My TOP CHOICE this week is:

JAZZ: MOTION I – OUT OF/INTO -Blue Note Records

Jazz has had many a supergroup. Out Of/Into is as good as it gets for jazz artists today. They are comprised of vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Gerald Clayton, drummer Kendrick Scott, bassist Matt Brewer and alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins. Each of them is a brilliant artist and this album shows how well they work together, too. Not a surprise for five artists who toured extensively earlier this year.

This album has a cohesion and a dialogue amongst the five men that makes for 45 minutes of incredible music. One can only hope that the title alludes to more albums from this incredible supergroup.

Clayton composed four of the seven tracks on Motion I. Brewer, Ross and Scott each contributed one composition. I love all the tracks, but Brewer’s Aspiring to Normalcy really stood out to me. After all, who amongst us doesn’t want to have some kind of normalcy in our turbulent times?

Motion I offers great jazz music that is both of our time and instantaneously timeless. That alone should get us one giant step closer to normalcy.

Here are the rest of my selections for New In Music This Week: December 6th:

CLASSICAL: MESSIAEN: TURANGALÎLA – SYMPHONIE – Yuja Wang, Cécile Lartigau, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons – Deutsche Grammophon

French composer Messiaen only wrote one symphony and this large composition for orchestra with piano and Ondes Martenot is a doozy. What is an Ondes Martenot you might ask? It’s an early electronic keyboard that sounds a bit like a theremin (see “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys) and is played via a keyboard or by the manipulation of wire by a ring.

Yuja Wang is the soloist on piano and Cécile Lartigau plays the Ondes Martenot.

This is an exciting performance of Messiaen’s challenging, important and fascinating work. The 75-minutes of this recording fly by and leaves a listener filled with satisfaction and a lot of questions that will, no doubt, be rewarded with further listenings.

CLASSICAL: MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS: THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA, SONY AND RCA RECORDINGS – Sony Classical

In celebration of conductor/composer Michael Tilson Thomas’ 80th birthday, this mammoth box set has 80 CDs (remember those?) of his recordings from 1973-2005.

There are many of the most popular classical music compositions to be found from such composers as Beethoven, Mahler, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. There is also a lot of music by Charles Ives (a composer I’ve always felt Tilson Thomas handles quite well), George Gershwin (including the legendary recording with Sarah Vaughan and the Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Aaron Copland (another Tilson Thomas specialty).

This box set is a tribute to Tilson Thomas and a must-have for anyone who loves him and his approach to music.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: SONIC WIRES – Katia Labèque, Marielle Labèque, David Chalmin, Bryce Dessner – Deutsche Grammophon

I’ve long been a fan of the Labèque Sisters who play piano beautifully. On this album (only available digitally), they are joined by composer/musician Bryce Dessner and singer/composer/musician David Chalmin. They perform work by Chalmin, Dessner along with Timo Andres, Philip Glass, David Lang, Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, Sufjan Stevens and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.

I loved every minute of this album and feel that even those who are afraid of contemporary classical music will find a lot to enjoy here. You will be challenged at times, but never in a way that makes you question the investment of your time. This is 61 minutes of music that will inspire, entertain and move you.

My favorite tracks are Out of Shape by Andres, Ever Present by Lang, Valencia by Shaw and Reflexion by Stevens.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: ALEXEY SHOR: COMPOSER’S NOTEBOOK, VOL. 1 – Marc Bouchkov, Anna Ulaieva, Kyiv Virtuosi, John Warner, Dmitry Yablonsky – Naxos

This album from Ukrainian-born composer Shor focuses on two works: Travel Notebook, Suite for Piano and Violin Concerto No.4 in B Minor. Both works are relatively new having had their debuts in the last 3-5 years.

Travel Notebook has seven movements and features soloist Anna Ulaieva. The violin concerto has a traditional three-movement structure and features Bouchkov as the soloist. One of the things I enjoyed most about this recording, and the compositions themselves, is that they are performed with a string orchestra.

Not being hugely familiar with Shor’s work, this is a welcome addition to his recorded repertoire.

JAZZ: LIVE IN BROOKLYN – The Fury – Giant Step Arts

This is the first of two live recordings released by Giant Step Arts this week. Our album of the week is a supergroup and this album features another first-rate ensemble of artists and shares bassist Matt Brewer as a member.

In addition to Brewer, The Fury features guitarist Lage Lund, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner and Pulitzer Prize-winner Tyshawn Sorey. It must have been pretty exciting to be in the audience when this album was recorded live. Not only are these four massively-talented musicians, but their playing on this recording is nothing short of phenomenal.

There are seven tracks on this album – six of them originals written by Brewer, Lund and Turner. All of them showcasing these four musicians who are certainly creating some of the best music in modern jazz.

JAZZ: THE CROSS OVER: LIVE IN BROOKLYN – Jason Palmer – Giant Step Arts

Opening a live performance with solo trumpet is a pretty ballsy way to start a show. That’s precisely what Palmer did on this live recording and it announces straight away that we should expect something unconventional, yet still grounded in classic jazz traditions. After a bit more than two minutes drummer Marcus Gilmore joins the opening track, B.A.M.D. Gradually bassist Larry Grenadier and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner join in and we’re off and running.

Through the nine tracks of The Cross Over, Palmer reveals himself to be an inventive and daring musician. He’s been recording albums for nearly 15 years and I have to admit this is the first time I’ve listened to one of his albums. Suffice to say, I will be listening to a lot more of them moving forward.

The Cross Over is an impressive album that showcases the talent of all four musicians. But front and center is Palmer who composed all nine tracks.

MUSICALS: HADESTOWN: LIVE FROM LONDON – Original London Cast – Arts Music and Sing it Again Records

The Tony Award-winning musical by Anaïs Mitchell gets it London cast recording here with most of the recording coming from the original London cast’s final performance. They sound like they are giving it their all and the audience is certainly responding.

The cast incudes Dónal Finn as “Orpheus”, Zachary James as “Hades,” Melanie La Barrie as “Hermes,” Gloria Onitiri as “Persephone” and Grace Hodgett Young as “Eurydice.”

Given the audience’s response, you’d think this was more than a musical. It’s as if the cast is getting rock star treatment. Like many a live recording (at least those that don’t rely on a lot of overdubs), the high level of energy more than compensates for any imperfections in the performances.

This is an exciting document of this wholly original musical.

Today’s release is solely on digital platforms. Next week the CD will be available and one week later a limited-edition pop-up vinyl version will be released. The traditional vinyl release will happen next year.

That’s all for New In Music This Week: December 6th.

Enjoy the music! Enjoy your weekend!

Main Photo: Part of the album art for Motion I (Courtesy Blue Note Records)

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My top pick is:

JAZZ: nublues – JOEL ROSS – Blue Note Records

I’ve been listening to vibraophonist Ross’s nublues for several weeks now. He’s spending time amongst the blues and ballads on this quietly powerful album. All but three of the tracks on this album were written by Ross.

The three covers (the first of which is the second track on the album – a ballsy choice I love) are Equinox by John Coltrane; Evidence by Thelonious Monk and the last track is another Coltrane composition: Central Park West.

Joining Ross on nublues are Jeremy Corren on piano; Jeremy Dutton on drums; Gabrielle Garo on flute; Kanoa Mendenhall on bass and Immanuel Wilkins on alto saxophone.

Standout tracks are mellowdee, bach (God the Father in Eternity) and the title track. But I love this album from start to finish. 

The other titles in New In Music This Week: February 9^th are:

CLASSICAL:  BEETHOVEN: THE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES – Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra – NSO Recordings

A three-year journey to release recordings of all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies is realized with this digital release from the NSO in Washington, D.C. (There will be a box set coming out on February 23^rd which will include a Blu-Ray of the Ninth Symphony).

Joining Noseda and the NSO for the Ninth Symphony (which is the recording that completes this series) are bass-baritone Ryan McKinny; mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor; tenor Issachah Savage; soprano Camilla Tilling and the Washington Chorus. The recording of the 9^th Symphony is spellbinding.

Does the world need another cycle of Beethoven symphony recordings? My argument has always been that no two conductors or orchestras approach this music, no matter how often performed, the same way. 

I have appreciated all the recordings leading up to this release. Take a listen, perhaps you will, too!

JAZZ:  AZIMUTH – Azimuth – ECM Luminescence Series vinyl release only UPDATE: This release has been delayed until March 29th

This album was first released in 1977 and features pianist John Taylor, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and vocalist Norma Winstone. All three having had substantial careers before joining forces.

Taylor worked with Cleo Laine and saxophonists Alan Skidmore and John Surman before forming Azimuth. Wheeler worked with John Dankworth (perhaps leading to Taylor’s introduction to Laine since they were married), Maynard Ferguson. Winstone, who was named top singer in the 1971 Melody Maker Jazz Poll, was married to Taylor, though they later divorced.

Whatever their work before or after, this is a fascinating album of six originals (written by John Taylor alone, but mostly with Winstone.)

JAZZ:  THREE – Pat Bianchi – 21H Records

The Hammond B3 organ is easily one of my favorite instruments to listen to. In this new release from organist Bianchi he is joined by saxophonist Troy Roberts and drummer Colin Stranahan for a recording of six jazz standards.

The album opens with Cole Porter’s Love for Sale and ends with Irving Berlin’s Cheek to Cheek. The three middle tracks stand out for me:  When Sunny Gets Blue, Wayne Shorter’s Dance Cadaverous and Eddie Harris’s Cryin Blues. They also perform Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust.

Three is an album that feels very much today and also of another period at the same time. 

JAZZ:  TINY BIG BAND 2 – Nikos Chatzitsakos – self-released

In 2022, bassist/composer Chatzitsakos released Tiny Big Band. Sadly, I didn’t know anything about that album or him until he reached out and sent a link to the album’s sequel, Tiny Big Band 2.

I have a feeling about sequels…they are usually unnecessary. But this one worked so effectively that I went back and listened to Tiny Big Band.

This album opens with All or Nothing at All and includes music written by Donald Byrd, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart and more. Plus, they make a convincing argument that The Windmills of Your Mind, written by Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman is a truly great song. (The first to do this, in my opinion, since Dusty Springfield.)

The members of this Tiny Big Band include Art Baden on tenor sax; Samuel Bolduc on drums; Chatzitsakos on doubles bass; Joey Curreri on trumpet; Robert Mac-Vega Dowda on trumpet; Gabriel Nekrutman on baritone saxophone; Eleni Ermina Sofou on vocals; Armando Vergara on trombone; Alexandria De Walt on vocals and Wilfie Williams on piano. 

While Tiny Big Band 2 is what’s New In Music This Week: Febraury 9^th, both albums are worth your time.

JAZZ:  LIVE IN CHICAGO – Gustavo Cortiñas – Desafío Candente Records

One look at the cover for this live album from drummer/composer Cortiñas and you’ll have a good idea what you’re in for: a fusion of Mexico and Chicago. Mexico City to be precise.

Listening to the opening track, Overature, you know that you’re in for something unique. Cortiñas is joined by saxophonist/clarinetist Artie Black; trombonist Matthew Davis; pianist Joaquin Garcia; trumpeter Drew Hansen and bassist Kitt Lyles on this two-disc album.

On the press notes for Live in Chicago, Cortiñas says, “I believe that it is a rite of passage for any jazz artist to put out a live record.” This one, filled exclusively with original compositions, is the kind of live album that makes me want to hear this music in person.

JAZZ:  COMPASSION – Vijay Iyer with Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey – ECM Records

This incredible album came out last week. Sadly, I forgot. But I’m not going to let New In Music This Week: February 9^th make the same mistake.

Iyer composed most of the tracks on this album. As one would expect, they are terrific as always. What most impressed me about Compassion, besides the obvious need for it in all our lives and the beautiful way Iyer expresses this through his writing, is that incredible freedom he, Oh and Sorey have with each recording.

The trio previously recorded Uneasy which was released in 2021. If the previous album reflected the turmoil of our present-day lives, this album serves as a beautiful call to action. Do yourself a favor and listen to both albums.

That’s my list of What’s New In Music This Week: February 9th.

May whichever team you are rooting for be victorious this weekend.

Enjoy your weekend.

Enjoy the music.

Main Photo: Part of the album art for nublues by Joel Ross

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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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McCraven, who calls himself a beat scientist, is a drummer, producer and one of the most successful artists to mix the past with the present and jazz with hip-hop to create new sounds that are both of the past and looking forward.

His latest project is Deciphering The Message. The album, also on Blue Note Records, finds contemporary artists Matt Gold, Marquis Hill, De’Sean Jones, Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Joel Ross and Greg Ward adding new beats and music to classic tracks by Blakey, Clifford Brown, Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver and more.

Last month I spoke via Zoom with McCraven about the album, his view on the past meeting the present and if that pairing can help bridge the ever-widening distance between people in 2021. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

In late 2019 you said, “It’s a crazy time to be alive. There’s a crazy craving for something visceral, something honest, something vulnerable from art.” So much has changed in the two years since you said that. How would you describe the time we’re in now?

It feels like we’re in a completely new world. But I think even more so than ever, you know, there is a feeling that people don’t want the bullshit. They don’t want this life anymore. They don’t want the superficial anymore. Increasingly people want and need a hug, a good talking to, a dose of reality. Something that’s not just fake. I need a dose of of of something real, you know? It’s difficult. It’s crazy. It’s challenging times.

When you embarked on this project, what did you want to accomplish?

In this world where people are listening to individual songs now, I have wanted to make albums. I want to make a record and not a collection of songs and definitely not a collection of beats on a project like this.

There are definitely some central themes dealing with the past and present. One thing I connected with is you look at the people who created this music they were the innovators. They were young people. I think often we look at as this old music. It’s all under these terms of the elders and whatnot.

I’m remixing and bringing things into the modern place and having guys like Joel Ross and young musicians and players that are doing things now, interacting with the youthful nature of that music.

You look at Lee Morgan and Herbie Hancock and Hank Mobley. These guys were like 20 years old and 18 years old. Lee Morgan was 21 when he died. The amount of influence that he gave to us and how he changed the music – now it’s part of the fabric of the sound of contemporary modern music. And so to interact with that with young musicians, with the fresh ideas and bring a light to the innovative nature of this old music celebrates the music and creates something that has some symbiosis.

Jazz tracks have often been sampled but as a backdrop to the new track. On Deciphering The Message the classic tracks seem to live comfortably next to the new music. They aren’t subservient to what you’ve created.

I definitely wanted there to be playing on the record. I didn’t want to just make these small beats. I wanted to make music out of it as well. And I appreciate that comment.

There has been a framing of jazz in a way for sometime where like it’s not for young people. It’s not cool. It’s not hip. It’s not funky. If you’re going to be a jazz musician say goodbye to your career.

I always want to push back on that one. I think the word jazz is wholly insufficient to really talk about the phenomenon of what we’re dealing with. This is music of innovation. This is music that’s hip and bad ass, you know?

A lot of the tracks you selected come from the bop, hard bop and post-bop era. What made that particular style of jazz so attractive to you for this album?

When I went about picking tracks a lot of it was organic and digging and just listening to stuff. I had a number of themes and ideas that I was working around when I was trying to conceive what the narrative was going to be and how I wanted to do it. But at the end of the day the music kind of just helped me bring it together. And you know, from this hard bop era, I did find a lot of these tracks. 

Finding a lot of great little vamps in intros and and particularly with the writing of like Horace Silver and Kenny Dorham. There’s a lot of really catchy moments and catchy things that I found just spoke to me. As I started to piece it together, it just got a sound and that kind of came throughout the whole thing. If it sounds right, if it feels right, then I’m on board.

In an interview you did with Ayana Contreras you said “Nothing ever is what it was.” How does that philosophy influence your work and how you live your life?

The way that the world unfolds is within chaos and unpredictability. You know we are all improvisers. It’s a given in the universe that we are out of control. We don’t have full control. We can create as much structure as we like and we can try to maintain as an individual and within society. But we are all subject to the chaos around us and having to improvise and be ready for the unknown. And to me improvisation in jazz and music, in this musical sense, is just an expression of the universe that we are living in.

I’d like to conclude by asking you about something the legendary Dexter Gordon said. “In nuclear war all men are cremated equal.” As polarized as society is today, what role can and should music play in helping us recognize that we’re all one people?

I think music and art in general can disarm even the worst of us in one way or another and transform it into another place where we can have collective experiences that are not bound by just our word or ideas.

Particularly like with this music that’s instrumental. I think there’s something with instrumental music that’s really special because we’re not dealing with the literal word. We’re not dealing with the lyric. We’re dealing with an abstract thing that we can experience beyond language, border or whatever. I hope that the work that we do as musicians and artists has a strong and profound place in society to help open the minds and change the hearts of of people who are suffering and angry and all of the above. 

Photo of Makaya McCraven by Michael McDermott (Courtesy Big Fish Booking)

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Our top pick, previewed yesterday, is a reading of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart on Saturday. We also have some great jazz music for you (both traditional vocals and a very contemporary performance), a London production of Chekhov that earned rave reviews, a tribute to two of Broadway’s best songwriters, chamber music and a contortionist. After all, it’s Mother’s Day weekend. Don’t all mothers just love contortionists?

Here are the Top 10 Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th

*TOP PICK* PLAY READING: The Normal Heart – ONE Archives Foundation – May 8th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

We previewed this event yesterday as out Top Pick, but here are the pertinent details:

Director Paris Barclay has assembled Sterling K. Brown, Laverne Cox, Jeremy Pope, Vincent Rodriguez III, Guillermo Díaz, Jake Borelli, Ryan O’Connell, Daniel Newman, Jay Hayden and Danielle Savre for a virtual reading of Larry Kramer’s play.

The reading will be introduced by Martin Sheen.

There will be just this one live performance of The Normal Heart. It will not be available for viewing afterwards. There will be a Q&A with the cast and Barclay following the reading. Tickets begin at $10 for students, $20 for general admission.

PLAY READING: Rachel – Roundabout Theatre Company’s Refocus Project – Now – May 7th

Angelina Weld Grimké’s 1916 play Rachel, is the second play in the Refocus Project from Roundabout Theatre Company. Their project puts emphasis on plays by Black playwrights from the 20th century that didn’t get enough attention or faded into footnotes of history in an effort to bring greater awareness to these works.

Rachel tells the story of a Black woman who, upon learning some long-ago buried secrets about her family, has to rethink being a Black parent and bringing children into the world.

Miranda Haymon directs Sekai Abení, Alexander Bello, E. Faye Butler, Stephanie Everett, Paige Gilbert, Brandon Gill, Toney Goins, Abigail Jean-Baptiste and Zani Jones Mbayise.

The reading is free, but registration is required.

JAZZ: Joel Ross & Immanuel Wilkins – Village Vanguard – May 7th – May 9th

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more compelling pairing of jazz musicians than vibraphonist Joel Ross and alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.

The two have been collaborating for quite some time. Wilkins is a member of Ross’ Good Vibes quintet.

Nate Chinen, in a report for NPR, described a 2018 concert in which Ross performed with drummer Makaya McCraven this way. “Ross took one solo that provoked the sort of raucous hollers you’d sooner expect in a basketball arena. Again, this was a vibraphone solo.“

Wilkins album, Omega, was declared the Best Jazz Album of 2020 by Giovanni Russonello of the New York Times.

I spoke to Wilkins last year about the album and his music. You can read that interview here. And if you’re a fan, Jason Moran, who produced the album, told me that this music was “just the tip of the iceberg.”

Tickets for this concert are $10.

PLAY: Uncle Vanya – PBS Great Performances – May 7th check local listings

Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya is performed by a cast headed by Richard Armitrage and Toby Jones. Conor McPherson adapted the play for this production which played at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London and was directed by Ian Rickson.

Arifa Akbar, writing in her five-star review for The Guardian, said of the production:

“Ian Rickson’s exquisite production is full of energy despite the play’s prevailing ennui. It does not radically reinvent or revolutionise Chekov’s 19th-century story. It returns us to the great, mournful spirit of Chekhov’s tale about unrequited love, ageing and disappointment in middle-age, while giving it a sleeker, modern beat.

“McPherson’s script has a stripped, vivid simplicity which quickens the pace of the drama, and despite its contemporary language – Vanya swears and uses such terms as “wanging on” – it does not grate or take away from the melancholic poetry.”

CHAMBER MUSIC: Beyond the Horizon – LA Chamber Orchestra – Premieres May 7th – 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT

This is the 12th episode in LACO’s Close Quarters series and definitely one of its most intriguing. Jessie Montgomery, the composer who curated the previous episode, curates this episode as well. She is joined by her fellow alums from Juilliard, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (who directs) and music producer Nadia Sirota.

The program features Alvin Singleton’s Be Natural (a pun any music major will understand); Mazz Swift’s The End of All That Is Holy, The Beginning of All That is Good and Montgomery’s Break Away.

The performance portion of Beyond the Horizon is conducted by Christopher Rountree of Wild Up! Visual artist Yee Eun Nam contributes to the film as does art director James Darrah.

There is no charge to watch Beyond the Horizon.

CHAMBER MUSIC: MusiKaravan: A Classical Road Trip with Delerium Musicum – The Wallis Sorting Room Sessions – May 7th – May 9th

Music by Johannes Brahms, Charlie Chaplin, Frederic Chopin, Vittorio Monti, Sergei Prokofiev, Giacomo Puccini and Dmitri Shostakovich will be performed by Delerium Musicum founding violinists Étienne Gara and YuEun Kim. They will be joined for two pieces by bassist Ryan Baird.

The full ensemble of musicians that make up Delerium Musicum will join for one of these pieces? Which one will it be? There is only one way to find out.

This concert is part of The Sorting Room Sessions at The Wallis.

Tickets are $20 and will allow for streaming for 48 hours

MOTHER’S DAY OFFERINGS: MOMentum Place and A Catalina Tribute to Mothers – May 8th

Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum is celebrating Mother’s Day with MOMentum Place, a show featuring aerial artists, circus performers, dancers and musicians. The line-up includes circus artist Elena Brocade; contortionist and acrobat Georgia Bryan, aerialist and stilt dancer Jena Carpenter of Dream World Cirque, ventriloquist Karl Herlinger, hand balancer Tyler Jacobson, stilt walker and acrobat Aaron Lyon, aerialist Kate Minwegen, cyr wheeler Sarah Moser and Cirque du Soleil alum Eric Newton, plus Dance Dimensions Kids and Focus Fish Kids. The show was curated by aerlist/dancer Lexi Pearl. Tickets are $35.

Catalina Jazz Club is holding A Catalina Tribute to Mothers at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. Headlining the concert are singers Jack Jones, Freda Payne and Tierney Sutton. Vocalist Barbara Morrison is a special guest. Also performing are  Kristina Aglinz, Suren Arustamyan, Lynne Fiddmont, Andy Langham, Annie Reiner, Dayren Santamaria, Tyrone Mr. Superfantastic and more. Dave Damiani is the host. The show is free, however donations to help keep the doors open at Catalina Jazz Club are welcomed and encouraged.

JAZZ: Love in Exile – The Phillips Collection – May 9th – 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

There is no set program for this performance by pianist/composer Vijay Iyer, vocalist Arooj Aftab and bassist Shazad Ismaily. The website says Love in Exile performs as one continuous hour-long set.

Having long been a fan of Iyer, spending an hour wherever he and his fellow musicians wants to go sounds like pure heaven to me.

Iyer’s most recent album, Uneasy, was released in April on ECM Records and finds him performing with double bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. It’s a great album. You should definitely check it out.

There is no charge to watch this concert, but registration is required. Once Love in Exile debuts, you’ll have 7 days to watch the performance as often as you’d like.

DANCE: Past, Present, Future – ALL ARTS – May 9th – May 11th

ALL ARTS, part of New York’s PBS stations, is holding an three-night on-line dance festival beginning on Sunday.

If We Were a Love Song is first up at 8:00 PM ET on Sunday. Nina Simone’s music accompanies this work conceived by choreographer Kyle Abraham who is collaborating with filmmaker Dehanza Rogers.

Dancers (Slightly Out of Shape) airs on Monday at 8:00 PM ET. This is part documentary/part dance featuring choreographer Pam Tanowitz as she and her company resume rehearsals last year during the Covid crisis. It leads to excerpts from Every Moment Alters which is set to the music of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw.

One + One Make Three closes out the festival on Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET. This film showcases the work of Kinetic Light, an ensemble featuring disabled performers. This is also part documentary/part dance made by director Katherine Helen Fisher.

All three films will be accompanied by ASL and Open Captions for the hearing impaired.

BROADWAY: Broadway Close Up: Kander and Ebb – Kaufman Music Center – May 10th – 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT

You know the work of John Kander and Fred Ebb: Cabaret, Chicago, Flora the Red Menace, Kiss of the Spider Woman, New York New York, The Scottsboro Boys and Woman of the Year.

Their work will be explored, discussed and performed with host Sean Hartley.

He’s joined by Tony Award-winner Karen Ziemba (Contact) who appeared in two musicals by the duo: Curtains and Steel Pier. The latter was written specifically for her.

Any fan of Kander and Ebb will want to purchase a ticket for this show. Tickets are $15

Those are our Top Ten Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th (even if we cheated a little bit by having two options listed together). But there are a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera has their own view of mothers with their theme of Happy Mother’s Day featuring Berg’s Wozzeck on Friday; Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Saturday and Handel’s Agrippina on Sunday.

Puccini returns for the start of National Council Auditions Alumni Week with a 1981-1982 season production of La Bohème. We’ll have all the details for you on Monday.

LA Opera’s Signature Recital Series continues with the addition of a recital by the brilliant soprano Christine Goerke.

One rumor to pass along to you: word has it Alan Cumming will be Jim Caruso’s guest on Monday’s Pajama Cast Party.

That completes all our selections of Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th. I hope all of you who are mothers have a terrific weekend. For those of you celebrating with your moms, I hope we’ve given you plenty of options to consider.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the culture!

Photo: Larry Kramer (Photo by David Shankbone/Courtesy David Shankbone)

The post Best Bets: May 7th – May 10th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

We have updated this post with a very special event from New York City’s Summerstage on Saturday that also celebrates Parker.

Here is this week’s Jazz Stream:

Palladium Plays the Music of Wayne Shorter – Smalls – August 25th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PDT

While saxophonist Nicole Glover might not be a household name, within the jazz community she’s made quite a name for herself. She’s performed with Jason Brown, Mel Brown, Mike Clark, George Colligan, Kenny Garrett, Rodney Green, Chuck Israels, Geoffrey Keezer, Victor Lewis, Bernie Maupin, Gene Perla and Esperanza Spaulding.

Her sax playing has taken her around the world and includes some of the world’s most prestigious jazz clubs and venues.

But what makes this performance from Smalls compelling is that she is going to play the music of legendary sax musician Wayne Shorter. His work is both complicated and simple; intellectual and emotional; inspired and inspiring.

Joining Glover for this gig are Chien Chien Lu on vibraphone; Sean Mason on piano, Russell Hall on bass and Rodney Green on drums.

Pasquale Grasso Solo and Trio Filmed Live at Birdland – August 25th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Certain praise helps make people aware of you. Then there’s that one quote that forever puts you on the map. For guitarist Pasquale Grasso it was when Pat Metheny proclaimed him “The best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life.”

Italian born Pasquale Grasso is a fixture in the New York jazz scene. This year he’s been releasing digital only EPs that find him playing solo versions of music written by and/or closely identified with the likes of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Grasso’s personal idol, Bud Powell.

This concert was filmed at Birdland as part of the Radio Free Birdland! series and also part of their Charlie Parker Centennial Celebration. Grasso will be performing solo and in a trio with bassist Ari Roland and drummer Kenny Washington.

On Solo Bird, his tribute to Parker, her performs How High the Moon/Ornithology, Yardbird Suite, Parker’s Mood and more.

Tickets for this concert are $13.50. Advance purchase is recommended.

Vanisha Gould Quartet – Smalls – August 26th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PDT

Here’s another artist who isn’t as well known yet as she’s going to be. Vocalist Vanisha Gould clearly knows the legacy of jazz singers that preceded her, but she’s also willing to take that knowledge and make something wholly her own in the process.

She performs on Wednesday at Smalls with Chris McCarthy on piano; Dan Pappalardo on bass and Anwar Marshall on drums.

Billy Stritch Filmed Live at Birdland – August 27th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Singer/arranger/pianist Billy Stritch‘s second home is New York’s Birdland. So it was inevitable that he would join the list of musicians filming a concert on the New York venue’s stage for the Radio Free Birdland! series.

Rather than accompany others (as he does for Jim Caruso’s Cast Party and for artists such as Christine Ebersole, Linda Lavin and Liza Minnelli), he will be going solo for this show called Hooray For Love.

The set will feature such songs as Meet Me Midnight, You’ll See, Buds Won’t Bud and With So Little to Be Sure Of (which certainly seems like the song that best defines our world today. It comes from Stephen Sondheim’s 1964 musical, Anyone Can Whistle).

Billy Stritch’s style is a classic blend of jazz and cabaret and his arrangements are always tasty.

Tickets for this show are $23.50. Advance purchase is recommended.

You should also check out Billy’s Place on YouTube. He’s done 16 episodes so far from his home in New York. The most recent was a celebration of the work of Harold Arlen.

Wayne Shorter Celebration Part 4 – SFJazz – August 28th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SFJazz’s Fridays at Five this week continues the celebration of sax legend Wayne Shorter. This concert, from January 2019, finds sax musician Joshua Redman and trumpet player Ambrose Akinmusire joining Shorter’s long-time quartet musicians pianist Danilo Pérez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade.

This was one of a series of concerts that replaced scheduled Shorter concerts at SFJazz when the musician took ill.

It bears repeating that SFJazz’s streaming programming is available for either a one-month subscription of $5 or an annual subscription for $60. That will allow you to catch each Fridays at Five concert and additional programming they are adding to their line-up including live concerts. And if you join to see Wayne Shorter Celebration Part 4, you’ll also be able to watch Wayne Shorter Celebration Part 5 when Shorter is actually a part of the concert.

Lastly, let’s all wish Mr. Shorter a very happy birthday. August 25th (the day this post first runs) is his 87th birthday. We wish him well and many more happy birthdays. Thank you for the music!

David Murray – Village Vanguard – August 28th – August 29th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

Tenor sax musician David Murray has a perfect record at the Grammy Awards. As a member of McCoy Tyner’s band that recorded Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane, he won the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Group in 1986.

Will he also be celebrating Bird in these two performances from the Village Vanguard in New York? It’s possible. Remember that he also earned considerable acclaim for his album Dark Star that was a tribute to the Grateful Dead. So anything is truly possible.

Though first on the scene as a performer of free jazz, Murray’s style has evolved over the years. In a 1984 story for the New York Times, Robert Palmer described Murray’s style this way:

“Although he is only 27 years old, his sound is ripely mature. Unlike most younger tenor saxophonists, who seem to have affected the forced, trebly tone associated with the late John Coltrane, Mr. Murray plays with the big-sound swagger of the mainline tenor tradition, which began with Coleman Hawkins and extended through Ben Webster to Sonny Rollins to the rhythm-and-blues honkers to Archie Schepp and Albert Ayler.”

Joining Murray for these two concerts will be pianist Lafayette Gilchrist.

Tickets are $10. Advance purchase is recommended.

SummerStage Anywhere Charlie Parker’s 100th Birthday Celebration – SummmerStage Instagram Page – August 29th – 10:30 AM EDT/7:30 AM PDT

This summer would have seen New York’s SummerStage holding their 28th annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in person in Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park. However, circumstances being what they are, they are going online this year. What they have planned seems truly special.

A full day of programming is on tap and it features artists Jason Moran, Christian McBride, Immanuel Wilkins, Ravi Coltrane, Dee Dee Bridgewater and many more. Here’s the schedule (all times listed below are EDT):

10:30 AM – A recap of the 2018 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. Included in this opening program are singer Catherine Russell, drummer/pianist Jack DeJohnette, pianist Monty Alexander, pianist/singer Amina Claudine Myers, bassist Buster Williams and more.

10:45 AM – Drummer Jerome Jennings will moderate a conversation with Sam Turvey, the founder of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival and producer of the events and Erika Elliott, Executive Artistic Director of SummerStage.

12:00 PM – A showing of the 2018 performance of UNHEARD. It was written by and featured saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonist Joel Ross and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill. (Note: Next week we will have an interview with Wilkins about his impressive new album, Omega.)

12:15 PM – Six-time Grammy Award winning bassist/composer Christian McBride and singer Sheila Jordan will discuss Parker.

1:30 PM – A recap of the 2019 Charlier Parker Jazz Festival. Included in this recapped are drummer Winard Harper and his group Jeli Posse, multi-genre band Mwenso & The Shakes, singer Quiana Lynell, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, harpist Brandee Younger, saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and more.

1:45 PM – A tap dance masterclass with Ayodele Casel (who collaborated with Arturo O’Farrill on a show at the Joyce Theatre in New York last September that left critics searching for additional superlatives to use).

4:00 PM – After a walk through Tompkins Square Park and a visit to Parker’s house, Turvey and Elliot will be joined in conversation by pianist/composer Jason Moran, saxophonist Jaleel Shaw and others. The event will conclude with a showing of the 2012 performance by multi-instrumentalist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson of Bird With Strings at that year’s festival.

Celebrating Bird – A Conversation with Music – 92Y – August 29th 2:00 PM EDT/11:00 AM PDT $10

New York’s 92 Street Y is offering up a series of on-line programs celebrating the centennial of Charlie Parker. They are having a screening of Clint Eastwood’s film Bird on Friday night; a Charlie Parker listening party on Saturday at 12 PM EDT and later that night they will show Hope Boykin’s dance film ...a movement. Journey.

But for me the highlight will be Saturday afternoon’s Celebrating Bird – A Conversation with Music. Former Village Voice writer Gary Giddins, who authored the 1986 book Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker, will moderate a conversation that includes four contemporary jazz sax musicians: Joe Lovano, Charles McPherson, Grace Kelly and Antonio Hart.

Also joining the conversation will be legendary bebop pianist Barry Harris. Before he started recording in the 1950s, Harris sat in on some sets with Parker in Detroit in the 1940s. Parker, according to Harris’ website, would also come to the pianist’s house to see how he taught music.

Harris has performed with many of jazz music’s biggest names: Benny Golson, Sonny Stitt, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Cannonball Adderley, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young – to name a few.

Archival footage will be shown and some of Parker’s most famous recordings will be part of the program. Several of Parker’s compositions will also be performed by the musicians. Amongst the songs scheduled to be performed are Yardbird Suite and Ornithology.

Tickets are $10. Advance purchase is recommended.

Ramsey Lewis – Saturday Salon on StageIt – August 29th – 2:00 PM EDT/11:00 AM PDT

National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis has been making music in the public eye since 1956. The pianist has recorded over 80 albums. He’s won three Grammy Awards. He was also the host of a highly-rated public television series about jazz called Legends of Jazz.

In other words, if they do another series he’ll be in it, he won’t be hosting it.

This Saturday he’ll perform a show called Songs From The In Crowd on StageIt with some of the proceeds going to the Jazz Foundation of America. The money will help assist jazz musicians unable to make a living due to the current pandemic.

Tickets are $20.

Jon-Erik Kellso Quartet – Smalls – August 29th – 4:45 PM EDT/1:45 PDT

You know if Wynton Marsalis has you as a member of his Tentet playing Louis Armstrong material, you have to be a terrific jazz trumpet musician. Such is the role that Jon-Erik Kellso has played for Marsalis for several years. Kellso has also been a regular member of Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks.

Kellso will be front and center of his own quartet when they take to the stage at Smalls in New York on Saturday. Joining him will be Evan Arntzen on clarinet; Rossano Sportiello on piano and Neal Miner on bass.

Again, not a household name, but when the music is this good, does that really matter?

That’s Jazz Stream: August 25th – August 30th. Be sure to check out our Best Bets on Friday for the weekend. We often add more jazz listings there.

Main photo: Charlie Parker (Courtesy of CharlieParker.com)

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