WBGO Blog

  • Live Blog: Jenny Scheinman at the Village Vanguard 10.29.08

    October 29, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

    Add new comment | Filed under: cohesive unit, concerts, drums, greg cohen, jason moran, jenny scheinman, Live Music Blogging, npr, quartet, royston, rudy, village vanguard, wbgo, yesterday afternoon

    Village Vanguard Sign, Dusk 10.29.08

    See some photos.

    8:00pm
    Jenny Scheinman is celebrating the release of her album, Crossing the Field, with a quartet tonight - Jason Moran at the piano, Greg Cohen on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums.  The band rehearsed for two hours yesterday afternoon, then played two sets for opening night.  So expect a fairly cohesive unit for tonight's show.

    8:20pm
    Jenny is setting up onstage.  Getting ready for a nice show.

    9:04pm
    Jenny Scheinman opens with "American Dipper" - male version - from an earlier recording, Shalagaster.

    9:12pm
    American Dipper is North America's only truly aquatic songbird.

    9:14pm
    Jenny calls "Albert," and she calls saxophonist Albert Ayler a great melodicist.  I can hear that.

    9:17pm
    Band segues into "Through the Dark."  Greg Cohen is the go-to guy in this band.

    9:24pm
    "That's Delight," from the new album, Crossing the Field.

    9:33pm
    "The Frog" could be a cool pop tune.  I love the way this song evolves.  And Greg Cohen is such an outstanding bassist.  Such a complete musician.

    9:40pm
    This beautiful ballad called "Sleeping in the Aquifer."  Nice imagery.

    9:53pm
    After playing a new original, "Bray," Scheinman launches into "Hard Sole Shoe," from the new recording.  After a piano intro from Jason Moran, the groove is in the house.

    9:58pm
    We end the set with "Born Into This."  Autobiographical, Ms. Scheinman???

    © 2008 WBGO

  • 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