In the current Philadelphia Weekly:
Jim Snidero
Fri., Nov. 13, 8 & 10pm. $15. Chris’ Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St. 215.568.3131 www.chrisjazzcafe.com
Alto saxophonist Jim Snidero is part of an elite straightahead jazz contingent in New York — stone beboppers and consummate pros who have never bowed to prevailing fashion and never will. A lithe and forceful soloist and a prized educator as well, he has a discography stretching back to 1984, featuring sidemen on the order of Mulgrew Miller and Tom Harrell. Such is the fund of authority that Snidero brings to every gig. His latest outings, Tippin’ and Crossfire, feature the tight, inventive guitar of Paul Bollenback. This week he’ll bring another guitarist, Peter Bernstein, whose complex, bluesy phrases sound like they’ve been aged underground in oak casks. — David R. Adler
New York Hieroglyphics
Sat., Nov. 14, 8pm. $25. Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St. 215.925.9914 www.paintedbride.org
He’s nearing 50, but Berkeley-born saxophonist and composer Peter Apfelbaum doggedly retains the spark of youth. During his Bay Area years he led the Hieroglyphics Ensemble, landing a Grammy nomination and gigs opening for the Grateful Dead. He moved to Brooklyn in 1998 and soon put together the 10-piece New York Hieroglyphics, which debuted in 2005 with the knotty jazz-worldbeat affair It Is Written. Apfelbaum is also super-busy with bands led by trumpeter Steven Bernstein and Cuban drum whiz Dafnis Prieto (a Hieroglyphics member), so catch this troupe while you can. Abdoulaye Diabate, who sang on the Hieroglyphics’ recent premiere “Aural Histories—Nine Lives,” will be there as well. — David R. Adler
[Update: Apfelbaum and NYH will indeed perform “Aural Histories—Nine Lives,” in which Diabate sings in traditional griot style about the intertwined careers of the band members themselves.]
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