Among the more attractive performances scheduled in the near future in the Boston
area are the ones listed below.
With the 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.
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For now some locations indoors are open for music performances. Distancing and mask restrictions apply. If people exhibit safe behaviors, such gigs may not be shut down. Let's hope things improve soon.
4/17 – Yoko Miwa and her trio at 7:30 p.m. (MP) –
Yoko Miwa has a decades-long fan base in the Boston area, and for good
reason. Add to that he fact that she’s
bringing long-time partners bassist Brad Barrett and drummer Scott Goulding,
and it will be like a re-lit conversation.
Vocalist Mikayla Shirley is scheduled to make a guest appearance. The music takes place at the Regattabar in
Cambridge. Information is available at regattabarjazz.com or by phone at 617-661-5099 (students
$30.15/general public $41.79)…
4/18 – The Makanda Project at 7 p.m. (MP/PA) – Music director John Kordalewski
brings the band that celebrates the music of Makanda Ken McIntyre. It’s one of Boston’s great reassures. The free performance takes place at Shaw-Roxbury
Branch of the Boston Public Library, 149 Dudley Street Roxbury…
The Boston Public
Library in Copley Square has a free exhibit called Revolution! 250 Years of
Art & Activism in Boston. It
does an amazing job of covering a complex and vast but important subject. As the library’s introduction says, “Featuring
over 100 artworks and documentary materials from the Boston Public Library’s
Special Collections—prints, photographs, paintings, sculpture, and more—this
exhibition brings to light both familiar and lesser-known stories about
America’s ongoing struggle for freedom, civil rights, and belonging for all.
Highlights include early portraits of Benjamin Franklin, General George
Washington, and Crispus Attucks, as well as works by Boston-area artists
including Toni Pepe, Robert Tomolillo, and Caleb Cole.” A display showing Russell Means at a protest
includes a quote from him that caused me to do a joyous double-take: “I don’t
want to be civilized. I want to be
liberated.” Although the library is
closed on April 19 and 20 because of the Marathon, the exhibit otherwise is
open to the public until April 21.
4/19 - Charlie Kohlhase's Explorer Club at 6:00
p.m. (MP/PA) –Charlie brings with him a group of improvising musicians with engaging
sonic personalities (and his own alto, tenor & baritone saxophones): Seth
Meicht (tenor saxophone), Brian Price (clarinet), Bill Lowe (bass trombone),
Josiah Reibstein (tuba), and Curt Newton (drums). They will be playing music by Charlie and by
some of his favorites, probably including Don Cherry, Elmo Hope, Roswell Rudd
and John Tchicai. Pandemic regulations
apply at the Lily Pad ($15)...
Every Monday – Monday night at the Lily Pad returns with Jerry Bergonzi, Phil Grenadier, guest bassist, and Luther Gray. Then The Fringe Duo, John Lockwood and George continuing the fire no doubt inspired by the memory of Bob Gullotti. It begins around 8:30 pm and continues forever ($15 per group; $10 students)…
Ongoing – Non-Event online Music – Performances at various times plus an archive of music (PA) – Non-Event is offering music via online audio files and video files plus real-time performances. The emphasis is on new music, some of which is improvised music. For example, Matt Samolis (who unfortunately for us moved from Boston to central Massachusetts) is presenting his bowed cymbal meditation recorded on May 1, 2020. Keep in mind, money helps support these events. The URL is: http://www.nonevent.org/
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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
(Evan Parker, 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.