Must-See Three – Jazz In NYC This Week

David Murray Quartet    Village Vanguard January 17-22

Bandleaders are often on the hunt for talent, so it wasn’t that odd to be sitting next to David Murray at Barbès a few months ago as he scoped out the whirlwind that is Marta Sánchez, and it wasn’t that odd when the OG saxophonist announced this Vanguard hit with the celebrated pianist as part of a new foursome. Murray has interacted with a wealth of strong personalities during his four-decade plus career; mixing and matching characters is a way of revitalizing an instantly recognizable horn sound that helped usher in jazz’s freedom swing era back in ‘80s. Using Sánchez as a cornerstone, the adventurous tenor player has designed what promises to be a rollicking rhythm section. I recently caught bassist Luke Stewart at the Record Shop in Red Hook and was reminded just how brawny and limber his approach is (shades of former Murray mate Fred Hopkins, I dare say). And drummer Kassa Overall is a provocative choice that should take the music to unexpected zip codes. In the last five years he’s found numerous ways to bump hip-hop beats towards spots that enhance valuable improvising options. Along with Sanchez’s sophisticated tension and release methods, this outfit is brimming with the kind of promise that could put a 2023 spin on the leader’s loosely defined notion of interboogieology.

Piotr Orlov’s Murray portrait for WNYC

Aurora Nealand & The Royal Roses   Barbès Friday, January 20 

The NOLA-based whiz has been intermittently bopping north the last couple of years, and each visit finds her spreading a couple gospels that can always use a dusting-off: interplay is everything, and social music has its own brand of gravitas. Whether knocking out an aw-shucks version of “Margie” at Sunny’s, lilting through a joyous “Sweet Lorraine” at Ear Inn, or tipping the hat to Roy Montrell’s mellow saxophone at Hometown BBQ, she reminds that swing lives damned close to rock ‘n’ roll, and the language forged by Armstrong, Dodds, etc remains one of the most entertaining sounds around. Me, I like it when she shifts into Bechet mode, because therein lies both ferociousness and delicacy. Nealand’s clarinet can weave through “Petit Fleur” the same way her alto can bounce through “Little Coquette.” As a soloist, she’s a fire-starter who often hedges her bets by having a real-deal pianist in her camp, and yes, of course she brought her accordion along with her. Don’t be shy to over-tip the band if it’s “Toploulou” you wanna hear. (We’ll get to her work with George and Tim Berne when next those occasions arise.)

Billy Hart Quartet     Birdland  Tuesday, January 17 – 21

Stood directly behind the maestro at Le Poisson Rouge one night, and it was deeply revealing to watch all four of his limbs generate the wealth of surprises that steadily goosed his associates. Meaning the sometimes genteel-sounding pieces on the band’s ECM releases received all the oomph they need to make a club gig start shooting off sparks. Saxophonist Mark Turner sounded a bit less lithe and a bit more audacious. Pianist Ethan Iverson’s well-considered gambits revealed their aggressive side. And bassist Ben Street’s fluid punches financed the boss’s steady stream of nuanced drama. Along the way, some aspect of brooding took on a valiant gregariousness These guys truly come together when they hit the stage.

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Dan Weiss / Miles Okazaki   LunÁtico      Tuesday, January 17   9 pm  

Tim Berne/Gregg Belisle-Chi/Tom Rainey  Lowlands January, Thursday 19 8 pm

Al Foster’s 80th Birthday Smoke Jazz Club Thursday, January 19 – Saturday, January 22

Ches Smith The Stone Wednesday 18-21

Improv Nights – A Tribute To Derek Bailey Roulette Thursday January 19-21

Jerome Sabbagh Quartet Cafe Bohemia Friday, January 20

Adam Kolker/Marty Ehrlich/Owen Howard/ Jeremy Stratton Bar Bayeux Thursday, January 19

Devin Grey solo + WRENS Record Shop, 360 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn Thursday, January 19

Michael Formanek Drome Trip ft. Angelica Sanchez Roulette Tuesday, January 24

Heard Fresh Trio @ Vanguard

It’s “Jackalope” from Fred Hersch’s new live double-disc that illustrates the eloquence the pianist’s group is capable of. Bluesy tunesmithing, sideways motion, an urge the team has to put parts unknown in its sites – whenever things get iffy, they double down on grace and gumption. Recorded at the Vanguard at the start of the year, it’s quite likely to receive critical kudos at 2012’s end. This week is a chance to see how much the room has to do with the chemistry. 

VOICE

Kelvin On The Case

Matt Wilson at The Vanguard

The charismatic drummer is a big-picture guy, with dissonance and beauty, melody and abstraction, and whimsy and introspection, strolling hand in hand across his music. Dispensing myriad emotions is the goal, and this trumpet/key outfit is one of his most agile bands. On An Attitude For Gratitude they veer through a Scofield Cubano-bop, turn in a bittersweet “Happy Days Are Here Again,” and connect the existential dots between bubbles and rainbows. This is the perfect room for them.

MORE 

Here’s what you’re getting into.

Team Scheinman @ Vanguard Now

Her hook-up with Jason Moran has become something unique: You don’t see many violin/piano front lines these days. Insiders know that they’re both agents provocateurs, improvisers who don’t let one nuance go by without considering its pliability. Scheinman has been writing fiddle tunes during the last few months. Wonder if any of their melodic esprit will find its way into the book?

Voice 

photo by Kristine Larsen

Jenny Chat 

Marc Ribot @ the Vanguard: Last Call

Tonight’s the final night of Marc Ribot’s trio at the Village Vanguard.

Here’s what it sounds like.   Here’s Nate Chinen’s take.

Here my Voice blab: Evidently this is the wily guitarist’s first gig as a leader in the venerable jazz cellar. Ribot’s rep as a big-hearted rad fits right in with the Vanguard’s lefty aesthetic, of course. His insightful improv has always made plenty of room for lyricism, so this trio’s rumble can be catchy. And can someone help out with the math? Is this the first time Henry Grimes has hauled his bass down these famed stairs since he and Albert Ayler recorded there in the ’60s?

Here’s a revealing Q&A with MR.

Three Great Things About Jenny Scheinman’s Mischief & Mayhem At The Village Vanguard

Jenny Scheinman’s Mischief & Mayhem turned in a provocative set last night at the Village Vanguard.  The dreamy passages were mixed with gnarled spikes of sound provided by guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Jim Black. Bassist Todd Sickafoose (who needed to be brought forward in the mix) was a second percussionist as well, insightfully flecking the pieces with stabs of propulsion. It all went by in a whirl, but three memorable moments are listed below. One that almost made it: Cline morphing into the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Jerry Goodman on “The Mite.” I believe the above clip (NOT from last night’s show) features that as well. The band plays at the famed  New York club through Sunday night. Team Jackson has the stream of the performance for you right here. During the action critic Peter Hum hit the NPR comment field to deem this stuff “some of the least ‘Vanguard-y’ I’ve ever heard at the Vanguard.” Not untrue at all. But trad jazz fans will want to note Scheinman’s quoting of “Four” at the start of the pentultimate tune, a carnival mirror piece of swinging freebop that had toes tapping old-school style.

1. Opening Out

Sure, there have been moments of dissonance and abstraction at the Vanguard. But methinks few of them came in the first two minutes of the performances. The violinist and her team said hello to their West Village live audience and NPR global listenership with some splashy, dreamy, blippy, skronky salutation speak, with Cline creating some wonderful wobble and Black sending smoke signals to Steve McCall.

2. Chat-a-Thon

Scheinman’s “A Ride With Polly Jean” doesn’t parallel the raw sturm und drang that Ms. Harvey and her band has become known for, but instead offers a breezy groove. It’s a soundtrack to an effervescent conversation, and you can see the pair in your mind’s eye as the rhythm section pulses and the violinist draws out a few long tones: the ladies flying down the Coast Highway in a 55 Mercury convertible, the British rocker querying her mate about the poise of her “American Dipper” and the Brooklyn jazzer asking about the eruptions of Harvey’s “Kamikaze.”

3. Forward Motian
During the introduction of “Blues For the Double Vee” (written for the Vanguard), Scheinman mentioned that Paul Motian’s updates of Monk were also an inspiration for the piece. From behind his trap set, drummer Black launched into a power crunch version of a surf beat, and laughed a bit while yelling to no one, “Just like Paul!” The piece is a jagged rocker that sounds like the Ordinaires taking a stab a Bernard Hermann tune, so Black was waxing ironic. He was also waxing manic. His drum work – pummeling here, caressing there – was one the set’s consistent highlights.

You can get a download of a song here.

Scheinman talks about “The Mite” here. 

Scheinman explains some M&M genesis. 

Martial Solal: Most Laughs Per Set

When things get really right on the bandstand, an artist’s invention can make you shake you head in wonder: “how did he/she think of that?” And when the music is also marked by whimsy, those head-shakes can turn to chuckles. Last night at the Village Vanguard, pianist Martial Solal made me chuckle out loud seven times – that’s a damn good laughs-per-set ratio. He did so by allusion, placing snippets of other melodies into the tune he and bassist Francois Moutin were messing with. “I Got Rhythm” made room for a moment of “Caravan ” a two-note inflection in “I Can’t Get Started With You” summoned “Criss Cross,” etc. He did so by rhythmic upending. Call the octogenarian a one-man Naked City and get him a Tzadik contract: a joyous phrase would be sharply followed ponderous episode that was hooked to a giddy retort. From salon to whore house he moved through lots of turfs. His light touch and antsy demeanor conjured a confluence of John Lewis, Misha Mengelberg, and Count Basie. Dexterity and delivery were in the forefront, pure imagination was driving the action, and the chuckles just kept coming. He didn’t play “Anything Goes,” but indeed anything went. If you could use a laugh, it’s recommended that  you stop in before the last set on Sunday night.

Ethan Iverson critiques Solal’s Monk commentary. 

Larry Appelbaum interviews Solal (“Swing is a technique”).

Steve Futterman on Solal.

K. Leander Williams on Solal.

Ted Panken runs Solal through a live Blindfold Test.

Dave Douglas: Ecstasy In The West Village

Last night Dave Douglas celebrated his birthday at the Village Vanguard, which in a recent tweet the esteemed trumpeter correctly deemed “the Carnegie Hall of basements.” Douglas is in the West Village leading his Brass Ecstasy troupe. The gig is a celebration of sorts: United Front: Brass Ecstasy at Newport (Greenleaf) just dropped. It’s a nod to a few of the leader’s horn inspirations, including Navarro, Bowie and Rava. I watched ’em clock the performance last summer in Rhode Island, and it was sweet show, full of nuance and frolic. Dave’s added some new pieces to the book since then (one poster for the show mentioned a program of “Strayhorn, Tweedy, more”). He also recently tweeted about a tune called “My Old Sign,” about “changes to the zodiac and compatibility.” A pal texted me from the Wednesday night show and was throwing the exclamation points around. My recommendation for the Vanguard gig looks like this. You’ve still got three more nights to pack the place. The above clip finds the guys in action at chez Boilen.

Joe Lovano Talks Village Vanguard Anniversary

You’ve seen the pieces that are starting to pile up about the Vanguard’s 75th anniversary. Team Gordon has been doing a strong job of keeping their little slice of jazz heaven alive and well. From Leadbelly to The Bad Plus, the stage has held a wealth of artists during the last several decades. Next week’s celebration finds Joe Lovano’s Us Five outfit on the case. The mighty saxophonist isn’t taking this gig lightly. He’s been a part of the Vanguard’s extended family for quite a while, performing with a multitude of outfits. There was a spark in his voice when he spoke about his memories of the place and his plans for the upcoming shows.

“75 years…it’s pretty amazing – business wise as well as art wise. These days we play in so many places and never meet the club owner. You might meet the managers and other people. But actually working with the owner? That’s rare. I came up with that kind of thing with my dad and the guys in Cleveland.  Playing for Lorraine and working there when Max was around is beautiful. The club itself has a warm feeling. When you play on a stage that you know Thelonious played on, and Max Roach, and Elvin Jones, Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson,  all the cats – it’s amazing. I’ve had a chance to be in the audience and hear some of them and then to play there and have some of my heroes be in my audience – incredible.

As far as development goes… well, moving to NYC in the mid ’70s, joining the Mel Lewis band in the 1980 and being a part of that group every Monday night until ’91 or so. Playing there as a leader and within other groups. I sat in with Bill Evans there, just before he passed. Sat in with Elvin, too. Through the years, there were a bunch of different situations that arose – seems I was there a lot.  Playing the Vanguard teaches you, and humbles you; it made me go in the woodshed everytime – with a different inspiration.

Hearing Dexter Gordon might’ve been one of the first times I went into the club. It was right when I moved to New York. That’s one of the memorable first moments at the Vanguard. And also when Joe Henderson recorded The State of the Tenor. That same week I recorded my first session as a leader at the Jazz Coalition Center. It was for Soul Note: Tones Shapes and Colors. It might’ve been a Thursday night, if I remember right. Anyway, I was going to hear Joe Hen on all the other nights, and knowing I was going to make my first date that week got me excited. I was so happy to do a live record for my first record; that was important for me. It was like, “This is what’s happening, this is how I play.” In was recorded in real time, and the set was literally the record. That’s the way I orchestrated it. And to know that Joe was also recording? Really inspiring.

Lorraine loves making requests. Ha! She has favorite tunes and she loves the feeling of the music, and when you play things that touch her, she remembers it. She wants that feeling again and again and again. That’s the beauty of this music – how you can touch people.

We’re going to have some fun down there next week. We’ve got a lot of new music. And I’m going to touch on some things that reflect the Village Vanguard for me. Some compositions by some cats that were played down there. It’s the third years we’ve played with the band down there, and I’m really excited about this particular formation of Us Five.”

Dave Douglas Comes To Your House Tonight

Dave Douglas’s 5tet is back in action at the Vanguard, and it would seem right for jazzers to show up. If you’re not in the city, you can still catch the action via NPR. This just in from Greenleaf Music, DD’s imprint. Tidbit: Uri Caine will be playing acoustic piano.

Tonight, WBGO/NPR will be broadcasting live from the Vanguard.  You can stream the audio from anywhere in the world at NPR.org starting at 9:00PM EST tonight.  If you can’t hear it live, there will be an archive streaming as early as tomorrow.  Josh Jackson’s interview with Dave is up over there now.  Click here to listen.

Subscriber Offer
The WBGO/NPR set will also be added to our Subscriber Downloads database as high-res MP3s and lossless FLACs.  With  this exclusive, the current offer we have — Spirit Moves, A Single Sky, plus your pick of  either Keystone or Quintet Jazz Standard Full Book — and the hours of unreleased material you gain access to, there has never been a more lucrative offer to join our community.  Click here to subscribe.

Lastly, many of you have been taking advantage of our Holiday Bundles and our deeply-discounted Record of the Day.  The latter updates daily with a new title.  Because these Vanguard dates are acting as record release shows for Dave’s latest release, today we have A Single Sky available for $7 CD | $6 FLAC | $5 MP3.  We hope you take advantage of this one-time offer.

If you are in NYC, make sure to swing by Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, as well. Can’t have too much Randy Weston in your life.