Our man in NYC 5b

CJ Intern's NYC Adventures Part 5a, as we reach an end (for this visit)

By Jeremy Tsuei

Tuesday again - Neal Caine and friends at Bemelman's Bar

And here's a little epilogue - my own "Scouring of the Shire," if you will. And just as necessary for the real fans out there. I'd been missing Neal's gigs in towns due to various reasons - including a double booking at the venue, clashes with other gigs, and then a clash with my flight out of town. But Neal told me about this one after our last lesson, noting the caveats of its venue, Bemelman's Bar, being on the other side of town and not being a real "jazz club" per se. But, still buzzed after the McBride gig, and for my last night in New York City, I thought "what the heck," and made the trip over.

A software engineer, an old friend from out town, a finance worker, and aspiring jazz musician from Australia walk into a bar... sounds like the beginning of a potentially overcomplicated joke. Nonetheless, this was the start of this portion of the night, when three drinking buddies floated the idea to me that waiting in line for table for four would be easier than waiting for a table for three. Now, I would generally advise being cautious of strangers, but with these fellows the vibe ended up being very wholesome. They only interacted with me in public spaces, didn't deliver my drinks (they did buy them though!), and all left the venue well before I did. So a party of three drinking buddies became a party of four drinking buddies, and I learnt a bit about the venue (located in the historic Carlyle Hotel, which came straight out of half a century ago or more), learnt some drinking tips and even received some snippets of general life advice. What a way to go for a triumphant hurrah!

The music, featuring Neal on bass alongside a pianist/vocalist and guitarist, was intended to be background music, and the venue was crowded and noisy. But the feel was swinging and the arrangements were solid. Having learned from Neal over the course of a few lessons, I've been able to pick up on key aspects of his approach and philosophy: Be self-aware. Outline the sound of the chord. Play good notes and don't settle for being a good imitation of someone else. These aspects, despite the din of the bar, were well on display. Good music insists on itself, even when surrounding noise otherwise conspires to drown it out. 

NYC - Some closing reflections 

Things I'd like less of:

• Taking the wrong train when getting to lessons (sorry once again for being late, Matt!)
• Sharing the same hostel with an assassin making national and international headlines (yes, I was staying at the HI Hostel on 103rd and Amsterdam Ave, the same place that Luigi Mangione was allegedly staying at during his time in NYC)
• Playing tunes I don't know (learn your lesson, Tsuei!)

Things I'd like more of:

• Seeing my heroes (I missed Ron Carter, Brad Mehldau, Jack DeJohnette...)
• Trading Instagram handles (this platform's currency over here!)
• Ear and piano app skills (so I can consistently practice without my bass) 

Things I'm satisfied with:

• Making music 
• Making friends
• Being part of this city for three weeks

And, for now, Jeremy the CJ Intern - signing out. 

Jeremy, thanks for the reports and pics.  Well done.  A fabulous and enviable jazz trip.  Brings back memories for me and many of us.  Eric

Our man in NYC 5a

CJ Intern's NYC Adventures Part 5a: Objects in Rear View Mirror are Closer Than They Appear, or the Third Christian

By Jeremy Tsuei

Well - here we go. The last one. Back home to Australia, but not before a brief family visit in Vancouver. Back to the shed, back to family, back to a bit of normalcy. With a lot of notches under the belt. Not only did I get to jam in New York (many, many times) - I also got asked if I was available to play a gig. The answer was no (I didn't have my own bass in any case), but that was certainly something I didn't expect which I now get to come away with. 

Tuesday - Christian McBride and Inside Straight

Christian McBride's second live album with Inside Straight (Peter Martin (piano), Carl Allen (drums), Warren Wolfe (vibes), Steve Wilson (sax)), recorded in the Village Vanguard in 2014 and released during/after the pandemic in late 2021, is one of my favourite releases ever. The feel is so good throughout, and every note feels right, but there are still those small live inflections that give it that atmosphere and spontaneous vibe - like McBride's little 'what?'s as he's backing Wolfe's solo in "The Shade of the Cedar Tree". Speaking of "The Shade of the Cedar Tree", attentive readers will remember that that tune is one of my favourites, and the version from that album is probably my favourite recording of that tune. A veritable stacking of favourites!

Ten years later, and the band is back for their December residency. The atmosphere and vibes (pardon the pun) were spot on - ten years of gradual evolution, but this was the same band, playing many of the same tunes. Being at this gig was like stepping into something intensely familiar, but also like experiencing it again for the first time. This was the band I've heard many many times over, playing in many cases the same songs, but finding new ways to do it. 

There was no "The Shade of the Cedar Tree", nor was there a bass solo in every song (although there were some neat traded fours with Carl Allen towards the end of the gig). Nor, I'll mention, did I get to meet McBride - a lovely man by all accounts, but I understand why he had a bodyguard in front of the green room. But there's something to be said for getting the reality of something, rather than having it fit the demanding moulds of wish fulfillment. What I got was something just as satisfying and so much more true to life than anything I might have imagined from what I'd experienced before. This was a lovely close to my trip. Hearing one of my favourite recorded bands, not deviating from their established sound, but finding new pathways and avenues within. Getting something new, and being given the opportunity to evolve as a listener as the band has evolved as a band. 

Describing Chris Botti's band from the previous night, I'd used the loaded moniker of 'smooth jazz' to address some of the less fulfilling aspects of that (still very worthwhile) gig. I suppose when we're talking about 'smooth jazz', we're talking about stuff that is content with not pushing the bounds, or content which seemingly has no interest in breaking free into new territory. It's the sound of jazz as the lay listener expects jazz to sound, if you will. That spectre of the familiar is at play in my reflections with this band, and its ties to a decade-old set of recordings. But what I hear - and what I heard from this gig - is a band that is content with pushing their own boundaries, and not necessarily any boundaries set by others. A group that has played together for this long, filled with members who know each other so well, striving to play at nobody's best but their own. Fearsome stuff. 

To be continued very soon ...

Our man in NYC 4b2

CJ Intern's NYC Penultimate Piece ends (part 4b2)

By Jeremy Tsuei

Monday: Jochen Rueckert and Chris Botti 

Another Matt Penman gig, this time with Jochen Rueckert (drums and bandleader), Troy Roberts (sax), and Alexandra Ridout (trumpet). Alexandra was a last-minute call, but she absolutely smoked the gig. Sitting in the corner next to the drums, my friend Tony and I really got the whole experience - big beats and strong sounds. A real mix of musical personalities and nationalities which went towards a really strong and cohesive whole - partway through the gig, Rueckert joked that Alexandra's country of origin, England, had oppressed every other band member's country of origin (Roberts is an Aussie and Penman is a Kiwi) except for his (Germany), acknowledging that his country of origin has had its own set of historical issues... Rueckert also claimed that he would differentiate himself from other acts by not making a joke about selling CD players despite many people no longer owning CD players, but was that not in itself a joke? A meta-joke perhaps - fitting for a drummer and bandleader to have a solid perspective of what's really going on behind it all...

 

Chris Botti has been playing a December Blue Note residency for two decades now, and he launched this season with a bang. Botti has played across jazz and pop realms, and I found his mic'ed up tone a bit too reverb-y, and some of the songs waded into dreaded 'smooth jazz' territory. Still - whenever it started to get too smooth, Botti would punctuate it with a strong, daring tone, something just enough left field to remind us of his 'serious musician' credentials. The band was also stellar, and navigated different feels, styles, and transitions with verve. A tune which Botti described as a "real jazz" song started with a thoughtful bass solo from Daniel Chmielinski, before launching into a full band effort, and then finally morphing into a synthesised dub party while the band traded 4s with drummer Lee Pearso.

Botti's selection of guests was fantastic. Tonight, Botti was joined by Anastasiia Mazurok (violin), John Splithoff (vocals and guitar), and finally Veronica Swift (vocals). I found it a marker of confidence and assurance that the band leader wasn't always playing in his own gig, and left it to others to take a leading role for their feature tunes. And Veronica Swift! I'd actually purchased tickets to this gig because it was my only opportunity to see her live, and she smashed it. A generous collection of classic standards - "There Will Never Be Another You", "Love for Sale", "Under My Skin", "Moanin"... - delivered with sheer power. Swift's scatting was incredible, and during a traded solos with Chmielinski she even started to emulate the sounds and inflections of an acoustic bass - real creative stuff! Swift also commandeered Botti's trumpet at the end for a humorous - and very impressive - bit. And of course some Christmas material at the end, as it is the season - but at the end of the set and with a band this good, there was nothing left to prove.

Other things

As well as all this stuff, I've also been volunteering with the First Presbyterian Church's Tartan Christmas Fair, seen the sights and read up on history at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, had a taste of home country with a Yirrkala Bark Painting exhibition at the Asia Society Museum entitled "Madayin", and had lessons with Joseph Lepore and John Benitez.

There's no shortage of things to do here! It won't be long before I'm back in Australia, but man am I looking forward to my next visit here...

Our man in NYC 4b1

This is getting complex... 

By Jeremy Tsuei

Saturday: Astghik Martirosyan

This one came to me after a lesson with Matt Penman, who told me that that the venue, Bar Bayeux, was the "Village Vanguard of Brooklyn". Well, they certainly had the curtains in common - as well as a good sound and a good vibe. This was a killer group - including Julian Shore (piano), Rogérico Boccato (percussion), Vinicius Gomes (guitar), and the aforementioned Matt Penman (bass) - playing some really twisty arrangements and tunes. Martirosyan's voice was powerful, and she blended modern sounds, generational jazz influences, and Armenian folk sensibilities with aplomb. Particular highlights included the original tune "Lavender" (I hope the love story which inspired this goes well), as well as the Fred Hersch tune, "Song of Life". Martirosyan's debut album, "Distance", came out last year - she's definitely one to watch.

Sunday: Basik jam and Aaron Johnson Boplicity

Another Basik jam, this time led by Matt La Von. Maybe I'm biased as a bassist, but I've got to give it up for house bassist Paul Torres - this guy was just shredding it on his instrument, and knew every tune that was called inside and out. Some really amazing bebop lines and real fluency and creativity for every solo - just an example of a player who really knows their stuff, and how to use it. I also had the chance to play a few tunes - fun was had all around.

Following this up, I went to Smalls for the late night jam hosted by Aaron Johnson's group. These guys dressed and played like they stepped straight out of the '60s (in a good way, of course) - it was a bit of a double-take moment seeing them pulling out iPhones here and there! The band was tight - real straight-ahead stuff, that knows exactly what it is and what it wants to be. For the late night jam I once again played a tune I wasn't familiar with. Learn your lesson, Tsuei!!

To be continued today...

Our man in NYC 4a

CJ Intern's NYC Adventures Part 4: Promptly Penning a Plentiful Penultimate Piece (part 4a)

By Jeremy Tsuei

As promised, we're winding up but by no means taking our foot off the gas (that's a little American-ism for you). Big gigs and big lessons this week, as well as some touristy things and even some volunteering - all the New York things!

Wednesday: Cory Henry solo set

Cory Henry's definitely made a name for himself, first gaining prominence with Snarky Puppy and now touring with Stevie Wonder and working with popular acts such as Imagine Dragons. But enough about his collaborations - tonight was between the man himself and his audience, as Henry shared his roots, influences, and new directions. In both the first and second sets, Henry began simply with the "Amazing Grace" melody, before building complexity and adding new textures - a kick drum, synth, vocals. It got busy (for a one-man show, anyway), but never strayed from that simple feeling of joy and gratitude from hitting those opening notes and hearing them resonate and lead into each other, until a story begins to form. This was the first song he learnt as a kid, at only 2-3 years of age. The man's been playing music longer than his brain has had a functional memory system (psychologists say memory starts working from four years of age), and it shows. I loved how gospel- and soul-oriented Henry's sets were - really digging into his community and spiritual roots a la his album released earlier this year, "Church". All in all, these were songs for lovers, songs for those with broken hearts, songs for humans.

Thursday: Christian McBride Quartet and Jihee Heo Trio 

McBride again, and Mike Stern again - this time in a very different setting. Last week Stern remarked to me how he was nervous about this gig, as McBride had just called him and so far there was no setlist and no rehearsal. So calling standards it was - and on the night, McBride described it as a jazz party where we all got to have a share of the groove. Tivon Pennicott (sax) and Marcus Gilmore (drums) rounded out the quartet, and everyone had space to shine. Stern in particular brought in a groovy "Body and Soul" with a solo guitar intro, which really demonstrated his voice and fluidity on the instrument. Such a different gig compared to the last McBride concert I went to, but the feel, the groove, and the consolidated star-power were all alike. 

Jihee Heo was, by her own admission, quite starstruck with her rhythm section - David Williams on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums; guys she'd listened to on Cedar Walton records and the like. During one of the little talking interludes where she was discussing this, Williams jokingly interjected to tell her she was doing just fine. And he was absolutely right - this was real swinging stuff, straight out of the Oscar Peterson playbook. I believe this was also the first female-led gig I've attended while in New York, excluding the jam session hosted by Theresa Sanchez. A really diverse band, and a real connection and respect for the tradition. Good good stuff.

Friday: NY Philharmonic

I did get scammed by a ticket reseller for this one, but on the upside, I did end up with pretty good orchestra-level seats. I'm not too well-versed in this area, but the NY Philharmonic has to be one of the best in the world. Before moving onto the big piece, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, the orchestra played Shostakovich's "Festive Overture" and Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, led by soloist Frank Huang. Earlier this year, I played the latter piece with Canberra's National Capital Orchestra alongside CJ Blog mastermind Eric [ https://canberrajazz.blogspot.com/2024/03/awe.html ] and it was great to hear the work being performed professionally, especially as I knew there were some particularly difficult bass soli coming up. The section moved through it like butter - bravo!

The big item was Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, accompanied by a stop motion film, "Oh to Believe in Another World," by William Kentridge. The audio-visual experience was interesting, although I do wonder what it would have been like to have just heard the music by itself, as one's attention span can only take in so much at a time. Still, during the course of my Honours year I had the pleasure of interviewing Vince Jones, and he remarked that the future will be an audio-visual one. This was art accompanying art - art on top of more art. Too much art? Surely it can't be worse than too little art. My money's worth in any case (even if a decent chunk of what I paid went to the wrong place...).

To be continued tomorrow...

Our man in NYC 3

CJ Intern's NYC Adventures Part 3: Lion Songs and Lion Kings, or Does This Emmet Guy Need Any More Internet Exposure?

By Jeremy Tsuei

Whew, we're two-thirds through. It's been a whirl - and there's a lot more to go. On the music front, I've had two out of what will now be six bass lessons - one with Neal Caine and one with Matt Penman, with Joseph Lepore, John Benitez, and some followup lessons on the horizon. I've also been to plenty of gigs...

Thursday: David Gibson Quartet

Another Smalls jam, this time featuring the trombone-led David Gibson quartet. Tight band and sound - Gibson mentioned that, unlike a lot of Smalls groups, these guys were a 'real' band (i.e. that they played together and rehearsed together, and weren't just together on that night on call). This one was fun, and we went well into the night. My intention was to get home earlier compared to the last late jam I went to, but that didn't end up happening...

Friday: The Lion King

Of course, I had to do the NYC tourist thing and get some cheap(er) last minute Broadway tickets. But hey - when in New York, do New York things, right?

The Lion King was one of the first - if not the first - musicals I saw, and I'm now well entrenched in Canberra's community musical theatre scene, so there's that. It's also where I learnt what an 'hour' was as a kid, after we arrived early to the theatre and were told we'd have to wait an hour. The Lion King, the film, is also one of those films that seems almost untouchable for me - certainly, I don't really get how someone could say that they dislike it. The recent remake can promptly be forgotten though...

Which is partly why seeing this musical was so good, especially after 20 years of growth and that cultural conversation of what The Lion King is and what it means. Unlike the recent CGI remake, the musical is unabashed in its use of artifice, and proudly displays its reliance on stage-craft - big puppets, colourful costumes, people pretending to be animals. The result is something that's much more abstract than either of the films, and a product which is able to pull so much more richly from ancient and contemporary theatre genealogy, including its South African heritage, Greek theatre, possibly a bit of Balinese theatre, and of course Shakespeare and modern Broadway. This is maximalist theatre in many ways (the puppets are incredible!), but minimalist too in the simplicity of its story, and its agreement with the audience to acknowledge that, yes we are at the theatre, yes we are watching artifice, yes we're watching a story about talking and singing animals, but through all that, and because of all, that there is something deeply and commonly human. For all the reasons I mentioned above I'm biased, but I gotta say - I shed the odd tear at a few points.

Saturday: Ornithology double bill

Two gigs at the adjoining Ornithology clubs tonight, including a late night jam. I didn't catch the name of the first, a sax/bass/drums trio who were playing in the Cafe Ornithology, but they were by far the most experimental group I'd seen so far - very Ornette-like in how upfront the saxophonist was. Angular and brutalist harmonic structures, with a lot of freedom sans a piano or guitar to provide chords.

Next was the Juanga Lakunza quintet, who played long, conversational tunes with a healthy dose of Latin and Afro-Cuban influences. I got to meet Oscar Perez (piano) and John Benitez (bass) afterwards - all really humble musicians who were really open with sharing their experiences and how they inform their artistry. Benitez in particular was using a full-sized double bass which just spoke and filled the room. This gig evolved into the late-night Jazz Dialogue Open Jam, and I made the rookie mistake of playing a song I didn't know - there were no hard feelings, but it was definitely a lesson well learnt...

Sunday: Ryo Sasaki with Bill Crow and Steve Little

Talk about jazz royalty! Bill Crow and Steve Little are legends - and apparently have been playing together since 1955! Neither were wearied with age, with quick tempos and strong tones on full display throughout the whole gig. Nothing especially complicated - but you could tell that their souls were just so intimately connected to the music they were sharing.  

I got to meet Bill, who's turning 97 in September, and he was a darl. I also got to play behind him when he went up to sing! What a treat - I'm still reeling from the fact that that happened. What a strange thing that can probably only happen in settings like this - veterans and new learners sharing the stage and creating music together on the spur of the moment. There is something about jazz and about these jam session formats which goes beyond countries, languages, ages, identities, and origins - a connectedness which I think we all wish we could get more of. 

Tuesday: Kenny Wessel and Emmet Cohen Trio 

Big gigs tonight. Kenny Wessel is one of the teachers at the Manhattan School of Music, and along with his rhythm section, he exhibited such a confident tone and command of the instrument, along with a real sense of lyricism and creativity. From Cole Porter, to some of his originals, to some Keith Jarrett, the collection of tunes was incredibly tasteful. 

Emmet Cohen Trio - what more needs to be said?

Well, first off, they're not like how they are online. Somehow, they're more. A friend of mine before I went off on this trip commented how he wasn't such a fan of Cohen's. To that I have to say - just listen to what these guys are doing. There is so much connection and respect for the jazz tradition, and the chops and connectedness are on full display. You get the sense that Emmett is a student and knows he's a student - standing on the shoulders of giants and all - but he's mastered being a student. The Ahmad Jamal comparisons have, of course, already been made.

These guys - bassist Phil Norris and drummer Kyle Poole along with him - went through songs, feels, sections with seeming ease. There was a 20-minute or so medley which stitched together several songs which just captivated. Emmet described the music as one of extremes - extremes of loud and soft, fast and slow, sensitive and intense - with the drive to find every gradient in between. That's a bold claim to make when classical music exists, but these guys sure went for it. A real expressive ride for the musicians and the audience - just this insatiable commitment to make art, and put it together at the highest standard (seemingly without breaking a sweat, of course). And we got some Christmas tunes with guest trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack at the end too!.

Other stuff!

Of course, it's not all been music - I've attached some photos of the beautiful hiking country around New York City and surrounds too for some breathing room.

And we'll need this breathing room, because we're going to need to hold space for the last week of my trip here. Lessons and gigs galore - we're definitely not easing up as we reach the finish line. 

But for the meantime - Jeremy the CJ Intern signing out...

Our man in NYC 2

CJ Intern's NYC Adventure Part 2: Guitar Duel, or the Importance of Being Earnest When Meeting Your Heroes

by Jeremy Tsuei

One week down! And to quote another, albeit lesser-known, Lin-Manuel Mirada number in this report's preamble (hopefully this doesn't become a habit), "it's all happening"...

Saturday: Christian McBride Big Band with special guests

This one was a treat, although I think I almost wore myself out with a day trip to Newark and a big dinner... Christian McBride has long been one of my favourite bassists ever - certainly, he's the one guy who can do it all. This concert featured vocalists Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire), Lisa Fischer (The Rolling Stones), and Dianne Reeves (an NEA Jazz Master), for a night of soul, R&B, and vivid big bad arrangements. All three previous Christian McBride Big Bad albums have won Grammys for Jazz Instrumental Albums, and if this sneak peek into next year's album was anything to go by, Christian has nothing to worry about in keeping that streak up. Special mention goes to the band's second tune, "The Shade of The Cedar Tree" - one of my favourites, and one that I still haven't quite nailed live in my Canberra gigs, a twisty but effortlessly catchy tune that segues smoothly between broken, swing, and Latin feels, which I now know was dedicated to the great Cedar Walton.

Sunday: Basik jam featuring Theresa Sanchez quartet

A neat little jam in Brooklyn. Bassist Theresa Sanchez had this massive sound coming in - imagine my surprise when I stepped up and saw she was coming out of a piddly Rumble 15 1x8 combo! Those things are like $89 AUD, and I'd recently rehearsed with one, grumbling at the lack of power for the whole time. Yet in this cafe environment, with no restrictions on audience volume and some seriously powerful bandmates, Theresa's sound was - well, I've already described it as 'massive', but there's no other word that really covers it. I asked Theresa how she went about getting such a big sound, and her response was modest. Maybe the secret ingredient has been hidden in beginner value packs all along...

Tuesday: Mike Stern and Larry Banks Sextet

Mike Stern is such a darl y'all.

We'll rewind a bit. Back when guitar was my primary instrument, Mike Stern was the guy - I bought a Seymour Duncan '59 neck pickup so I could have the same pickup that he uses, and I even tried getting a chorus/distortion combo to match his sound. Of course, I should've spent more time learning his licks, but I did pick up a habit of warming up on Bach violin Partitas from him...

I had the chance to meet Mike before and after his set at the DROM. He was seriously nice, and encouraged me not to look at myself as a 'former guitarist, now bassist' but a continual learner on both - "What do you mean, you used to play guitar?", he asked me. He also seemed genuinely interested in my cerebral palsy when I told him about how listening to his album Trip was super formative for me while I was first getting into jazz, especially as I was reading stories about his injury and reflecting on my own physical challenges.

And of course during his set he played one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard - period. His wife Leni was also excellent - a very different player, but you got the sense that she only played what she heard. And bassist Edmond Gilmore blew the roof off with a slap solo that just kept going and going and going, in the best way possible.

Chasing this up was the Larry Banks Sextet in Smalls, leading into the 1am jam. I got to play in this one too, but let me tell you, the house band was so good that it almost felt wrong to follow them up. Still - we had fun and there was a really good turnout from musicians and punters alike, even as we started to get well into Wednesday...

Thursday: John Scofield and Nicholas Payton

Another massive gig featuring another guitar favourite. Nicholas Payton was a real standout for this one, especially for his compositions, including "Backwards Step" and "Othello on the Low". Such a lyrical and inventive player, with a killer tone and timefeel. Heaps of repeated figures leading into classic bebop flurries.

Scofield is such a different player to Stern, but with both you can hear who they are from the first note. Both guitarists weren't afraid of bringing in tunes with solo guitar passages - and while both are known for their distorted or 'electric' tones, you can also hear the wood and resonance of their instruments as they play. It's that element that you'd struggle to describe outside of using adjectives such as 'authentic' and 'human'...

Massive gigs to wrap up this first week! A couple more weeks and a few more gigs and jam sessions to come - can you tell I'm having a blast? But for now - Jeremy the CJ Intern signing out.

Our man in NYC 1

CJ Intern's NYC Adventure Part 1: Does Anyone in This Town Have a Functioning Bass Amp?

by Jeremy Tsuei

One of the hit songs in Hamilton is, of course, "The Room Where It Happens". Three days in, and I think it's very apt to describe New York as very much "the city where it happens". I won't bore you with all the touristy details, but I do have a few updates on the music front...

Thursday: Kenny Garrett at the Blue Note

What a way to start! This one was unfortunately marred by tech difficulties at the beginning, with the bass amp not working when the band kicked off. Still, a powerful opening to the set, put together to promote Garrett's latest album, Sounds from the Ancestors. Despite knowing about the faulty gear, the bassist persisted with taking a solo during the opener, with the techies frantically going at it as he did so. Fortunately the sound was restored - to much applause from the audience. Although sound issues persisted - Kenny had some rapping/ spoken word sections which seemed to get drowned out when it reached the bar area - the overall sound was great, combining gospel, Afro-Cuban, and fusion influences. There was good use of texture with strong vocalists and percussion, and some very singable melodies. A special shoutout to the nice aunties whom I sat next to, who heard my thick Aussie "Good onya" as something like "Gouda Enya". We all learnt something from each other, and what a venue for it!

Friday part 1: Smalls Afternoon jam session hosted by Andrew Kushnir

It's always been a dream of mine to jam in New York City, and well, this was it, warts and all. Once again, a non-functioning bass amp, although the house bassist and I figured it was likely a bum cable. Luckily the house bass - fitted out with Spirocores and medium-high action - gave out plenty of acoustic sound. Shoutout to Tony, a guitarist who had just moved to NYC from Melbourne - and whom I had jammed with before, at the one Blondies jam session I've attended! Good luck for your audition man. This one you can watch online! I come on about halfway through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn_oDjotUcw&t=9327s

Friday part 2: Il Travatore at the Met Opera

This one came recommended to me by a drummer friend of mine, Paul. An amazing sound and a really jaw-dropping revolving set. During intermission, a fellow remarked that this one was a bit "sleepy", but (for this first-time Met Opera attendee, anyway) I found the pace to be very quick - we got to intermission before I knew it. Perhaps the quick nap I had in my seat before the concert opened helped with this. The singing was top-tier (what else would you expect), and the orchestra sounded fantastic. Sitting at the very back, however, the small scale of the actors contrasted with the intensity of the tragedy - it was like seeing microscopic minions with maximum melodrama. A fanfare in the middle of the first act was particularly impressive, featuring some powerful cast percussion. In Canberran pro-am and community theatre, we generally try to limit the cast's access to percussion as much as possible. But here the cast handled it with aplomb.

That's it so far! I'm about 10% through my trip, so I'm sure you'll be hearing more as I go along. For now - Jeremy the CJ Intern signing out...

Buskers et al.

It’s not all the time I stop for buskers, but there are some doozies in NYC. Here are a few I noted.

Spank were a male vocal quartet singing ‘60s pop, rich in harmonies and with an immensely welcoming stage presence. We heard them waiting to board the Staten Island Ferry (a quintessential tourist experience and the only free ferry around). There are accompanied by a bassist who knew the jazz scene, but name not known. The band was teasingly called Spank and was very well received.

Changing in Subway Station Lexington Av / 53rd St, we heard this excellent duo blowing. Nick Biello (alto) was a force of nature, blowing with Bird-like fluency (although a newer take on bop). He was performing the entire Charlie Parker with Strings album with the Highline Chamber Ensemble the following week but I wasn’t in town to hear it. He’s been a finalist in the International Sax Competition. He was playing with Matt Davis (guitar). I only caught them in passing and no solos from Matt. We were on our way to Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem where they had mates playing in the Charlie Parker Jazz Fest.

Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem was also the location for a Drum circle. I guess this is regular; I know it’s loud. Earlier on, it was just a few players; by evening dozens, with a flautist and occasional dancers within the ring, a few feature drummers playing embellishments and an incessant, droning, fairly stable rhythm. It mutated as I listened but I wasn’t around to hear it change significantly. The pic is from early evening after several hours (it was around the corner from the Charlie Parker Jazz Fest). Loud.

Shedding time

I had an hour or so to pass near West Village. First stop was Fat Cat. Not jazz this evening, but a female vocal trio singing R&B-cum-gospel in the Motown style. Nice voices, great harmonies, a scream or doo-whop every now and then. Backed by a guitar trio. Going down well and much danceable pleasure. The band was Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens of Brooklyn. I guess it that’s Naomi in the middle in the pic.

Still a few minutes, so I took a peek into the Garage (not to be mistaken with Jazz Garage; this one is an eating establishment with a bar and largely background jazz). The band was led by Michika Fukumon (piano) with Eden McDonald (bass) and Bob Francis (drums). I just heard a fast take on I feel pretty and the ballad Somewhere (both from West Side Story). Nice playing and I particularly enjoyed Eden’s tasteful, lyrical bass solo.

Just Some pics

Let’s hear it again for Bird

“If it doesn’t have dissonance, it’s got to have swing” So said Joe at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Harlem. It’s a free festival on the last weekend of August, running Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I could get the most of the Saturday session (although not the Sunday session with Kenny Barron, Cindy Blackmore Santana and others). It was in Marcus Garvey Park. Joe is of Italian descent, Brooklyn born, lives in Queens. I was taken aback when he mentioned Norman Connors (his album Love from the Sun is one of my formative albums; it’s not well known, not even available on CD when I looked). I was in awe of his access to jazz but otherwise we shared much. Joe’s comment was in the context of Lionel Loueke playing a form of world music, fingerpicked, sounding plucky like classical guitar, strangely out of place in this lineup. Certainly a long way and possibly unrelated to Bird. He was playing with an Italian mandolin bassist (fast and funky playing, but lacking any complexity in tone) and a drummer. A bit later, following an exciting drum solo, he said “this is more like it” and I concurred. The Wallace Rooney Orchestra was coming up last, but I couldn’t stay. The first acts had been Kris Bowers (piano) quartet with guest Chris Turner (vocals). Nice piano solos and a powerful, punchy solo from Tyshawn Sorey (drums). It was a day for drums. The next band was the Crash Trio led by 25-yo Chilean Melissa Aldana (tenor), last year’s winner of the Thelonious Monk competition. This was a modern trio set, reminiscent of the sixties (she mentioned Sonny Rollins) although playing her original compositions. Competent soloing, fast and with nice clean tone, if a little heavy on scales and practice routines. Her offsiders were Pablo Menares (bass) and Francisco Mela (drums). Again, lots of drum solos but more softly spoken than the other two drummers. This was an outing for listeners and musos alike. Nice to see a (French) horn player arriving with his wife. Apparently this is an outing for musos and their families in Harlem.

Lionel Loueke (guitar) led his trio. Melissa Aldana’s Crash Trio had Pablo Menares (bass) and Francisco Mela (drums). The Chris Bowers (piano) Quartet performed with guest Chris Turner (vocals). The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival was staged free in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.

Museums update

CJ loves museums (obvious enough if you read these pages). The Met in NYC is one of my all time great experiences. No change after our recent return visit although I didn’t feel the sheer overwhelming pleasure of our first visit. But the pieces are all so impressive and the breadth so wide that my breath is still taken away. Visit a room of numerous Rembrandts and you have the idea.

This time we visited the American Museum of Natural History and I was distinctly underwhelmed. We saw an incredible special video display in the Planetarium on dark matter / dark energy. It’s AV but impressive. Gems / minerals was good (some incredible crystal and gem samples and the Star of India sapphire); paleontology was informative (and my eye doesn’t identify casts from real skulls); the dinosaur skeletons were impressive. Otherwise, I got the feeling this was mostly AV and models which is mostly available on the Net. And it felt strangely out-of-time with models of peoples of different cultures, but (did I miss them?) no Euros. We visited the Guggenheim Museum. It’s famous for its snail-like design by Frank Lloyd Wright and I understand its core collection is of the French impressionists. We saw a selection of this era, most spectacularly Picasso's Woman Ironing. The main space was given over to an exhibit of Italian Futurists and that’s a movement I’ve wondered about; interesting. We also visited the Frick Collection. Frick was another art-collecting industrialist who donated his house and collection to the city. Not a big museum, but a gem. One room particularly stood out (the Living Hall), but all had impressive or stunning works. Lots of recognised images here. Apart from furniture, the Living Hall displays Bellini’s St Francis in the Desert, Holbein’s pair of St Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell, El Greco’s St Jerome and a pair by Titian, Pietro Aretino and Portrait of a man in a red cap. That’s just the paintings. Otherwise, Piero della Francesca, Goya, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, including another self portrait, Renoir, Vermeer, Turner, Whistler. I was particularly taken by a Fontana Workshop Majolica dish of the judgement of Paris, a small enamel plaque by Limousin, thought to be of Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre, and a wonderful table described as “Italian or French, Long Center Table with Columnar Supports and Animal Masks, 16th and 19th century”. There’s more but you get the drift. A stunning collection, nicely accessible and a short visit.

My take at this stage of NYC museums visiting: Met, unmissible; MOMA and Frick, do it; Pierpont-Morgan, impressive; Guggenheim, for lovers of Impressionism; Natural History, especially for the kids. The pics are a mix from the Met and Natural History Museum, except Giovanni Bellini, St Francis in Ecstasy, 1480-85, from http://collections.frick.org/Obj360$369 via WikiCommons.