Upcoming performance highlights

Among the more attractive performances scheduled in the near future in the Boston area are the ones listed below. With the possible exception of some gigs that feature Magazine Cover (MC) groups (which can range in quality from very good to terrible), the gigs listed below are ones that I wish I could attend. And--if time and circumstances permit--I will be there. Obviously there are jazz gigs in the Boston area not on this list that are terrific as well.

URLs for most venues are listed at the bottom of Boston Jazz Scene home page.
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5/26 – BOLT at 8 p.m. (PA) – By now you know how scary good these folks--Jorrit Dijkstra, Eric Hofbauer, Junko Fujiwara, and Eric Rosenthal--are.  Each person has an extremely strong identity, and yet the GROUP keeps getting better (assuming somehow that’s possible).  If you haven’t caught them yet, do yourself a favor at the Outpost...

5/29 – Kilter and Duck That at 8 p.m. (PA) – Steve Norton, Curt Newton, and friends bring you noise surprises at one of Boston’s most creative arts venues, Yes.Oui.Si...

6/7 – Bryant-Hobbs-Råberg-Newton Ensemble at 8 p.m. (PA) – These four musicians Dave Bryant, Jim Hobbs, Bruno Råberg, and Curt Newton--come from very different planets.  That fact poses a problem potentially--for some other group.  But, because these are among the most creative musicians in town (or anywhere), this should be a killer gig at the Outpost...


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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 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.