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July 2007

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Iva Bittova at Knitting Factory

Iva Bittová is an artist of many talents. As a singer and violinist, she's recorded improv, classical and adaptations of folk songs from her native Czech Republic. But it's in her solo concerts that the various aspects of her work all come together. And - with the exception of a brief appearance at the Bang on a Can marathon - her concert at the Knitting Factory (Jun. 13th) was her first solo show in New York City in close to a decade. While she mostly used traditional Czech songs as starting points, her adeptness at classical performance (she's recorded Bartók and Janácek and is featured on a new ECM collection of vocal works by the Slovakian composer Vladimir Godár) and improv (working most notably with Fred Frith) showed through in her playing and as an actor she knows well how to charm an audience. With just her violin - the microphone was there for only the occasional bit of punctuation - she moved around the stage and around the floor, delivering songs with what seemed to be utter spontaneity. The mood she projected would turn from childlike wonder to contemplative soliloquy in a heartbeat and just as quickly she would turn back to her instrument, turn the focus to 'high' art and duet with herself with remarkable precision, singing or whistling along with her violin. After a full 40 minutes and a much-demanded encore, she returned for a second encore, playing The Beatles' "Good Night , ending with Ringo's "Shhh . The audience didn't oblige.

Jazz Passengers at Prospect Park

Much of the full audience gathered at the Prospect Park band shell Jun. 16th may have wondered why they were listening to a half-dozen men playing, but not singing, songs made famous by Diana Ross and the Supremes. The crowd was, for the most part, there for the headliner, Kentucky-born Brooklyn resident Joan Osborne, best known for her 1995 hit "One of Us . But the Jazz Passengers began the night with a short set of of songs by the Motown superstars. The thin, watered-down soul of the Supremes would seem an odd choice for reworking into a jazz set, but Roy Nathanson is a remarkable arranger with a penchant for odd projects and he made the songs swing with one of the strongest Passengers lineups in years (longtime members Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, Bill Ware on vibes and Brad Jones on bass were joined by drummer Reggie Nicholson and Jay Rodriguez on sax and flute). While they closed with the classic "I Hear a Symphony , the set wasn't restricted to hits. One of the strongest selections - "Remove the Doubt , the B-side of the single "You Keep Me Hangin' On - was reminiscent of Rahsaan Roland Kirk's pop covers and included a chorus of Fowlkes' soulful falsetto in an amphitheater still resonating from Aaron Neville's presence two nights earlier. The audience ate it up and Osborne followed through, opening her set with a well-received cover of Dusty Springfield's 1969 "Breakfast in Bed . When it comes to the classics, don't underestimate Brooklyn.

~ Kurt Gottschalk

Oscar Peterson Tribute at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall, Manhattan's little-big room, was transformed Jun. 8th into an intimate club when a bevy of legends, young lions and aficionados alike turned out to honor Canada's favorite jazz son, Oscar Peterson. Unfortunately, the man himself couldn't make it, yet his formidable legacy was palpable in heartfelt musical moments - and there were many - evoked on his behalf. Anchored by an A-team rhythm section of Lewis Nash, Christian McBride and Russell Malone, the evening unfolded in a series of vignettes encompassing major aspects of the master's oeuvre: trio outings with pianists Hank Jones, Billy Taylor, Mulgrew Miller, Marian McPartland, Roger Kellaway and 20-year-old wunderkind Eldar; vocal numbers with Freddie Cole (Nat's sound-alike brother), Roberta Gambarini and the impeccable Dee Dee Bridgewater; as well as the artistry of Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D'Rivera, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Houston Person, gypsy violinist Florin Niculescu and cellist Borislav Strulev, among others. The three-hour smorgasbord never lost its flavors (though some dishes were spicier than others), due in part to the panoply of provocative personalities - from venerated living legends to little known and undersung talents - and in part to a well-paced and wide-ranging bill of fare. With a notable absence of cultural and generational gaps (old vs. young bloods, classicists vs. modernists), it was, above all, all about Oscar. You could hear the love.

Jay Clayton at Enzo's Jazz

Vocalist Jay Clayton was "in a Coltrane mood : having covered "Cosmic Blues earlier on, she opened her second Enzo's Jazz set (Jun. 1st) with "Lament for John Coltrane , a plaintive modal meditation featuring tasteful digital voice-looping, followed by a velvety "Weaver of Dreams , her voice rounding treacherous melodic curves with grace and aplomb. From the onset, the combo's hook-up was concise: drummer Billy Drummond propelled the proceedings in a complex rhythmic vernacular while tenor saxophonist Gary Thomas swept through arabesques, arpeggios and false-fingered filigrees in a hard-edged, no-nonsense tone, juggling multiple motives simultaneously through dramatic registral shifts, all with the strong support of bassist Mike Formanek. George Cables' unamplified piano, initially overshadowed, came to the fore on "Young and Foolish , then again on "The Sweetest Sounds , answering lyrical queries with dramatic double-time interpolations played at rush-hour tempos. Clayton's own "Fortune Cookie , displaying quirky rhythms and eccentric intervals, posed the combo's interactive proclivities in sharp relief: from a tightly coupled voice/tenor melody characterized by fits and starts to a congested upswing section, climaxing with a no-holds-barred mêlée - here was a kitchen full of cooks, with Clayton stirring things in and mixing it up. More than a platform for her vocal charisma, it was a five-way meeting of musical minds.

~ Tom Greenland

BassInstinct at Austrian Cultural Forum

There was no talking during this bass solo. As part of the Austrian Cultural Forum's Mostly Jazz Festival last month, bassist Peter Herbert convened his upright septet BassInstinct for a rare performance. These appearances are uncommon because several of the members of this improvising ensemble are principal bassists of Austrian symphony orchestras. That fact alone indicated that this evening would not be a rumbling free-for-all. Instead, Herbert, a player in the Barre Phillips and Barry Guy mold, led the group in a series of short composed pieces, written by members of the septet or written for them. Structured they may have been but there was still plenty of opportunity for freedom within those confines. Still the music was difficult to grasp, particularly during its denser moments. To counteract this, many of the arrangements called for layering, one bass beginning a piece, with the remaining players entering in gingerly, often doubling in series. Herbert explained at one point during his many illuminating announcements that one of the group's intents was to present the full sonic range of what is normally only thought of as a plodding rhythm instrument. Pizzicato, perfect arco, preparations with chopsticks and clothespins, even percussive slaps on body and string demonstrated that the bass, when in the right hands or in this case 12 hands, can be as expressive and aurally diverse as instruments more traditionally in the forefront.

Joe McPhee at Vision Festival

There is a certain expectation, no, acceptance, at events like the Vision Festival that improvised music is an imprecise science. Perhaps often too much latitude is given to groups that may not be listening as hard - harder than when playing tunes - as they should. No such leeway was required for the final set of the festival's second night (Jun. 20th): the trio of saxophonist/flugelhornist Joe McPhee, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Michael Zerang. After Bill Dixon's Globe Unity-like large ensemble and Henry Grimes' amorphous trio with Marilyn Crispell and Rashied Ali, the intense interplay between McPhee, Lonberg-Holm and Zerang was especially satisfying. The first piece, an economical eight minutes, was a typical call-to-arms, strengthened by the double percolations of Lonberg-Holm and Zerang under McPhee's stridency. The second, also brief at seven minutes, was more expansive, incorporating circular breathing, scraped percussion and cello feedback. As tenor sax delved, drums punctuated and cello added depth with long sustained notes. The third piece, a ballad extended to over 15 minutes, was the highlight, structured around a four-note motif by McPhee and staying quite sonorous, even when divisive elements were introduced towards its end. Only for the last piece did McPhee switch to flugelhorn, working in short textural bursts. The 12 minutes were abstract, only occasionally moving to the foreground before quickly receding.

~ Andrey Henkin

Lonnie Plaxico at Zinc Bar

Lonnie Plaxico has contributed his superb bass work to an incredible variety of musicians - from Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie and Dexter Gordon to Steve Coleman, David Murray and Cassandra Wilson - but much of his most superior playing has been heard while at the helm of his own forward-looking ensembles, which have been documented through a series of remarkable, if largely unheralded, annual recordings. Plaxico celebrated the release of his latest live disc by returning to the Zinc Bar (Jun. 12th), where the date was recorded, with a completely new band of young players who breathed fresh life into the bassist's voluminous repertoire of multifaceted original compositions and arrangements. The youthful front line of trumpeter Jeff Hermanson and saxophonist Mike McGinnis played with power and originality over the labyrinthine rhythms set down by the leader, along with pianist/organist Helen Sung and drummer Kenny Grohowski. The music, which melded the harmonic sophistication of Messenger-like hard bop with the rhythmic excitement of Weather Report-sounding fusion, filled the room with the kind of energy that inspires musicians and satisfies listeners. The band's second set featured orchestrations of hits like "Watermelon Man , "I Second That Emotion , "Sweet Georgia Brown and "The Sidewinder , along with the original "Cachao's Dance . The final set was a musical melting pot of Plaxico pieces that sated the mind and soul.

Sylvia Cuenca at Cachaca New York

The new Greenwich Village club Cachaça is already making its mark on the area's teeming jazz scene with a musician friendly atmosphere and late night schedule that mixes mainstream, Brazilian and AfroCuban music. The versatile drummer Sylvia Cuenca, best known for her wonderful work as a sidewoman with veteran trumpeter Clark Terry, took a turn at leading her own group (Jun. 11th) with a swinging straight-ahead trio featuring Dave Stryker on guitar and Jared Gold at the Hammond XK-3 organ. Cuenca kicked off the evening's second set with a deep grooving medium tempo arrangement of "For All We Know that had the drummer demonstrating her fine brush work before switching to sticks to drive Stryker and Gold, both soulful soloists, through their improvisations. Stryker's stirring solo guitar introduced "Samba De Orfeo , on which Cuenca showed her skill at playing AfroCarribean rhythms with an explosive solo that preceded the trio's return to the beautiful melody, the guitar imitating the sound of a cuica to give the song an authentic Brazilian flavor. The evening's highs point were smoking versions of the cleverly titled Stryker original "Davy Bird (written on the chord changes of Coltrane's "Lazy Bird ) and Sonny Stitt's burning bebop classic "The Eternal Triangle . They sandwiched in a mellow reading of "Watch What Happens , an appropriate theme for a new room that seems poised for an exciting future.

~ Russ Musto

Recommended New Listening:

· The Nels Cline Singers — Draw Breath (Cryptogramophone)

· Kahil El'Zabar's Infinity Orchestra — Transmigration (Delmark)

· Victor Goines — Love Dance (Criss Cross)

· Myra Melford & Tanya Kalmanovitch — Heart Mountain (Perspicacity)

· Enrico Pieranunzi/Marc Johnson/Joey Baron — Live In Japan (CAMJazz)

· Vinson Valega — Awake (Consilience)

-David Adler NY@Night Columnist, AllAboutJazz.com

· Tim Armacost — Rhythm & Transformation (ArtistShare)

· Billy Bang — Above & Beyond: An Evening in Grand Rapids (feat. Frank Lowe) (Justin Time)

· Jacques Chanier/Jeff Galindo — Access Renewed (s/r)

· Harris Eisenstadt — The All Seeing Eye + Octets (Poo-Bah)

· Jentsch Group Large — Brooklyn Suite (Fleur de Son Classics)

· Charles Mingus Sextet — Cornell 1964 (with Eric Dolphy) (Blue Note)

-Laurence Donohue-Greene Managing Editor, AllAboutJazz-New York

· Bottomed Out — Push (Envoi)

· Pierre Favre/Tino Tracanna — Punctus (Splasc(H))

· Don Friedman — Waltz for Marilyn (Jazz Excursion)

· Steve Lacy/Andrea Centazzo — Tao (Ictus)

· Herb Robertson Trio — Live at Alchemia (Not Two)

· Laura Toxvaerd — no. 1 (ILK Music)

-Andrey Henkin Editorial Director, AllAboutJazz-New York

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