Coming Attractions in Jazz: Late December 2010
By J. R. Carroll.
A second quarter-century celebration, this one for Either/Orchestra, plus some unusual Christmas programs and some outstanding Latin music, all in the latter part of December.
Holiday music with an interesting twist
Listening to Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O is a bit like eating a chocolate-covered habanero: The outside is sweet, but when you bite into the middle . . . yow! They’ll be at the Lily Pad on Friday, December 10, at 7 p.m.
Further west on the tenth, the Amazing Things Arts Center welcomes the Django-inspired Ameranouche at 8 p.m. And down in New Haven, at 8:30 and 10 p.m., Firehouse 12 celebrates bassist Mario Pavone in his 70th birthday year.
Moving ahead to Tuesday, December 14, the versatile and imaginative Dominique Eade sings at the Sahara in Methuen at 7:30 p.m.
A little later, at 8:15 p.m., the Berklee World Strings will present a concert at the Berklee Performance Center.
Newpoli
Especially for the holiday season, Newpoli has put together a unique program of Christmas music from the south of Italy; they’ll be at Ryles at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 15.
This is a big deal: former members and special guests augment Either/Orchestra for a singular 25th anniversary concert at the Regent Theatre in Arlington.
Friday, December 17, features a double bill at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center: pianist Kevin Harris plays at 7:30 p.m. and then, at 9 p.m., vocalist Valerie Stephens pays tribute to Nina Simone.
Meanwhile, at 8:30 and 10 p.m. in New Haven, Firehouse 12 presents guitarist Joel Harrison and Singularity septet.
You’ll have two opportunities to catch Argentinian composer/pianist Pablo Ablanedo’s superb Octet at the Lily Pad: Saturday, December 18, at 8 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 19.
Latin music phenomenon Alex Brown
Also on Saturday, at 10 p.m. at the Beehive, the phenomenal pianist Alex Brown leads his Latin jazz project.
Getting into Christmas week, on Tuesday, December 21, Hiro Honshuku’s A-NO-NE Christmas lights up the Acton Jazz Cafe.
More Latin music on Wednesday, December 22, when the Beehive hosts Cuban trumpeter Yaure Muniz Rumayor and Four Roots at 8 p.m. Then, on Thursday, December 23, at 9:30 p.m., the Fireplace presents Ten Tumbao.
The week between Christmas and the New Year is a little less quiet this year. On Tuesday, December 28, at 8 p.m., saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi and trumpeter Phil Grenadier perform with their group at the Beehive.
Ryles welcomes the Jozef Nadj Fusion System at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 29, and, on Thursday, December 30, at 9:30 p.m., the Trio edition of El Eco performs at the Fireplace.
Finally, celebrate First Night on Friday, December 31, with the amazing Benin guitarist Lionel Loueke at the Berklee Performance Center at 8 p.m. as part of NPR’s Toast of the Nation.
You and your readers would be interested in a documentary film project that’s almost finished post-production: The Girls in the Band documents the contemporary re-creation of the historic group photograph of African American, male jazz musicians assembled on the steps of a brownstone in Harlem decades earlier!
In 2008 the project producers returned to the same location with the women jazz musicians who were professionally working and acknowledged during that same historic period.
The photograph is now available for sale as a poster and the funds will help them complete work on the movie!
To order posters & learn more go to their FACEBOOK fan page:
THE GIRLS IN THE BAND.
I have absolutely no connection to this enterprise other than the fact that my mom is one of the women in the photograph! She was 90 when they took the photograph. Rosa was the bass player in Phil Spitalny’s All-Girl Orchestra, seen in the 3 movies they made in Hollywood with, among others, Dick Powell & Abbott&Costello.