heart of gold - The New York City Jazz Record

Sun Jan 02 JAMIE BAUM SEPTET 8:30PM
Taylor Haskins, Doug Yates, Brad Shepik, George Colligan,
Johannes Weidenmueller, Jeff Hirshfield
Mon Jan 03 AMRAM & CO 8:30PM
David Amram, Kevin Twigg, John de Witt, Adam Amram
Tue Jan 04 DAVE ALLEN QUARTET 8:30PM
John O’Gallagher, Drew Gress , Tom Rainey
Wed Jan 05 DAVID COOK - CD RELEASE 8:30PM
Marco Panascia, Mark Ferber
Thu Jan 06 TIM BERNE: LOS TOTOPOS 8:30PM
Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith
Fri Jan 07 COMPANY OF HEAVEN JAZZ FESTIVAL 8:30PM
8:30 pm - Matt Darriau’s Ballin’the Jack
9:45 pm - Refuge Trio - Theo Bleckmann/Gary Versace/John Hollenbeck
11:00pm - Michael Musillami Trio - Old Tea
Sat Jan 08 COMPANY OF HEAVEN JAZZ FESTIVAL 8:30PM
8:30 pm - Jon Irabagon & Mike Pride - I Don’t Hear Nothin’but the Blues
9:45 pm - Jay Clayton Trio - In & Out of Love
11:00 pm - Mario Pavone’s Totem Quartet
Sun Jan 09 DAN TEPFER / JULIAN LAGE DUO 8:30PM
Mon Jan 10 DAN WEISS TRIO 8:30PM
Jacob Sacks, Thomas Morgan
Tue Jan 11 ARI HOENIG QUARTET 8:30PM
Gilad Hekselman , Shai Maestro, Orlando le Fleming
Wed Jan 12 NATHANIEL SMITH QUINTET - CD RELEASE “QUARTET” 8:30PM
Jon Irabagon, Toru Dodo, Jostein Gulbrandsen, Peter Brendler
DANIEL ORI QUINTET 10:00PM
Uri Gurvich, Oz Noy, Fabian Almazan, Ziv Ravitz
Thu Jan 13 JEFF DAVIS BAND - 35TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT 8:30PM
Tony Malaby, Kirk Knuffke, Jon Goldberger, Matt Pavolka
Fri Jan 14 GLOBAL MOTION 9:00PM & 10:30PM
Marc Mommaas, Nikolaj Hess, Tony Moreno, Jay Anderson
Sat Jan 15 MATTHEW BREWER QUINTET 9:00PM & 10:30PM
Will Vinson, Lage Lund, Aaron Parks, Marcus Gilmore
Sun Jan 16 TYLER BLANTON QUARTET-
“BOTANIC” CD RELEASE PARTY 8:30PM
Joel Frahm, Dan Loomis, Jared Schonig
Mon Jan 17 DAN RUFOLO TRIO 8:30PM
Bill Thoman, Arthur Vint
Thu Jan 20 GEORGE GARZONE AND THE AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION 8:30PM
Jamie Oehlers, Graham Wood, Sam Anning, Ari Hoenig
Fri Jan 21 GEORGE GARZONE AND
THE AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION 9:00PM & 10:30PM
Jamie Oehlers, Graham Wood, Sam Anning, Ari Hoenig
Sat Jan 22 DANIEL LEVIN QUARTET 9:00PM & 10:30PM
Nate Wooley, Matt Moran, Peter Bitenc
Sun Jan 23 JANE IRABLOOM QUARTET 8:30PM
Dawn Clement, Mark Helias, Bobby Previte
Mon Jan 24 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MUSIC PRESENTS:
MARTA& THE OTHER SHORE 8:30PM
Frank J Oteri, Host
Marta Topferova, Ben Monder
MARTATOPFEROVA: TROVA10:00PM
Marta Topferova, Aaron Halva, Pedro Giraudo, Neil Ochoa
Tue Jan 25 KIRK NUROCK, SOLO JAZZ PIANIST 8:30PM
Wed Jan 26 MIKE & RUTHY FOLK CITY:THE WIYOS 8:30PM
Thu Jan 27 BECCA STEVENS BAND 9PM
Liam Robinson, Chris Tordini, Jordan Perlson
REBECCA MARTIN BAND 10:30PM
Bill McHenry, Larry Grenadier
Fri Jan 28 GIRLS GONE MILD! 9:00PM & 10:30PM
Rebecca Martin, Gretchen Parlato, Becca Stevens,
Chris Tordini, .Larry Grenadier
Sat Jan 29 GERALD CLEAVER’S UNCLE JUNE 9:00PM & 10:30PM
Gerald Cleaver, Andrew Bishop, Mat Maneri, Tony Malaby, Stacy Dillard,
Craig Taborn, Javier Moreno
Sun Jan 30 GERALD CLEAVER’S UNCLE JUNE 8:30PM
Gerald Cleaver, Andrew Bishop, Mat Maneri, Stacy Dillard,
Craig Taborn, Javier Moreno
18 January 2011 | ALLABOUTJAZZ-NEW YORK
Three Kinds of Happiness
Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isidore (Not Two)
Nevertheless Yoni Kretzmer Trio (Hopscotch)
Betweenwhile
Mike Pride’s From Bacteria To Boys (AUM Fidelity)
by Wilbur MacKenzie
Drummer Mike Pride has epitomized versatility for
much of his highly prolific career thus far. With an
almost unparalleled work ethic, great technical
proficiency and a healthy balance of the absurd and
the dead serious, Pride has maintained a steady flow of
compelling and innovative work.
Three Kinds of Happiness, the third record by bass
clarinetist Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isidore finds the
group hitting its stride as a post-Steve Lacy jazz trio
capable of intertwining freedom and form into a
seamless whole. “Crayons for Sammy” opens the
record with a brisk, almost cool swing and a very
catchy melody. Things slow to a midtempo burner
with “Cash, Couch and Camper” and then relax into a
Strayhorn-esque ballad, “Little Bird”. “Man Or Ray”
recalls some of the fast bop heads of early ‘60s Ornette
Coleman, breaking into surprising features for bassist
Jason Roebke. “More Gone Door Gone” swaggers
along with a pungent groove and some deep blues
phrasing from Stein. “Miss Lizzy” burns bright for a
few minutes, then fades to reveal a downtempo bass
solo, before rolling into an outro that splits the
difference. The final track features some of the great
free blowing that this trio has also built a reputation
for laying out in live gigs. Overall the record ends up
being a thorough examination of the history of the
evolution of form in jazz while maintaining a
thoroughly contemporary and very happening vibe.
Pride and bassist Jason Ajemian both bring much
fire to Israeli saxophonist Yoni Kretzmer’s
Nevertheless. Kretzmer’s tunes are open but incisive,
defining a mood and a gravitational force for the
band’s actions and the listener’s ear, allowing for the
trio dynamics to float freely. Ajemian’s extended intro
to “A New Start” is beautifully constructed and the
band gradually falls in line with his energy flow.
Kretzmer’s multiphonics on “Improv Two” are
colorful and evocative as they intertwine with melodic
figures. The title track features a subtle melody framed
by miniscule improvisational ideas, shifting at the end
to a more rhythmic notated head. The high-energy
playing on tunes like “What a Pity” or “Something
With Tango” are a distinguishing characteristic and
even the subtler moments carry the mark of the
forceful energy of which this band is capable.
Kretzmer is a powerful new voice on the scene with a
bright future as a saxophonist and bandleader.
Bacteria To Boys has morphed over the years from
a prog-inspired trio to a swinging, R&B-flavored jazz
quartet while always keeping a sharp focus on the
powerful melodic voice of alto saxophonist Darius
Jones. “Kancamagus” opens and closes Betweenwhile,
appearing first as a trio with pianist Alexis Marcelo
and then closing as a trio with Jones - in both cases the
gospel-like inflections are thoroughly evocative of
both a childlike wonderment and a nostalgic
thoughtfulness. “Rose” is a straight bop head over a
12-bar blues with Pride’s shifting dynamics floating
over bassist Peter Bitenc’s relentless momentum.
“Reese Witherspoon” is a clear standout, opening with
a feature for Pride, supported by a tight repetitive
groove from the ensemble. As with much classic jazz
repertoire, Pride’s arrangements are well suited for the
specific skills of his constituents. The high-energy
repetitive fragments of “It Doesn’t Stop” recall mid
‘70s Steve Lacy, its bouncing groove shifting into more
flexible zones for Jones and Marcelo’s solos. “Emo
Hope” has a melody that sticks in the ear for a long
time, its harmonies outlining beautiful solos from
Jones, Marcelo and Pride. “Bole: The Mouth of What?”
sets up a striking juxtaposition, unfolding gradually
from an extended piano intro, the Braxton-esque
angularity of its melodies floating over a very flexible
but burning groove courtesy of Bitenc and Pride,
before a sudden shift to a true downtempo groove. Just
before the return of “Kancamagus” is “12 Lines for
Build”, a moody and ruminative atmosphere inhabited
by yet more incredible melodic inventions from Jones,
who continually proves himself to be a saxophonist
with a fresh new voice and the skill to take that sound
any place he likes. The influence of R Kelly is at times
very abstracted and at others more literal: the album’s
title comes from an R Kelly lyric and the melodic
information in “12 Lines” is based on transcriptions of
a cappella moments in R Kelly’s “Light It Up” Tour.
That this material can be so transformed is
noteworthy: Pride’s methods for this group extend the
early bop innovators’ methods by taking an
aggressively personal approach to restructuring the
popular music of the day.
For more information, visit nottwo.com,
hopscotchrecords.com and aumfidelity.com. Pride is at Barbès
Jan. 5th, Kenny’s Castaways Jan. 7th with From Bacteria To
Boys, Cornelia Street Café Jan. 8th, Pianos Jan. 16th with
Katie Young and The Local 269 Jan. 24th with Yoni Kretzmer
and 31st with From Bacteria To Boys. See Calendar.