WBGO Blog

  • Charles Lloyd @ JVC Jazz

    June 29, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

    Add new comment | Filed under: charles lloyd quartet, charles simic, club midnight, dead stars, emily dickinson, empty tables, hall acoustics, humane environment, jason moran, jazz fans, Live Music, miss emily, neon lights, Notes, office upstairs, poet laureate, reuben rogers, russian thinkers, silent partners, sneaky suspicion, sole customer, white films

    Charles Lloyd and Reuben Rogers

    On the final evening of the JVC-New York Festival, I sauntered down to the
    Charles Lloyd Quartet performance at The Society for Ethical Culture. This
    seems like the perfect place to see Lloyd perform, on principle alone. His
    unabashed jazz ethos and spiritual bent create an immediate and humane
    environment. The hall acoustics, however, are a total non-starter for the
    sound of live jazz.  A massive wash of drums and indistinct piano notes.
    The opening act was our nation's poet laureate, Charles Simic.
    Charles Simic

    "Club Midnight" is some pretty powerful verse:
    Are you the sole owner of a seedy night club?
    Are you its sole customer, sole bartender,
    Sole waiter prowling around the empty tables?
    Do you put on wee-hour girlie shows
    With dead stars of black and white films?
    Is your office upstairs over the neon lights,
    Or down deep in the dank rat cellar?
    Are bearded Russian thinkers your silent partners?
    Do you have a doorman by the name of Dostoyevsky?
    Is Fu Manchu coming tonight? Is Miss Emily Dickinson?
    Do you happen to have an immortal soul?
    Do you have a sneaky suspicion that you have none?...
    Eric Harland

    The quartet started behind Simic, and proceeded to play with the musicality
    that jazz fans have come to expect from Lloyd's ensembles. Jason Moran is
    the pianist, Reuben Rogers the bassist, and Eric Harland the drummer. Their
    trip through Lloyd classics like "Requiem" and "Monk's Dance" were well
    received, as was the newer material from the quartet's recent release, Rabo
    de Nube    .  I had to really work hard to hear the music, but the payoff was
    rewarding nonetheless.
    -Josh

    © 2008 WBGO

  • Pianist Esbjorn Svensson Dies

    June 15, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

    Add new comment | Filed under: News, Notes, reuters

    Esbjorn Svensson

    Reuters has reported that pianist Esbjorn Svensson died yesterday, during a
    scuba diving excursion. He was 44 years old.

    In 2001, I had the opportunity to interview the members of EST in New York,
    just as the Swedish trio was gaining some recognition in the US. I say that
    because they were already huge stars in their native Sweden. The show,
    Introducing EST, coincided with the release of Somewhere Else Before.

    Listen to it here. It includes some sections of that interview with Esbjorn,
    Dan Berglund, and Magnus Ostrom, as well as a live in-studio performance.
    You can also listen to EST from North Sea Jazz, courtesy JazzSet and Radio
    Netherlands.
    -Josh

    © 2008 WBGO

  • Tuesday Night - Sweet Rhythm

    June 4, 2008. Posted by Becca Pulliam.

    Add new comment | Filed under: becca, drummer, etta james, evenings, greg lewis, james browne, jazz gallery, jazz party, Live Music, long time, musicians, night man, Notes, photos, santaniello, seventh avenue, sweet rhythm, tozzi, wbgo

    Map to Sweet Rhythm

    On the way home from the Jazz Gallery, walking up Seventh Avenue,
    used-to-be WBGO night man James Browne pulled me into his club Sweet
    Rhythm to see Lezlie Harrison sing. A long time ago, Lezlie hosted the
    jazz party on Saturday evenings on WBGO. She's never stopped using that
    fine voice, and moved me with her singing and the solos by Luca Tozzi on
    guitar and Greg Lewis on organ on "A Lover is Forever," once recorded by
    Etta James. I'm going to download Etta right now. Lezlie's drummer is
    Luca Santaniello. As I was leaving, Greg was rolling his Hammond out the
    door. Musicians work hard and give much! Wish I had photos.
    -Becca

    © 2008 WBGO