The comma in the album’s title is important to Hersch. Silent isn’t describing the listening. Being silent and listening are two distinctly separate qualities that were of paramount importance to him while recording Silent, Listening and the qualities he hopes listeners might employ when they put on the album. Which they should.

I recently spoke with Hersch about his concepts for this album, how the resurgence of vinyl impacts the albums he’s making and how he’s challenging himself to do something we haven’t heard before. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To watch the full interview with Fred Hersch, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: What is the role of silence in your music and in your life?

Without silence you can’t have music or much of anything else. This is maybe my 12th or 13th solo album. I think the title of this project partially refers to the the specific place and circumstances around the recording of the album. In a fantastic auditorium in Switzerland at the Swiss Radio in Lugano, a legendary auditorium, with superb acoustics, fantastic piano. I was prepared. I had some things that I wanted to play, but, I also left a lot open to the last minute.

I think there’s a lot of patience on this record; playing something and seeing how it lands. Play the next thing. As an improvising musician, that’s how you always want to be. You want to play the phrase and then see where it lands, and then the next thing comes. And if you have a goal or an expectation, then often you’ll be disappointed. Just like life. I like to be in that zone where I’m really minutely paying attention to each detail, which leads to the next thing. There’s a lot of what I call spontaneous composition on the record, open improvisation, whatever you want to call it. Just paying attention to the sonority, not the chord, just the actual sound. So sound was a factor and the beautiful silence that you get playing in a room like that.

I love the way you allow notes to just fade away. Then there’s a pause before you go on to something else. It feels like you’re not only allowing yourself to be patient, but you’re asking your listeners to be patient as well.

I think this record really unfolds almost like a suite. It’s kind of contra to the way that people consume music these days. I believe in the value of an album as a statement; a small film, if you will, a story. I think this album tells a story and builds on itself. A lot of the selections I didn’t plan to play. They just arrived. Certainly the spontaneous pieces just arrived, but when we put it together, we were totally in agreement about the sequence. It’s not just a series of tracks. It’s very much a unified statement. And the glue that holds it together is just sound. It’s a pretty immersive album.

In the press notes for this album you are quoted as wanting to have tell a story with this album. Yet, at the same time, you’re saying that some of the pieces just came to you as you were in the place. I’m assuming that you had the story deeply embedded into your heart and soul so that you knew what those pieces would be that came to you.

No. I had no title at all. I had a list of titles of artworks by Robert Rauschenberg. I would just assign, like Night Tide Light, that’s the title of a collage by Rauschenberg. Volon. I don’t know what volon means, but it’s an interesting word, so we just picked that. But the story emerged. There was no real intent. I think the story just arrived.

Manfred’s a great producer. What he says and also what he doesn’t say. Sometimes he just let me work stuff out. Other times he might say something. At one point he went into the audience, which was helpful. A couple of tunes I just played for fun, and he said, I really love those. I didn’t intend to play them. It was very much something that unfolded as we did it. But once we had the pieces, we completely agreed this is how the story gets told. Sometimes the pieces led very smoothly into each other. Sometimes there’s a very jarring contrast. It’s very cinematic, I think. But it wasn’t intentional. I just wanted to make a record with him in that place on that piano and see what happened. And so this is what happened right now.

I can’t help but believe that there is, whether intentional or not, a bit of a commentary about the cacophonous and easily-distracted world we live in. 

Yeah, I mean, that would be really nice if people would slow down and paid attention. I play in concerts in my home club, the Village Vanguard, people are quiet. It’s maybe the one time in the day where they are away from their cell phone for 75 minutes – hopefully. The final track, Winter of My Discontent, I learned 45 years ago. The lyrics are really relevant to our time. Whenever I play any kind of standard or anything that has words, I’m really singing the words as I’m playing the melody. It helps me emotionally connect to the melody, but it also informs the way that I interpret it. 

I listen to a lot of vinyl, so it’s like only a 22 minute a side commitment. Find time to put some music on and not while you’re on the treadmill or doing your email. Who knows how many people out there actually do that. But, without being fat-headed, I’d say that the people that do take the time to listen to this thing through, I think there’s a reward. We’re in the era of LPs coming back. When you make shorter albums, people are maybe a little more likely to actually dip into the whole thing. This record’s about 50 minutes. The one I did with Enrico Rava [The Song Is You] was 43 minutes. I think we’re in the era of not overdoing it. Less is more. 

Is that better for you as an artist?

It is. I’m going to record a trio album for ECM next month. If it’s only a 45-minute album, that’s only going to be 6 or 7 pieces because there probably will be a bass solo or two and something for the drums to play. I’ve got probably a good 1500 vinyls and some of them I’ve had since childhood. It’s still the best delivery system for music sound wise. As I learned to play jazz, self-taught in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the early 70s, I would have one side of one LP on the turntable for days. I just keep listening to those four or five tracks over and over again and get to know them deeply. We’re in an age where everything is the algorithm says if you like that, listen to this. Everybody’s twitchy with their fingers. I think it’s great that LPs are coming back. To me, they never left.

I have noticed in the past couple of years, listening to artists like Gerald Clayton or Joel Ross or the half of Sullivan Fortner‘s Slow Game that you produced, artists in the jazz world are expressing themselves in a more quiet manner than they used to. Do you think there’s something going on in our world that’s inspiring it?

It’s a great question for which I don’t have an answer. There are incredible 40-and-under musicians or 30-and-under musicians. You mentioned players like Gerald Clayton or Sullivan – state of the art younger jazz pianists, in my estimation. Great instrumentalists and very deep in their way of playing the language and with their own perspectives. I have my ear to the ground. Certainly living in New York, I go out and hear people. I’ve taught a lot of these great younger pianists over the years. I always learn a lot from the way that they speak the language, which is different. I came to New York in 1977. The job description for being a working jazz pianist was you had to know tunes. You had to be able to swing. You had to be able to accompany. If you sight read, that was a bonus. But that was it. Now all the young musicians are expected to be composers and manage their internet empires and social media presences and produce their own albums.

Some of the people that you’re mentioning who are more mature, who are able to hold more stillness and withhold all the stuff that they could play, these are the more artistic ones, in my opinion. But for every one of those, there’s six more I could think of where it’s a lot of stuff that’s kind of forgettable. Nothing sticks. So stickiness in performance – improvisation, composition, is a quality that I value. It doesn’t have to be Andrew Lloyd Webber to be sticky, you know?

Sullivan Fortner told me that you were “an extremely nice man and that you’re not an easy person to please.” How easy or how challenging is it for you to please yourself, either when you’re composing or playing? 

I can be a little tough on myself. I’m at that point in my career where I’ve done so many projects, to find something new, that’s where I am now. I don’t need to make another record just to make another record. I want to make something that represents growth. Something different.

I teach this all the time. Don’t obsess about what you’re not playing or what you wish you could play, or what you played yesterday that you can’t play today. Every time. Blank slate. If you make a mistake, use it. You already played it. There’s no point in tensing up about it. With Sullivan, when I’m dealing with somebody with a talent level like that, people don’t need to pay me to say, oh, you sound great. We were working together at the highest possible standard. It’s a pleasure and a gift to teach such talented individuals. I’m just really glad that people are really coming along to how great he is – finally.

You had him record just single takes of each song and I know you did far more songs that were released. How often do you rely on single takes for your own recordings?

On Silent, Listening I recorded the Russ Freeman tune The Wind. It’s the longest track on the album – seven minutes. The melody repeats twice. I just played the melody at the end. Both times I played a wrong note in the melody. Both repeats I played the wrong note. Same mistake, same place. The Fred of 20 years ago would never put that out. Like, people think I don’t know the melody. I’m always bugging people you don’t really know the melody. I made the same mistake twice. But there was magic in the take. Especially with things like ballads, you have to go with the feeling. To me, if I get a take and I’m really in the flow in it the whole way through, no lapses of concentration, it unfolds naturally, I won’t do another one because I might get, quote better. But then it’s going to be confusing later on between the take that has the vibe and the take that’s more perfect. I think I’ve learned to just leave things alone. 

The best way to make an album for jazz like I do or Sullivan does is you prepare everything or you have an idea, but you leave it open for the magic to happen when the tape is rolling. If you figure it out and then execute it, to me that’s anti jazz. I don’t want to hear people regurgitate what they know. That’s not interesting to me. I want to hear people play what they don’t know. That’s when it gets good. Sullivan could just react and reaction is a huge part of being a jazz musician.

It’s everything, isn’t it? Listening and reacting.

Right! I got into jazz to play music with people and in front of people. Starting as a 5 or 6-year old, I liked to improvise and then discovered jazz. It was a great language for improvisation. Hanging out with all the people in the clubs was fun. It didn’t matter what your age was or your race was or where you came from. Everybody had this shared love of this music. Nobody’s making any money. It was kind of romantic in a way.

Reacting is when I’m playing trio. Yeah, I’m nominally the leader, but I’m really one third of what’s happening. So I have to allow the musicians to add what they do and allow myself to be inspired by them. In a duo, it’s even more intense because it’s just this intimate conversation. Solo, I am reacting to the feel of the piano under my hands, the touch and the actual sound in the room. And then the emotion of whatever piece I’m playing is a large part of it, too. I have to play the right piece at the right time in terms of the emotional connection that I could get.

To watch the full interview with Fred Hersch, please go here.

Main Photo: Fred Hersch (Photo by Roberto Cifarelli/Courtesy Fred Hersch)

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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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for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf – Booth Theatre – New York – Now through May 22nd

Ntozake Shange’s “choreopoem” first opened on Broadway in 1976 and ran for 742 performances and also earned a Tony Award nomination as Best Play. 7 Black women, nameless but identified by the color of the clothes they wear, explore their lives and experiences through poetry that has been choreographed to music.

Camille A. Brown makes her directorial debut with this revival. She recently co-directed and choreographed Terence Blanchard’s opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones at the Met. The ensemble of women appearing in the show are Amara Granderson, Tendayi Kuumba, Kenita R. Miller, Okwui Okpokwasili, Stacey Sargean, Alexandria Wailes and D. Woods

For tickets and more information please go here.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Geffen Playhouse – Los Angeles  – Now – May 29th

Edward Albee’s Tony Award and Pultizer Prize-winning 1962 play about marriage as seen through the eyes of a hard-drinking and embittered middle-aged couple  and a younger couple with mixed motivations for being their guests after a faculty party gets a new production in Los Angeles.

Zachary Quinto and Calista Flockhart play George and Martha – the older couple. Nick and Honey, the younger couple, are played by Graham Phillips and Aimee Carrero. Gordon Greenberg directs.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

A Strange Loop – Lyceum Theatre New York – Now playing

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama went to Michael R. Jackson’s musical A Strange Loop. It’s an aptly named meta-musical about a gay Black man who’s writing a musical about a gay Black man.  Reviews were through the roof when it ran off-Broadway.

Last week’s reviews were even stronger for the Broadway production. This is going to be a very hot ticket this season and quite possibly the musical to beat for the Tony Awards.

Stephen Brackett directs A Strange Loop. The ensemble features Antwayn Hopper, L Morgan Lee, John-Mihael Lyles, James Jackson, Jr., John-Andrew Morrison, Jaquel Spivey and Jason Veasey.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

An Evening with Fran Lebowitz – Multiple Venues – April 28^th – May 6^th

It probably surprises no one more than Fran Lebowitz that after the Netflix series Pretend It’s A City debuted she would be a hot ticket around the world. But here she is participating in conversations – exactly what she did with Martin Scorsese in that series.

April 28^th – May 1^st will find her at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. On  May 2^nd she’ll be at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego. On May 5^th she’ll be at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto and on May 6^th she’s at St. Jean Baptiste Church in Montreal. A European tour launches in late June.

For tickets and more information, click on each venue’s name.

MJ The Musical – Neil Simon Theatre NY – Now – September 4th

It was, of course, inevitable that there would be a jukebox musical showcasing the countless hit songs by Michael Jackson. What may set this musical apart from failed attempts to use songs by The Beach Boys, Cher John Lennon and more is that the book is by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage and the show is directed and choreographed by Christopher  Wheeldon.

Myles Frost makes his Broadway debut as MJ. Walter Russell III (so good in Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the  Metropolitan  Opera) and Christian Wilson alternate performances as Little Michael. Interestingly Tavon Olds-Sample is listed as playing “Michael” in the show. 

Will this musical be a Thriller or will audiences tell this show to Beat It? Either way it’s bound to be interesting.

For tickets and more details, please go here.

American Ballet Theatre on Tour – Now – May 15^th

ABT is on tour with two different programs. Opening this week at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa is ABT Forward. Leonard Bernstein is celebrated in Bernstein in a Bubble; Alonzo King premiere’s Single Eye with music by Jason Moran and Tony Bennett is front and center in Zig Zag. This same program will be performed at the Kennedy Center March 29^th and March 30^th.

Don Quixote is on the program for performances at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, VA; the Kennedy Center and the Mahalia Jackson Theatre in New Orleans.

For tickets and more information click on each venue’s names.

Take Me Out – Hayes Theater New York – Now – October 2^nd

Richard Greenberg’s 2003 play Take Me Out won the Tony Award for Best Play. It tells the story of a professional baseball player (Jesse Williams) who comes out as gay. His doing so reveals a lot about his teammates and their prejudices about his sexuality and his race.

Also appearing in the play are Patrick J. Adams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. This is a very adult show that features a nude shower scene with most of the cast. So few professional athletes on major teams have come out in the 19 years since this play was first performed on Broadway. That means Take Me Out is just as topical today as it was then.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

Plaza Suite – Hudson Theatre (NYC) – March 28^th – June 26th

Neil Simon’s comedy about relationships and marriage opened on Broadway on February 14, 1968. The show ran for 1,097 performances and featured George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton as three separate couples who all visit the Plaza Hotel in New York at different times. 

This first-ever revival of the play stars Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. John Benjamin Hickey (Tony Award-winner for his performance in The Normal Heart) directs. Danny Bolero, Molly Ranson and Eric Wiegand round out the ensemble.

This limited engagement is scheduled to close on June 26^th.

For more information, please go here.

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

Cyrano – Brooklyn Academy of Musc – April 5^th – May 22^nd

The recent Joe Wright film of Edmond Rostand’s play presented a variation from tradition in telling the story of the man with a large nose who falls in love with Roxanne. Get ready for an even more radical approach.

James McAvoy stars in this new version by Martin Crimp. Gone after the period costumes and pleasantries. This Cyrano is more interested in the love of language than in unrequited love.  Modern clothes, hand mics and stand mics are the tools at the cast’s disposal.

Directed by Jamie Lloyd, this production earned the Olivier Award for Best Revival.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater –multiple venues –  April 6^th – May 8^th

For over 60 years the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has celebrated what it is to be an African American through innovative dances that utilize a wide array of musical styles. 

They are on tour to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of Artistic Director Robert Battle. Amongst the pieces on the program are 2004’s Mass; Ella from 2008 and For Four from 2021. Also on the program is Revelations created by Ailey in 1960.

This tour takes them to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles (April 6-10); The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara (April 13^th and 14^th); Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee on April 20^th; KeyBank State Theatre in Cleveland (April 22^nd – 24^th); The University of Massachusetts on April 26^th; Boston’s Boch Center Wang Theatre (April 28^th– May 1^st); University of North Carolina (May 3^rd and 4^th) and concludes at Prudential Hall in Newark (May 6^th – 8^th). Click on each venue’s name for more information and tickets.

Sheku & Isata Kanneh-Mason Tour – April 19^th – May 8^th

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason and her brother, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, launch a recital tour on April 19^th at Campbell Hall in Santa Barbara. The core repertoire finds the duo performing works by Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten, Karem Khachaturian and Dmitri Shostakovich. The Khachaturian is replaced by a work by Beethoven at a few concerts.

The tour takes them to Los Angeles; Costa Mesa; La Jolla; San Francisco; Ann Arbor; Princeton; Kansas City, MO; Baltimore; New York; Toronto; Boston and Atlanta.

For tickets and more information, click on the name of the city above.

Funny Girl – August Wilson Theatre – Now playing

It’s been 58 years since the musical Funny Girl opened on Broadway and turned Barbra Streisand into one of the world’s greatest stars. Since then producers have long considered a revival, but let’s face it, those are big shoes to fill.

Enter Beanie Feldstein who is tackling the role of Fanny Brice. Like Streisand, Feldstein has only played a supporting role in one musical before this one (Hello, Dolly!). Joining her are Ramin Karimloo as love-interest Nick Arnstein and Jane Lynch as Mrs. Brice. Michael Mayer directs the show which has a revised script by Harvey Fierstein.

People, people who need tickets and more information should go here.

Top Album Choices

Jeremy Pelt: Soundtrack

Jazz composer and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt releases his new album this week. It features 10-tracks with Vicente Archer on acoustic & electric bass; Victor Gould on piano; Chien Chien Lu on vibraophone; and Fender Rhodes and Allan Mednard on drums. Anne Drummond plays flute on two tracks and Brittany Anjouy plays Mellotron on two track.

Pelt is a terrific musician and his previous two albums, The Art of Intimacy Vol. 1 and Griot: This Is Important!revealed an incredible range and are essential listening.

Spencer Day: Broadway by Day 

These two albums couldn’t be more different, but both are immensely satisfying works. Vocalist/songwriter Spencer Day offers his interpretations of songs from some of Broadway’s greatest musicals including A Chorus Line, Follies, My Fair Lady and South Pacific on Broadway By Day. His unique stylings provided a new way of hearing these classic songs.

Gerald Clayton: Bells on Sand

Composer/pianist Gerald Clayton’s new album is one we’ve been listening to for over a month. It’s a quiet and gentle album that is filled with inventive music that requires your concentration. That commitment will be deeply rewarded with an inner-peace that Bells on Sand brings to your ears.

Main Photo: Stacey Sergeant, Amara Grandson, Okwui Okpokwasilli, Tendayi Kuumba, Kenita R. Miller, D. Woods and Alexandria Walles in for colored girls who considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (Photo by Marc. J. Franklin)

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“Gone are the days of releasing a record with a particular band and go right on the road with the same band for months at a time, plugging that music, plugging that album, playing that music, right? I look at every tour, every gig, every musical situation I have on my calendar and I just think what would make this as enjoyable an experience as possible for the band, for me and for for the audience. What can I do to make this what it needs to be?” So says pianist/composer Gerald Clayton when discussing how to approach the upcoming release of his new album, Bells on Sand.

Before Clayton’s album is released by Blue Notes Records on April 1st, he has a few concerts lined up. On February 17th he’ll be performing at The Soraya in Northridge. On February 25th Clayton will be at the Starlight Patio and Lounge with Domo Branch in Portland. After Bells on Sand comes out he’ll be at the Johnson Theatre in Durham, New Hampshire. Clayton is also part of three all-star concerts celebrating Nat “King” Cole with the Nashville Symphony.

Clayton is an immensely talented artist who gives considerable thought to who he is artistically and the traditions from which his career was possible. We spoke last week via Zoom to talk about Bells on Sand, those artists who inspire him and whether or not he is an old soul. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

You said that Oscar Peterson’s Night Train was the first jazz album that really got its hooks into you. Peterson once said, “I don’t believe that a lot of the things that I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.” What are the challenges you face as a composer and a musician cutting through all the music that is available now and at the same time creating something that may last as long as a Coleman Hawkins record or a Brahms concerto?

That’s a really beautiful sentiment and fascinating to think about. One of the parts of the premise of that question is that I consider all of the music around me to cut through in the first place. Maybe the way to go about arts and making music is to to drown out all the other noise and really set your sights on that bull’s eye, on that North Star. Just serve the art, serve the music as best as you can, as honestly as you can, as diligently and thoughtfully and thoroughly as possible, and let the rest take care of itself. I think that’s generally the equation that been the modus operandi for me since I was a kid.

I think it’s natural that we all sort of aspire to leave something behind, to be so lucky as to to make music that is great and magical and wonderful enough that it even deserves to live on after we’re long gone. I think part of the allure of that is this very human desire to have your ego remain you’re gone. But to experience music and experience art that is that pure and worthy of that is really what excites me and is something that I’m inspired to try to get to. Just to even record something on the level of those artists you mentioned would be incredible.

At the same time I was first listening to Bells on Sand I was listening to Joel Ross’ new album, The Parable of the Poet and Ethan Iverson‘s new album Every Note Is True. One thing that struck me about all three albums was that there was a sense of calm that I heard in the music that I don’t think I’d been hearing in the last few years. They’re all coming out around the same time and reflect more of a coming to peace with one’s self or one’s world. Is that something that you wanted to express in this album, particularly after all that we’ve gone through as a society recently?

I think you’re probably onto something. I think there’s an affect from this wildly new time that we’re living in that is maybe hard to fully comprehend at this moment. Maybe it takes another couple of years to look back and see that all of the music coming out at this time all had this in common. Maybe it’s that sort of calm sensibility or what have you. It could also be just individual paths and journeys of all three of us. For me this record is also a reflection of where I am in comparison to the previous records I put out and feeling that it was time to include something that’s a little bit more intimate in my body of work.

This is an intimate record. What the title and narrative of the project is trying to get after is to play music without anything else. Just have a song and that sort of catharsis, that therapeutic relationship with you and the sound and how that’s just a thing that happens in a moment. And then you go on to the next moment. And if you come back to the same song it’s a new moment and the sands have shifted. To point that all back to the sensibility of calmness and and meditation feels very relevant.

If we were to take Boogablues, which opens your first album, Two-Shade, and then take Water’s Edge, which opens Bells on Sand and use them as goalposts at opposite ends of the field, what does that say to you about the journey that you’ve taken and who you are today versus who you were then?

There are different ways to to take people on a musical journey and I think that’s something I’ve had the privilege of exploring over these past 15-20 years of doing this. To see what it feels like to open the concert with a dance like Boogablues, then what comes after that? How does it feel to actually start not with the jovial sort of bouncy attitude feeling of Boogblues, but start with a little bit more of a pensive or intellectual or cerebral [composition]? Going there first and then taking them to the blues as sort of a release from that tension to end a set big or to end a set on a ballad. I like the variety of things and I definitely don’t have one way of doing things. That’s what always turns me on about art and music. I suppose it says that maybe it would be strange to start your first record, your first statement to the world on a ballad, you know? But now that I’ve got plenty of baggage that I take along with me to this next record, I think I feel the freedom to go there and to start on this energy.

Looking back on Ben Ratliff‘s New York Times review of the first night of your first stand at the Village Vanguard in 2010 he said, “Perhaps because he inherited* so much aesthetic knowledge, Mr. Clayton seems from a different era.” Do you feel like your are from a different era or are an old soul?

I think there’s something about being a 1984 baby that maybe our generational purpose is one of connecting past to future. That we are the last of that soulful generation that remembers being social before the internet. So yeah, there are values and lessons from the before times that are really near and dear to my heart that I think are actually really important. 

I think there are plenty of other people my age and younger who feel that as well and want to be about carrying that torch forward. But there are plenty who don’t have that connection and are still amazing, creative, beautiful artists that I love to work with. So maybe compared to some of those cats I am maybe a different kind of old soul. But really I think it’s just the same as anybody else, just trying to play what what feels right and be honest about the things you think are beautiful.

Legendary drummer Billy Higgins once said. “Because the stuff that they feed kids now, they’ll have a bunch of idiots in the next millennium as far as art and culture is concerned.” I think he’s been more than proven wrong twenty-one plus years into this century. But what would you say to him if you had a chance to respond to that comment?

I won’t really say anything. I listen and I take note and I say, I hear you Maestro. I’m really lucky to to work with Charles Lloyd who had that very deep connection with Billy Higgins. He talks about Billy a lot. Hearing him talk about life and music, the things that are and the things that aren’t, I love that. Just soaking that up and really ruminating on it and and making sense of it for yourself. I think that’s one of the gifts of this music is that community and the voice of the elders. I think part of the responsibility of my generation, and really probably anybody’s generation, is to take those lessons that those elders have to say and make sense of them for yourself and bring them forward and try to do do them justice and consider them as you move forward.

Without getting too cynical there’s a lot about this time we live in that feels a bit like smoke and mirrors. That the focus has maybe shifted. It’s not necessarily about the quality, maybe it’s more about the quantity. Without being too judgmental or critical a lot of this stuff is not that great. So I guess what happens as a result of that might be speaking to what Maestro Higgins was talking about. You create a whole audience of viewers and listeners that don’t have that same bar of expectation of what something could be or should be or needs to be for it to be considered good. I hear him on that. I also agree with you that there is something about this about music and about art that is much bigger than the dialects of the language. It is human creativity and this actual need for people to express their joys and their sorrows in a creative way. That never dies.

*Gerald Clayton is the son of jazz musician/composer John Clayton and nephew of the late jazz musician Jeff Clayton.

Photo: Gerald Clayton (Photo by Ogata/Courtesy Blue Note Records)

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Our Top Pick: Best Bets April 30th – May 3rd is the 2021 Global All-Star Concert for International Jazz Day. The concert takes place on April 30th beginning at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT. The concert will remain available for viewing for 30 days.

This year’s line-up is extraordinary and will be coming from around the world.

Performing from New York will be saxophonist Melissa Aldana; bassist Massimo Biolcati; pianist A Bu; pianist Cyrus Chestnut; composer/pianist Amina Figarova; vocalist Roberta Gambarini; saxophonist Kenny Garrett; bassist James Genus; vibraphonist Stefon Harris; trumpeter Ingrid Jensen; saxophonist Joe Lovano; saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa; composer/drummer Antonio Sánchez and vocalist Veronica Swift.

Performing from Los Angeles will be the legendary Herbie Hancock (who also serves as Artistic Director of the concert); percussionist Alex Acuña; reedman Justo Almario; vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater; singer/songwriter Jonathan Butler; guitarist Mahmoud Chouki; pianist Gerald Clayton; singer/songwriter Andra Day; guitarist Romeo Lubambo; bassist Marcus Miller; vocalist Dianne Reeves; composer/trombonist Francisco Torres, drummer Justin Tyson and bassist/composer Ben Williams.

International performances will include performances by saxophonist Igor Butman from Moscow; multi-instrumentalist/singer Jacob Collier from London; trumpeter Mandisi Dyantyis in Cape Town; singer Angélique Kidjo from Paris; composer/singer Ivan Lins in Rio De Janeiro; guitarist John McLaughlin in Monaco; trumpeter James Morrison in Mt. Gambier and pianist Junko Onishi in Tokyo.

John Beasley is the Musical Director for International Jazz Day.

You will be able to watch this live event on YouTube, Facebook, at jazzy.com, UN Web TV and more. And it’s free to watch!

There are International Jazz Day celebrations around the world. Why not celebrate with them?

The 2021 Global Concert will remain available for viewing through May 29th.

Photo: Herbie Hancock at the International Jazz Day 2019 All-Star Global Concert (Photo by Steve Mundinger/Courtesy Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz)

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What KCRW host LeRoy Downs is talking about is jazz. Though his show is called Just Jazz – as is a series of live concerts and interviews he produces in Los Angeles – you soon realize while talking with Downs that it is more than just jazz. For him it’s a way of life. A way of looking forward far more than looking back. It’s a personal journey that he takes each and every day of his life that gets compressed into his two hours on Sunday nights.

“I don’t feel like I’m doing a service if I’m playing you music you already know,” he said earlier this week during a Zoom call. “I do feel like I’m doing a service if I’m adding to the palette of your sound. I want to play things that aren’t popular and maybe you can get another jewel. I’m a seeker. I want more and I love that I’m in the position of seeking music out and playing it and putting it out there. If I learn it and love it, the world will soak it up, too.”

If you take a quick look at his most recent playlist you won’t find Miles Davis. Instead you’ll find Ambrose Akinmusire, Stefon Harris, Zim Ngqawana, Christian Sands* and more. Which means Just Jazz is unlike nearly every other show you can find on the radio. That’s precisely the way Downs likes it.

“I actually don’t know too many either,” he says. “Mark Maxwell on KPFK has a show called Rise. He’s one that’s always been putting it out there for decades. My family would probably prefer me playing smooth jazz on the radio and making a couple hundred grand. I can’t do that. There are bigger things out there and I’m so in sync with that.”

Downs spent several years at KKJZ hosting a five-hour show before joining KCRW. He didn’t have the same freedom there as he now enjoys. But with that freedom comes the challenge of getting a bigger audience and his theory about why that can be so difficult.

“I think people become professionals at what they know. They have to have Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Miles Davis. But if I try to hip them up with Vijay Iyer or Gerald Clayton, they go back to what they know. They shut it off. I think the only people who get a chance to enjoy this music are creative people; people who know jazz and the people who don’t know jazz, but are open to it. That is the key. When someone says ‘I don’t know who Archie Schepp is, but I’m willing to check it out,’ those are my favorite people.”

Given the broad range of music Downs embraces and the popular recordings he chooses to avoid, how does he describe jazz in 2021?

“Jazz is this very internal, cerebral, rhythmic, mystical, eclectic, avant-garde, traditional sound that comes out of society. It comes out of the things we experience in our lives. We put those experiences together. We express those things. It’s a collection and a fabric of everyone’s life. We all have our own stories. These musicians are brilliant at telling them.”

As is Downs who did a show called For All The Georges after the George Floyd murder. Something he wishes he didn’t have to do.

“It’s such a shame. It’s 2021 and we still have to deal with this. There are so many things against us. But like a flower that grows out of concrete, you can’t stop the music. It’s going to affect you. I used one of Abbey Lincoln’s tunes where she was screaming. Most people will find that threatening. Good! But if you stick with it you might find it’s an expression of pain which we are still dealing with today. If you didn’t turn away you heard this beautiful sound coming out at the end.”

He thinks that society’s penchant for making quick judgements and moving on isn’t good for anyone and certainly not for the music.

“If a painter starts painting and uses colors you don’t like, you can’t turn away. You have to let the painter finish what they are doing.”

Downs starts his radio shows with the first and second songs selected in advance, but the rest is created as he goes along. That sounds a little chaotic, but isn’t jazz about improvisation?

“I want jazz to be a part of everybody’s life. Everything that comes from me is honest and natural and true. I’m a seeker. I want to follow that journey, too. I don’t want to know the path, I need to find it. Anyone who wants to come along on that journey, I think they’ll be very rewarded. When you listen to one of my shows I better have taken you in at least ten directions – even in two hours.”

*Downs is presenting an online concert this Friday, April 30th, for International Jazz Day. Performing will be the Christian Sands Trio (including Jonathan Pinson on drums and Ben Williams on bass). They will be joined by special guest Theo Croker. The concert takes place at 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.

Photo: LeRoy Downs (Photo by Jay Masueda/Courtesy Downs and KCRW)

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Before details about the event, it is important to know a little about the past and present history of jazz in Los Angeles.

For the Love of Jazz will be hosted by LeRoy Downs and will feature a combination of live performances from Leimert Park and from artists’ homes.

The line-up of artists participating certainly reflects the role jazz music plays in Los Angeles. Scheduled to participate are Barbara Morrison, Hubert Laws, Michael Feinstein, Tierney Sutton, John Clayton, Sara Gazarek, Billy Childs, Gerald Clayton, Poncho Sanchez, Katie Thiroux, Justin Kauflin, Matt Witek, Jose Rizo, Christian Euman, Graham Decter, Alex Frank, Ryan Shaw, Eric Reed, Paul Cornish, Steve Lehman and more.

The concert is scheduled to run two hours.

As this is a fundraiser, donations are encouraged, but you can watch For the Love of Jazz for free. (A minimum donation of $20 is encouraged.) Tickets can be purchased/reserved here.

Photo courtesy LA Jazz Society

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Thankfully it appears we will have an even larger number of ways to enjoy culture at home in the weeks and months ahead. This weekend’s best bets include a virtual version of the annual Monterey Jazz Festival, a live-streamed musical from England, a dystopian virtual reality live musical, a concert with two stars of opera and stage and so much more.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th:

From The Ford with Lula Washington Dance Theatre – Now

Cultural Attaché made a big deal about the cancellation of this summer’s Hollywood Bowl season. Lost in the shuffle was the cancellation of the season at The Ford Theatre as well. Much like their colleagues on the other side of the Cahuenga Pass in Los Angeles, they have been presenting some programming on line.

While much of it isn’t programming that we would naturally cover – which does not reflect on its quality at all – this week’s program is a perfect fit.

Los Angeles-based Lula Washington Dance Theatre performed at The Ford in 2018. That performance became available Thursday on The Ford’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The performance (and, in fact, all of the performances they began streaming in August) are available for viewing.

Earlier this year I interviewed Lula Washington as they celebrated their 40th anniversary. You can read that interview here and get more information about this wonderful company.

Monterey Jazz Festival – September 25th – September 27th

Every day this weekend the Monterey Jazz Festival is streaming two-hours of performances by jazz legends. There will be a mix of archived and new performances. The streaming begins each day at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT on the festival’s YouTube channel.

The line-up is as follows (and when I last checked there was still a notice that more performances might be added):

Friday, September 25th: Dianne Reeves, Roy Hargrove & RH Factor, Christian Sands (the 2020 and 2021 Monterey Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence), Terri Lyne Carrington – Mosaic Project, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton, Christian McBride & Inside Straight, Jamie Cullum and Herbie Hancock.

Saturday, September 26th: Regina Carter, Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo Directed by Katie Thiroux, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton, Davina and the Vagabonds, Clint Eastwood in conversation with Tim Jackson, Eastwood at Monterey with Diana Krall & Kenny Barron Trio, Berklee Institute of Jazz & Gender Justice Quintet, Our Native Daughters featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell and a Tribute to Dave Brubeck with Cannery Row Suite featuring Kurt Elling & Roberta Gambarini.

Sunday, September 27th: Sonny Rollins Tribute featuring Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Redman, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, Anat Cohen Tentet, Angela Davis in conversation with Terri Lyne Carrington, Gerald Clayton Quartet, Cooking Demonstration with Lila Downs from her home in Oaxaca, 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour with musical director Christian McBride and Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals, 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour with musical director Christian Sands and Cécile McLorin Salvant on vocals and a Tribute to Quincy Jones, “The A&M Years”, featuring Hubert Laws and Valerie Simpson.

There is no charge to watch these programs. Donations are encouraged and will go to the artists performing, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Just Like Us – Latino Theater Company – September 25th – October 4th

Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company continues presenting both archived films of previous productions and readings of new works with a sneak peek of Karen Zacarías’s Just Like Us.

The play depicts the lives for four teenage Latinas. Two girls are undocumented and two are not. As the realities of their separate immigration situations begin to reflect what each girl may or may not be able to accomplish, their friendships get tested.

Zacarías based her play on Helen Thorpe’s best-selling book of the same name. Zacarías (Native Gardens) uses a documentary-style approach to this play.

The cast includes Richard Azurdia, Natalie Camunas, Michelle Castillo, Alicia Coca, Peter Mendoza, Elyse Mirto, Lys Perez, Geoffrey Rivas, Lucy Rodriguez, Kenia Romero and Alexis Santiago. Just Like Us is directed by Fidel Gomez.

While you are at the LATC website (where you can access Just Like Us), you might also notice that Nancy Ma’s Home will be available for viewing. Ma performed her one-person show at LATC last year. The play illuminates Ma’s struggle to accept her own identity when she finds herself torn between her immigrant family’s Chinese Toisan background and her new-found American home.

Miranda: A Steampunk VR Experience – Now – September 26th

In 2013 the first production of Kamala Sankaram’s steampunk opera took place. Seven years later, a new version that takes the work and brings it into the virtual reality world, co-created by Tri-Cities Opera and co-presented by Opera Omaha, is available for free (with advance registration).

Miranda tells the story of three suspects who are on trial for the murder of a wealthy woman. Each of the three defendants will have to testify in order to exonerate themselves. You, the audience, will serve as judge and jury. The entire story takes place in a dystopian feature that appears to be a radical version of our present-day world with steampunk influences.

The performance happens live in real time. Each performer is kept separated in their own motion capture cubicles. Utilizing motion capture gear (think Andy Serkis in the Planet of the Apes remakes) their movement and performances are captured a brought into the 3D virtual environment.

There are three performances each day. The website lays out the various ways you can experience Miranda (you don’t have to have VR gear to do so.)

I honestly don’t know how good this will be, but it is certainly a unique way to bring the performing arts to audiences during the pandemic. The sheer bravado of doing a project this way makes it worthy of inclusion.  

Dances at a Gathering – The Royal Ballet – September 25th – October 24th

Jerome Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering was first performed in 1969 by the New York City Ballet. The hour-long work is set to the music of composer Frédéric Chopin.

The Royal Ballet brought the ballet back onto their stages during the 2019-2020 season. It marked the return of this particular Robbins work after an absence of eleven years.

Dances at a Gathering features five couples. The company for this performance includes Luca Acri, Federico Bonelli, William Bracewell, Alexander Campbell, Francesca Hayward, Fumi Kaneko, Laura Morera, Yasmine Naghdi, Marianela Nuñez and Valentino Zucchetti.

Robbins was a five-time Tony Award winner and a two-time Academy Award winner. He’s best known for West Side Story.

The Royal Ballet is charging £3 to view the ballet. That’s just under $4.

Romantics Anonymous – The Wallis – September 26th – 4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT

For the past few years Emma Rice and Kneehigh have brought their innovative productions of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and Brief Encounter to the stage at The Wallis in Beverly Hills.

This year Rice was scheduled to return to the United States with a tour of The Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals Production of the musical Romantics Anonymous, but that was not to be.

Romantics Anonymous is based on the 2010 film Les Émotifs Anonymes. It tells the story of two people who make chocolate and are navigating their way through the world in very different ways. Angélique, who pours her heart and soul into her chocolates, is part of a support group helping her get a better grip on her life. Jean-René listens to self-help tapes while trying to keep his floundering chocolate factory afloat. They are both very emotional people and, of course, fall in love.

The musical was written by Michael Kooman (music) and Christopher Dimond (lyrics). Rice wrote the book.

Lyn Gardner, writing for The Guardian, said of the show, “Romantics Anonymous is a multifaceted gem, chock-full of love, generosity and joy…”

Ever resourceful, Rice and the entire team have taken a unique approach to making their show available. The entire cast and crew have been in quarantine and will be performing the show live at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre on Saturday. The Wallis is one of six companies to host the United States performance.

Romantics Anonymous stars Marc Antolin, Carly Bawden, Me’sha Bryan, Philip Cox, Omari Douglas, Harry Hepple, Sandra Marvin, Laura Jane Matthewson and Gareth Snook.

The cost to watch the show is £21 which is just under $27 (as of the exchange rate on 9/24 when this was written). Romantics Anonymous will only be streamed live on this one date. There will be, however, an audio described version and a closed caption version available on Monday, September 28th at 11:00 AM and 11:30 AM respectively.

A Time to Sing: An Evening with Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams – The Kennedy Center – September 26th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Opera singer Renée Fleming and Tony Award-nominated actress Vanessa Williams team up for this new concert filmed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The women will share the stage and perform songs written by Harold Arlen, Benjamin Britten, Antonín Dvořák, Joni Mitchell, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Stephen Sondheim, Sting and more. There will also be the world premiere of Diva by Andrew Lippa.

Tickets to watch the concert are $15 and will allow access to view A Time to Sing through the rest of 2020.

Open Fist Theatre Company’s 30th Anniversary Virtual Gala – September 26th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT

For any theatre company to last thirty years is quite an accomplishment. Los Angeles-based Open Fist Theatre is celebrating that accomplishment with a virtual gala and online auction on Saturday night.

Joining the company during this one-hour event will be Shoshana Bean (Broadway’s Waitress), Jason Paige (For the Record shows) and Ty Taylor (lead singer of Vintage Trouble.)

Since their inception in 1990, Open Fist Theatre Company has produced multiple award-winning productions including Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet Union and DeLEARious.

There is no cost to watch the gala. Donations are, of course, encouraged. There are also VIP tickets for a virtual cocktail hour that runs in the 60 minutes prior to the gala’s start. Those tickets are $100.

Those are my choices for your Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th. As usual, I have some reminders for you.

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new series Sound/Stage launches today on their website. This week’s program is called Love in the Time of Covid and features performances by the orchestra with Gustavo Dudamel conducting. Guests include mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges and actress María Valverde. Works by Peter Liberson, George Walker and Gustav Mahler will be performed.

This weekend’s Table Top Shakespeare: At Home will have performances of King John on Friday, Titus Andronicus on Saturday and Much Ado About Nothing on Sunday.

Here are this weekend’s listings from this week’s Jazz Stream:

The Nicole Glover Quartet performs live from Smalls on September 25th.

Fridays at Five from SFJAZZ streams at 2014 concert: John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme 50th Anniversary Celebration on September 25th.

The Kenny Barron Trio live at the Village Vanguard streams on September 25th and September 26th.

Ramsey Lewis performs live on September 26th.

The Marcus Strickland Trio live at Blue Note streams on September 26th.

Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain and Julian Lage perform live from Healdsburg Jazz Festival on September 26th.

This weekend’s operas from the Metropolitan Opera’s Puccini Week are Tosca on Friday, Turandot on Saturday and La Bohème  on Sunday.

That is a lot of options for this weekend’s Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th. Continue to check back at Cultural Attaché for our weekly suggestions to satisfy your desires to see the performing arts.

Main photo: The company of Romantics Anonymous (Photo by Steve Tanner/Courtesy The Wallis)

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Here is Jazz Stream: August 18th – August 23rd:

Conrad Tao – National Sawdust – August 18th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Pianist and composer Conrad Tao is best known for performing classical music. However, for this National Sawdust event he’s going to be adding his own improvisations to the mix. The program is scheduled to include China’s Gate by composer John Adams. The work was written in 1977. After that the improvisations take over.

Tao is one of our most talented musicians. To see and hear him move beyond the classical idiom with which we’re already familiar into the jazz world should be very interesting indeed. Take a look at how quickly and deftly he can maneuver his away up and down a keyboard.

This is a live-stream event I strongly encourage you to watch.

There is no charge to watch this performance. Donations to the performer are encouraged.

An Evening with Monty Alexander – Birdland – August 18th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

In the second of Birdland’s new series, Radio Free Birdland!, jazz pianist Monty Alexander performs at the venerable New York club.

Born in Jamaica, Alexander has been playing live since the age of 14. Ever since then his concerts, which he performs around the world, run the gamut from jazz to the Great American Songbook to gospel & blues to bebop to calypso and, given his heritage, reggae.

The cost to watch this performance is $23.50

Brooklyn Circle – Smalls – August 19th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PDT

I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about Brooklyn Circle. But I have heard Stacy Dillard play and that’s reason enough to watch this performance from Smalls in New York. Dillard is a sublime musician who has been acclaimed for his austere use of bass and drums. But don’t be fooled, he and his musicians can let it rip, too!

Dillard already has an extensive amount of touring and recording experience under his belt. He’s performed with such artists as  Winard Harper, Cindy Blackmon, Shirley Ceasar, Frank Lacy, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Reed, Ali Jackson, John Hicks, Carl Allen, Victor Lewis, Steve Wilson, Jeremy Pelt, Antonio Hart, Russell Malone, hip-hop legend C.L. Smooth, Mark Whitfield, Stephanie Mills, Freddie Jackson, Blowfly, Clarence Reid and more. 

Joining Dillard for this performance are Diallo House on bass and Ismail Lawal on drums.

Dominick Farinacci and Tamir Hendelman – August 19th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

This is the first of two different performances by Dominick Farinacci that I’ve included in week’s Jazz Stream. Here the trumpeter will be performing with pianist Tamir Hendelman. (You might remember that Hendelman is the musician who performs with jazz singer Tierney Sutton.)

Farinacci is a graduate of Juilliard. His career was launched in Japan before going global. When the New York Times‘ Nate Chinen reviewed Farinacci’s 2011 album, Dawn of Goodbye, he said:

“Mr. Farinacci plays beautifully, with expressive control, throughout a program of love-haunted standards and compatible originals, including his yearning title track. His phrasing attests to some close study of Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, but avoids outright imitation. That evident respect for jazz history is one reason for both his great success in Japan (where he has released seven albums) and his early endorsement by Wynton Marsalis (who featured him on a PBS special at the age of 17).”

The cost of seeing this show is $25

2020 National Endowment For the Arts Jazz Masters Tribute – SFJAZZ – August 20th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This year the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Tribute was slated to be held at SFJazz. We all know why that isn’t happening. But the NEA and SFJazz have teamed up to make this year’s event a free-streaming one we can all watch.

The honorees this year are Dorthaan Kirk (a jazz advocate), vocalist/composer Bobby McFerrin, saxophonist/composer Roscoe Mitchell and bassist/composer Reggie Workman. The emcee for the event is singer Dee Dee Bridgewater was was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2017.

Every tribute is bound to have the obligatory speeches bestowing the honor and accepting the honor. But this is jazz, so you know there’s going to be music.

Terri Lyne Carrington is the Music Director. Slated to perform are Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, James Carter, Gerald Clayton, Vincent Davis, Lisa Fischer, Morgan Guerin, Oliver Lake, Christian McBride, Jevon McFerrin, Madison McFerrin, Taylor McFerrin, Kanoa Mendenhall, Junius Paul and Steve Turre, as well as the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars.

The event will be followed by an on-line discussion with the honorees. Randall Kline, SFJAZZ Founder and Executive Director, will lead the conversation which will be open to questions from the audience.

Unlike other SFJazz streaming programs, there is no charge to watch this event. It can also be streamed on arts.gov.

Mike Rodriguez Quintet – Smalls – August 21st – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PM PDT

Mike Rodriguez is a Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer who has toured and/or performed with Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra, Jessica Simpson, The Chico O’Farill Orchestra, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Jon Faddis and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Carla Bley Band and Quintet, The Clayton Brothers, Kenny Baron’s Quintet, Conrad Herwig Latin Side Projects, Clayton Brothers Quintet, Harry Conick Jr., Bob Mintzer, Eddie Palmieri Septet, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra and is a member of Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra.

Credits are great, but what matters is the music. Take a look and hear what he can do:

Joining Rodriguez for this performance from Smalls in New York are John Ellis on tenor sax; Gary Versace on piano; Joe Martin on bass and Obed Calvaire on drums.

Dianne Reeves – SFJazz – August 21st – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

I’m not sure much truly has to be said about Dianne Reeves. She’s quite simply one of our finest singers.

In this concert at SFJazz from February of 2019 Reeves celebrated the 20th anniversary of her album Bridges. On that album she performed songs by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Peter Gabriel. The album was Reeves’ 11th in a long and successful career that began in 1982.

Reeves received one of her nine Grammy nominations for Bridges. Though she didn’t win that year, she has, to date, five Grammys.

This performance, while celebrating the album’s anniversary, was also a tribute to the producer of Bridges, the legendary keyboardist and composer George Duke. Duke was her cousin. He passed away in 2013.

This concert is part of SFJazz’s Fridays at Five series. As a reminder you must sign up for either a one-month membership ($5) or a full year membership ($60) to watch this concert. Those memberships will give you access to other upcoming Fridays at Five concerts and also their newly-launched live performances.

Andrew Cyrille – Village Vanguard – August 21st – August 22nd – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

At the age of 80 years old, drummer Andrew Cyrille has seen it all and performed it all. But rather than rest on his laurels, he continues to record and collaborate with some of today’s finest musicians including Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Bill McHenry and many more.

Cyrille’s resume would takes pages to fill. From an early recording session with Coleman Hawkins to becoming a member of Cecil Taylor’s band to working with 2020 NEA Jazz Master Reggie Workman, Cyrille has performed and recorded massive amounts of music.

In addition to performing and composing, he’s also a life-long advocate of music education and has long been teaching.

Joining him for these two live performances from the Village Vanguard in New York will be Bill Frisell on guitar; David Virelles on piano and Ben Street on bass. (Side note: Frisell just released a new album on Blue Note called Valentine.)

There is a $10 charge to see each performance.

Dominick Farinacci’s Rhapsody in Blue: Revisited – Tri-C JazzFest – August 22nd – August 23rd

Here’s our second of Dominick Farinacci’s performances. What appeals to me about this one is he will be playing his revised version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue from 2018. Goodbye clarinet, hello trumpet.

Joining Farinacci for this performance are Jamey Haddad on percussion, Walter Barnes Jr. on bass, Jonathan Thomas on piano, Gabe Jones on drums and Orlando Watson performing spoken word. Rhapsody in Blue is one of my favorite pieces of music. I’m intrigued both by the focus on trumpet and the inclusion of spoken word.

Will it work? Who knows. But it’s at least going to be interesting.

There’s your eclectic line-up for Jazz Stream: August 18th – August 23rd. Enjoy and stay cool!

Photo: Stacy Dillard (Courtesy of his Facebook Page)

Correction: We incorrectly stated that George Duke was Dianne Reeves’ uncle. He was her cousin. We regret the error.

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This Friday and Saturday night at Catalina Jazz Club these artists are coming together to help Burrell as he recovers from an accident two years ago. He is facing mounting medical bills, plus theft and bank fraud that have left him and his wife, Katherine Goodrich-Burrell, in dire financial straits. Katherine started a Go Fund Me page that has exceeded its goals, but no doubt has not met all their obligations.

Burrell made his recording debut with Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Milt Jackson, and Percy Heath. Looking at his career from there is like reading a list of who’s who in jazz:  Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, Gil Evans, Stanley Turrentine, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones, Oscar Peterson, Nat Adderly, Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Betty Carter, Aretha Franklin, Shirley Horn, Coleman Hawkins, Quincy Jones, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Smith and dozens more.

In addition to performing, Burrell is the founder and director of the Jazz Studies Program at UCLA.

If this astonishing career and amazing line-up don’t inspire you to go to one of these shows to help out a true legend, perhaps there’s one song Burrell played that proves his mastery of his instrument, the passion he has for music and the reason all these people are coming together.

Tickets for this event are only $25.

For tickets on Friday night go here.

For tickets on Saturday night, go here.

Photos of Kenny Burrell by William Claxton/Courtesy of BlueNote Records

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