Live Review
Reporting on live jazz from around the globe.
Tierney Sutton and Tamir Hendelman at the Jazz Forum
by Scott Lichtman
Tierney Sutton and Tamir Hendelman Jazz Forum Tarrytown, NY March 15, 2024 Tierney Sutton and Tamir Hendelman brought an expressive evening of voice and piano to the Jazz Forum in Tarrytown NY, March 15th, 2024. The overarching theme of the performance was songs about Spring." There's a variety of reasons that every recording Sutton has made in the last decade has been nominated for a Best Jazz Vocal Album" Grammy. Among these are ...
read moreJoey Alexander Trio at Chris’ Jazz Café
by Victor L. Schermer
Joey Alexander Trio Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA March 8, 2024 All musical genres, and specifically jazz, have produced any number of musicians who blossomed in childhood and already in their teens were performing and competitive with the masters. The greatest historical example of course was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and a latter-day example was Leonard Bernstein. In jazz, Philadelphia's own Pat Martino moved to Harlem at age 14, was mentored by the ...
read moreVijay Iyer and Friends Pay Tribute to Andrew Hill
by Paul Reynolds
Eternal Spirit: Vijay Iyer & Friends Celebrate the Music of Andrew HillHarlem StageNew York, NYMarch 1, 2024 From the start, Eternal Spirit: Vijay Iyer & Friends Celebrate the Music of Andrew Hill" was no standard tribute. The show's distinctions crystallized during a sublime, uninterrupted 15 minutes of music near the end of the set--which was the first of two near-sold-out evenings presented at Harlem Stage. The peak quarter-hour began with a gentle, crystalline ...
read moreKen Vandermark’s Edition Redux at BOP STOP at The Music Settlement
by John Chacona
Ken Vandermark's Edition Redux BOP STOP at The Music Settlement Cleveland, OH February 27, 2024 Every jazz concert brings an experience that you've never had before and likely weren't expecting. In the case of the jny: Cleveland concert by protean saxophonist Ken Vandermark's Edition Redux, the source was a new Apple Watch that helpfully issued a dangerous sound level warning when the volume inside BOP STOP hit 97 decibels. The concert was the ...
read moreViva Jazz! Angel & His Mambokats In Palm Springs
by Tarik Townsend
Angel & His Mambokat Quintet Jazzville Palm Springs Palm Springs, CA February 8, 2024 It may have been a rather brisk February evening in the Palm Springs desert, but for the nearly two hours that Angel & His Mambokat Quintet held forth from the Jazzville Palm Springs stage inside the Agua Caliente Casino, it was a balmy night in a big city circa 1959. Acting as a time machine and purveyor of infectious Afro-Cuban jazz, ...
read moreJoshua Redman Group At Gates Concert Hall
by Steven Roby
Joshua Redman Group Gates Concert Hall Denver, Colorado March 1, 2024 A luminary of contemporary jazz, Joshua Redman graced Gates Concert Hall last Friday with his stellar group featuring Paul Cornish (piano), Philip Norris (bass), Nazir Ebo (drums), and the outstanding vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa. The 100-minute sold-out performance relied heavily on songs from Redman's 2023 Blue Note Records debut where are we. Yes, it's all lowercase and without a question mark--all intentional.
read moreIrakere 50 at SFJAZZ Center
by Harry S. Pariser
Irakere 50SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, California February 15, 2024 On April 25, 1973, the Santiago de Cuba stadium saw a historic event when Irakere (an eight-member band whose name means forest" in Yoruba) debuted. Attendees had never experienced anything quite like it before. The musicians, all originally members of the eclectic Orquesta Cuba de Música Moderna, blended jazz, classical, Cuban pop, Afro-Cuban folkloric and funk music in an unparalleled mix. Two of the musicians--pianist ...
read moreAnat Cohen Tentet at Jazz Alley
by Paul Rauch
Anat Cohen Tentet Jazz Alley Seattle, Washington February 27, 2024 The wonderfully diverse and swinging ten-piece ensemble led by clarinetist Anat Cohen doesn't have the opportunity to tour very often. Since the release of Happy Song (Anzic, 2017), the band's first release on the label that Cohen founded with partner Oded Lev Ari, the evolution of the band's recording and touring life has been interrupted by among other things, a worldwide pandemic. The ...
read moreThe Trio with Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer and Dafnis Prieto at the Jazz Gallery
by Paul Reynolds
The Trio with Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, and Dafnis PrietoJazz Gallery New York, NYFebruary 25, 2024 For a team of titans --two recipients of MacArthur Foundation genius grants," plus a Pulitzer Prize winner--The Trio keeps a low profile, even within the jazz community. Perennially busy as leaders, authors and educators, Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, and Dafnis Prieto perform together only occasionally and are yet to release a recording, Even bootleg performances on YouTube are scarce ...
read moreSun Ra Arkestra at Great American Music Hall
by Harry S. Pariser
Sun Ra Arkestra SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, California February 6-8, 2024 Over the decades, music venues in jny: San Francisco have come and gone, but one constant remains: Great American Music Hall. A house of ill repute when it first opened in 1907, the building has gone through several transitions as a musical performance space and has even served the Loyal Order of the Moose as a meeting hall. In 1972, visionary Tom Bradshaw refurbished ...
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