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).

Sunday, September 7, 2025

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.  
 

Trump just keeps contradicting himself--intentionally--so he can claim that he was right no matter what happens.  Also, when it comes to important issues, he claims that he has not made up his mind about what he will do, thinking this keeps his opponents off balance.  He does keep some opponents off balance, but mostly he demonstrates that (in spite of having endless information at his disposal) he is unable to make a useful decision.  For example, he claims that he has not decided whether he should support Putin or Zelinsky.  Imagine that.  He has had several years observing Russia invade Ukraine and then destroy hospitals, homes, and schools in Ukraine, and Trump cannot decide whether or not that is a good idea.  No matter what his value system is, the fact that he claims he has not had enough time to decide suggests blatant incompetence.  Finally, Trump has proven to be his worst enemy.  He spends much of his time silencing people who disagree with him, and not just liberals.  He has surrounded himself with people kissing his butt and telling him that he always is right.  Inevitably this approach to managing the country means he cannot help make disastrous decisions because none of the MAGA people will dare tell him that the building is on fire.  Of course, he knows too little about history to learn that the war in Europe ended sooner than it could have because there was no one left to tell Hitler that the building was on fire.

 

9/10 - Point01Percent presents a fine quartet and later the mi3 at 7:30 p.m. (PA) – Apparently lightning does strike twice.  On 3/12 Eric Rosenthal brought these two groups to the Lily Pad for a Point01Percent session and blew the roof off.  The groups are not exactly the same; the drummers in the second set are different, and both of them are fine.  In other words, this gig should be one of the best of the year.  First up is a quartet: Steve Lantner (piano), Tom Swafford (violin), Bruno Råberg (bass), and Eric Rosenthal (gig producer--drums).  The second set (circa 8:30) features Pandelis Karayorgis (keyboard), Nathan McBride (bass), and Nat Mugavero (drums).  Pandemic regulations apply at the Lily Pad ($15)...

 

9/11 – Clear Audience at 6:30 p.m. (MP/PA) – This quartet has been shaking up jazz clubs in the Boston area since 2005.  The band includes Jef Charland (bass), Steve Fell (guitar), Andy Voelker (saxophones), and Luther Gray (drums).  This should be a superb performance at the Eustis Estate, 1424 Canton Avenue, Milton.  Call 617-994-6600 for more information ($20/10)…

  

9/13 - The Makanda Project at 1 p.m. (MP/PA) –The Makanda Project will be joined by the great tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford, the cello section from City Strings United, and poet Regie Gibson. Among the musicians scheduled to perform Kurtis Rivers (alto saxophone), Seth Meicht (alto saxophone, clarinet, flute), Sean Berry (tenor saxophone), Temidayo Balogun (tenor saxophone), Charlie Kohlhase (baritone saxophone), Jerry Sabatini and Haneef Nelson (trumpets), Alfred Patterson and Richard Harper (trombones), Bill Lowe (bass trombone), John Kordalewski (music director & piano), Avery Sharpe (bass) and Yoron Israel (drums).Catch this free show in the heart of Roxbury, 10 Putnam St., Boston. All are welcome. Bring a lawn chair!

  

9/15 - The Allan Chase Septet at 8 p.m. (MP/PA) – This fine ensemble will present new compositions and arrangements of pieces by Jude Poorten, Sheryl Bailey, Cal Massey, and Allan Chase, Sun Ra, Prince Shell, Eddie Harris, Gigi Gryce, and Bill Evans.  Performers include leader Allan Chase (alto & baritone saxophones), Joel Springer (tenor saxophone), Dan Rosenthal (trumpet), Randy Pingrey (trombone), Sheryl Bailey (guitar), Fernando Huergo (electric bass), and Austin McMahon (drums).    Pandemic regulations apply at the Lily Pad (probably $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/
 


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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