'At Night, Alone': Ralph Towner
JVC Jazz Festival, Zankel Hall at Carnegie, 57th & Seventh Ave, 212-247-7800
photo: Juliette Conroy
David S. Ware
Details
See also:
The Billie Holiday Guide
A pre-album genius in key songs and unforgettable longforms, with extra consumer advice
by Farah Jasmine Griffin
The Thelonious Monk Guide
He recorded the same songs over and over and never wore them out.
by Larry Blumenfeld
The John Coltrane Guide
From sideman to mesmerizer to evangelical to interstellar space
by Francis Davis
The Sun Ra Guide
Magic cities and other planes of there, all disguised as jazz
by John F. Szwed
The David Murray Guide
Our greatest tenor man began with Ayler and Gonsalves and kept going
by Tom Hull
Related Content
More About
June 21Though sometimes a tad drifty in solo settings, the acoustic guitarist can be riveting when his excursions prioritize focus over luster. His new Time Line keeps things on the cinematic side; it's all about energized ruminations. MACNIE
Bad Plus+Gold Sounds
JVC Jazz Festival, Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Pl, 212-777-6800
June 21Two chops-heavy jazz outfits that love messing with a rock repertoire. Pomp and pummel inform the piano trio, one of the wittiest bands to come along in years. Don't believe the haters who say they're only about shtick. James Carter and Cyrus Chestnut's scrutiny of the Pavement songbook gives their Gold Sounds some wiggle room between hooks and skronk. MACNIE
Bill Frisell Trio
JVC Jazz Festival, Symphony Space, 2537 Bway, 212-864-5400
June 23The languid yet ceaselessly inventive guitarist's fascination with American string and pop music should be in full effect when he performs alone and together with jazz- gone-blues guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps and singer Petra Haden. One of last year's great treats, Frisell's utterly gorgeous and loosely space-themed duo album with Haden included covers of Coldplay, Henry Mancini, and Stevie Wonder. GEHR
Billy Bang Ensemble
Vision Festival XI, Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, 172 Norfolk, 212-696-6681, visionfestival.org
June 16The violinist's recent ruminations on a troubling Vietnam stint have nudged him closer to the mainstream—on his last two CDs, overt swing is in cahoots with animated abstraction. And when he moves into traditional Asian melodies, there's a poetic beauty afoot as well. MACNIE
Bio Ritmo
Midsummer Night Swing, Josie Robertson Plz, Columbus Ave & 64th, 212-875-5766, lincolncenter.org
July 15Even as it cleaves to salsa clásica, the local nonet's eponymous 2004 album—its fifth release—turned out to be its most experimental. The band evoked its connection to the music's '70s roots while swinging into the future, through a classy mass of pulsating rhythm and wry Spanish wordplay. GEHR
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Midsummer Night Swing, Josie Robertson Plz, Columbus Ave & 64th, 212-875-5766, lincolncenter.org
June 30Granted, their bandleader has been gone for 30-plus years, but that hasn't stopped Ellington's or Mingus's bands from carrying on either. Leon Rausch was Wills's singer during the '60s and has carried on his legacy for some 20 years now, leading this latest incarnation of the band. Along with a Lone Star costume contest, BBQ, and dance lesson, this show should provide a valuable reminder of the too often ignored connection between country and jazz. GROSS
'Bossa Nova: The Brazilian Soul of Antonio Carlos Jobim'
Jazz in July, 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, 212-415-5500, 92y.org
July 25Part of the Bill Charlap–curated jazz series uptown, this night pays honor to the man who wrote "Girl From Ipanema" and dozens of other bossa nova classics, literally inventing the song form as he did. Here Charlap mix-and-matches Brazilian musicians like the fiery Trio da Paz and madcap percussionist Cyro Baptista with jazz folks like pianist Renee Rosnes and saxophonist Harry James. HENDRICKSON
Brave Combo
Midsummer Night Swing, Josie Robertson Plz, Columbus Ave & 64th, 212-875-5766, lincolncenter.org
July 19The dance band of dance bands, these oddball sons of Denton, Texas, have been clocking their eclectic musical Kool-Aid for 26 years, and it hasn't lost a whit of its tang. This will be an all-request gig preceded by dance lessons, providing the opportunity to brush up on one's cumbia, merengue, norteña, polka, and hardcore hokey-pokey moves. GEHR
'Clarinet Marmalade': Ken Peplowski+ Don Byron+Kenny Davern+Evan Christopher
JVC Jazz Festival, Kaye Playhouse, 68th btwn Lexington & Park aves, 212-772-4448
June 20As odd as it seems, the success of multi-artist shows built around a single instrument comes down to how well the rhythm section feeds the fire during each soloist's stint. This program has not one, but two back ends, and players such as Cyrus Chestnut, George Colligan, and Billy Hart should mix things up nicely as the sometimes recalcitrant horn is bent to fit a handful of personal aesthetics. MACNIE
David S. Ware Quartet
Vision Festival XI, Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, 172 Norfolk, 212-696-6681, visionfestival.org
June 18As last year's Live in the World suggested, the brawny tenor titan continually hones his squawk; it now contains as much finesse as it does fury. Of course, that advancement has a lot to do with the way cohorts Matthew Shipp and William Parker help press his buttons. His quartet has a regal status on this scene, and since it's said that this is the group's final American performance, you'd best prep for in-audience tears and onstage fireworks. MACNIE
'A Father's Day Gift': Bobby Hutcherson Quartet
JVC Jazz Festival, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd, 212-491-2200
June 18 A veteran who hasn't lost his touch when it comes to putting physicality into the music, the vibraphonist demands that his group interplay be sharp and that the blues be front and center. He lets you see him sweat, but there's elegance afoot as well. MACNIE
Herbie Hancock
JVC Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, 57th & Seventh Ave, 212-247-7800
