And yes, they can finish each other’s sentences. As I experienced when I spoke with them last week. Charlap was in New York finishing the second of two consecutive weeks at the Village Vanguard. Bridgewater was at her home. They will be performing together in Los Angeles on Friday night to open the 2023-2024 CAP UCLA season at Royce Hall. If you love jazz piano and jazz vocals, you owe it to yourself to check out this concert.

Rather than follow a traditional format of questions and answers, for this interview I will allow Bridgewater & Charlap to do their own performance of themes and variations on the concept of musical partnerships. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with Bridgewater & Charlap, please go to our YouTube channel.

The key to a good musical partnership is…

Bridgewater: …being open and listening to each other; keeping that line of communication going. It’s no different, I don’t think, than in a relationship without the music, but I think that’s the most important thing. Keeping your ears open and your mind open to receive. And in my case, all of this beautiful musical information from Bill Charlap. 

Charlap: Well, the same is happening to me. There’s all kinds of beautiful information coming to me from Dee Dee. It’s essentially listening first and foremost and chemistry and that we had right away. The chemistry continues to grow, but chemistry, just like any relationship, sometimes you just catch on fire right away and that’s how it is with us.

Bridgewater: It was the first step when we came together. When I approached Bill with this idea I just started calling out tunes and Bill started playing them and then we were putting keys on them. And before we knew it, we had amassed something like 50 songs easily.

Charlap: And there’s plenty more that I’m certain that could just happen. We may choose songs beforehand and say, let’s do these ones, but it could change at any moment. 

Bridgewater: We’ve kind of narrowed the song selections down to some songs that we really feel comfortable with. We’ve kind of worked out, without even saying it, kinds of arrangements in that there’s a beginning and ending and Bill puts some some special little tags on phrases and then I’ll pick those up. We have unspoken arrangements, don’t we, Bill? 

Charlap: I think so. But they can also change on a dime. Both could change on a dime. It’s not necessarily me setting a tempo or you setting a tempo. It could be both of us. Either one of us could take the reins at any point. In fact, that’s the beauty of it. It’s a true collaboration. It’s a true partnership. She accompanies me, too. Were accompanying each other in a sense.

Bridgewater: I don’t know of any vocal piano duo that can do what we do. 

Charlap: It’s great trust. That’s an important word. But beyond that, Dee Dee is such a great storyteller. That’s what [lyricist] Alan Bergman said the first time he heard her. He said she is the storyteller. So there is that. Then there’s Dee Dee Bridgewater the musician. Perfect time, perfect instincts. The ability to hear harmonically exactly what’s going on. The instincts. But it’s beyond telling the story. And it’s beyond the music. It’s all of those things.

Bridgewater: I just saw that that extraordinary documentary, Zero Gravity. So wonderful. Oh, my goodness. I’ve seen it twice. It’s so inspirational. 

Charlap: It’s a knockout. 

Bridgewater: Listening to Herbie [Hancock] talk about the duo that that he had with Wayne [Shorter] I was really struck. I said, Oh, okay, this is where we’re coming from. Except I remember Herbie saying that he felt like Wayne was the master and he was the student and that he just paid attention. I just I feel in a lot of ways that Bill is is such a master with his music and what he does that it would behoove me to pay attention and to listen because we feed off of each other. This is where the inspiration comes from.

Charlap: One can’t hold the other at bay. We jump into the deep end of the pool together at the same time. It’s not sometimes one washes and one dries, one leads and one follows. It changes all the time. It’s in balance. And it’s a dance. it’s also a palette. It’s like a canvas. It’s an emotional canvas, a story canvas. It has humor. It has depth, of course, with the lyrics and the storytelling. There are layers to all of the lyrics, so it’s not always exactly what every word is, too. It might be something else. All of that.

Bridgewater: Bill knows the lyrics. Bill knows all the lyrics. There have been moments where I go up on a word and he just quietly inserts the word that I’m searching for in that moment. I have never worked with a musician who knows every lyric and the stories behind how they came about. This is extraordinary.

Charlap: I’m playing 50% lyrics and 50% music there. They’re wedded to each other. They’re equal partners.

Bridgewater: Yes, but you are unique in that. What can be said about this duo and the beauty of it is because you just have these two sounds coming at you. We are able to dig deeper into the song, into its meaning; exploring the melody more than would be possible, even if it’s Bill’s magnificent trio. We broke that puppy down to just the two of us. That was really the moment. So I think we have this beautiful relationship now. It just tells its own story and it just amplified the uniqueness of it.

Charlap: I must tell when she first called me and said it would be great to do some stuff together. Of course I would love to do that, but I said, “Well, that would be wonderful if you want to do that with the trio.” And she said, “No, I want to do it as a duo.” And I thought, Wow, now that’s special. And that’s great risk. That was great courage. I’ll never forget that first gig.

Bridgewater: I felt naked and I said that to the audience. I said, I feel completely exposed. Nowhere to hide. I remember running around the piano. 

Charlap: It was that feeling of what’s this? This is working. I don’t feel naked. In fact, if I do, I feel very comfortable in it. It has made something that’s really uniquely of itself and a place that is a center that so many things can grow out of. It’s all about exactly being yourself in this music or in any art. So that’s where we’re going to shine the most. 

Bridgewater: Of course, we’re different and our backgrounds are different and all of that. I know that people were really surprised and still are surprised to hear that the two of us are working together and then to experience it and go come back and go, what is that? That was amazing. I think it is the fact that we are different and we are bringing our individual experiences into this duo is the thing that makes it so magical. And there has to be some sort of similarity between the two of us or it just wouldn’t work. I feel like Bill and I are both very adventurous musical spirits and we’re ready to go anywhere.

Charlap: That’s really nice. 

Bridgewater: Something else that that has happened with Bill and I as we’ve gotten more and more comfortable with each other is the the clowning and the having fun. The moments where it’s silly. I think for people to see that with the two of us they’re kind of like, wow, this is different. Like break out in our whistle, do our little whistle things and when I’ll come around behind the piano bench and have my hands on his shoulders and be doing stuff.

Charlap: Well, it’s supposed to be fun and we’re having lots of fun. Kids in the sandbox.

Bridgewater: Exactly. 

Charlap: Would you ever want to lose that finger paint?

Bridgewater: Go play. Yes. 

Charlap: Don’t be afraid to get messy.

Bridgewater: Exactly. Exactly.

And play they do. Beautifully.

To see the full interview with Bridgewater & Charlap (including a very passionate discussion of Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life,” please go here.

Main Photo: Bill Charlap and Dee Dee Bridgewater (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Courtesy CAP UCLA)

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Prima Facie – Golden Theatre – New York, NY

Jodie Comer stars in this play by Suzie Miller that is now playing on Broadway. Miller and Comer won Olivier Awards for Best New Play and Best Actress at this year’s Olivier Awards. Could Tony Awards all come their way?

For tickets and more information, please go here.

Good Night, Oscar – Belasco Theatre – New York, NY Sean Hayes stars in this play about Oscar Levant written by Doug Wright and directed by Lisa Peterson. The show originated in Chicago and received rave reviews for both the play and for Hayes.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

TRADE/Mary Motorhead – LA Opera at REDCAT – Los Angeles, CA – April 27^th – April 30^th

These two one-act operas by composer Emma O’Halloran and her librettist uncle, Mark O’Halloran, debuted at the Prototype Festival in New York earlier this year. Now they are in Los Angeles with original cast members Kyle Bielfield, Mark Kudisch and Naomi Louisa O’Connell in tow.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap – SFJAZZ – San Francisco April 27^th – April 30^th

Rarely have two artists so perfectly melded their talents the way jazz singer Bridgewater and pianist Charlap do in concert. I’ve seen them twice and would go again and again given the opportunity. You have the opportunity to hear how great this duo is even if you don’t live in San Francisco. Their performance on April 28^th will be streaming live at 7:30 PM PT (with an encore showing on April 29^th at 11 AM PT).  

For in-person tickets and more information, please go here. For streaming tickets and information, please go here.

Champion – Met Opera Live in HD – Cinemas Worldwide – April 29^th – 12:55 PM ET/9:55 AM PT

This Saturday the Metropolitan Opera will present Terence Blanchard’s first opera, Champion, in a live transmission from the Met in New York City. Ryan Speedo Green, Eric Owens, Latonia Moore, Stephanie Blythe, Paul Groves and Eric Greene star in this opera based on the true story of boxer Emile Griffith. The production is directed by James Robinson with choreography by Camille A. Brown (both of whom were involved in the world premiere of Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.) Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

To find a theater near you, please go here.

Photo: Ryan Speedo Green in Champion (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Met Opera)

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CABARET

Two shows stood out for us this year. The first was Kim David Smith’s Mostly Marlene which we saw at Joe’s Pub in New York City. His gender-bending tribute to Marlene Dietrich was massively entertaining. This performance has apparently been recorded and will be released next year. Check it out. He’s got a great voice.

The other show was Eleri Ward‘s concert – also at Joe’s Pub. Her lo-fi renditions of Stephen Sondheim‘s songs seemed like just the tonic we needed during the pandemic when she first started posting videos filmed in her apartment. Ward ultimately received a recording contract and has her second album coming out next year on Ghostlight Records. She also opened for Josh Groban on his tour this year.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

This was a year in which Duke Ellington was acknowledged as being more than a jazz musician and composer. With that acknowledgment came long overdue recognition of Billy Strayhorn. The Los Angeles Philharmonic performed two different Ellington concerts in January called Symphonic Ellington and Sacred Ellington in January (with Gerald Clayton – whose Bells on Sand was one of the year’s best jazz albums – appearing as a soloist for the first and a member of the ensemble for the latter). In December the perennial holiday classic The Nutcracker was performed. But rather than playing just Tchaikovsky’s music, the LA Phil also performed the Strayhorn/Ellington arrangements of music from the second half of the ballet.

J’Nai Bridges singing Neruda Songs by composer Peter Lieberson was also a highlight at the LA Phil. So, too, was seeing Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas performing Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony and also his own Meditations on Rilke was a great way to have begun 2022.

Composer Osvaldo Golijov‘s Falling Out of Time had a COVID-delayed LA debut when this staggeringly powerful work was performed at the Wallis in Beverly Hills.

JAZZ

Easily topping our list this year are Cécile McLorin Salvant’s concerts at Blue Note in New York City. We saw two shows and had we had the time and the ability we would have seen them all. Salvant performed music by Handel, original songs, a song from Gypsy and more. It was a truly memorable show. Her most recent album, Ghost Song, is one of the year’s best.

A close second were the two shows we saw Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap perform. We first saw this remarkable pair at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. We caught a second show at the Oasis Music Festival in Palm Springs.

Terence Blanchard at the Ford Theatre and Wynton Marsalis performing All Rise at the Hollywood Bowl also easily make our list.

MUSICALS

You might quibble with us about one of these, but here goes:

Our favorite musical of the year was the Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City. Bold, adventurous, thought-provoking and moving, this is everything a musical should be – at least to us. The show is still running but only until January 15th. We strongly recommend seeing it. For tickets and more information, please go here.

The revival of Little Shop of Horrors was absolutely delightful. Two hours of entertainment that makes you forget about everything else going on in the world. When we saw the show Lena Hall was playing “Audrey” and Rob McClure was “Seymour.” Hall is still in the show and her new Seymour is Tony Award-winner Matt Doyle. The show has an open-ended run. For tickets and more information, please go here.

Into the Woods, which began its life at New York City Center’s Encores series, was pure pleasure from the first note to the last. If you are or will be in New York, you can still catch it at the St. James Theatre until January 8th. A US tour begins in February. For tickets and more information, please go here.

David Byrne’s American Utopia doesn’t quite qualify as a musical per se, but it was another utterly enjoyable show. We also saw Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story at the Hollywood Bowl with live orchestral accompaniment by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. That performance made Spielberg’s under-seen film even more powerful than when we first saw it in theaters.

OPERA

For the first time we finally saw a production at the Metropolitan Opera. Ariadne auf Naxos is not necessarily our favorite opera, but soprano Lise Davidsen’s powerfully strong voice could probably be heard in the lobby of the Met even with the doors closed. It was a staggering performance we will not soon forget.

Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński gave an incredible recital at Broad Stage in Santa Monica. It was our first time seeing him and we can’t wait for the opportunity to see Orliński in an opera production. We also have to give him special mention for his patience. Someone’s cell phone alarm went off and either the owner was oblivious to the noise or didn’t care. Orliński stopped the show, sat downstage and said he’d wait it out.

Getting the opportunity to revisit the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Tristan Project late this year was a treat. We had experienced it when it first happened and its return was more than welcome (and perhaps a bit overdue). This collaboration with Bill Viola, Peter Sellars and the LA Phil remains breathtaking.

Kevin Puts and Greg Pierce turned Michael Cunningham’s novel The Hours into a mesmerizing and emotional new opera. Written for Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato and Kelli O’Hara, this is an opera we experienced through the Met Live in HD simulcast.

Intimate Apparel by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Lynn Nottage was absolutely first-rate at Lincoln Center. Nottage did a wonderful job adapted her own play for this opera. Gordon wrote a stunning score. The end result is an opera that is equally as powerful as the play.

PLAYS

We’ve always loved Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. But until the new Broadway revival, we never had such a visceral and emotional response to Willy Loman’s story. That’s largely attributable to the impeccable performances of the entire cast including Wendell Pierce, Sharon D. Clarke, McKinley Belcher III, Khris Davis and André De Shields. By now you know this is a Black Loman family. That gave Miller’s piece an added resonance that no doubt contributed to the tears streaming down our faces. The use of music was brilliant. The show is still running at the Hudson Theatre in New York through January 15th. For tickets and more information, please go here.

Perhaps nothing moved us as much as the last 15 minutes of the first half of Matthew López’s The Inheritance at the Geffen Playhouse. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. If the second part of this mammoth work doesn’t end up resonating as strongly as the first, it was still a powerful day in the theater (It’s nearly 7 hours long).

Watching Holland Taylor as the late Ann Richards (former Texas governor) at the Pasadena Playhouse was an opportunity to watch a master class in acting.

That’s our complete list of the Best of 2022! What will inspire and move us in 2023? Come back to find out and to meet the artists, creators, performers and more who make it happen.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Photo: Cécile McLorin Salvant at Blue Note New York (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)

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Their concert is being live-streamed for those who are unable to attend in person. If you’re a fan of great vocals and swinging jazz, this should be a thoroughly entertaining program.

Elling was recently named in the DownBeat International Critics Poll the Best Jazz Vocalist Male. In October he will release a new album called SuperBlue. The first single, Sassy, has already been released.

Elling has been awarded two Grammy Awards and has 14 nominations to his credit – so far. His most recent Grammy came for his 2020 album Secrets Are the Best Stories.

Charlap, whose most recent album was 2017’s Uptown, Downtown, will be joined for this concert by Carl Allen on drums; Steve Wilson on alto sax and David Wong on bass. He’s been nominated for four Grammy Awards and won for the 2015 album he did with Tony Bennett called The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern.

I spoke to Charlap in 2018 about a Leonard Bernstein concert he was doing. He told me this about how he and his fellow musicians approach the music they play:

“We are always playing the music every night in a new way. We try to approach it like it’s the first time we’ve ever played it.  The ability to really have a conversation all the time and reassess what we are doing, to renegotiate a line or rhythmic phrase, before you get to the end of it, is one of the great joys of jazz.”

Fans of Charlap’s music will also be interested in another 92nd Street Y concert on July 27th. He and his trio (Kenny Washington and Peter Washington) will be joined by vocalist Dianne Reeves. This is a first-time collaboration. This concert will be both a live event and a streaming event. You can find details here.

For in-person tickets (whether in person or streaming) to see Elling and Charlap, please go here.

Kurt Elling will join John Beasley’s Monk’estra for four sets at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood beginning on July 30th. For his full schedule, go here.

Photo: Kurt Elling (Photo by Anna Webber/Courtesy 92nd Street Y)

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So let’s get right to my Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays:

Adam Shulman Plays Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas – SFJAZZ – December 24th – December 26th

This week’s Fridays at Five performance is running for three days. Appropriately it finds pianist Adam Shulman playing composer Vince Guaraldi’s music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The beloved half-hour cartoon first aired in 1965 and is considered amongst the best of all holiday specials. Shulman’s performance was recorded in December 2019.

Joining Schulman are bassist John Wiitala and drummer James Gallagher.

As with all Fridays at Five programming you need to have either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the show. If you pop down to the end of these listings you’ll see what they have in mind for New Year’s Day (which would be included in either membership.)

Norwegian Digital Jazz Festival – Big Ears Festival – December 25th – January 1st

For eight consecutive nights, Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee is making available the Norwegian Digital Jazz Festival.

The line-up is as follows (note that all times are EST)

Dec 25 – Double Bill: Bugge Wusseltoft, solo (7pm) + Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity (8pm)

Dec 26 – Tord Gustavesen Trio (8pm)

Dec 27 – Double Bill: Bendik Hofseth’s Woodland (7pm) + Mathias Eick Quintet (8pm)

Dec 28 –  Double Bill: Silje Nergaard (7pm) + Ketil Bjørnstad, solo (8pm)

Dec 29 – Double Bill: Mats Eilertsen, solo (7pm) + Trygve Seim ‘Rumi Songs’ (8pm) 

Dec 30 – Double Bill: Hedvig Mollestad Trio (7pm) + Eivind Aarset Quartet (7pm) 

Dec 31  Double Bill: Beady Belle (7pm) + Arild Andersen Group (8pm) 

Jan 1  Double Bill: Elephant9 (7pm) + Nils Petter MolværTrio (8p)

Tickets are $8 per performance or all performances for $50. You must purchase the ticket for a given show on or during its scheduled streaming. Once you do, you’ll have 48 hours to replay the concert(s).

This is a great way to get introduced to some stellar jazz musicians you might not know.

Bill Charlap & Wynton Marsalis – Village Vanguard – December 25th – December 27th

Originally streamed in September, this Village Vanguard concert with pianist Bill Charlap and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is being re-streamed for the holiday weekend. This was an absolutely delightful concert and I strongly recommend spending the $10 to see these two brilliant musicians trading leads and sharing the stage.

Once you purchase a ticket to view the performance, you’ll have 24 hours to watch it.

Jeremy Pelt & George Cables – Mezzrow – December 26th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST & 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and pianist George Cables perform from New York’s Mezzrow for two live-streaming concerts on Saturday.

Pelt is a sublime musician whose album The Art of Intimacy Vol. 1 is one of my favorite jazz albums of the year. Cables is a jazz legend who has been recording beautiful music since the early 1970s. Together they are amazing. (Did you catch them together Live From Dizzy’s in October?)

There’s no charge to watch this concert.

Jane Monheit – Feinstein’s at Vitello’s – December 30th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Jazz vocalist Jane Monheit will be performing live from Feinstein’s at Vitello’s. She’s recorded a dozen albums (and also has a Greatest Hits record out). Her most recent record was 2016’s The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald. Monheit has been singing and recording professionally for almost half her life.

Tickets to watch the live stream are $36.75 (which includes a service charge). There is also an Encore post-show event which is available for $26.75 (also including service charges). This will feature Monheit in conversation with Brad Roen.

Chris Potter Quartet – Village Vanguard – December 31st – January 3rd

New York’s Village Vanguard is ringing in the New year with a concert by the Chris Potter Quartet. Potter plays saxophone and is joined by David Virelles on piano; Joe Martin on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums.

Since 1993 Potter has been releasing one critically-acclaimed album after another. His most recent release was There Is a Tide which came out earlier this year.

As a sideman, he’s recorded with Dave Holland, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, John Patitucci and Steely Dan.

Ticket prices had not been announced at press time. Usually these shows are $10.

NYE in NOLA – Tipitina’s – December 31st – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

Actor John Goodman is the host for a New Year’s Eve concert that’s going to have a little bit of everything and a whole lot of fun. A different artist will perform each hour from various venues around New Orleans as each time zone enters 2021.

Kicking the show off is Samantha Fish from Chickie Wah Wah. In the second hour leading up to New Year’s on the East Coast will be Anders Osborne live from DBA. The Central Time zone will have Galactic performing from Tipitina’s as their musical guide. The Mountain Time zone will have Rebirth Brass Band from The Maple Leaf. Finally the West Coast will start the New Year with the music of Dumpstaphunk from The Howlin’ Wolf.

Popping in along the way will be special guests Ani Di Franco, George Porter, Jr., Kermit Ruffins and Big Sam.

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, you know this will not allow you to go quietly into that New Year. Get yourself some beads, perhaps a costume or two, certainly some cocktails and let the good times roll.

Tickets are $29.99.

Emmet Cohen Trio – Live from Dizzy’s – December 31st – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST

Jazz pianist Emmet Cohen will be performing with Russell Hall on bass and Kyle Poole on drums in this New Year’s Eve concert from Dizzy’s at New York’s Lincoln Center Jazz. Joining the trio will be saxophonist Houston Person and vocalist Samara Joy.

On the program will be music by George Gershwin, Cole Porter and some holiday classics.

Cohen has found a way to continue performing throughout the pandemic with multiple livestream concerts. He’s proven time and time again what a talented jazz pianist he is.

Tickets have a suggested price of $10. Additional donations are encouraged.

Hiromi: New Year’s Eve Countdown in Tokyo – Blue Note – December 31st – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi performs in this fundraiser for Blue Note New York from Blue Note Tokyo. The concert is scheduled to run about 75 minutes which means it will continue into 2021 making it a true New Year’s Eve concert.

Her most recent album is 2019’s Spectrum. It’s an ambitious solo album that includes her own version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. In this version she takes some interesting liberties with Gershwin’s composition. (Marcus Roberts did the same thing and has a very different take on his Portraits in Blue recording). It’s definitely worth listening to and probably not going to be included in this New Year’s Eve show.

Tickets are $20 but additional donations are encouraged. Viewing will be available after purchase of a ticket through January 1st.

Maceo Parker – SFJAZZ – January 1st – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Saxophonist and R&B legend Maceo Parker will make sure you enter 2021 with some funk in your step with this concert from 2015.

Parker regularly makes SFJAZZ his home for New Year’s Day. And what a great way to keep the party going.

He’s recorded 18 albums including this year’s Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo. He’s had an amazing career recording with James Brown, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Parliament, Prince and the Red Hot Chili Peppers – to name just a few.

Amongst the musicians joining Parker for this concert are Nikki Glaspie (Beyoncé, Dumpstaphunk, Nth Power) and P-Funk bass master Rodney “Skeet” Curtis.

As with all Fridays at Five programming you need to have either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the show. If you pop up to the top of these listings you’ll see what they have in mind for Christmas weekend (which would be included in either membership.)

Lastly I want to direct you to QwestTV (owned by Quincy Jones). There is an incredible archive of concert performances, documentaries and profiles available. This library will certainly appeal to any serious jazz fan. There’s an end-of-year promotion that allows for two months of access for less than one dollar. You can sign up for that here.

The New Yorker recently ran a story about how impressive and valuable this library is.

That’s all for my Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays! I hope you have swingin’ holidays!

I have other Holiday Best Bets for you in Classical Music, Dance and Muscials/Cabaret if you want even more choices.

Photo by Les Anderson

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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)

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Let’s get to it. Here are your Best Bets at Home: September 18th – September 20th.

Carmen – Royal Opera House – September 18th – October 17th

Georges Bizet’s most popular opera gets presented with a new perspective in this 2018 Royal Opera House production directed by Barrie Kosky. He is perhaps best-known for his innovative production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute which has been performed all over the world. LA Opera in Los Angeles has performed his production three times…so far.

Georges Bizet collaborated with librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy on this immensely popular opera. It was based on Propser Mérimée’s novella of the same name. 

When Carmen was first performed in Paris in 1875 it was considered both shocking and scandalous. 

Set in Seville, Spain, Carmen is a gypsy who has caught everyone’s eye. A soldier, Don José, plays coy and gives her no attention. Her flirtation causes troubles for both when Don José’s girlfriend, Micaëla arrives. Tensions escalate between the two women and after a knight fight, José must arrest Carmen. When she seduces him it sets off a series of events that will not end well for the gypsy woman.

In Kosky’s production, Carmen (sung by Anna Goryachova) is front and center. The opera is told from her point-of-view. There is a narrator and the production uses music Bizet eliminated from the opera’s earliest performances.

In an interview with the New York Times Kosky said, “Everyone assumes Carmen is what people are used to. A big Spanish spectacle: loud, huge orchestra, huge chorus. Lots of Spain…The piece is not a Spanish opera. It’s a French opera, from the first note. Actually it’s not even a French opera, it’s an operetta that turns into an opera in the fourth act.

“This is the mistake that people make. They assume that it’s a doom-laden story of a Gypsy with black curly hair and gold earrings, and a story of love and sex and whatever. Well, it turns into that, but for the first two thirds of the evening, it’s sunlight, it’s joy, it’s naughtiness, it’s irony. I keep saying to the cast, ‘You’re in an operetta. You are not in ‘le grand opéra.’”

This production of Carmen will be available for one month and does have a fee of £3 (which is equivalent to approximately $4).

Sleep with Angels – Latino Theater Company – September 18th – September 27th

In their continuing series of archived plays and readings of new works, Latino Theater Company is offering a sneak peek of Sleep with Angels. Written by Evelina Fernández, the play is scheduled to have its world premiere with the company next year.

A mysterious woman named Juana shows up on Molly’s doorstep. She arrives just as Molly is in need of someone to watch her children now that she’s separated from her husband.

The kids are charmed by Juana, but who is she?

Sleep with Angels is directed by José Luis Valenzuela. The cast features Aileen Alfaro, Esperanza America, Sandino Gonzalez-Flores, Sal Lopez, Xavi Moreno, Robert Revell, Lucy Rodriguez and Elia Saldana.

The first opportunity to watch Sleep with Angels is at 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT on Friday, September 18th. The reading will be available through September 27th.

While at Latino Theater Company’s website you’ll also notice that a film of their 2010 production of La Victima is also available. This was the company’s first show and it starred the late Lupe Ontiveras. La Victima will be available for viewing through September 24th.

Now Hear This “Haydn: King of Strings” – PBS Great Performances – September 18th (check local listings)

The work of composer Franz Joseph Haydn is explored in this one-hour show on PBS’s Great Performances. In particular, host Scott Yoo will explore the role folk music from Austria, Hungary and Scotland played in informing the composer’s composition of his Emperor Quartet. Haydn is considered the father of the string quartet having written 68 of them.

Amongst his guests are violinist Geoff Nuttall and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

Jack DeJohnette/Don Byron/Matt Garrison – Shapeshifter Lab – September 19th – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

Simply put, Jack DeJohnette is one of the most important drummers in the history of jazz. His collaborations have included recordings and performances with John Abercrombie, Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Keith Jarrett, Charles Lloyd and John Scofield. And that’s just a few of a very extensive list of credits.

On Saturday he will be performing live from home with bassist Matthew Garrison and clarinetist Don Byron.

Garrison, the son of John Coltrane bassist Jimmy Garrison, has recorded and performed with a broad range of artists that spans from Betty Carter to Whitney Houston; The Gil Evans Orchestra to Paul Simon and Tito Puente to Joni Mitchell.

Byron is a musician, teacher and composer. His range of musical styles vacillates from jazz to klezmer and includes composing for films and for such ensembles as the Kronos Quartet.

Tickets to watch this performance require a minimum donation of $20. The performance will remain available for three days after the live stream on Saturday.

Anna Karenina – Broadway on Demand – September 19th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Not all musicals are happy. Case in point is this Russian musical by Roman Ignatyev and librettist Yully Kim. Based on Leo Tolstoy’s tragic love story between Anna Karenina and military officer Alexey Vronsky. The musical is set in the late 19th century amongst Russian nobility.

Ekaterina Guseva plays Anna and Sergey Lee plays Alexey. Alina Chevik directs and choreography is by Irina Korneeva.

The musical is sung in Russian with English subtitles.

This production was filmed in front of a live audience in 2018. The pay-per-view price is $5.99. Anna Karenina will also be available for two days afterwards to rent for the same amount.

Miss Saigon (another not-happy musical) had a helicopter land on stage. I’m sure the train required for Anna Karenina will make that accomplishment seem terribly outdated.

A Marvellous Party – Broadway on Demand – September 20th – 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT

I’ll Leave It To You marked the first time playwright/actor Noël Coward had a play of his performed in London’s West End. He also appeared in the show. I’ll Leave It To You opened at the New Theatre on July 21, 1920 and ran for 37 performances. The rest, as they say, is history.

Coward went on to write such plays as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit.

In 2006 the New Theatre was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre.

To celebrate this centenary, The Noël Coward Foundation is presenting an all-star event called A Marvellous Party. His words and music will be performed (in either self-recorded performances at home or performances filmed following Covid-19 guidelines) by Kate Burton, Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, Montego Glover, Derek Jacobi, Josh James, Cush Jumbo, Robert Lindsay, Kristine Nielsen, Bebe Neuwirth, Julian Ovenden, Patricia Routledge, Kate Royal, Emma Thompson, Giles Terera, Indira Varma and Lia Williams.

A Marvellous Party will remain available on demand for two weeks (or a fortnight as Coward might say.)

There is no charge to watch the show, but you will need to register to do so. Donations to Acting for Others and The Actors Fund are encouraged.

Judy Kuhn with Seth Rudetsky – September 20th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

In this week’s Seth Rudetsky concert series, four-time Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn joins for conversation and song. Kuhn originated the role of Helen Bechdel in Fun Home (one of her Tony nominations). Her other nominations came for her performances in Les Misérables (as Cosette); Chess (as Florence) and the 1993 revival of She Loves Me (as Amalia Balash).

She also memorably played Fosca in the Classic Stage Company’s 2013 production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Passion.

There will be an encore presentation of this show on Monday, September 21st at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT. The show will also be available for pay-per-view viewing next week. Tickets for all viewings are $25.

Erasing Borders Dance Festival – Indo-American Arts Council – September 20th – September 27th

The multitude of dances found in India are celebrated in the Erasing Borders Dance Festival. This is the 12th year of the festival and, for obvious reasons, this year the festival is online. Each program can be found on the Indo-American Arts Council’s Facebook page (link in the title).

Each program becomes available at 8:30 PM EDT/5:30 PM PDT. The line-up is as follows:

Sunday, September 20th: Shambhu Nath Karmakar/Ashpara Care Club (Purulia Chhau)
Monday, September 2st: Neha Mondal Chakravarty (Kalakshetra Bharatanatyam) and Krishnakshi Kashyap (Sattriya)
Tuesday, September 22nd: Ganesh Vasudeva (Bharatanatyam)
Wednesday, September 23rd: Divyaa Unni (Bharatanatyam) and Arun Mathai (Bharatanatyam)
Thursday, September 24th: Sandhya Raju (Kuchipudi)
Friday, September 25th: Damir Tasmagambetov (Kalakshetra Bharatanatyam) and Barkha Patel (Contemporary Kathak)
Saturday, September 26th: Mesma Belsaré (Shilpa Natana)
Sunday, September 27th: Vishwakiran Nambi (Contemporary) and workshops by Nahid Siddiqui (Sufi Kathak)

Those are my selections for your Best Bets at Home: September 18th – September 20th. Before we go, a few reminders:

Los Angeles area audiences can watch In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl on PBS SoCal on September 18th at 8:00 PM. This week’s show is Musica Sin Fronteras and features performances from Café Tacvba, Columbian singer/songwriter Carlos Vives, Florida’s Siudy Garrido Flamenco Dance Theatre all in performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

New to our listings is Table Top Shakespeare: At Home. These unique presentations of Shakespeare’s plays got launched on Thursday. This weekend’s performances (which are all free to watch) are Perciles on Friday; The Merchant of Venice on Saturday and A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Sunday. All performances are live at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT.

Some reminders from this week’s Jazz Stream:

Fridays at Five from SFJAZZ offers a 2017 concert by jazz legend Wayne Shorter.

The Bill Frisell Trio performs Friday from New York’s Blue Note.

Pianist Bill Charlap and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis perform from the Village Vanguard on Friday and Saturday.

The Ehud Asherie Trio performs from Smalls on Saturday.

Trumpeter Keyon Harrold performs from Blue Note on Saturday.

For opera fans, here are reminders of this week’s programming from the Metropolitan Opera:

This week’s Bel Canto series concludes with Bellini’s I Puritani on Friday; Donizetti’s L’Elisir de Amore on Saturday and Bellini’s Norma on Sunday.

Eclectic right? Those are your Best Bets at Home: September 18th – September 20th. Let me know what you watched and what you thought in our comments section. Enjoy your weekend!

Main photo: Anna Goryachova and ensemble in “Carmen” (©2017 ROH/Photo by Bill Cooper)

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So here is Jazz Stream: September 15th – September 20th:

Sasha Dobson Sextet – Smalls – September 15th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

In 2006 Nate Chinen introduced New York Times readers to singer Sasha Dobson like this:

“Spend enough time around the Lower East Side and you just might encounter a charming young singer with a taste for lilting acoustic folk-pop. She has an eminently listenable voice: sensuous but diffident, and devoid of showy pretense.”

Fourteen years later Dobson has released several albums, EPs and singles. Her most recent EP, Simple Things, was released this spring.

Joining her for this live performance from New York’s Smalls are Vito Dieterle – tenor sax; Dred Scott – piano; Neal Miner – bass; Mauro Refosco – percussion and Kenny Wollesen – drums.

Jeremy Pelt Quintet – Smalls – September 16th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

Jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt has performed/recorded with Ravi Coltrane, Roy Hargrove, Wayne Shorter, Mingus Big Band, Cedar Walton, Gerald Wilson and many more. He’s released twenty albums so far including his latest release, The Art of Intimacy, Volume 1. It’s a beautiful album of mostly ballads, but definitely feels like the right record to listen to in troubling times.

Kevin Whitehead, in his NPR review, said of the album:

“The music’s understated, as if the trio were playing off the cuff after hours. You can hear the nuances, all the subtle shifts in the trumpet’s vocal quality. It’s clear and veiled in whispered tones whether he’s playing open horn or with a metal Harmon mute placed in the bell.”

Pelt will be performing from Smalls with Chien Chien Lu – vibraphone; Victor Gould – piano; Allan Mednard – drums and Vicente Archer – bass.

Emmet Cohen Trio – Smalls – September 17th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

Composer and pianist Emmet Cohen was reviewed by Gary Fukushima for DownBeat as having conjured up the ghosts of Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Earl Hines and Art Tatum on his album Dirty in Detroit. That’s some pretty weighty spirits for such a young pianist.

But that’s what appeals about Cohen and his playing. He has one foot in the past and the other firmly in the present.

Of course, none of this comes as a surprise if you are familiar with his Master Legacy Series. These are recordings and conversations with jazz legends.

For this live performance from Smalls, Cohen will be joined by Russell Hall on bass and Joe Saylor on drums.

Wayne Shorter Celebration Part 5 – SFJazz – September 18th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

If you’ve been reading our previews of Fridays at Five from SFJazz, you know they have streamed a series of concerts celebrating jazz legend Wayne Shorter. The four previous concerts were all 2019 performances that took place when Shorter took ill and couldn’t perform. Each one featured Shorter’s regular band (pianist Danilo Pérez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade) with a number of very special guests.

For part five of this celebration we get the man himself: Shorter on saxophone with most of his band. Terri Lyne Carrington played drums for this concert from April 30, 2017.

An all-too-brief review of Shorter’s career would have to include his 11 Grammy Awards, he pivotal role as a member of Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet, his participation with Weather Report, his own recordings and compositions and Ben Ratliff in the New York Times called Shorter, “…probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser…”

For those new to this column, SFJazz makes their concerts available for streaming only at 5:00 PM PDT and only on Fridays. To access the concert you have to sign up for either a one-month subscription (for all of $5 which gives you a month of access) or for a one-year subscriptions (for $60 for a year).

Bill Frisell Trio – Blue Note – September 18th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT $15

Guitarist Bill Frisell just released Valentine on Blue Note Records. To whom is this particular valentine? His long-standing trio partners Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. Though they had performed together for years, there wasn’t a real document of their work together. The album contains originals and covers and celebrates their musical partnership.

Frisell definitely falls into the jazz genre, but that doesn’t stop him from tackling songs by artists not associated with jazz. He’s recorded music written and/or performed by Madonna, Bob Dylan, Aaron Copland and many more.

This concert from Blue Note in New York costs $15. Advance registration is required.

Bill Charlap and Wynton Marsalis – Village Vanguard – September 18th – September 19th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

You rarely find piano and trumpet paired for a concert. But if anyone can pull it off, it will be pianist Bill Charlap and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. They will perform two sets from New York’s Village Vanguard this weekend.

I’m not sure either man needs an introduction. We’ve written about Charlap before and have interviewed him about his career. You can read that interview here.

Marsalis is known, of course, not just for his musicianship and composition, but for his fierce advocacy for education. He was also the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his 1995 composition Blood on the Fields.

This should be an amazing concert. Tickets to watch either performance are $10 and should be purchased in advance.

Ehud Asherie Trio – Smalls – September 19th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

The first time pianist/organist Ehud Asherie performed at Smalls he was a teenager. He’s come quite away since those halcyon days. Just ask Dan Bilawsky who reviewed Asherie’s Wild Man Blues from 2019 for JazzTimes:

“The “’ashionably old-fashioned’ label fits Ehud Asherie like a bespoke suit. A knowledgeable purveyor of everything from early Crescent City swing to Harlem stride and bop to the music of a bygone Brazil, this 39-year-old pianist might initially come off as a pure throwback. But with an overlay of wit and whimsy placed atop that vast golden-age repertoire, his status as an au courant artist is ensured. Teaming up here with the classy combination of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Rodney Green, Asherie delivers eight numbers that speak to his massive technical reserves, understanding of the continuum, gifts as an interpreter, and rightful place at the jazz piano summit.

His performance on Saturday from Smalls will include bassist Washington and Joe Farnsworth on drums.

Keyon Harrold – Blue Note – September 19th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT $15

You must be a great musician if you are called on to create the sound of Miles Davis for a film. That’s precisely what Keyon Harrold did for Don Cheadle’s film Miles Ahead. But there’s much more to Harrold than being able to perform like Davis.

Ben Ratliff of the New York Times first encountered Harrold 17 years ago. He recognized immediately how talented Harrold was during Roy Hargrove’s The Trumpet Shall Sound Festival in 2003:

“Mr. Harrold, playing in unfamiliar surroundings, aimed high and played broadly. Through a kind of post-bop classicism, he showed the desire to dominate, and played in a way that only a musician in his youth can play, and it was exciting.”

To date Harrold has appeared on almost 100 albums in in all genres of music. He’s recorded with Beyoncé, Common, Robert Glasper, Gregory Porter, D’Angelo, Maxwell and many more. Earlier this year he released the single Passages with Matt Little, Lagos and Jason McGuiness. His most recent album was 2017’s The Mugician.

No information was available of who the other musicians joining him might be. If we are able to get those details, we will update this post.

There is a fee of $15 to watch this performance. Advance purchase is recommended.

Before we wrap up Jazz Stream: September 15th – September 20th, I want to recommend an album for you.

Last Friday, Blue Note Records released the debut album by super group Artemis. The self-titled album features pianist Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller & vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant.

It’s a really terrific album. I strongly urge you to check it out.

That’s our Jazz Stream: September 15th – September 20th. I hope you enjoy the music and the musicians you do know and also discover new artists you might not have heard before.

Photo of Keyon Harrold courtesy of his website.

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So let’s start exploring. Here is Jazz Stream: September 8th – September 13th:

Frank Lacy Septet – Smalls – September 8th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

I’ll be honest that I wasn’t familiar with Frank Lacy when I was reviewing options for this week’s column. But once I heard a few tracks and saw a couple videos, I knew this was music worth reaching a broader audience.

Lacy spent 30 years as a member of the Mingus Big Band. In addition to recording seven albums as a bandleader, he’s performed with such artists as Roy Hargrove, McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey and Jazzmeia Horn.

Joining Lacy for this performance will be Mike Lee – tenor sax; Brian Simontacchi – trombone; Christopher Hoffman – cello; James Robbins – bass; Brandon Lee Lewis – drums and Wen-Ting Wu also on drums.

Hiromi – Blue Note Japan – September 11th – 7:45 AM EDT/4:45 AM PDT

If you are looking at the start times for this concert and wonder why they are so early, it is because this a concert you can watch from Blue Note in Japan. But you don’t have just one opportunity to do so. There is a 24-hour window in which to watch Hiromi at the piano.

Hiromi is a musician for whom playing classical music and jazz appear to come easily. Due to her innate abilities to improvise she quickly rose to prominence in the jazz world.

Tickets for this concert are ¥3,300. That translates to approximately $31. The Blue Note website will help navigate your purchase of tickets from Japan.

Gerry Gibbs Quintet – Smalls – September 11th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

If the name Gerry Gibbs doesn’t sound familiar, trust me when I tell you his playing will. The son of vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, Gerry has spent a lot of time on the drums as both a leader and a sideman. To list all the artists with whom he has recorded and performed would take up multiple columns.

Gibbs is also a composer. His albums have consistently done well on the charts and he earned a Grammy nomination for his album, The Thrasher Dream Trio.

Amongst the guests on his first album, 1996’s Gerry Gibbs Sextet – The Thrasher, was sax player Ravi Coltrane who joins for this concert at Smalls. Also performing are Jeremy Pelt – trumpet; Andy Erin – piano and Ben Williams – bass.

Red Baraat – SFJazz – September 11th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Any attempt to simply define Brooklyn-based band Red Baraat would be a fool’s game. They mix multiple genres of music – including jazz – to achieve a sound that is uniquely their own. Red Baraat is this week’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJazz. The performance that will be aired is from a 2016 concert.

For those new to this column, SFJazz makes their concerts available for streaming only at 5:00 PM PDT and only on Fridays. To access the concert you have to sign up for either a one-month subscription (for all of $5 which gives you a month of access) or for a one-year subscriptions (for $60 for a year).

John Scofield Trio with Steve Swallow & Bill Stewart – Blue Note New York – September 11th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Three-time Grammy Award winning guitarist John Scofield plays a wide range of music: jazz, blues, rock, soul, country, bebop and fusion. He’s, as they say, versatile. Artists from Chet Baker to Charles Mingus to Miles Davis to Roy Haynes have relied on his nimble playing.

His most recent album, Swallow Tales, was released in June on ECM Records. The album is a tribute to his friend , bassist Steve Swallow. Joining Scofield and Swallow for this concert from Blue Note in New York will be Bill Stewart on drums.

Tickets are $15 and should be purchased in advance.

Bill Charlap Trio – Village Vanguard – September 11th – September 12th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PDT

I’ve previously written about pianist Bill Charlap. You can go here to read the interview. He’s a sublime pianist and his trio work is, perhaps, his finest. Joining him for these two gigs are Peter Washington, bass; Kenny Washington, drums. This particular line-up has recorded 10 albums together including 2016’s Notes from New York and 2017’s Uptown Downtown.

These two concerts come from New York’s Village Vanguard. Tickets are $10.

Pasquale Grasso Quartet – Smalls – September 12th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PDT

In late August I wrote about guitarist Pasquale Grasso who was performing solo and with his trio in a concert filmed at Birdland in New York. For this concert from Smalls, he’ll be performing with his quartet.

Joining Grasso will be Stefano Doglioni – clarinet; Ari Rolan – bass and Clifford Barbaro – drums.

If you saw that concert you know how good Grasso is. If you didn’t, here’s an opportunity to see and hear him perform for free.

That will do it for this week’s Jazz Stream: September 8th – September 13th. Have a great week and enjoy the music!

Photo: Hiromi (Courtesy of her website)

The post Jazz Stream: September 8th – September 13th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

In all we have fifteen options for you this weekend. How could you possibly be bored?

So here are this week’s Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th:

Max von Essen Filmed Live at Birdland! – August 13th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT and On-Demand

New York’s Birdland launches a series of concerts filmed live in their venue. The series, called Radio Free Birdland!, begins with Tony Award-nominee Max von Essen. He’s joined by pianist/singer/music director Billy Stritch.

von Essen received his Tony Award nomination for his performance as Henri Baurel in the stage musical version of An American in Paris. He’s also appeared in Les Míserables, Evita and Anastasia. He recently starred in tour of the revival of the musical Falsettos.

Joining as a special guest in this concert will be Nick Adams who appeared with von Essen in Falsettos.

Tickets are $20 plus service charges to view the concert. Goldstar has discounted tickets available for $15 for this concert and the next two in the Radio Free Birdland! series: Monty Alexander (August 18th) and Natalie Douglas (August 20th.)

Adam Shulman Live from SFJAZZ – August 13th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SFJazz, which offers Fridays at Five, is launching a new live series this week with jazz pianist Adam Shulman performing a solo piano concert. Like their Friday series, this requires either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the concert.

Shulman is a fixture in the jazz scene in San Francisco and has been for two decades. In addition to his work as a soloist and bandleader, he’s worked with such artists as Stefon Harris, Miguel Zenón, Luciana Souza, Paula West, Marcus Shelby, Larry Coryell, Mark Murphy, and Bobby Hutcherson.

This event is the first live event at SFJazz since having to suspend operations due to the pandemic. The concert is expected to run one hour.

For fans of Fridays at Five, this week’s concert features Bokanté who is joined by members of Snarky Puppy in a 2018 concert. For details of this show, please go here.

Marin Mazzie & Jason Danieley: Broadway and Beyond – Broadway on Demand – August 14th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

One of the great love stories in Broadway history is that of performers Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley. They were married nearly 21 years before Mazzie tragically died of ovarian cancer after a three-year battle with the disease.

The last concert they gave together was at Feinstein’s/54 Below and it was called Broadway and Beyond. The show celebrated their love and their careers on stage. Broadway on Demand is making that concert available this weekend.

Mazzie began her Broadway career as a replacement in the original production of Big River. She went on to originate roles in Stephen Sondheim’s Passion and the musical Ragtime. She received Tony nominations for both performances. She also starred in the very successful 1999 revival of Kiss Me, Kate! (another Tony nomination).

Danieley launched his Broadway career as a cast member in the revival of Kander & Ebb’s Chicago. He also appeared in the musicals The Full Monty, Curtains, The Visit and Pretty Woman.

He and Mazzie performed together in Next to Normal in 2010.

This concert is a fundraiser for the Cancer Support Community, Tina’s Wish and The Actors Fund through Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids. The price to stream the concert is $7.99 and allows for viewing for 48 hours.

Prior to the concert, Mazzie’s co-star from both Ragtime and Kiss Me, Kate, Brian Stokes Mitchell, will introduce the performance.

Lena Hall Presents Obsessed: Alanis Morissette – August 14th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

In 2018 Lena Hall (Tony Award-winner for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and star of television’s Snowpiercer), launched a series of recordings called Obsessed. Every month for a year she released EPs with her stripped down and acoustic performances of songs made famous by Nirvana, Pink, The Cranberries, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Elton John and more. (You should hear them, they are readily available for purchase and streaming.)

Hall is still obsessed with certain artists and now she’s performing live in our living rooms. Well, almost. On Friday she will perform live selection by Alanis Morissette. The songs she’s scheduled to perform include Thank U, Uninvited, You Learn, Head Over Feet, Right Through You and many more. Lena Hall will be joined by Music Director/ guitarist Daniel Palese.

The concert is scheduled to run approximately 90 minutes. Tickets are priced at $15 for the concert and $40 for to join Hall in her Zoom room and to have a post-show meet and greet.

If you want more Lena Hall, she also has a Virtually Live concert on Thursday, August 13th, where she will sing songs from movies. This is party of her weekly concerts benefitting the Ali Forney Center. Tickets range from Pay What You Can to $50 if you want to request a specific song be performed. For this week’s concert those song requests tickets are sold out.

Hidden Truths – Roundabout Youth Ensemble – August 14th – August 28th

New York’s Roundabout Theatre’s Youth Ensemble is presenting Hidden Truths, a play written and produced by New York youth.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Othello, writers Jaden Tench, Nicaulis Mercedes and Xavier Chavez re-imagine a play about fidelity and deception for our 2020 world and apparently has a twist related to our current pandemic.

Shai Graham plays Omari who faces racial animus and discrimination. He’s in love with Destiny (Lia Spahn), but is forced to choose between her and his pursuit of education as a result of the harsh judgement he faces from her racist father.

The entire project, which is directed by Tyia  Boateng, has been created, designed and assembled following social distancing guidelines. The streaming of Hidden Truths will launch with a live event on Friday, August 14th at 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT. The play will remain available through August 28th.

As of press time, the website we’ve linked to above says “ticket information will be available soon.”

92Y Jazz Concerts – 92Y – August 14th – August 17th

This weekend New York’s 92Y is making available five different concerts that will certainly appeal to jazz fans:

Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Dee Dee Bridgewater Trio from February 14, 2019.

This concert finds Bridgewater celebrating love. Of course. It’s from Valentine’s Day.

The songs include What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Sometimes I’m Happy and, of course, My Funny Valentine.

This concert will be available on the 92Y Facebook page August 14th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT.

Eddie Palmieri – 80th Birthday Celebration from December 15, 2016

Latin Jazz pianist and composer Eddie Palmieri celebrated his 80th birthday with this concert at the 92Y. The concert begins with Palmieri playing solo piano and by the time it is over, a full band has joined him and the party is in full swing.

Paquito D’Rivera and Friends from April 8, 2017

In this concert you will travel the world of music with Cuban jazz musician Paquito D’Rivera. This 14-time Grammy Award winner plays clarinet and saxophone. With his friends they perform music that finds influences from Asia, South America, Africa and Cuba.

Dick Hyman and Bill Charlap: Duo Piano from October 14, 2017

The music of George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and more gets the two-piano treatment in this concert featuring two of jazz music’s finest: Dick Hyman and Bill Charlap. You don’t often hear two piano jazz performances, so this concert should be quite special and feature a variety of musical styles within the jazz idiom.

Cécile McLorin Salvant, Renee Rosnes & Artemis from March 2, 2018

On September 11, 2020, Blue Note Records will release the debut album by all-female jazz ensemble Artemis. This supergroup has as its members pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant.

Those who attended this concert in 2018 already know how special this night was. Now we can all get a chance to see what happens when these women jam together.

Coffeehouse Chronicles: HAIR 50th Anniversary – La MaMa – August 15th – 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

In 2017 La MaMa in New York celebrated the 50th anniversary of the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, Hair. They held a 50th anniversary reunion with members of the creative team and the cast. Not only were stories told, but performances were given of songs from the musical.

The creators who participated were co-author James Rado; composer Galt McDermot (who passed away in 2018) and producer Michael Butler. Chris Kapp and Michal Gamily moderated the event.

Performers who participated included Shelley Ackerman, Shaleah Adkisson (Member of the Tribe in the 2011 return engagement of the 2009 Broadway revival), Debbie Andrews, Andy Berger, singer Peppy Castro, Richard Cohen, bassist Dave D’Aranjo, Hair archivist Nina Machlin Dayton, Tony Award-winner Andre De Shields, poet Magie Dominic, drummer Aaron Drescher, Lauren Elder (Member of The Tribe in the 2009 revival), Ellen Foley (Sheila in the 1977 revival), Merle Frimark, Annie Golden (Jeannie in the film), Walter Michael Harris (youngest member of the original Broadway cast), Ula Hedwig (Member of The Tribe in the original Broadway production), Antwayn Hopper (Member of The Tribe in the 2009 revival), Rev. Marjorie Lipari (Member of The Tribe in the original Broadway production), Melba Moore (the original Dionne), Natalie Mosco (Member of The Tribe), guitarist Thayer Naples, Allan F. Nicholls (played Claude and Berger during the original run on Broadway), Jill O’Hara (Sheila in the original off-Broadway production), Robert I. Rubinsky (five roles in the original production), Dale Soules (played Jeannie during the original production), Charles Valentino, conductor Balint Varga and singer-songwriter Jared Weiss.

This program will be found on La Mama’s Facebook page.

Christopher Jackson: Live from The West Side – August 15th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

If you’ve watched Hamilton on Disney+, you know Christopher Jackson as the Tony-nominated actor who portrayed George Washington in the musical. He’s long collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda having appeared in In the Heights and as a member of Freestyle Love Supreme.

In conjunction with performing arts organizations around the country, Washington is performing a concert from New World Stages in Manhattan. Each organization will handle tickets sales and share in the proceeds. Tickets run $40 per household and will enable viewing of the concert for 72 hours.

Those organizations include: Paper Mill Playhouse – Millburn, NJ, Dallas Summer Musicals – Dallas, TX, Theatre Under the Stars – Houston, TX, Texas Performing Arts – Austin, TX, Segerstrom Center – Costa Mesa, CA, Broward Center – Fort Lauderdale, FL, Straz Center – Tampa, FL, The Kimmel Cultural Campus- Philadelphia PA, Shea’s Performing Arts Center – Buffalo, NY, Hennepin Theatre Trust – Minneapolis, MN, Popejoy Hall – Albuquerque, NM, Marcus Performing Arts Center – Milwaukee, WI, Northlight Theatre – Skokie, IL and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival – Ashland, OR.

Advance word has it that in addition to performing Broadway show tunes and telling stories from his collaborations with Miranda, he’ll also perform some original songs and pop hits.

Rather than put a link in the title, we have BroadwayWorld.com links to details for each individual venue.

Hamlet – Glyndebourne Opera – August 16th – August 23rd

Numerous composers have given serious thought to turning Shakespeare’s Hamlet into an opera. Some even tried writing an opera. Amongst them were Berlioz, Bizet, Brahms, Debussy, Glinka, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Respighi, Schumann, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Verdi.

Enter Brett Dean. With this, his second opera, Dean appeared to accomplish what no other composer could – he made a real opera that is both its own work and is also faithful to the meaning and spirit of Shakespeare’s text.

In June of 2017, Glyndebourne gave the opera its world premiere. It was a work they commissioned and according to the critics, it was money well spent.

Erica Jeal, writing for The Guardian, said of Dean’s work, “Dean’s music is many-layered, full of long, clear vocal lines propelled by repeated rhythmic figures in the orchestra, and has moments of delicate beauty…”

Allan Clayton sings the role of Hamlet; Barbara Hannigan sings Ophelia; Sarah Connolly sings Gertrude and Rod Gilfry sings Claudius.

Neil Armfield directed the production and the London Philharmonic Orchestra is lead by Vladimir Jurowski

Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak in Èze, France – Metropolitan Opera – August 16th – 1:30 PM EDT/10:30 AM PDT

As part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Met Stars Live In Concert series, husband and wife Roberto Alagna and Alessandra Kurzak will perform with the Vienna Morphing Quintet from Èze, France.

Alagna is one of the most popular tenors of our time. Soprano Kurzak made her Met Opera debut in 2004 and has since performed all over the world. They were married in 2015 and met during a 2012 production of L’Elisir d’Amore.

The program will feature selections from Madama Butterfly, Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, L’Elisir d’Amore, La Fanciulla del West, Cavalleria Rusticana, Otello, The Merry Widow and two very well known songs to which we can all sing along.

Tickets are $20 per household and allow for viewing of the concert live as it happens and repeated viewing for 12 days.

Stephanie J. Block with Seth Rudetsky – August 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

When Stephanie J. Block finally won a Tony Award for her portrayal of the star version of Cher in The Cher Show, the entire Broadway community was thrilled. She’s long been one of the hardest working women in Broadway. This was her third nomination having previously been nominated for the revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Falsettos.

Watch her performance of I’m Breaking Down in Falsettos:

Block joins Rudetsky for his continuing series of conversations and performances with some of Broadway’s biggest names.

Her Broadway debut came in 2003 when she portrayed Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz. Wicked, The Pirate Queen, 9 to 5 and the revival of Anything Goes all lead up to Drood.

If you are unable to catch the performance live at 8:00 PM EDT on Sunday, there is an encore streaming scheduled for Monday, August 17th at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT. Some of these shows have remained available on demand for up to a week after they originally took place. You may have more than these two options to check out Stephanie J. Block.

If those aren’t enough Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th, a few reminders for you:

This weekend’s operas from the Met Opera are Puccini’s Turandot on August 13th; Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde on August 14th; Puccini’s La Bohème on August 15th and Verdi’s Luisa Miller on August 16th. Our preview can be found here.

I hope these Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th will keep you entertained through the weekend. Enjoy!

Photo of Artemis by Keith Major/Courtesy of Blue Note Records

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.