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New York Beat

Nick Catalano has a beat on the Big Apple. Find out what's cookin' in NYC.

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Eric Reed Quartet at Smoke

Read "Eric Reed Quartet at Smoke" reviewed by Nick Catalano


A garrulous Eric Reed traveled from his teaching gig at the University of Tennessee to lead a quartet at Smoke on March 9, 2023. Before the first set began Reed delivered lengthy commentary on Miles Davis, Benny Golson and the recently deceased Wayne Shorter, and included compositions by the latter two in the opening set. His sidemen included saxophonist Chris Lewis, bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Kendrick Scott. Compositions from Reed's 2023 Smoke Sessions album Black, Brown and Blue were ...

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Smoke Celebrates 10th Annual Coltrane Festival with George Coleman / Eric Alexander Quintet

Read "Smoke Celebrates 10th Annual Coltrane Festival with George Coleman / Eric Alexander Quintet" reviewed by Nick Catalano


Four months after opening their new expanded room, Smoke Jazz & Supper Club co-owners Paul Stache and wife Molly Sparrow Johnson reinstituted their annual Coltrane festival with a show dubbed “Countdown 2023." Fittingly, the festival opening featured 87 year-old tenor legend and frequent headliner George Coleman together with saxophonist Eric Alexander and drummer Joe Farnsworth--members of the One For All group that helped establish Smoke as the iconic club that it has become. Originally opened in 1999, Smoke, ...

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Voices of Mississippi at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Read "Voices of Mississippi at Jazz at Lincoln Center" reviewed by Nick Catalano


The research into music programming for concerts at Jazz at Lincoln Center has always been top-notch, providing important informational fodder for reviewers. Perhaps none has been as significant and revelatory as the material used for the February 25-26 concerts with a truly seminal group--Voices of Mississippi. The origin and nature of the blues and folklore musics that African-Americans produced throughout Mississippi from the Delta to the Northern border has always been difficult to parse. Because so many disparate ...

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The Mingus Big Band at The Django

Read "The Mingus Big Band at The Django" reviewed by Nick Catalano


The Mingus Big BandThe DjangoNew York CityNovember 11, 2021 Opened in 2016, The Django jazz club in SoHo advanced the regalement of post-pandemic activity in the Big Apple by restoring the Mingus Big Band to a weekly stage appearance. A large, grateful crowd showed up to celebrate the return of a pivotal NY jazz fixture and the group did not disappoint. Mingus fans continue to celebrate the legacy of his compositional stylings decades ...

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Helio Alves and Duduka Da Fonseca: The Indomitable Brazilians

Read "Helio Alves and Duduka Da Fonseca: The Indomitable Brazilians" reviewed by Nick Catalano


Undeterred by the pandemic, camaradas Helio Alves and Duduka Da Fonseca continue their masterful musicianship in Gotham boîtes wearing masks as they consistently perform ever-fresh music from the Brazilian archives. Performing at Smalls Jazz Club on April 28 in front of stouthearted souls representing New York's proud jazz patronage while streaming the show for worldwide adherents, they once again displayed their knowledge and command of Brazilian composers and compositions. Both samba stalwarts have fronted various combos in their ...

Virtual Jazz: A Hallmark Achievement from Jazz at Lincoln Center

Read "Virtual Jazz: A Hallmark Achievement from Jazz at Lincoln Center" reviewed by Nick Catalano


Virtual reality and the concomitant world of digitalization has received remarkable new attention because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every conceivable art or music entity usually presented in a live format has adapted the technology and audience responses everywhere are so favorable that this new approach will certainly continue to develop long after the present crisis ebbs. Of all the virtual musical programming experienced in the last weeks none has impressed more than the “Worldwide Concert for Our ...

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Eliane Elias: A Study in Longevity

Read "Eliane Elias: A Study in Longevity" reviewed by Nick Catalano


It must be more than 30 years or so since I went to the Blue Note to review a new vocalist/ pianist/ composer/ teacher who had just arrived from São Paulo with a musical entourage and extended family members. Inordinately glamorous and confidently poised, Eliane Elias sat at the piano playing the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim whose music was still in ascendancy in the U.S. The performance of this lithesome chanteuse who had begun playing as youngster, was enjoyable ...

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Canadian Jazz: Remembering Maynard Ferguson

Read "Canadian Jazz: Remembering Maynard Ferguson" reviewed by Nick Catalano


The recent Montreal Jazz Festival (read about it here) sparked many conversations hailing the evolution of the event in recent years and its growing importance for musicians everywhere. It certainly ranks among the best jazz convocations in the Western Hemisphere. The occasion of the festival offered me an opportunity to reflect on the history of Canadian jazz and my association with some of its leading exponents. The first name I thought of was Maynard Ferguson. My multiple associations ...

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92nd Street Y Jazz in July: The Music of Clifford Brown

Read "92nd Street Y Jazz in July: The Music of Clifford Brown" reviewed by Nick Catalano


The Y's Jazz in July programing this summer included an evening celebrating the music of Clifford Brown on July 23rd—a treat for me as it was one of the few such tributes I've seen since Oxford U. published my biography of Brownie over a decade ago. The production included a panorama of Brownie photos projected onto the stage's big screen and some knowledgeable commentary from the series' director Bill Charlap. The musical aggregation amassed for the evening included ...

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French Gypsy Jazz

Read "French Gypsy Jazz" reviewed by Nick Catalano


At various times since its origin, jazz has had an interesting claimant. The French have long maintained that the various musics leading up to the development of jazz in the early years of the 20th century contain Gallic seedlings....Their claim is justifiable. Without parsing the complex origins of the music one can simply make reference to the legendary Creole composer/ musicians led by Jelly Roll Morton and show how, because they were classically trained, they added new dimensions to the ...


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