How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

January 16, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: Anniversaries, benny goodman, blue reverie, carnegie hall, clock tower, cootie williams, drummer gene krupa, fletcher henderson, flux capacitor, freddie green, harry carney, jazz giants, jess stacy, johnny hodges, josh jackson, lionel hampton, rhythm guitarist, sidemen, strumming the strings, teddy wilson, ziggy elman

If I had a time machine (preferably a DeLorean with a Flux Capacitor requiring 1.21 jigowatts of juice), one place I would go to is Carnegie Hall. Specifically on the evening of January 16, 1938. That's because seventy years ago today, jazz giants roamed the stage at Carnegie, and jazz was finally getting some respect from the concert hall scene.What an extraordinary night in many ways. There are a million stories about this show, and historians have cleared most of the myth from the reality. That's important work, but at the end of the day, I just like the music. I've listened to this stuff over and over. When modern listeners' conceit gets in the way of hearing an "old sounding" recording like this, those folks are simply missing the point. It's the music.And the music is amazing. Benny Goodman with his trio (pianist Teddy Wilson, drummer Gene Krupa), his quartet (add Lionel Hampton), and his orchestra with Jess Stacy, Harry James, Ziggy Elman etc. With Fletcher Henderson and Jimmy Mundy arrangements. You can't go wrong with this. It's enough.

But it wasn't enough. Ellington sidemen Johnny Hodges and Harry Carney sat in. Not to forget Cootie Williams' muted trumpet on "Blue Reverie." That's my reverie. Plus, a jam session on "Honeysuckle Rose" that's crazy long, with Count Basie and most of his men. No Papa Jo on the drums, but Krupa turns the volume down a bit. Hell, even rhythm guitarist Freddie Green takes a two chorus "solo" of strumming the strings...

If I had my way, I'd post the whole show online, RIAA be damned. People need to hear it. If you haven't heard it, what exactly are you waiting for?
As for me, I'm waiting for lightning to strike the clock tower. It's 10:04 on November 12th, 1955. I'm in my DeLorean. Trying to get back home.

-Josh Jackson

© 2008 WBGO

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2nd Annual Brooklyn Jazz Underground Festival

January 16, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: alan ferber, anne mette, bass clarinet, ben monder, brad shepik, brooklyn residents, chris cheek, Discovery, douglas yates, gary wang, good new music, guitar joe, jared gold, Jazz Alive, Jazz Community, joe martin, marc cary, mette iversen, music thursday, nonet, otis brown, Places and Spaces, sabbagh, tenor sax

You'll find a lot of good new music Thursday through Saturday nights at Smalls. All of it from Brooklyn residents. The Brooklyn Jazz Underground celebrates their 2nd Annual Festival with a bunch of shows at the affordable (!) jazz hang in the West Village.
Here's the schedule:

Thursday, January 17
8:00 PM: ANNE METTE IVERSEN QUARTET
Anne Mette Iversen (bass), John Ellis (saxophones), Danny Grissett (piano), Otis Brown III (drums)

10:00 PM: ALAN FERBER NONET
Alan Ferber (trombone), Scott Wendholt (trumpet), Will Vinson (alto sax), Chris Cheek (tenor sax)
Douglas Yates (bass clarinet), Nate Radley (guitar), Bryn Roberts (piano), Matt Clohesy (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)

12:00 AM: EMER/LACKNER/BERNARD BAND with Mark Ferber
Benny Lackner (piano), Will Bernard (guitar), Andrew Emer (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)

Friday, January 18
8:00 PM: DAN PRATT ORGAN QUARTET
Dan Pratt (tenor sax), Alan Ferber (trombone), Jared Gold (bass), Mark Ferber (drums)

10:00 PM: JEROME SABBAGH QUARTET
Jerome Sabbagh (tenor sax), Ben Monder (guitar), Joe Martin (bass), Ted Poor (drums)

12:00 AM: SUNNY JAIN COLLECTIVE
Sunny Jain (drums), Steve Welsh (tenor sax), Marc Cary (piano), Gary Wang (bass)

Saturday, January 19
8:00 PM: ALEXIS CUADRADO PUZZLES QUARTET
Alexis Cuadrado (bass), Loren Stillman (alto sax), Brad Shepik (guitar), Mark Ferber (drums)

10:00 PM: TED POOR & BAD TOUCH
Ted Poor (drums), Loren Stillman (alto sax), Nate Radley (guitar), Gary Versace (piano/organ)

12:00 AM: TANYA KALMANOVITCH'S GIRLFIGHT
Tanya Kalmanovitch (viola/violin), Jacob Wick (trumpet), Aryeh Kobrinsky (bass),
Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), Fred Kennedy (drums)

- Josh Jackson

© 2008 WBGO

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Studio Session - Alexis Cuadrado Puzzles Quartet

January 16, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: 7th avenue south, alexis, bandleaders, bassist, bju, brooklyn, cooperative, Discovery, feast, jazz, josh jackson, Live Music, night music, puzzles, quartet, quintet, record label, saturday night, Studio Sessions, tomorrow night, underground festival, Video

Bassist Alexis Cuadrado is one of ten bandleaders in the Brooklyn Jazz Underground (BJU), a music cooperative formed in January 2007. In a couple of months, the BJU will launch its own record label. One of the first releases is a quintet record from Cuadrado called Puzzles. Alexis brought his Puzzles Quartet into our studio yesterday. We'll bring you the full session when the record is released to the public. In the meantime, enjoy this video we made:

The Alexis Cuadrado Puzzles Quartet is performing at Smalls, Saturday night at 8pm. It's part of the 2nd Annual Brooklyn Jazz Underground Festival, a three night music feast starting tomorrow night at Smalls, 183 West 10th Street (7th Avenue South).
More about that in another post.
- Josh Jackson

© 2008 WBGO

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