Jazz Stream: October 6th – October 11th packs in a lot of great music. Eleven concerts to be exact. As you might expect there’s a mix of household names and other artists who, at some point, will no doubt also be commonly known.
Amongst the artists performing are Chick Corea in a solo concert from his studio, Wadada Leo Smith performing solo trumpet and piano and cutting edge musicians like trumpeter Theo Croker and singer Melanie Charles.
So let’s get right to the music. Here is Jazz Stream: October 6th – October 11th:
The Le Bouef Brothers – Smalls – October 6th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT
No reason to be shy about this one, identical twin brothers Remy and Pascal Le Boeuf are considered amongst the most adventurous and creative musicians working in jazz. And a little classical. In fact, they straddle and blur the lines between the two to create music all their own.
Their most recent recording was Imaginist which was released in 2016 and finds the brothers working with JACK Quartet.
Remy plays alto sax and Pascal plays piano. For this gig from Smalls in New York, they will be joined by Martin Nevin on bass and Allan Mednard on drums.
The Melanie Charles Quartet – Smalls – October 8th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT
Melanie Charles is a singer, songwriter, flautist born in Brooklyn and of Haitian descent. Any attempt to pigeon-hole her music into just one style would be foolish. Jazz, soul, Haitian music and more find their way into her music and the end result is mesmerizing.
Her most recent album, The Girl with the Green Shoes, was released in 2017. In 2019 she released a single called Trill Suite, No. 1 (Daydreaming/Skylark) which pairs Aretha Franklin’s song Daydreaming with the Hoagy Carmichael/Johnny Mercer song Skylark. The result is amazing.
For this show she will be joined by Axel Laugart on piano, Jonathan Michel on bass and Anwar Marshall on drums.
Janis Siegel with John Dimartino – Birdland – October 8th – 7:00 PM/4:00 PM EDT
You know Janis Siegel as one of the founding members of The Manhattan Transfer. Her work with that famous vocal group has been acknowledged with ten Grammy Awards.
John Dimartino is a fixture in the New York jazz scene. His most recent album, Passion Flower, celebrates the music of Billy Strayhorn.
He and Siegel collaborated on 2014’s Night Songs and, along with Nanny Assis, comprise The Requine Trio. Their album, Honey and Air, was released in 2015.
For this concert Siegel and Dimartino will be performing music by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein, bossa nova, new jazz songs and the Great American Songbook. If you’ve ever heard Siegel sing, with or without The Manhattan Transfer, you know she can swing!
Tickets are $23.50
Wadada Leo Smith Solo – Vision Festival Healing Soul – October 8th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT
The Vision Festival Healing Soul launches on Friday and each day they are offering access to a full day of programming online. They start very strongly with trumpeter, composer, improviser and multi-instrumentalist Wadada Leo Smith. He will be performing solo trumpet and piano.
As someone who has embraced music from multiple cultures and stands as one of the finest avant-garde musicians in jazz, this should be a very interesting concert.
Amongst my favorite albums he’s recorded is A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke with Vijay Iyer. The video below shows how powerful his music is and how impactful just a solo trumpet can be.
$16.74 (that includes service charges) will also give you access to Jazz Response to Humanity in Crisis – in and outside of the Jazz Community. This is a Roundtable discussion with William Parker, Amirtha Kidambi, Fay Victor, Arturo O’Farrill, Gerald Cleaver, and JD Allen; moderated by Patricia Parker. 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
Bill Charlap: An Evening of Solo Piano – Live From Dizzy’s Club – October 8th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT
Pianist Bill Charlap will perform songs by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael and more when he takes to the piano for this solo concert from Dizzy’s Club in New York.
Last week Dizzy’s Club, a part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, re-launched their streaming concerts. They have started strong and this concert will certainly be one of this week’s highlights.
There is a suggested price of $10 to watch the show live. If that timing is not convenient for you, there will be a rerun of the concert three hours later at 10:30 PM EDT/7:30 PM PDT.
Abraham Burton Quartet – Smalls – October 9th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT
Growing up in Greenwich Village in the 1970s and 1980s would provide a great location to explore the world of jazz in New York. That’s precisely what tenor and alto sax musician Abraham Burton did. No wonder he ended up playing jazz music.
Though he doesn’t have a large catalog of recordings as a leader, he has recorded and performed with some of the genre’s biggest and brightest stars including Kenny Barron, James Carter, Roy Hargrove, Louis Hayes, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Jackie McLean, Mulgrew Miller, Nicholas Payton, Wallace Roney, Jimmy Smith, Horace Tapscott and Jimmy Woode.
He is a featured performer on the 2011 Grammy Award winning album Mingus Big Band Live at Jazz Standard.
Joining him for this gig will be Dezron Douglas on bass and Eric McPherson on drums
Thelonious Monk Celebration – SFJAZZ – October 9th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
Jazz legend Thelonious Monk would be 103 this year. Two years ago, on the occasion of his 101st birthday, SFJazz celebrated him with a concert that featured three pianists: Joanne Brackeen, Helen Sung and Kris Davis.
Brackeen is a 2018 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. Her career took off when she became the first female member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Stints with Joe Henderson and Stan Getz followed before she struck out on her own. She is also the composer of over 300 pieces.
Sung began playing classical music, but switched to jazz and has never looked back. She has worked with such artists as Terri Lyne Carrington, Regina Carter, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Clark Terry and one of my personal favorites, Cécile McLorin Salvant. Her most recent recording is 2018’s Sung with Words: A Collaboration with Dana Gioia.
Davis is a highly-acclaimed pianist who was named DownBeat Magazine’s Rising Star Pianist in 2017 and Rising Star Artist in 2018. She has performed and/or recorded with Terri Lyne Carrington, Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson, Julian Lage, Ingrid Laubrock, Tony Malaby, Eric Revis, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn and John Zorn.
Registration is required to view the show. Monthly membership of $5 or annual membership of $60 are your options.
Theo Croker – Blue Note – October 9th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
Can music be in someone’s blood by virtue of their relatives? If so, Theo Croker is blessed as this impressive trumpeter is the grandson of the legendary Doc Cheatham. Croker’s father is, amongst other things, a civil rights activist. If you combine the two you start, but only just, to paint a picture of who Theo Croker is.
Early in his career he was associated with singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, but has established a music and style all his own. Collaborations with Common and Ari Lennox live alongside his five albums. His most recent album, Star People Nation, was released last year. It’s a stunning record that offers a contemporary approach to jazz.
This concert will be streamed live from Blue Note in New York. Joining Croker will be Mike King on piano, Eric Wheeler on double bass and Shekwage Ode on drums.
Tickets are $15. There will be a re-stream of the concert three hours later at 11:00 PM EDT/8:00 PM PDT.
The Cyrus Chestnut Trio – Smoke Jazz and Supper Club – October 9th – October 10th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
I first became aware of pianist Cyrus Chestnut when I heard his 1966 album Earth Stories. From there I immediately picked up everything I could find. I still do.
His playing is, in a word, sublime. He plays everything from standards to music from Charlie Brown television shows to spirituals to classical music. Kaleidoscope, his most recent album, was released in 2018.
This weekend he’ll be playing two shows from New York’s Smoke Jazz and Supper Club. Each performance will feature Peter Washington on bass and Willie Jones III on drums.
Tickets are $11 (which includes the $1 service charge).
To purchase tickets for Friday go here.
To purchase tickets for Saturday go here.
Chick Corea Live in Concert: From Mozart to Monk – October 10th – 4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT
When you have received 65 Grammy nominations and received 23 of the awards, when you are a NEA Jazz Master, when you’ve recorded 14 albums with Miles Davis (including Bitches Brew) and when musicians from all genres hail your work, you don’t need an introduction. (Of course, that was an introduction, wasn’t it?)
Chick Corea will be performing live from his studio on Saturday. The show is called From Mozart to Monk which reflects the pianist’s versatility. This is a one-time only event. There will be no re-stremaing of the performance. You see it (which you should) or you don’t (at your own peril.)
Tickets are $20.
Melissa Aldana Quintet – Smalls – October 11th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 2013. She is a member of the all-star jazz ensemble Artemis and she’s good. Real good.
If you read Cultural Attaché you know we’ve written about her before. So rather than repeat those details, simply listen to the music.
For this gig from Smalls in New York, she will be joined by Charles Altura on guitar, Sullivan Fortner on piano, Pablo Menares on bass and Kush Abadey on drums.
Which of these concerts will you watch? The established artists or the newer performers who continue to make jazz exciting two decades into this century? You can get a taste of it all with any or all of these eleven concerts.
That’s Jazz Stream: October 6th – October 11th. Enjoy the music
Photo:Theo Croker (Photo by Sam Croskery/Courtesy of DL Media)