URLs for most venues are listed at the bottom of Boston Jazz Scene home page. These listings contain the most accurate information we have. However, details of scheduled events change often and without warning. It is a good idea to check gig information at the venue web site or (even better) the band’s web site.
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4/23 – Ryan Kowal's Meeting of the Minds at 8 p.m. (PA) – The vibes player brings Charlie Kohlhase, Kit
Demos, Ben Dicke, and Eric Hofbauer to make what should be exciting music at the Outpost...
4/24 – The Jeff Platz Sextet at 10 p.m.
(PA) – Jeff Platz has a number of skills, but one of
the most remarkable is his ability to whip together exceptional musicians from
different musical planets and/or different geographies. Both happen on this gig featuring the leader
with Mat Maneri, Pandelis Karayorgis, Jim Hobbs, Jacob William, and Laurence
Cook who no doubt will bring surprises to Lily Pad…
4/26 – The Jon
Damian Quartet at 8 p.m. (MP) – It’s jazz all over the place, sort of
like, “If you don’t like what’s happening, wait five minutes...” But this stuff usually is superb no matter
where it goes because it takes advantage of the musical resources of Jon
Damian, Allan Chase, Bob Nieske, and Ralph
Rosen. It happens at the Outpost...
4/26 – The
Aardvark Jazz Orchestra at 8 p.m.
(MP) – This big band concert features recent works by music director Mark
Harvey. Among the subjects taken on by
the ensemble are the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon tragedy, the
genius of Sun Ra, and more. Scheduled to
join Mark on the stage are Arni Cheatham, Peter
Bloom, Phil Scarff, Chris Rakowski,
Dan Zupan, K.C. Dunbar, Jeanne Snodgrass, Bob Pilkington,
Jay Keyser, Jeff Marsanskis, Bill Lowe, Richard
Nelson, John Funkhouser (bass), Harry Wellott, Jerry Edwards, and Grace Hughes. It happens at Kresge
Auditorium, MIT…
4/26 – The EulipiaJazz Launch Concert at 7 p.m. (PA) – EulipiaJazz is a new organization pursuing
the creation of opportunities for local musicians and multidisciplinary artists
to “perform and collaborate.” This
event, scheduled to be the first of a three-part series, presents Muse Stew
(Scott Samenfeld, Karen Gruber, Susanna Fiore, Todd Brunel, and Jim Repa) and Kit
Demos’ Flametet (with Charlie Kohlhase
, Jeff Platz, Pandelis Karayorgis, Todd Brunel,
and John McLellan).
The music happens at the Arlington Center for the Arts Theater, 41 Foster Street…
Key codes: The abbreviation in parentheses following the name of the event or
band/musician performing indicates roughly the type of music that you can
expect if you go to the gig.
MC=
Magazine Covers. These musicians/bands
are popular with jazz fans and therefore often find their photos on the covers
of jazz magazines. This type of band may
or may not be any good qualitatively.
However, many fans like to know “what’s hot.”
MP=Mainstream/Post-Bop. This is the music that most people think of
today when they think of jazz. It runs
the gamut from Parkeresque bebop and Websterish ballads to the post-bop work of
people such as Bergonzi and Lovano.
PA=Post-Ayler. This is Anthony Braxton’s term for all the
adventure that came out of Ayler, Ornette, Cecil and others (including Mr. Braxton,
of course). In some ways it is the most
diverse jazz and jazz-rooted music being performed today, including everything
from near zero dB whispers (e.g., undr, John Tilbury) to eardrum demolishing
walls of sound (Keith Rowe, a ton of stuff from Japan) to performances built on
combinations of composed and improvised material (Liberation Orchestra, Charlie
Kohlhase’s ensembles) to completely improvised offerings (Peter Brötzmann,
Laurence Cook).
S=Swing. It don’t mean a thing… Maybe “nothing” means “anything” if you are a
fan of swing. Sadly, fine swing music
seems to be approaching extinction, at least in the Boston area clubs. The reasons are obvious and elusive. The great names of Swing (such as Lunceford
and Barnet) have passed on and taken almost all of their band mates with
them. In addition, in spite of the fact
that some of the finest music of the swing era was produced the by the combos
of Goodman and Basie (among others), people continue to think of swing in terms
of large (and therefore economically untenable) ensembles. You can find it happening in some dance
halls, but mostly at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.
For years such names as Whitney, Winniker, and Hershman have held the
fort in the Boston
area. But you’ve got to keep your eyes
peeled.
T=Two-beat/Trad. Some of the finest contemporary two-beat jazz
anywhere has been nurtured and grown in Eastern
Massachusetts since the 1970s.
Everyone knows about the New Black Eagles, and a host of other musicians
are held in equally high esteem around here.
Some of the better-known are Jimmy Mazzy, Stan McDonald, Jeff Hughes,
and Guy Van Duser. Unfortunately for
city dwellers, two-beat jazz (and, to a lesser extent, the blues) has moved to
the suburbs. But the best of it is worth
the drive.