Jazz
Updated — A celebratory month: Pianist Nando Michelin honors one of his native Uruguay’s greatest poets, a legendary Ethiopian vocalist rejoins the Either/Orchestra, a stellar Jazz Piano Summit comes to Connecticut, and much, much more.
I cite the repertoire only to give you a sense of the breadth of the material Jason Moran and Fred Hersch built on. The glory of the evening was the complete integration of the two pianists’ musical thought.
[Update: Tomas Fujiwara’s Ryles gig is on Friday, March 11, not Sunday, March 13.] Mardi Gras and Carnaval promise warmer days ahead, two keyboard giants team up, Colombian jazz fusion comes to town, and the Boston Jewish Music Festival gathers a fascinating variety of performers.
The second half of February offers warm-ups for Mardi Gras, an evening of musical tributes by the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, and more guitarists than you can shake a pick at.
UPDATE: Either/Orchestra’s 25th anniversary concert comes to New York—an unforgettable confluence of talent revisiting more than two decades of memorable compositions and arrangements.
There’s something special going on among the four musicians in BANN that is very promising—something that makes me want to see the band live. I hope one of our local bookers picks up on them soon, so I don’t have to go to New York City to do so. As You Like by BANN [Seamus…
Two rescheduled events—a celebration of Haiti and Mango Blue’s CD release—highlight the first half of February, along with a not-to-be-missed visit by Wayne Shorter and his Quartet.
People who love jazz should read jazz history books periodically, and Kevin Whitehead, jazz critic on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, has done a great service in giving us a What, Who, Where, and When book with insight and ingenuity.
UPDATE: The Mango Blue CD release event scheduled for tonight (January 26) has been cancelled due to the impending snowstorm; check back here for announcements concerning rescheduling.
Saxophonist Grace Kelly has to decide what kind of artist she wants to be in her maturity, how long a run she’d like to have, how much she intends to contribute to the jazz tradition—and how she intends to accomplish these things. By Steve Elman. A moment of reckoning arrives in the career of every…
Arts Commentary: The Kennedy Center and the Boston Symphony Orchestra — A Tale of Two Crises