Jazz
From honors for Boston jazz heroes to many flavors of the “Spanish tinge”, it’s an eventful month, especially for NEC’s 40-year-old Contemporary Improvisation department and the annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert as it turns 35.
Jazz musician Don Byron is nothing if not eclectic, but his own playing is always penetrating, challenging, energizing, and his compositions vehicles for both intense exploration and tenderness.
Chick Corea and Gary Burton were celebrating their recent disc, “Hot House,” which they said was meant to recall the sixties, when the two were starting their careers. But the sixties were never quite like this.
It was a rocking night, full of fun and energy. It was intelligent, maybe even a bit brainy at times.
Mark Harvey and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: It’s hard to remember what the Boston jazz community was like before Harvey came along. In fact, the term “jazz community” would have seemed far-fetched at best if anyone had used it.
Intimacy has been the key note of bossa nova performance ever since the initial murmurings of Joao and Astrud Gilberto, and singer Eliane Elias can whisper with the best of them.
[Update: Tonight’s performance at Scullers by Mozik and special guest Rebecca Parris is still on. Rumor has it that the set will include Herbie Hancock’s “The Eye of the Hurricane”.] All treats, no tricks —it’s a great month for jazz in New England. The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra turns forty, and so does NEC’s Contemporary Improvisation department. Meanwhile, a raft of musicians make deep dives into electronica.
Honesty is Best Policy Disclosure: I was in the hall to hear Mostly Other People Do the Killing. I’d heard the band on CD, and I knew that the only way I could appreciate them fully was to attend a performance.
Ray Charles had one of the great voices of the 20th century, and even the best singers have very large shoes to fill when paying tribute.
Updated Sept. 19. Performances tonight and tomorrow evening by the Fred Hersch Trio and the Jeremy Pelt Quintet at Scullers have been cancelled due to a power outage at the DoubleTree hotel. Also, a late addition to the schedule: poet Robert Pinsky and pianist Laurence Hobgood at Club Oberon; plus, a reminder that Brazilian guitarist Rogerio Souza is at Ryles tonight. (For details, see below.) As autumn approaches, Berklee celebrates Ray Charles, NEC kicks off 40th anniversary festivities for its Contemporary Improvisation department, and New England jazz boasts a series of spectacular duo performances, Brazilian music in a variety of flavors, release events for new CDs, and some all-star quintets.
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