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

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.

"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?...

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

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IAJE Day 1 - Heritage for Tomorrow

January 9, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: aaron goldberg, bob brookmeyer, clifford brown, conservatoire national superieur, conservatoire national superieur de musique, erik satie, french composer, harland, IAJE 2008, ingrid jensen, jerome kern, lionel loueke, new york voices, paquito d rivera, paris conservatory, pianist erik, reuben rogers, special session, stan getz, three songs, young musicians

Heritage for Tomorrow is a quartet from the Paris Conservatory (or, officially, the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris...ahh, the French...). They are led by the bassist Riccardo del Fra.

The quartet performed three songs during the IAJE Special Session earlier today. I had not heard of the three young musicians who joined del Fra onstage, but I was impressed.

Here's the first song they played together.

Heritage for Tomorrow - Song One

They also played a Bob Brookmeyer composition, a nod to the French composer and pianist, Erik Satie.

Heritage for Tomorrow - Erik Satie

Finally, the quartet performed a thoroughly modern reading of "I'm Old Fashioned." I'm not sure Jerome Kern would recognize it. I barely could.

Heritage for Tomorrow - I’m Old Fashioned

That's it for today's early events. Tonight, I'm checking out shows from the Aaron Goldberg Trio with Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland, the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz All-Stars, New York Voices with Paquito D'Rivera, Lionel Loueke, and Ingrid Jensen's band, Nordic Connect. Come back soon for that. - Josh

© 2008 WBGO

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