Well the weather has finally turned nice, and everything is going great these days. Only problem is I’ve been super busy, and the pace is accelerating.
I’ve been seeing lots of live music lately, making up for over two years of not being able to go out and see bands. Since my last blog post I’ve seen four live acts.
First, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau at Caramoor. Brad has a unique and compelling style that combines a melodic approach with a deep, abstract imagination and great technique. His album Nearness with Joshua Redman a few years ago really drew me in and remains one of my all-time favorites. This was a solo show and the program was about half originals and half interpretations of pop and rock songs by artists like The Beatles, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder and David Bowie. It was not exactly jazz, because his left hand doesn’t follow typical patterns for modern jazz, but is much more rhythmically active, but pretty different from the stride style. Probably the closet thing I’d compare him to is actually Duke Ellington, not that he sounds much like Duke, but has a similar approach in using all the different tones, dynamics and registers of the piano like an orchestra.
Caramoor is a great place to see a show. It’s this former mansion and grounds of some long-dead rich guy (presumably Mr. Caramoor) that’s been turned into a sort of park and art center. I’ve only ever been there in the summer, for that jazz festival that’s outdoors. The main house is this rococo Spanish monstrosity, at once garish and exquisitely tasteful in a hundred-year old way, with the main ballroom transformed into an 200 seat theatre. I’m guessing the Steinway grand piano was close to a hundred years old too. Great sound, but didn’t quite have the low end power of a modern instrument.
Surprisingly, Brad didn’t play any Rush. Just a few weeks earlier he dropped a new record called Jacob’s Ladder, that includes several interpretations of Rush songs, plus some originals with titles like Maybe as His Skies are Wide. It combined his piano stuff with synthesizers, some vocals, and protools loops and electronic effects. Overall pretty mind blowing. I was hoping he’d recreate some of that stuff live.
Just a few days later we saw Brad Mehldau again, this time backing tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, along with Christian McBride and Brian Blade, reuniting the quartet that made them all famous much earlier in their careers. Seriously, it’s like one of the great Miles quintets or Coltrane’s great quartet. The show was at the Blue Note down in Greenwich Village, and it was a great night for walking around New York City. The music was quite inspired, everything you’d hope for. Christian McBride and Brian Blade in particular played lots of great stuff, both in solos and as part of ensemble. Mehldau in a group setting took a much less radical approach, but still was great. And Redman remains on of my top three tenor players on the scene today. His altissimo is out of this world, and tone and melodic inventiveness.
We thought we’d finally have relaxing weekend at home, but then Friday morning Jeannie won tickets to see the jazz-adjacent jam band Lettuce at Capitol Theater in Port Chester. The bass player in my Wednesday band told me was going and that I ought to check them out. It was alot of fun. Lettuce are in the same general zone as bands like Galactic and Snarky Puppy, as sort of psychedelic jazz-funk. The sax player ran his horn thru a synthesizer, which was pretty cool. They seemed to have alot of fans, it was was pretty different from the modern jazz crowd. Best of all John Patatucci sat in on the encore.
Then Saturday, on a whim, I went to check out a place Alternative Medicine Brewing Company. They’re a local microbrewery that recently opened near my house, and I got the impression form their web site that they have live music from time to time. I thought it might be an opportunity to get my Thursday band a gig. As luck would have it, there was a blues band playing there that night. The drummer was a I guy I knew from when our kids were in middle school together, and I was in a band with him for maybe a couple months about five years ago. He was just getting back into playing after a long haitus, and his time and endurance weren’t so good. But now he’s playing with power and taste and groove. The band was excellent, particularly their singer and their lead guitarist.
It turns out the guitarist is the co-owner of the bar, and my friend introduced me. And, yes they’re looking to bring in more live music, and are open to different styles and genres. A jazz and funk band sounds good to them. I few weeks ago I bought a digital recorder with idea of recording the band rehearsals. I was able to edit up a highlight reel of a few tracks to give an idea of our sound. Now the question of availability for the guys in my group.