Summer Jazz 2004

'FREESTYLE EVENTS': BORAH BERGMAN+DEE POP+ROY CAMPBELL+WILLIAM HOOKER+JASON HWANG+LIFETIME VISIONS ORCHESTRA+ANDREAS WILLERS
June 13
CBGB Lounge, 313 Bowery, 212.677.0455

Any show in this imaginative weekly series is probably a good bet; this one looks special: It's almost a Vision Festival reunion not long after that great event ends. As with VF, leading lights of modern jazz like Hooker and Campbell are configured in all manner of interesting combinations. GROSS

JOÃO GILBERTO
June 18
JVC Jazz Festival
Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue, 212.903.9600

The suave septuagenarian's performances are tiny miracles of serene minimalism. Carnegie Hall becomes especially church-like as Gilberto, with just his modest yet perfect voice, simple yet unique guitar accompaniment, and a pristine repertoire of classic Brazilian songs by himself and others, holds his worshipful audience in sacred, sensual thrall. GEHR

'THE JAZZ FOR KIDS PROGRAM'
Sundays through June
Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, 212.576.2232

Wynton's not the only one teaching kids about jazz. Here, for a measly $5 donation, young folks can experience the music through their peers in the Jazz Standard Orchestra. Reservations required. GROSS

JOHN SCOFIELD TRIO
June 16
JVC Jazz Festival, Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, 212.501.3330

After dabbling on the rock circuit and working with an orchestra, Scofield convened a couple of old friends for the late-2003 live trio dates distilled on the recent EnRoute. Drummer Bill Stewart and electric bassist Steve Swallow nudge and needle Scofield, who steps up when challenged on this album of mostly workmanlike originals. GEHR

KEVIN EUBANKS BAND+LARRY CORYELL POWER TRIO
August 17-18
Iridium, 1650 Broadway, 212.582.2121

You've seen guitarist Eubanks on late-night TV, but this bill's real treat is the ridiculously underrated Coryell, one of the few people who gave fusion a good name back in the day. Even unplugged, he's knows about "power," but here he's amped and paired with a suitable foil in drummer Paul Wertico (formerly with Derek Bailey and Pat Metheny). GROSS

ANGELIQUE KIDJO+FEMI KUTI & THE POSITIVE FORCE
June 24
JVC Jazz Festival, Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street, 212.749.5838

Benin native Kidjo's latest music uses Afro-Brazilian rhythms as a delivery system for high-voltage singing. Kuti and his big band throw down a less politically outspoken and more economical version of his late father Fela's symphonic Afrobeat grooves. GEHR

'LES PAUL'S 89TH BIRTHDAY'
June 7
Iridium, 1650 Broadway, 212.582.2121

Nowadays, don't expect innovation from this legendary Grammy-plated picker-instrument maker-studio gremlin. Expect the dexterous lightning runs that made him famous, now heard at a weekly residence in Times Square on an indefinite contract with his trio. He's played with a post-accident wired arm for over a half-century, and shows no sign of hanging up his pre-rock 'n' roll shoes. GROSS

MARIO PAVONE QUINTET
June 27
CBGB Gallery, 315 Bowery, 212.982.4052

What if you concocted a small-ensemble music that delivered the textural oomph of a larger band while offering the jaw-dropping agility of a duo? The bassist-composer has been bringing some due diligence to the question since forever, and in the last year or so, he's built a ensemble that—ta da!—nips it in the bud. MACNIE

JASON MORAN
June 18
JVC Jazz Festival, Thalia Theater, Symphony Space, Broadway and 95th Street, 212.864.5400

Worldly in repertoire and wise in method (or maybe vice versa), Moran is a pianist at the top of his still-relatively-young game. He seeks and finds inspiration from increasingly diverse sources, from James P. Johnson and Robert Schumann to Björk and Soul Sonic Force, then reconstructs them with undulating yet crystalline ideas like a Rubik's Cubist. This solo show could be a scorcher. GEHR

MARCUS ROBERTS
June 8-13
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, 212.255.4037

He has his florid moments, but the pianist's trio is a model of jazz interaction, romping with enough blues animation to be considered unruly, and reflecting with enough nuance to be deemedshoe-gazers. MACNIE

HERB ROBERTSON
June 30
Barbès, 376 9th Street, Brooklyn, 718.965.9177

Call your disc Music for Long Attention Spans in this day and age, and you're issuing a challenge. The trumpeter likes his open improvs to accumulate into one long statement; spilling forward is part of his aesthetic. So is an extended technique—he can make his instrument sound any way he chooses. MACNIE

DEIDRE RODMAN
July 21
55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, 212.929.9883

The more you wade into the young pianist-composer's music, the more you discover her take on "jazz" avoids lots of the usual bric-a-brac. From the children's choir to the keen way she dodges prescribed turns, Rodman makes a point combining moods and melodies in an unusual way. Utterly refreshing. MACNIE

ARCHIE SHEPP+ROSWELL RUDD QUARTET FEATURING REGGIE WORKMAN & ANDREW CYRILLE
July 20-25
Iridium, 1650 Broadway, 212.582.2121

For a rare and undeniable NY super-group appearance, two leading lights of '60s avant reunite with two more longtime legends. Even if some detractors complain the leaders lack their old fire, it will still be more edgy, powerful, and bold than what's on jazz radio. GROSS

SPANISH FLY
June 21
Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, 212.358.7501

Steve Bernstein plays slide trumpet with Sex Mob, but he leaves the sliding to wildcat guitarist Dave Tronzo in this eccentrically swinging, sometimes silly, yet always fascinating freestyle trio filled in on the deep end by go-to tuba dude Marcus Rojas. They've appeared only sporadically since 1997's Fly by Night so let's hope this gig portends a studio reunion as well. GEHR