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.
Science News is one of the better science periodicals
in the U.S. The December issue is
available now at newsstands and likely at your local public library. This issue, in addition to the science-
rooted news and feature stories, offers a special section on that damage that
the Trump administration is causing nationally and internationally, because of its
unwillingness to accept scientific facts and the joy it is exhibiting by
assaulting major science institutions. One article focusses on the destruction of
NASA by Trump and friends to cause the U.S. to lose its role as a space science
pioneer, pointing out the drastic budget cuts in 2026 for Astrophysics, planetary
science, earth science, and heliophysics. Another article explains that the USAID cuts,
if not reversed, has the potential to cause more than 10,000 new cases of TB
and more than 2,000 deaths. With all
that, there is much said about the anger Trump feels toward Harvard (supposedly
for the school’s antisemitism) and the resultant withholding of federal funds. The issue offers a nice overview of the disastrous
impact of the administration on science.
Of course, that’s just one part of the incompetence unleashed…
12/5 – The Longy JCM Art Ensemble plays African
Jazz with Charlie Kohlhase and Kurtis Rivers at 7:00 pm (PA) – This is a good
example of what can happen when enthusiastic youngsters get to trade moments of
improvisation with top-notch veterans.
The fun takes place at Pickman Hall, Longy School Of Music, 27 Garden Street,
Cambridge (Free admission)…
12/7 – The Melissa Kassel & Tom Zicarelli Group
at 7:00 pm (PA) – Melissa & Tom bring a fine ensemble with them,
including a saxophonist that I’ve never witnessed with this group. Bill Jones was born in Massachusetts and
studied in New England (UNH and NEC) and with the legendary Charlie Banacos. And he’s been active around town for decades,
sharing the stage with Jeff Galindo, John Lockwood, Bruno Raberg, and other
top-shelf musicians. He’ll have superb
company on Sunday, including Melissa, Tom, Bruce Gertz, and Gary Fieldman. It happens at the Lily Pad. Pandemic regulations are in effect. ($15) …
12/13 – The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra 53rd Annual Christmas
Benefit Concert at 7:30 pm (MP) – Music director Mark Harvey Tells us the Aardvark
Jazz Orchestra “will celebrate its 53d Annual Christmas Concert with an
eclectic program of joyful music in the spirit of the season. Proceeds
will benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank. https://www.gbfb.org/
In honor of America’s 250th Anniversary, Aardvark will
perform Shepherd’s Carol by Revolutionary War-era Boston
composer William Billings, the African-American spiritual Go Tell It on
the Mountain, and the lovely Cradle in Bethlehem, made
famous by Nat King Cole. The band will give the premiere of The Work,
a new gospel-inflected piece by Aardvark founder and music director Mark
Harvey. Aardvark also will remember Sheila
Jordan who performed and recorded Mark Harvey’s piece The Prophet on
the band’s 25th Annual Christmas Concert. The Prophet is
a tonal portrait of long-time activist Kip Tiernan, founder of the Greater
Boston Food Bank. Rounding out the
program will be an energetic arrangement of the 17th-century Advent
hymn, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, performed on Aardvark’s
inaugural Christmas Concert in 1973 in the Church of the Covenant. The event takes place at Church of the
Covenant, 67 Newbury Street, Boston. Admission
is $20 at the door. Information: 617-776-8778 or 617-947-5548
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.