The News: Ethan Iverson is leaving the band.  This is, of course, unwelcome news but the change certainly seems to an amicable one as he is finishing out the live dates scheduled for this year.  As it is the end of an era, The Bad Plus shows at Village Vanguard coming up in October (10th through the 15th with Bill Frisell no less) will take on a more historic significance.  The final (foreseeable) appearance of the original trio will be at the Vanguard on New Year’s Eve.  Keep in touch with Iverson through his excellent blog.

As for the future, it looks exciting.   Longtime friend of the fellas and a familiar and well-respected name to those with an ear on jazz, Orrin Evans, has already committed to joining The Bad Plus.  The Philly-raised pianist has been a bandleader since the mid 90’s with his most recent efforts – The Evolution of Oneself and #knowingishalfthebattle – issued on the rewarding local label Smoke Sessions.  Expect the first album and tour from the new lineup next year.

The Bad Plus, like The Hold Steady are transplants from Minneapolis but have been in New York long enough to qualify for (admittedly entirely arbitrary) essential New York artists status.  

The first track on the self-titled debut album by The Bad Plus from 2001 was Abba’s Knowing Me Knowing You.  Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, and David King also included a dynamite version of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit on that album.  The two tracks made it clear this trio out of Minneapolis  wouldn’t be limited by genre or era in their choice of material.  In the ten rewarding albums that followed over the next fifteen years; songs by David Bowie, Wilco, Rush, The Bee Geels, Blondie, and Pink Floyd were all recorded by the leaderless group.  Rock and pop covers were not their only focus of course.  Some outings concentrated solely on original material while one tackled Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.  

In April of 2016 – following four albums of songs penned predominantly by Iverson, Anderson, and King – the Bad Plus gathered in Brooklyn (where two thirds of the group live) and recorded the twelve new covers found on the It’s Hard album.  Among the songs laid down was their take on The Beautiful Ones by Prince who sadly would be dead a week after the sessions ended.  Remarks about Prince are included in the bonus video below made up of material from my interview conducted prior to a Blue Note show in August.

Go to #7 Antibalas

Judith Owen is on road with Bryan Ferry but she managed to steal a few minutes in front of a camera while the tour bus sat idle this week.  

In the Spring of 2014, I had a chance to speak to Judith Owen at her Slipper Room show.  She had recently put together her dream band of Leland Sklar on bass, Russ Kunkel on drums, and Waddy Wachtel on guitar.  These were guys whose names she first saw in the credits to some of her favorite albums growing up by artists like James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Carly Simon, Warren Zevon, Neil Young, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash.  Owen’s own music was deeply connected to the classic era of singer/songwriters and the Laurel Canyon sound which her chosen personnel had done so much to help create.  Her new album at the time was Ebb & Flow.

The follow-up to Ebb & Flow from the New Orleans based Welsh songstress  is Somebody’s Child.  The album features the same core four as on the previous album and adds flavors from percussionist Pedro Segundo and cellist  Gabriella Swallow.  This Friday night at The Iridium, you can catch Judith Owen and her band featuring Sklar and, on strings, Swallow as well as violinist Lizzie Ball.  The concert marks the end of a month long festival at Iridium celebrating women inspired by Women’s History Month.  Owen remarked that’s she thrilled to be part of the event as she looked up to women who manifested power on stage like Kate Bush, Annie Lenox, and Aretha Franklin as well as the aforementioned Carole King.  Now she follows in a line of impressive talent that preceded her at the Times Square venue this month including Shemekia Copeland, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Dana Fuchs in the series billed as Her Story Her Voice.

Raul Midón landed in town, showed off his chops, and shared some winning new tunes in two appearances last week.   On the album Bad Ass And Blind that came out Friday, he offers a glimpse into his sightless world on Sound Shadows and his mantra for living on Pedal To The Metal.  He also turns in a memorable first on-album rap on the boasting title-track, and puts punctuation on a fine song cycle with a spiffy cover of Steve Miller’s Fly Like An Eagle.  

The New Mexico born artist attended the University of Miami and remained in Florida for about a decade as a session singer doing commercials and backing vocals.  Writing all the while, a publishing deal gave him some cash to finance a move to New York around 2003 where, among other things, he got a gig doing some music for Spike Lee’s She Hate Me.   It took him exactly one year from the time he moved to town to get to Carnegie Hall as part of The Movie Magic of Spike Lee.  (Midón lives in Maryland these days.)

As the likes of  Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, and Herbie Hancock know, Raul Midón is indeed a bad ass as he proved in the Meatpacking District venue The Highline Ballroom on Friday, March 24th.  His guitar playing and singing is complemented by his mad mouth trumpeting that he demonstrates further in the bonus video below.  He told me he has worked hard on the technique and applied everything he knows about guitar to it.  One area he got into on guitar on the new record is what he referred to as heavy-duty hardcore modal chords like those on the song All That I Am.  Here’s Midón explaining the meaning of modal chords and therefore modal jazz!

Thanks to Guitar Center dudes in Times Square for the cool interview room on Thursday before his clinic there.

Annette St. John At Smoke’s Sunday Brunch – Weekly gig; footage from Super Sunday 2/5/17

Heading over to Smoke, the Upper West Side venue, to hear some wonderful music from Annette St. John and her trio is a very clever move on any given Sunday especially now that football season is over.   St. John’s voice fills the room with tasteful tunes mostly drawn from the greatest female vocal jazz artists and the Great American Songbook with the occasional curveball.  She’s got charm to go with talent; engaging with the audience and always creating a welcoming and intimate atmosphere.  She remarked that some of her material goes back to recorded music played in her home growing up which goes some way to explaining her command of her material.  With the mighty Bill Moring on upright bass, ‘Traps’ Willie Martinez on drums, and ivory tickler extraordinaire Les Kurtz on piano – not a lot can go wrong!

Patience Higgins, who plays all saxes as well as clarinet, flute, oboe, and English horn, made a special appearance this past Sunday during St. John’s first set.  I’ve been fortunate enough to see those two on stage together before and enjoy the exquisite empathy they share.  They go way back through many years and myriad venues across New York City but especially Harlem where St. John grew up.  In fact, the group Higgins leads every Friday night is called the Sugar Hill Quartet after the especially musically fertile section of Harlem between 145th and 155th from Amsterdam to Edgecombe.  He blows horns with effortless fluidity and brings a lifetime of experience immersed in jazz and playing with other heavies.

Neither St. John’s brunch sets at 11:30a, 1p, & 2:30p on Sundays nor Higgins’ ‘Round Midnight’ sessions that begin Fridays at 11:45p have a music charge.  Excellent food and very respectable Bloody Marys to boot!

Donny McCaslin Goes Beyond Now At Birdland – January 9, 2017

It was one year ago, last January, when we got the amazing Blackstar album from David Bowie and then learned of his death two days later.  I had been fortunate enough to speak to Tony Visconti shortly before the release so I had an inkling for what was in store.  The gist of Tony’s preview was that a brilliant local jazz quartet led by Donny McCaslin were playing rock written and sung by David Bowie.  Visconti raved about how drummer Mark Guiliana ‘changed all of our lives’ and no less of a dude than Derek Trucks is on the record as to Tim Lefevbre being a phenomenal bass player. Nate Wood, by the way, performs very admirably when Tim can’t turn up, as was the case on Monday.  In the bonus video below, Donny speaks to myriad influences and how he hooked up with said co-conspirators along with keys-man Jason Linder.  

The phenomenal success of Blackstar still has not completely run its course as was made plain by a phone call that McCaslin received while I was setting up my camera backstage at Birdland on Monday night.  The subject of the call was being in attendance at the grammy ceremony next month as a representative in case the album wins any of the handful of awards it has been nominated for.  Earlier this month, three non-album tracks from the sessions were released as David Bowie’s No Plan EP and McCaslin let its momentum carry him towards his new album Beyond Now.  That’s not to suggest by any means that Beyond Now is Blackstar Part Two.  Some of its spirit is in there surely including a pair of Bowie covers and the realization of a song begun during the recordings with him.  However, as a musician in the truest sense who is constantly evolving and incorporating new influences, Beyond Now also includes interpretations of compositions by Deadmau5 and Mutemath.  Bowie’s parting gift to the world wasn’t just Blackstar.  It was turning people on to Donny McCaslin.  

Pharoah Sanders Recalls Homelessness At Winter Jazzfest – January 5, 2017

2017 Winter Jazzfest NYC got underway on Thursday with an appearance by Pharoah Sanders at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village.  The 6 day event is now in its 13th year of delivering a well-curated mix of heavy hitters and up and comers across a handful of venues.  Of the 130 or so artists participating, none generated as much enthusiasm or reverence than the mighty tenor saxophonist who led a one-off quartet put together for the gig.  It was comprised of long time ally and contemporary William Henderson on piano along with a hotshot rhythm section of new acquaintances Dezron Douglas on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums.  

Sanders does few interviews but I made a pitch to speak with him before the show and, as his manager put it, caught him at the right moment.  I knew that he had moved to New York City in 1961 so I asked him about those days which led to his candid remarks about being forced to live on the street for a period when he first arrived.  It was powerful testimony that included recollections of doing odd jobs like painting and cooking and even selling pints of blood to earn a few bucks.  In his stint as a short-order cook of sorts, he remembered the drummer (who appeared on Sanders’ 1981 album Rejoice) Billy Higgins dropping by and playing the spoons!  He mentioned Sun Ra as an important friend of the time and agreed the tipping point was hooking up with John Coltrane with whom he played extensively between ’65 and ’67.  Sanders was honored as a 2016 NEA Jazz Master and appeared in, of all things, a GQ spread last month sporting a nifty Nigerian fez.

The 2017 Winter Jazzfest features panel discussions for the first time as a compliment to the music.  The event is marking the 100th birthday of Thelonious Monk as well as exploring a theme of social justice this year.  In fact $1 of every ticket sale of the festival will benefit BLACK LIVES MATTER and the ACLU.  The concert by the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra at Le Poisson Rouge tonight – Tuesday, January 10, 2017 – will be preceded by an environmental justice panel from 6:45-7:45.

Dr. Lonnie Smith Leads Octet Into 2017 At Jazz Standard – 12/28/16 through 1/1/17…video shot on Thursday, 12/29

Ah, Dr. Lonnie!  I could see him perform every night.  He’s that engaging, that thrilling when he sits down at his beloved Hammond B-3 organ. Noticing heavy guys like Jason Marshall on baritone sax stand agape while watching Smith work his magic on keyboards was ample evidence that even his band is constantly amazed by him.  The Buffalo bred master, who spent decades living in Harlem before retreating to the more temperate clime of Florida, calls Jazz Standard – the fantastic room on East 27th Street – home when he’s in town as he was to put a cap on 2016.  

It was a memorable year for the turbaned troubadour marked by two significant events.  First, Smith released Evolution; his first on Blue Note Records in 46 years.  The album included a couple of the wonderful guys who were on stage at Jazz Standard last week; drummer Johnathan Blake (fresh off gigs down the road at the Vanguard with Kenny Barron) as well as John Ellis on tenor sax.   Evolution also included guest appearances from Robert Glasper and Joe Lovano.  The return to the prestigious label, where he recorded classic late 60s sides as his career as a bandleader was in its infancy, felt perfect as Smith had recently revived some of his early work on In The Beginning (that represents definitive octet recordings and is part of the Hollandude 100) and it set up the second event in June.  Dr. Lonnie Smith, along with Dave Holland, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dick Hyman, and Ira Gitler was named a National Endowment for the Arts’ 2017 Jazz Masters Fellow, the ultimate honor for a jazz artist.   The induction ceremony is set for April at the Kennedy Center in DC.  

Dr. Lonnie Smith will be back our way next month with a trio show at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts on February 25th.  He also revealed he’d back at Jazz Standard in the summer including a 75th birthday show on July 3rd.

The Bad Plus Talk Covers Ahead Of Village Vanguard Run – Tonight (12/27/16) through Sunday (1-1-17)

The first track on the self-titled debut album by The Bad Plus from 2001 was Abba’s Knowing Me Knowing You.  Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, and David King also included a dynamite version of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit on that album.  The two tracks made it clear this trio out of Minneapolis  wouldn’t be limited by genre or era in their choice of material.  In the ten rewarding albums that followed over the next fifteen years; songs by David Bowie, Wilco, Rush, The Bee Geels, Blondie, and Pink Floyd were all recorded by the leaderless group.  Rock and pop covers were not their only focus of course.  Some outings concentrated solely on original material while one tackled Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.  

In April of this year – following four albums of songs penned predominantly by Iverson, Anderson, and King – the Bad Plus gathered in Brooklyn (where two thirds of the group live) and recorded the twelve new covers found on the It’s Hard album.  Among the songs laid down was their take on The Beautiful Ones by Prince who sadly would be dead a week after the sessions ended.  Remarks about Prince are included in the bonus video below made up of material from my interview conducted prior to a Blue Note show in August.

In addition to carrying on their custom of wildly creative interpretations of rock and pop songs, The Bad Plus have established a tradition by ringing in the last seven years with New Year’s Eve gigs at the Village Vanguard.  This Saturday night will mark year number eight at the cozy and historic nook.  They begin a residency tonight, Tuesday the 27th and will be doing two sets a night through Sunday, New Year’s Day.

Gift Ideas: Reich, Jarrett, Elvis, Queen, Depeche Mode & Otis – December 13, 2016

Countdown to Santa’s arrival is a mere twelve days!  Here’s a grab bag of goodies across genres to stimulate your giving gland…

The ECM Recordings from Steve Reich offers a kind of Reich 101 course in the form of the most essential material, remastered of course, from the giant of minimalism.  The set is well-timed as his 80th birthday two months ago and his selection as the Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall for the 216-2017 season has stimulated interest in his work.  That’s hardly to suggest interest was waning, he has only grown in stature since Music For 18 Musicians hit in 1978.  This three disc includes that masterpiece alongside 1980’s Violin Phase/Music For A Large Ensemble/Octet as well as 1982’s Tehillim plus the original essays written by the composer upon the release of each.

Keith Jarrett’s A Multitude Of Angels also provides illuminating liner notes (newly penned) from the artist himself to accompany the stunning collection of music contained on the four CDs.  These 1996 concerts came at a difficult time personally for the Allentown, PA born artist who, at that point, had already been an important pianist across jazz and classical lines for three decades.  The performances are all the more remarkable knowing that he was suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which would keep him away from playing for the next two years.

The video collection is a no-brainer for fans of Depeche Mode with an impressive roster of directors allowing their disparate imaginations and visual sensibilities to complement, comment on, and amplify the songs of Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher.  

Queen Greatest Hits, The Wonder Of You by Elvis Presley with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Otis Redding’s Live at the Whisky A Go Go are all available on vinyl.  Whereas the Queen collection of course is for the entry level appreciator of Freddie and the fellas, the Presley and Redding sets are aimed at the fan that wants to get somewhere they haven’t been before with the considerable material that’s already available from the the king and the big O.

Busy December For Kenny Barron In NYC – In Action Beginning this Friday (December 9, 2016) through Christmas Day

It’s no secret that Kenny Barron is a wonderful piano player.  He was honored by The National Endowment for the Arts in 2010 as a jazz master and he has earned ten (including yesterday’s) Grammy nominations.  However, among his fellow jazz artists, he is absolutely revered.  He is a model for countless players.  An article appeared about five years ago in Keyboard Magazine titled ‘5 Ways To Play Like Kenny Barron!’

It was an honor to spend some time with the man back in July at the Montreal Jazz Festival.  At that point he was already penciled in to play the shows this weekend with Rosa Passos at the Appel Room so I had the opportunity to ask about her.  I also asked what he thought were his most essential recordings.  He pointed to his duet with Regina Carter, 2001’s Freefall right away and added People Time – also recorded as a duo, with Stan Getz and released in 1992.  Wanton Spirit from 1994, recorded with Roy Haynes and Charlie Haden and Scratch from 1985 featuring Dave Holland and the Swiss drummer Daniel Humair also made his short list.  Finally, he mentioned Live at Bradley’s from 2001 with Ray Drummond and Ben Riley as another highlight.  

The latest album by Kenny Barron Book of Intuition, with Jonathan Blake on drums and Kiyoshi Kitagawa on double bass, was nominated yesterday for best jazz instrumental album of the year Grammy Award.  This is the trio you can catch from the 13th to the 18th at the Village Vanguard as part of his residency this month.  He’ll also be working out with a quintet from the 20th through the 25th with Blake and Kitagawa joined by Steve Nelson on vibes and Dayna Stevens on saxophone.  

Even though Kenny Barron makes his home in New York City, he doesn’t play in town all that often.  He said generally just a few weeks out of the year.  Once more, even though he’s lived here for over half a century, it doesn’t mean he’ll live here forever.  He mentioned he’s thinking about leaving winter snow behind.  Add these reasons to the most persuasive musical ones to catch him while you can!