) Subway: R to Prospect Avenue 

www.facebook.com/konceptions 

• LIC Bar 45-58 Vernon Boulevard (718-786-5400) 

Subway: 7 to Vernon-Jackson Boulevard 

• The Lambs Club 132 W. 44th Street 

212-997-5262 Subway: A, C, E, to 42nd Street www.thelambsclub.com 

• 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 

• Local 802 322 W. 48th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues 

(212-245-4802) Subway: C to 50th Street www.jazzfoundation.org 

• L’ybane 709 8th Avenue (212-582-2012) 

Subway: A, C, E to 42nd Street-Port Authority www.lybane.com 

• McDonald’s 160 Broadway between Maiden Lane and Liberty Street 

(212-385-2063) Subway: 4, 5 to Fulton Street www.mcdonalds.com 

• Malcolm Shabazz Cultural Center 116th Street and Lenox Avenue 

Subway: 2, 3 to 116th Street 

• Mehanata Bulgarian Bar 113 Ludlow Street 

(212-625-0981) Subway: F to Delancey Street www.mehanata.com 

• Metropolitan Room 34 W. 22nd Street (212-206-0440) 

Subway: N, R to 23rd Street www.metropolitanroom.com 

• Mezzrow 163 W. 10th Street Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street 

www.mezzrow.com 

• Miller Theater 2960 Broadway and 116th Street (212-854-7799) 

Subway: 1 to 116th Street-Columbia University www.millertheater.com 

• Minton’s 206 West 118th Street (212-243-2222) 

Subway: B, C to 116th Street www.mintonsharlem.com 

• Mona’s 224 Avenue B Subway: L to First Avenue 

• Muchmore’s 2 Havemeyer Street 

(718-576-3222) Subway: L to Bedford Avenue 

• NYC Baha’i Center 53 E. 11th Street (212-222-5159) 

Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, R to 14th Street-Union Square www.bahainyc.org 

• Nabe Harlem 2367 Frederick Douglass Boulevard 

(646-370-4008) Subway: A, B, C, D to 125th Street 

www.nabeunderground.com 

• 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 

• New Revolution Arts 7 Stanhope Street 

Subway: J to Kosciuszko Street 

www.jazzrightnow.com/new-revolution-arts-series 

• New York Yankees Steakhouse 7 W. 51st Street (646-307-7910) 

Subway: E, M to Fifth Avenue/53rd Street www.nyysteak.com 

• Nino’s Tuscany 117 W. 58th Street (212-757-8630) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle www.ninostuscany.com 

• North Square Lounge 103 Waverly Place (212-254-1200) 

Subway: A, B, C, E, F to West 4th Street www.northsquareny.com 

• Nublu 62 Avenue C between 4th and 5th Streets 

(212-979-9925) Subway: F, V to Second Avenue www.nublu.net 

• Paris Blues Harlem 2021 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Boulevard 

(212-222-9878) Subway: 2, 3 to 125th Street www.parisbluesharlem.com 

• Parlor Entertainment 555 Edgecombe Ave. #3F 

(212-781-6595) Subway: C to 155th Street www.parlorentertainment.com 

• Parnell’s 350 East 53rd Street #1(212-753-1761) 

Subway: E, M to Lexington Avenue/53 Street www.parnellsny.com 

• Pegu Club 77 W. Houston Street (212-473-7348) 

Subway: B, D, F, M to Broadway-Lafayette www.peguclub.com 

• The Piano Room 14 Christopher Street 

(917-428-4575) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street 

www.dominiquebistro.nyc/the-piano-room 

• The Plaza Hotel Rose Club Fifth Avenue at Central Park South 

(212-759-3000) Subway: N, Q, R to Fifth Avenue www.fairmont.com 

• Prime and Beyond Restaurant 90 East 10th Street 

(212-505-0033) Subway: 6 to Astor Place www.primeandbeyond.com 

• Prospect Range 1226 Prospect Avenue 

Subway: F to Fort Hamilton Parkway www.prospectrange.com 

• The Rainbow Room 30 Rockefeller Plaza 

(212) 632-5000 Subway: B, D, F, M to 47-50th Streets—Rockefeller Center 

www.rainbowroom.com 

• Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church 59 W. 137th Street #61 

(212-283-2928) Subway: 2, 3 to 135th Street 

• Riverdale YM-YWHA 5625 Arlington Avenue, (718-548-8200) 

Subway: 1 to 242 Street - Van Cortlandt Park www.riverdaley.org 

• Rockefeller 620 Loft 620 5th Avenue 

(212-593-9499) Subway: E, M to Fifth Avenue 

• Rockwood Music Hall 196 Allen Street (212-477-4155) 

Subway: F, V to Second Avenue www.rockwoodmusichall.com 

• Rose Hall Broadway at 60th Street, 5th floor 

(212-258-9800) Subway: 1, 2, 3, 9, A, C, E, B, D, F to Columbus Circle 

www.jalc.org 

• Roulette 509 Atlantic Avenue 

(212-219-8242) Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Avenue www.roulette.org 

• Rubin Museum 150 West 17th Street 

(212-620-5000) Subway: A, C, E to 14th Street www.rmanyc.org 

• The Rum House 228 W. 47th Street 

(646-490-6924) Subway: N, Q, R to 49th Street www.edisonrumhouse.com 

• Ryan’s Daughter 350 E 85th Street 

(212-628-2613) Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street www.ryansdaughternyc.com 

• Rye 247 S. 1st Street (718-218-8047) Subway: G to Metropolitan Avenue 

www.ryerestaurant.com 

• Saint Peter’s Church 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street 

(212-935-2200) Subway: 6 to 51st Street www.saintpeters.org 

• Saint Vitus 1120 Manhattan Avenue 

Subway: G to Greenpoint Avenue www.saintvitusbar.com 

• San Martin Restaurant 143 E. 49 Street between Lexington and Park 

Avenues (212-832-0888) Subway: 6 to 51st Street 

• Sapphire NYC 333 E. 60th Street (212-421-3600) 

Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to 59th Street www.nysapphire.com 

• Scholes Street Studio 375 Lorimer Street 

(718-964-8763) Subway: L to Lorimer Street; G to Broadway 

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: A, B, C, D to 125th Street www.showmansjazz.webs.com 

• Shrine 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard (212-690-7807) 

Subway: B, 2, 3 to 135th Street www.shrinenyc.com 

• Sidewalk Cafe 94 Avenue A at E. 6th Street Subway: 6 to Astor Place 

• Silvana 300 West 116th Street 

(646-692-4935) Subway: B, C, to 116th Street 

• Sistas’ Place 456 Nostrand Avenue at Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn 

(718-398-1766) Subway: A to Nostrand Avenue www.sistasplace.org 

• Smalls 183 W 10th Street at Seventh Avenue (212-252-5091) 

Subway: 1,2,3 to 14th Street www.smallsjazzclub.com 

• Smoke 2751 Broadway between 105th and 106th Streets 

(212-864-6662) Subway: 1 to 103rd Street www.smokejazz.com 

• Soup & Sound 292 Lefferts Avenue (between Nostrand and Rogers 

Avenues) Subway: 2 to Sterling Street 

• Spasso 551 Hudson Street 

(212-858-3838) Subway: 1 to Christopher Street www.spassonyc.com 

• The Stone Avenue C and 2nd Street 

Subway: F to Second Avenue www.thestonenyc.com 

• The Strand Smokehouse 25-27 Broadway, Queens (718-440-3231) 

Subway: N, Q to Broadway www.thestrandsmokehouse.com 

• Subrosa 63 Gansevoort Street (212-997-4555) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street; L to Eighth Avenue www.subrosanyc.com 

• Swing 46 349 W. 46th Street (646-322-4051) 

Subway: A, C, E to 42nd Street www.swing46.com 

• 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/Jackson Heights 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 Hall 123 W. 43rd Street (212-997-1003) 

Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7 to 42nd Street www.the-townhall-nyc.org 

• Turnmill NYC 119 East 27th Street 

(646-524-6060) Subway: 6 to 27th Street www.turnmillnyc.com 

• University of the Streets 2381 Belmont Avenue, 2nd Floor (212-254-9300) 

Subway: B, D to 182-183 Streets www.universityofthestreets.org 

• Vespa 1625 2nd Avenue (212) 472-2050 

Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street www.vespaitalianorestaurant.com 

• Village Vanguard 178 Seventh Avenue South at 11th Street 

(212-255-4037) Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street www.villagevanguard.com 

• Walker’s 16 North Moore Street (212-941-0142) Subway: A, C, E to Canal Street 

• Waltz-Astoria 23-14 Ditmars Boulevard (718-95-MUSIC) 

Subway: N, R to Ditmars Blvd-Astoria www.Waltz-Astoria.com 

• The West End Lounge 955 West End Avenue at West 107th Street 

(212-531-4759) Subway: 1 to 110th Street www.thewestendlounge.com 

• 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 

• Zeb’s 223 W. 28th Street 

212-695-8081 Subway: 1 to 28th Street www.zebulonsoundandlight.com 

• Zinc Bar 82 W. 3rd Street (212-477-8337) 

Subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W. 4th Street www.zincbar.com 

• Zürcher Gallery 33 Bleecker Street (212-777-0790) 

Subway: 6 to Bleeker Street www.galeriezurcher.com 


(INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6) 

ready to feel this way. But I do feel there is so much 

more music happening now with younger musicians 

playing creative music. It’s extremely exciting. There’s 

so much out there I can’t even listen to it all. It keeps 

me awake at night, trying to check out something new. 

Young musicians in jazz are merging all these different 

styles and that’s exciting. Jazz was always a music that 

was moving forward. You have some players that look 

at it like more like a classical music, something that 

you repeat, and I think that’s important too, to bring 

an awareness to great music that was done how ever 

far back you want to go, but it’s just as important to 

acknowledge the energy of what’s happening now. At 

my age, I’m kind of at a crossroads: I really dig the new 

stuff and I’m really interested in finding out more 

about the old stuff; it’s exciting, it’s inspiring. So, I 

think you have to balance all that out. I think it has to 

do with your personality: maybe your conscience 

would like to constantly hold on to what you know. 

The people that have mentored me, Jack DeJohnette 

and Wayne Shorter, people like that, they’re always 

looking for the new thing, they’re always moving 

forward. They inspire me. I can’t be less progressive 

than them. [laughs] 

TNYCJR: Since around 2010, with the Mary Lou 

Williams Women In Jazz Festival, followed by the 

Mosaic Project and the ACS Trio, you are in ensembles 

consisting of all women. 

TLC: I don’t really have the answer to the women in 

jazz issue. It’s very sensitive to me. I haven’t gone 

through what a lot of women have. I haven’t had any 

problems in my career, for the most part. Of course, 

there’s always going to be something, how we feel 

something was done unfairly, but, for the most part, 

I’ve had a really great career. There are people that 

don’t have that kind of experience and it’s real to them 

and I always want to be sensitive to that. On the other 

hand, I understand the thought process of, just what 

you said, highlighting women in jazz or other areas 

that draw more attention to it. It’s kind of like the same 

question about Affirmative Action and how people 

have mixed feelings about that. I know I have not 

wanted to be considered in a sub-group of any sort, 

just simply a musician. Either you think I’m good or 

you don’t. You have to bring awareness to any minority 

situation if there are people that are not aware. But I do 

feel that these days, in general, people are becoming 

more aware of women’s abilities to do things in maledominated 

fields. Is it equal or completely fair yet? No, 

I’m sure, but I think the awareness is where it’s not so 

shocking to see a woman doing something in a maledominated 

area and I think that’s a great first step to 

hopefully getting to a point where you don’t have to 

have organizations that focus on women. But I don’t 

feel it will ever be exactly equal, I just don’t. Maybe it’s 

just an aggressive thing to play jazz, maybe there’s an 

aggressive nature to it. I know there is on the drums. 

TNYCJR: Is any of the intention of these all-women 

ensembles to address this or is it just about the music? 

TLC: It was really simple for me, one day I looked up 

and I was playing with a lot of women. I had a quartet 

gig and I called Geri and Esperanza and Tineke Postma. 

There was a quartet gig in Israel and I just called them 

because I was hearing their sound. I didn’t think about 

their gender and when that moment hit me I said, “Oh, 

this is something to celebrate now” and I felt like I 

wouldn’t have been able to do that 20 years earlier. So, 

that was the seed for me for The Mosaic Project and 

then I just kept adding sounds. It was just a celebration, 

kind of that simple. It was not as much of a political 

statement, maybe, as some people thought about it. 

The second Mosaic Project is out now, because there 

were people I wanted to work with but ran out of time 

and space and all of that on the first one. Also, I tried 

to keep the first one focused on the acoustic side of jazz 

and there were other female instrumentalists that I 

loved playing with that focus a little bit more on 

groove-oriented music or electric-based jazz. I wanted 

to include that but couldn’t do it all with the first one. 

The new CD [The Mosaic Project: LOVE and SOUL] came 

out in August, with Natalie Cole, Chaka Kahn, Ledisi, 

Chanté Moore, Jaguar Wright, Lalah Hathaway, Oleta 

Adams, Paula Cole, Lizz Wright, Valerie Simpson and 

Nancy Wilson. It’s a CD I’m very proud of. 

TNYCJR: How important is it to own your art in order 

to help insure your financial success? 

TLC: When you’re younger, you may not be able to do 

that because not everybody knows who you are and 

everything. I think when you’re older you have to 

think about that and you have, hopefully, more money 

to invest in yourself. As soon as I understood that I 

need to invest in myself, my career took off. It was a 

nice, direct outcome. I think more and more the 

mindset of other people financing you and your 

product has changed. I make my albums myself and I 

partner with a label. I hand them a finished product 

and I license it to them, which is very different than 

just having a record deal. When you license you own 

your product and you license for a certain amount of 

time. That’s my model and it works for me. It takes my 

own financial investment, as well as time. The more 

time I’ve invested in myself, my career started to do 

better. So, I’m a big believer in that. v 

For more information, visit terrilynecarrington.com. Carrington 

is at Village Vanguard Dec. 15th-20th. See Calendar. 


• Terri Lyne Carrington—TLC and Friends (CEI, 1981) 

• Mulgrew Miller—Work! (Landmark, 1986) 

• Gary Thomas—Till We Have Faces (JMT, 1992) 

• Terri Lyne Carrington—Jazz Is A Spirit (ACT, 2001) 

• Terri Lyne Carrington—Structure (ACT, 2003) 

• Terri Lyne Carrington—Money Jungle: Provocative in 

Blue (Concord, 2012) 

(LABEL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11) 

instrumentalist does, Lynn brings together the best of 

both spheres. Lynn has a Norma Winstone-influenced 

voice, and Ms. Winstone returns the favor by singing 

on Lynn’s lovely “Upon the Hill”. Gareth Lockrane’s 

The Strut has nifty cover art combining the arty/cubist 

Prestige Records-in-the-‘50s style with Batman— 

stylistically it’s soul jazz (or groove jazz, for younger 

readers) with some interesting variations on the palette. 

It’s vividly imaginative yet full of Saturday night strut 

as any Johnny Hammond or Big John Patton session. 

So, despite the (usually justifiable) angst many 

musicians and music devotees have about the music 

biz, it’s good to know that someone is fighting the good 

fight and scoring several victories along the way. 

Janisch’s Whirlwind label personifies the dictum “If 

you want something done right, do it yourself”, taking 

care of business and making available some super-fine 

singular sounds for global consumption, and isn’t that 

a heart-swelling success story we can all enjoy? v 

For more information, visit whirlwindrecordings.com. Artists 

performing this month include Samuel Blaser at Nublu Dec. 

10th, Ibeam Brooklyn Dec. 11th-12th and 15th with Max Johnson 

and Cornelia Street Café Dec. 13th; Joel Harrison at Roulette 

Dec. 1st; John O’Gallagher at Roulette Dec. 1st with Joel 

Harrison; Jochen Rueckert at Cornelia Street Café Dec. 10th with 

Lage Lund, 12th with Guillermo Klein and 16th with Randy 

Ingram and Bar Next Door Dec. 15th with Peter Brendler; and 

JC Sanford at Roulette Dec. 1st with Joel Harrison. See Calendar. 

(TAMPERE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13) 

The second day’s afternoon segment was a stroke 

of brilliance. The Thing—saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, 

bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal 

Nilssen-Love—were invited to perform, but not 

together. Gustafsson improvised unaccompanied on 

baritone, tenor and slide saxophones, working with a 

different logic than other solo performers—small 

chunks of sound (like rubbing his stubble against his 

reed) rather than lengthy threads. Some of his pieces 

were named for Finnish words describing esoteric 

skiing conditions. The audience was reminded that 

music is the sound of a person battling with an inert 

piece of metal but Gustafsson usually won. Nilssen- 

Love’s Large Unit was an hour of bombast from the 

full 10-piece group (featuring leading Scandinavian 

lights such as trombonist Mats Äleklint, tuba player 

Per-Åke Holmlander and alto saxophonist Klaus 

Holm), leavened by smaller groupings no less intense. 

The band’s closing “Culius” featured brassy fanfares, 

groovy cinematic surges and a closing drum battle 

between the leader and Andreas Wildhagen. Håker 

Flaten’s Austin-based The Young Mothers, in what was 

the second hearing for this reviewer, worked more 

cohesively, as the sextet (saxophonist Jason Jackson, 

trumpeter/ MC Jawwaad Taylor, guitarist Jonathan 

Horne, vibraphonist/drummer Stefan Gonzales and 

drummer Frank Rosaly) stitched together free jazz, 

hip-hop, punkish metal with fewer seams showing. 

The evening portion featured alto/soprano/ 

baritone saxophonist Roy Nathanson as a guest of 

French group Papanosh, playing the music of Charles 

Mingus; and Colin Stetson in duo with violinist Sarah 

Neufeld. Papanosh revived Mingus’ burbling swing 

without being slaves to his forms—a bass/inside piano 

duet on “Los Mariachis”, for example. Nathanson 

showed his other side in a Beat-style poetry recitation 

on waiting for the B Train in the snow and his baritone 

melted butter on “Funeral Boogaloo”. Stetson’s 

remarkable technique on tenor and baritone 

saxophones and paper-clip contra alto clarinet (mic’d 

in a secret recipe) in tandem with Neufeld’s string 

minimalism created stunning soundscapes. There was 

classical rigor, tribal exhortation, industrial barrage 

and folksy chant across 8 pieces and 60 minutes, never 

less than full control of every breath and bow swipe. 

The two penultimate sets of the festival showed 

why it is worth a trip overseas to catch bands that will 

never come stateside. Life and Other Transient Storms 

is trumpeter/flugelhornist Susanna Santos Silva 

(Portugal) and alto/soprano saxophonist Lotte Anker 

(Denmark) with the Swedish “rhythm section” of 

pianist Sten Sandell, bassist Torbjörn Zetterberg and 

drummer Jon Fält. The group played two pieces, 30 

and 20 minutes respectively, demonstrating the 

fragility of free music. In the first the group coalesced 

immediately, Silva and Anker combining like chickens 

fighting over seeds or wrapped in each other’s textures, 

Sandell attentive to every nuance, bass and drums 

limning the detail of every peak and valley. But the 

second had less character and several missed endings 

with a flaccid fade into silence. Silva is a revelation in 

person, with a mature control of extended techniques. 

Estonian alto saxophonist/clarinetist/vocalist Maria 

Faust presented her Sacrum Facere suite, featuring 

another international band: Kristi Mühling (kantele, a 

type of dulcimer, adding a mystical component), 

Emanuele Maniscalco (piano), Francesco Bigoni 

(clarinet), Ned Ferm (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Tobias 

Wiklund (trumpet), Mads Hyhne (trombone) and 

Jonatan Ahlbom (tuba). Despite so much brass, the 

music was gentle, solos were part of through-composed 

structures, whether waltz-like, funereal, sacred or 

avian and Faust soloed only once but every fiber of her 

being was on display for each diaphanous moment. 

For more information, visit tamperemusicfestivals.fi/jazz 


(KRAKOW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13) 

by Parker’s rigorous bricklayer-strength pacing, mixed 

the raunch of swing and blues with unprecedented 

timbral exploration. One second a flurry of yelps, sucks 

and cries were upfront; the next the two explored a 

bel canto-styled ballad with exquisite finesse. McPhee’s 

shivering pocket trumpet tones were also particularly 

effective when matched with guttural bass clarinet 

blurts and opposed by Leigh’s bouncy country-style 

blues lines on the final night’s collaboration. Also 

featuring Noble and Uuskyla smashing out complex 

cross rhythms, the barely restrained power which had 

been suggested by Brötzmann throughout the four 

days finally asserted itself. Cutting through the 

instrumental cacophony, his hunter’s horn-like thrusts 

implanted a brittle logic onto the proceeding. The set 

climaxed expressing excitement and relief in equal 

measure. “Dear friends,” said the spent saxophonist, 

“that’s all we know.” 

As untrue as that statement may have been, there 

were plenty of other memorable sounds expressed 

during preceding days. Bluntly stating “I love drums”, 

Brötzmann made it a point to grapple with many. 

Particularly exciting were those occasions where he 

locked horns with two at once. Nilssen-Love joined 

with Noble and Brötzmann on day one. Spewing vulgar 

tones through tenor saxophone and bass clarinet as if 

they had Tourette’s Syndrome, Brötzmann abetted the 

velocity of Nilsson-Love’s percussive strategies while 

Noble used unattached cymbal plinks, miniature gong 

cracks and wood block thwacks for subtle coloration. A 

similar strategy worked as well two days later when 

Noble and Uuskyla partnered with Brötzmann and 

Leigh: cathedral organ-like drones generated by Leigh’s 

pedals created the atmospheric backdrop while Noble 

smacked a back-beat pulse and Uuskyla dramatically 

worked through a collection of pops, rattles and 

chipmunk-like scurries on drum tops. Brötzmann’s 

clarinet leaped from abstract whorls and swirls to the 

raw power reflected in echoing split tones. 

The best indication of Brötzmann skill in jerryrigging 

a memorable set out of unexpected materials 

came midway through the first evening. With 

Holmlander on hand that night only and Drake passing 

through Krakow en route from one European gig to 

another, Brötzmann convened an ad-hoc trio that neatly 

defined relaxed interaction. Holmlander bellowed 

sibilant gutbucket tones while Drake, who adds a basic 

swing sensibility to every situation, was laid back in his 

accompaniment and Brötzmann’s flexible bass clarinet 

interpretations suggested a hitherto unexplored link 

between Eric Dolphy and Artie Shaw. 

This four-day stint in Krakow more than 

demonstrated Brötzmann’s continued vitality as an 

authoritative, inventive soloist and as an organizer 

who can blend any number of musicians, familiar with 

each other`s work or not, into viable units. It also 

confirmed Krakow Jazz Autumn as a place to experience 

the best from top-flight international players. v 

More information, visit en.kjj-festiwal.pl 

(EXIT ZERO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13) 

Sanders to Cary’s mentor, the great singer Abbey 

Lincoln. It was a joyous merging of styles that felt 

utterly modern and reflective of where jazz is today. 

Special mention should be made of two of the group’s 

superb vocalists: Charles Turner, who sounds 

uncannily like a Superfly-era Curtis Mayfield, and the 

deeply soulful Alison Crockett. 

Other shows at Convention Hall featured the 

legendary (and apparently ageless) soul singer Bettye 

Lavette, who is enjoying a career renaissance after 

more than 50 years in the business; pioneering reggae 

and ska group the Skatalites; and guitarist Mark 

Whitfield, a last-minute replacement for fellow guitar 

ace Pat Martino, who was unable to appear due to 

illness. Sitting in with Martino’s trio, likely with no 

rehearsals, Whitfield performed a first-rate set of 

straightahead jazz, proving the remarkable flexibility 

and improvisational skill of all the musicians involved. 

The eminent bassist Buster Williams led his stellar 

quartet with saxophonist Bruce Williams, pianist Eric 

Reed, and drummer Carl Allen at a jam-packed 

lunchtime gig at a hotel across from the beach while 

local Jersey and Philly bands, including the exciting 

Brazilian percussion ensemble PhillyBloco, filled the 

bars and clubs on Beach Avenue late into the night. 

The festival closed with a pair of shows at the 

landmark Congress Hall hotel, which bills itself as 

America’s oldest seaside resort, dating back to 1816. A 

trio led by Ali Jackson, deft drummer for the JLCO, 

opened with a set of expertly played, no-nonsense 

swing, which felt very much in keeping with the 

Marsalis ethos. Virtuoso clarinetist Oran Etkin 

followed with another set steeped in jazz history, 

drawn from his “Reimagining Benny Goodman” 

project. It was an exuberant, swinging way to end a 

festive weekend of jazz. v 

For more information, visit exit0jazzfest.com 


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