Live Review
Reporting on live jazz from around the globe.
The Dezron Douglas Quartet In A Holiday Mood At Miller Theater
by Paul Reynolds
The Dezron Douglas Quartet Miller Theater, In a Holiday Mood New York, NYDecember 2, 2023 Holiday-season jazz concerts too often lean on the same old formula. Some swinging arrangements of hoary hymns, perhaps a dip into the Vince Guaraldi Trio Charlie Brown Christmas, and the near-inevitable inclusion of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)," virtually the only legit jazz standard in the traditional holiday songbook. Kudos, then, to the adventurous Miller Theater ...
read moreTommy Halferty, Philippe Aerts, Kevin Brady At Scott's Jazz Club
by Ian Patterson
Tommy Halferty, Philippe Aerts, Kevin Brady Scott's Jazz Club jny:Belfast, N. Ireland December 1, 2023 The gentleman had arrived early to secure a table right in front of the stage, a fresh pint of Guinness settling nicely before him. He had seen guitarist Tommy Halferty before. The first time was in 1972, in Slattery's, a heritage pub on Capel Street, Dublin. The late great Louis Stewart was the main jazz draw at Slattery's in those ...
read moreBill Frisell Trio at Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht
by Nenad Georgievski
Bill Frisell Trio TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Netherlands November 14, 2023 Hearing Bill Frisell's Trio at Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht was a mesmerizing experience on a rainy night, transcending the ordinary boundaries of musical performance. The trio, comprising Bill Frisell at the helm, drummer Rudy Royston to his left, and bassist Thomas Morgan to his right, delivered an uninterrupted 90-minute set that can only be described as a masterclass in empathy, interplay and all aspects of musicality. ...
read moreAmerican Railroad : Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens at Zellerbach Auditorium
by Harry S. Pariser
"American Railroad"Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens Zellerbach AuditoriumBerkeley, California November 17, 2023 The University of California Berkeley's Cal Performances presents many diverse, innovative shows featuring a wide variety of global music and dance throughout the year at the university's Zellerbach Auditorium, a venerable venue that has hosted a wide variety of talent ranging from Wynton Marsalis to Seun Kuti and Africa 80. So it is not surprising that they would host the groundbreaking ...
read moreJazz Juniors 2023
by Martin Longley
Cricoteka Kraków, Poland October 12-15, 2023 Your scribe views his regular documentation of the annual Jazz Juniors competition-and-festival as an opportunity to insert a few rogue words once the heavy doors of official judgement have swung shut. Never a sitting judge, he wields his bloodied quill after the event, sometimes supporting the graven results, at others mourning that the prizes didn't get distributed differently. It's all subjective jazz evaluation. Even the jurors tussle. ...
read moreMagiCircle featuring Paoli Mejias at North City Bistro and Wine Bar
by Jack Gold-Molina
MagiCircle featuring Paoli Mejias North City Bistro and Wine Bar Shoreline, Washington October 20, 2023 MagiCircle featuring Santana conga player Paoli Mejias performed two sets of Brazilian-and Caribbean-influenced jazz to an intimate crowd at North City Bistro and Wine Bar located just northeast of jny: Seattle. Drummer and leader Jeff Busch introduced the band and then the music started with Mejias and bongo player Samuel Alamillo trading solos. Vocalist Adriana Giordano engaged the ...
read moreJoanne Shaw Taylor At The Flynn Center For The Performing Arts
by Doug Collette
Joanne Shaw Taylor Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Burlington, Vermont November 16, 2023 Around the mid-point of Joanne Shaw Taylor's near two-hour single set on the main stage of the Flynn Center, she and her hirsute band of musicianly brothers spent almost ten minutes working up a head of steam that, upon its rousing conclusion, brought most of the select attendees to their feet in ovation. It was a remarkable juncture in ...
read moreScott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox at Paramount Theatre
by Steven Roby
Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox Paramount Theatre Denver, Colorado November 21, 2023 In its cavalcade of top-flight performers giving their retro spin to songs with permanent residency in our brains, the Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ) concert is authentically one of a kind. At the risk of dating myself, imagine a hip Lawrence Welk Show line-up with tap dancing and throwback costumes, minus the champagne bubbles and accordionist Myron Floren, in front of a retro backdrop ...
read moreLondon Brew At Barbican Centre
by Chris May
London Brew Barbican Centre, Main Hall London BrewLondon November 18, 2023 Three years later than originally planned, London Brew made it to the Barbican stage. The star studded ensemble's concert tribute to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970) had been intended to mark the fiftieth anniversary of that album. But we all remember what hit the fan in 2020. Theatres and concert halls in Britain were closed and London Brew's Barbican performance was ...
read moreBill Charlap Trio at Jazz, TX
by Katchie Cartwright
Bill Charlap Trio Jazz, TX San Antonio, Texas November 14, 2023 Back in March 2020, the Bill Charlap Trio featuring Peter Washington and Kenny Washington was the last act hosted by Jazz, TX before the pandemic shut everything down. They made a deep impression, and--nearly four years later--the club was excited to welcome them back, as was the capacity crowd. The trio opened, appropriately, with Kenny Barron's “And Then Again," a fast bebop blues ...
read moreShowcase
Contest Giveaway
