Music
Freddie Hubbard
In the late ’80s I got caught trying to walk out of the Blue Note without paying. I had hoped the $18 in my pocket was enough, but it wasn’t. But that’s how badly I needed to see Freddie Hubbard. It wasn’t just Hubbard’s ferocity on the trumpet that got me. It was his bands. And at that time I
On Mario Pavone
My preview of Mario Pavone at the Iridium (Wednesday, Jan. 7), in the current Time Out New York. [Note: An error on my part. Notwithstanding his ample catalog on Playscape, Pavone does not help run the label, although he contributed cover art for a number of years.]
Village Voice poll
I participated in Francis Davis’s annual Village Voice jazz poll, the results of which are in. Francis’s reflections here; plus 79 individual ballots, A-O and P-T.
The week on disc (34)
In case you missed the last one… Achim Kaufmann/Mark Dresser/Harris Eisenstadt, Starmelodics (Nuscope) Garaj Mahal, Woot (Owl Studios) Guillaume de Chassy, Faraway So Close (BEE Jazz) Peggy Lee Band, New Code (Drip Audio) Dred Scott Trio, Free (Robertson Music) The Wee Trio, Capitol Diner, Vol. 1 (Bionic)
Ethan on Wynton
A classic, obviously. It’s funny: blogging is thought of as the medium of the short and quick, nothing too in-depth, as we jump from screen to screen with a minimum of reflection. It’s not always so. Even without digesting it fully, Ethan Iverson’s multipart analysis has taught me a lot about music I thought I already knew well. It’s the
Jazz impressions 2008
The year of Nguyên Lê: Memorably searing guitar work on Uri Caine’s The Othello Syndrome (Winter & Winter) and Vince Mendoza’s Blauklang (ACT). Not to mention Joel Harrison’s 2007 gem, Harbor (HighNote). The year of John Abercrombie: Two compelling sideman appearances with tenor saxophonists, on Adam Kolker’s Flag Day (Sunnyside) and Jerry Bergonzi’s Tenor Talk (Savant). The year of Dewey
Quality tracks, 2008
1. “Never, ever, ever” Cuong Vu, Vu-Tet (ArtistShare) 2. “Felipe” (Moacir Santos) Enrico Rava & Stefano Bollani, The Third Man (ECM) 3. “The Cat” Marcin Wasilewski Trio, January (ECM) 4. “Rich Man’s Prayer” Matthew Herbert Big Band, There’s Me and There’s You (!K7) 5. “Free for C.T.” & “Jean-Pierre” David Murray & Mal Waldron, Silence (Justin Time) 6. “Ad Mortem” E.S.T.,
Top Shows 2008
Of the nearly 200 performances I attended in 2008, here are the 25 that defined my year, in chronological order: 1. Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society North IAJE Conference, Toronto January 10 2. Orchestra 2001, Pierre Boulez’s Le marteau sans maître Swarthmore College January 27 3. PIMA Group, Look! Dance/performance art piece Powel House, Philadelphia February 3 4. Wayne Krantz