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.
On February 20 PBS in Boston
celebrated jazz with a special American Masters program: Sun Ra: Do the Impossible.
No, there is no mention of researcher/curator John Corbett. And no, there is no acknowledgement of John
Gilmore as a major influence on John Coltrane.
And there are other things that a Sun Ra fan may quibble about. Nevertheless, this is a must-see television
production for any serious Sun Ra fan.
The only notable problem with the production is the same one that is
found in most PBS documentaries and historical productions during the last
couple decades: invisible subtitles. You
know, the tiny white words that are impossible to read on a reasonably large
home TV monitor, partially because of the minimalist font and perhaps even more
frustrating because the white font disappears almost completely against
anything but a solid black background. And
that brings up a very simple solution
that has been successful for many decades and goes back to some silent films: a
solid black bar at the bottom of the screen upon which can be seen clear words
in a clear white font. Some productions
such as the Boston Early Music Festival and the Boston Baroque streaming
performances do just that, and quite effectively. The following night I was surprised that the
performance was repeated on PBS, following a documentary on Thelonious
Monk. In spite of the fact that Monk
performed at the piano some convincing bits and pieces and complete versions of
what might be thought of as Monk’s greatest hits with occasional standards from
the first half of the 20th century, I stuck with it only because I
could not believe how absurd the whole thing was. I tuned in a few minutes after the program
began. So I did not catch the name of
the interviewer. He probably is famous,
but he is French, and French jazz “experts” tend to be quite confused about the
development of jazz and are proud of the confusion (e.g., France is the home to
the certainty that jazz is an African music brought to the U.S. fully formed). If you want to see convincing examples of
what I’m talking about, hunt down the documentary to witness how confused the
interviewer is (you can see Monk’s patient frustration as he sustains himself
in amusement at the absurdity of the situation he is in). It is obvious that the interviewer is
convinced that he knows what is going on while being blatantly rude to a
genius. If you want to catch the Sun Ra
documentary, it is available at https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/sun-ra-do-the-impossible-documentary/37455/
.
3/2 – The Jerry Bergonzi Quartet at 8:30 p.m. (MP) – The jazz giant is
joined by Luther Gray on drums and two surprise guests. The music happens at the Lily Pad where Pandemic
regulations apply ($15/$10 students) ...
3/4 – The JazzNOW Series featuring pianist
and composer Ethan Iverson at 7:15 p.m. (MP) – WGBH
radio continues JazzNOW Series which takes place in Brighton. Ethan Iverson will explore the diverse legacies of jazz innovators James P. Johnson and John
Coltrane. That’s quite an aesthetic
span, and it could prove quite interesting.
There is a pre-concert reception at 7:15 p.m. to be followed by the
actual concert at 8 p.m. Paris Alston,
of GBH News Rooted, will host the performance, which will be filmed for later
broadcast on GBH2. The event takes place
at GBH Studios, One Guest Street, Brighton, Massachusetts 02135. There is further info at 617-300-3300, info@wgbh.org, and https://www.wgbh.org/ Tickets are $38.09 …
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.