My live jazz intake has been unsteady the last few weeks, but it’s picking up again. Where have I been? Oh yes:
–Pianist Aaron Goldberg had a CD release gig at the Jazz Standard on May 17. Worlds, his new outing on Sunnyside, has yet to arrive in the mail, but the sounds at the show were most promising. Few pianists can generate rhythmic intensity on Goldberg’s level. His trio mates were bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, both top-tier players who should be placing in the polls (especially Harland, whose work with Charles Lloyd has been stellar).
–Last week I had the chance to hear Kenny Barron in a duo with vibraphonist Stefon Harris at Merkin Hall. It doesn’t get more authoritative than Barron. Harris brings technical dazzle and lucid tone to the table but seems rather self-conscious as a performer. This was part of Merkin’s Monday night “No Minimum” series — last night’s featured the marvelous paired Steinways of Paul Bley and Frank Kimbrough. On June 12 it’ll be Uri Caine and Jason Moran. On June 19, Matt Wilson (drums/percussion) and Ted Nash (reeds).
–I had to leave Bley and Kimbrough early in order to make it downtown for guitarist David Gilmore at the 55 Bar, with electric bass wizard Matt Garrison and drummer Gene Lake. Virtuosic playing all around, but the groove-oriented set was a bit low on harmonic content and color. From there it was on to…
—Smalls, where drummer Ari Hoenig led a quartet with guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, alto saxist Will Vinson and bassist Orlando Le Fleming. (I’ve written on Hoenig here before.) The set began with two charged originals and then segued to a slow blues — Hoenig played a few solo choruses with his mallets and hands. His bright 7/8 arrangement of Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice” included a surprising “Giant Steps” coda with some extra modulations thrown in. Winding down, the band struck up a ska/dub feel; Kreisberg’s phase-shifting effects almost made one think a DJ had snuck into the fold. Hoenig is one of those players who can make Coltrane and ambient weirdness sound like one unbroken musical thought. And audiences respect that. They’re not obsessed with the rigid dichotomies we (ahem, critics) tend to impose on the music. (Hoenig is back at Smalls on June 5.)
–Finally, on Sunday I had the pleasure of hearing trumpeter John McNeil and his co-led quartet with tenorist Bill McHenry. They were playing the music of Russ Freeman (the West Coast pianist, not the leader of the Rippingtons), with bassist Matt Pavolka and drummer Mark Ferber. Every Sunday night they’re at a new Brooklyn establishment called Night & Day, and they’re absolutely worthy of your support. They’re hilarious on the mic, too.
Tonight I’m off to hear guitarist Nels Cline, currently of Wilco fame. He’s at Tonic with a trio.
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