Welcome to Boston Jazz Scene

Welcome to the Boston Jazz Scene web site--the place to find out what happened, what is happening, and what is coming in jazz and other improvised music in Boston and surrounding communities. The most recent post is listed below this information. Words listed below the Topics heading to the right refer to information you can find here about jazz and other improvised music, the arts in general, food, and travel in and near Boston.

If you click on the Scheduled Jazz Highlights topic, you will see a selection of upcoming jazz gigs that we think are particularly noteworthy.

If you click on one of the History - Jazz Journal topics, you will see a selection of journal entries covering performances and relevant events that have taken place in Boston since the 1970s.

If you click on the History - Major Contributors topic, you will see a list of Bostonian musicians who have made significant contributions to the development and evolution of jazz in Boston and elsewhere.

If you click on the Images - Musicians topic, you will see a selection of photos of current and former Boston area jazz musicians and significant visiting jazz musicians. If photos of musicians are displayed on this page and you click on Older Posts at the bottom of this page, you will see earlier image pages eventually going back to page 1.

If you click on the Images - Venues topic, you will see a selection of photos of current and former Boston area jazz venue locations.

If you click on the History - Jazz Timeline topic, you will see a brief list of significant events in the development and evolution of jazz in Boston beginning with the first groundwork in colonial America.

If you click on the Essays on Music topic, you will see essays about the development of jazz and other music since the late nineteenth century and particularly the evolving context in which the music has been and continues to be created.

If you click on one of the Travel options, you will see a variety of information that may be of interest to people visiting Boston (or even some people who live here).

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Upcoming performance highlights

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.  
 

I received word from Jacob William that Laurence Cook passed away on 9/1.  Laurence was one of the true giants as a person and as an improvising musician.  No one matched him and no one will surpass him.  We are all blessed to have known him.  Jacob is kind enough to pass along to us information about memorial services and other plans as that information is made available.  Details about those activities which will take place primarily on 9/9 and 9/10 in Westwood are displayed immediately below the following upcoming scheduled music highlights.    He was born on June 8, 1939.

 

9/28 – The Jerry Bergonzi Quartet at 8:30 p.m. (MP) – JB is joined by Luther Gray on drums and two surprise guests.  What certainly will be fine music happens at the Lily Pad where Pandemic regulations apply ($15/$10 students) ...


No matter what your interest in music is or whether you are a musician or fan, somewhere in your heart there is a curiosity about where all these sounds and sonic celebrations come from.  Well, the September/October 2026 issue of Archaeology (archaeology.com) is available at some book stores and public libraries and it may be just what you are looking for.  Perhaps you are a trombone player who enjoys grabbing your conch shell from your bag of tricks to the delight of your fans.  On page 26 there is a photo of a conch-shell trumpet that was used more than a thousand years ago by Native Americans in northern Arizona.  Not surprisingly, there are two examples of copper-alloy cymbals found in Dahwa, Oman that were used before 2000 B.C.  All in all, there are eight pages of text and photos celebrating the sounds of the ancient world.  Enjoy.

 

 10/1 – Anna Webber's Shimmer Wince at 7:30 p.m. (MP/PA) – According to Mandorla producer Mark Redmond, they are “thrilled to open the 2026-2027 Dot Jazz Series with saxophonist, flutist, and composer Anna Webber's ensemble Shimmer Wince.  Shimmer Wince also features Adam O’Farrill on trumpet, Mariel Roberts Musa on cello, Elias Stemeseder on synthesizer, and Lesley Mok on drums. The music for this ensemble explores the applications of Just Intonation in a jazz/improvised context.” For more information here’s the URL: https://events.humanitix.com/anna-webber-s-shimmer-wince/contact  The music happens at Peabody Hall, Parish of All Saints, 209 Ashmont Street, Dorchester ($20/10/free) ...

 

10/1 – Amir ElSaffar and Susie Ibarra lead bands at Harvard at 7 pm  (MP/PA) – And these bands feature other well-known musicians.  The promo piece states: “Two of the most inventive figures in contemporary music share a single evening of groundbreaking work.  Trumpeter, vocalist and composer Amir ElSaffar and his New Quartet with Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Tania Giannouli on microtonally tuned piano and Ole Mathisen on tenor saxophone perform, as well as percussionist and composer Susie Ibarra and her Talking Gong ensemble with pianist Alex Peh and flutist Claire Chase, guest percussionist Levy Lorenzo, and the Parker Quartet.  The free concert is curated and hosted by Chase and presented by the Department of Music and Art Thursdays,  a university-wide initiative sponsored by Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA) that makes free performances, exhibitions, lectures and other events available to the public. Click here for tickets and more information at Harvard.edu/artsthursdays/.


10/4 – The Kassel-Zicarelli Group at 6:30 p.m. (MP/PA) – This fine ensemble consists of vocalist Melissa Kassel, Tom Zicarelli, Bill Jones, Bruce Gertz, and Gary Fieldman.  This fine quintet returns to the Lily Pad where pandemic regulations apply ($15)...

 

 

Regarding memorial activities for Laurence Cook:

The images below do not fit nicely on the web site screen.   However, if you right-click on one of the images, you will see an option to select "Open image in new tab."  Select that option

The image below is from autobiographical information written by Laurence and published probably in the late 1970s.  Most of the information appears to be accurate except that the Upstream LP under the leadership of Michael Moss has a typo, “Michael Hoss.”  I had no idea that Laurence studied percussion with George Stone, the first professional drum teacher in Boston (prior to that in the 1920s musicians learned how to play instruments in student bands exclusively) and that he studied piano with Margaret Chaloff, mother of Serge and a legendary teacher of both classical and jazz pianists (yes, Laurence managed to add an “r” to the name).

 

The official obituary and relatively recent photo below include fine information about Laurence and his remarkable life as well as some information about events on 9/9 and 9/10. 

 

 

Laurence, Junko, and Charlie at the Outpost on 2-19-11 and Laurence setting up his drums on the same gig

 

 

Classic Laurence Cook adjusting cymbals pose at the Outpost on 4-8-11 and again on 5-14-11

 

 

Laurence enjoying sweets at his 73rd birthday party celebrated on 6-9-12 at the Outpost  

    

        

 

 

 


 


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/
 


If you would like to read Science News’ fine coverage of the pandemic and its implications (including dozens of articles so far), go to the site’s page of coronavirus feature articles.  On that page also is information about how to receive that publication's coronavirus update newsletter twice each week.   Science News will try to answer your questions at feedback@sciencenews.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.  
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