Lots of new music is coming out VERY soon! I’m considering all of my options for how to get my music out to everyone that wants to hear it! For now, listen to and pre-order my next, most ambitious release called I’m Watching My Day Slowly Disappear.
Update – September 2013
It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog (and an equally long time since I proclaimed I’d pay closer attention to it!) but here I am to give you a little update on what I’ve been up to. It’s easier if I just post my most recent mailing to my email list…enjoy!
Hi All,
A lot has been happening lately so I’ll do my best to catch you up with a short email.
First things first, I want to tell you about a great new opportunity I have been given in the Bethlehem area. As of a few weeks ago, I am now the jazz teacher at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts. I’m very excited to work with all of the talented students and direct the school’s accomplished Big Band. I’ll be sure keep you posted about any performances involving the group.
This month also marks a big first for me as I’ll be embarking on my first “tour” as a leader. Its short but you have to start somewhere! My trio will be playing a few gigs in Northern Vermont between September 13th and September 15th. Some stuff is still in the works but we’re excited nonetheless. Our big gig is at Hill Farmstead Brewery, recently rated the “best brewery in the world” by Ratebeer.com, in Greensboro, VT on Saturday, September 14th for Zwanze Day 2013, a major international beer event.
I continue to play weekly trio gigs at the best brewery in PA, Tired Hands Brewing Company. We have moved jazz night to Sundays for the time being and have had a great turn out. Join us one of these times if you can!
Edison’s Hot Mess keeps bouncing along as well and I continue to work on my solo repertoire at a handful of local gigs. Everything is detailed below. Come out to a gig and say ‘hi!’
-Mike
http://www.mikelorenzmusic.com
Every Sunday in September (Sept 8th, not the 15th, 22nd and 29th)
Jazz night!!! (a unique trio every week!)
@ Tired Hands Brewing Company
16 Ardmore Ave
Ardmore, PA
7-10pm
Northern Kingdom Tour!!!
Friday September 13th – Sunday September 15th
Trio w/ Justin Sekelewski and Kevin Daly
Friday – TBD, near Montpelier, VT
Saturday – @ Hill Farmstead Brewery, Zwanze Day 2013, 3-6pm
Sunday – @ Three Penny Taproom, 108 Main St. Montpelier, VT 12-3pm
———
Sunday, September 8th
Solo Guitar – Jazz Brunch
@ Sette Luna
219 Ferry St.
Easton, PA
11am-2:30pm
Thursday, September 12th
Edison’s Hot Mess
@ the Bookstore Speakeasy
336 Adams St.
Bethlehem, PA
9pm-1am
Friday, September 20th
Edison’s Hot Mess
@ Two Rivers Brewing Company
542 Northampton St.
Easton, PA
9pm-12am
Thursday, September 26th
Solo guitar
@ the Trapp Door
4226 Chestnut St.
Emmaus, PA
8-11pm
Saturday, September 28th
Edison’s Hot Mess
@ the Bookstore Speakeasy
336 Adams St.
Bethlehem, PA
9pm-1am
Ian O’Beirne’s Glasswork
http://ianobeirne.bandcamp.com
My friend Ian just released his first record called Glasswork. The physical copies of the CD will be here in a few weeks but for now you can stream all of the tracks and download the album if that’s your thing.
This is my first time occupying the producers chair and I have to say it was a wonderful experience. Listening as a producer is a lot different than listening as a composer/performer!! I’m really proud of the product we produced and hope you enjoy it!
I’m inspired by Ian’s determination in this process and hope to get into the studio to record some of my own music before the year is through.
——-
I’ve been snoozing on the blog of late so hopefully I can get back in the swing of things soon. For now, I wanted to share Ian’s music. Some ideas for blog posts I have running in my head are to chronicle my experience as producer of this record, discuss the importance of having a sense of place in performance situations and to talk about some nice folks I’ve met recently through playing music.
Just Do the Gig!!!
When I used to gig with my friend Doug Hawk (www.doughawk.net) he would often tell me, in all his ever-charming grumpiness, to “just do the gig.” It became a great running joke in his band that if something was going wrong (be it with your life, the music, whatever…) you should basically suck it up and “just do the gig.”
Believe it or not, this rather innocuous joke has become a sort of mantra for me as a working, free-lancing musician. I even mentioned it in a recent interview with WXPN’s The Key! (check it out!)
I’ve often been called (or in some cases, accused) of being a “thinker.” I guess this is true…I like to meditate and ruminate on ideas and thoughts until they are really put through their paces in my brain. As a composer and perfomer, I feel like this is reflected in the music I’ve written released under my own name (see for yourself). So, accuse me of “thinking too much” about this one but Doug’s “just do the gig” to me can mean a lot of things to me.
Just do the gig
Just play the song
…serve the song
…serve the music
…honor the space in which the music is being made
…honor the audience
“Just do the gig” has come to mean all of these things to me. I mention some of these ideas in the aforementioned interview with the Key but here I can elaborate a little bit.
The three ideas that stick out the most to me are the last three listed above. Serve the song, honor the space and honor the audience. As a free-lancing musician, I need to be versatile. My versatility is something that keeps me working in numerous situations. Any given month I can be playing my own music in a jazz setting, supporting other jazz musicians on their gigs be they standards or originals, playing 20-40s songs with my own early jazz group, playing in a NOLA style brass band, playing classical music or reading through the score of a Broadway musical in a pit orchestra. That’s a lot of stuff!
Logically, I don’t bring my guitar pedals out for most of these gigs like I might for gigs playing my own music. I also try to adhere the language and musical vocabulary I use to suit the gig. To some, this might mean I’m trying to sound like someone else on these gigs. To me, I enjoy the challenge of serving the music and doing right by the song…by being able to “just do the gig.”
Furthermore, to “honor the audience” and to “honor the space” is of great importance to me. If I’m playing at a bar where people are talking and enjoying themselves, I try my best to play with creative feeling and spirit while still giving the audience something they may anticipate or expect in the given space. The best example of this is when I play one of my many local gigs with Edison’s Hot Mess at the Bookstore Speakeasy in Bethlehem, PA. We play older songs that fit the vibe of the speakeasy era and I try to fit myself into the style as best I can…to strive for a greater understanding of the music of that time and what it means to me and my instrument. It’s a challenge that I welcome! It would be easier for me to just play as I would play on any other gig…to play “my sound” or whatever…but it would also be a diservice to the space, audience and the song. When the gig says “Mike Lorenz” on the calendar, perhaps its a different story. I feel the audience and the space may expect something different at that point. I enjoy this delineation.
Being careful and respectful of these ideas can really mean a lot to the performance and the experience of the listener. Other, more jaded, musicians might disagree with this idea but I feel even the most untrained or uninitiated audience members can see, feel, and hear when a musician is putting out energy to the listener or if they are simply playing for their own satisfaction.
Compare the recordings I’ve released with Doug’s last two releases, Orange EP and Eleven Alive and see what I mean by being able to “just do the gig.”
Try, Try Again
With the spring approaching, the sun shining further and further into the day and flowers beginning to consider their opportunity to bloom, I have decided to pay closer attention to this blog space.
Things have been up in the air and all over the place (in many good ways!) since my last post so this first one back will be a post about reassessing, catching up and filling in.
———
Last post, on Sept 18th of 2012, I made some declarative statements about my ambition to do a solo recording. As it turns out, lots of guitar players, specifically jazz guitar players, are doing solo recordings/performances these days! Check out new albums by Jonathan Kreisberg, Bill Frisell and Mike Gamble or tune into the live feed at Smalls to catch a solo set by Peter Bernstein. I’m sure there are many I’m missing too! This is good AND bad I guess. This many guitarists can’t be wrong, right?! This development makes me feel like I am on the right track. However, with so many fantastic players releasing solo recordings I began to think, where would mine fit in? This, obviously, put a stall in my recording ambitions. As it stands I’m still “researching” this project and hope to have new music to share soon.
——–
Since the turn of the calendar to 2013 I have had the good fortune of playing many trio gigs throughout the Philadelphia area. This great new trend has been brought on by bi-weekly gigs at one of my favorite places to hangout and imbibe, Tired Hands Brewing Company in Ardmore, PA. This place is truly fantastic and is making waves in the craft beer world. It is truly a great experience getting to present creative, original music that I love at a space that is full of creative, kind and generous folks. Come by this Thursday, March 7th to see everything Tired Hands has to offer. We’ll be playing music from my album, Of the Woods.
The opportunity to play trio gigs has me considering a trio recording project at some point in the near to not-so-near future. This, with the aforementioned hangups about recording a solo album, have created quite the to-do list in my head.
——–
My goal for now is to update this thing every Monday from here on out. Lets see how long that lasts!!
Solo ideas…a work in progress
Last week I wrote a new blog post introducing my idea to do a solo recording before the end of the year. I’d like to make public some ideas I’ve been working on over the past month and open up the comments for feedback. I’m not sure what direction the solo recording is going to take quite yet but I am open to all possibilities that I can discover.
Here are two versions of the Paul Motian song “It Should’ve Happened a Long Time Ago” that I recorded in the past few weeks.
The first was recorded Sept. 17th and is a reading of the tune on classical guitar…I like the dry nature of the instrument compared to a lot of other interpretations of Motian’s music.
The second was recorded on Sept. 4th and features a wide range of effects and colors offered to the electric guitar. It is also a longer rendition and features more improvisation.
Please share your comments or email me privately…like I said, this is a work in progress.
It Should’ve Happened a Long Time Ago
As is quite obvious, it has been far too long since I have composed a blog entry. There has been no shortage of events in my life or things to share, write, talk and think about but the time and inspiration to do so have been short. As fall begins so does a new season with new ideas and desires. The year feels like it starts in September after years of being trained by the school year calendar and so my new fall resolution is to actively write on this page.
For my first post back I’m going to run with an idea someone suggested to me almost a year ago to date. A few of my posts will drift into my usual hobbies (obsessions) but for the most this blog will be a place where I document process and progress of a new project I am hoping to complete. Over the next few months I will be “wood shedding” or “work shopping” ideas for a solo record that I hope to record by years end. This record will then hopefully be supported by a tour in May of 2013. Nothing is planned, recorded or set in stone yet but the idea is firmly planted in my brain.
———-
The idea for the solo album came from a desire to tour and to do so as economically as possible. Touring is something I’ve never had the opportunity to do and the idea of persuading, paying and providing for a band to go on tour seemed nearly impossible to me and my finances. But, a solo tour would be up to me and me only. I then thought that the only way I could book this tour is if I had a recording to prove my worth as an out-of-town touring artist.
But what should the recording be?
I play a number of solo gigs each month in the realm of jazz standards. These gigs have been great learning opportunities and really fun to boot! From time to time I play what I’d lazily call “creative solo gigs” where I improvise freely, stretch out on tunes by my favorite jazz composers or play my own music in a less organized fashion than I would with a band. These “creative” gigs have always been rewarding and enlightening. I learn a lot about my playing, both strengths and weaknesses. It is quite a task to keep an audience’s attention with just a guitar and a bunch of songs they don’t know. From these experiences, my idea began to take on a clearer, more defined shape.
As I mentioned earlier in the post, I’ve begun “work shopping” ideas by recording myself in various solo settings. My launching points have been free improvisation and a few Paul Motian songs. This seemed like as good a place to start as any. My plan is to make a recording with a 3 tiered focus. These tiers include free improvisation, original music (both “jazz” oriented and “through composed”) and interpretations of music by my favorite jazz composers (ie Monk, Motian so far). In the coming weeks I hope to update you with some “in progress” ideas and recordings.
Also in coming weeks I will likely be soliciting touring ideas and advice from anyone who would like to offer their experiences and expertise. Thanks for reading! I look forward to updating you on my progress.
Of the Woods release show – Beer Pairings!
I’m returning to the world of blogging to do a small, albeit sort of late, write-up about the upcoming Philadelphia CD release party for my first full length record, Of the Woods (purchase here).
This record was recorded in the summer of 2010 at my alma mater, Moravian College, and features a set of my original compositions compiled from the time I finished college in 2007 to the first few months I lived in Philadelphia. I’m excited to finally have the opportunity to share the music we created on that day.
The release concert is at Moonstone Arts Center in center city Philadelphia on Friday, February 10th (peep the facebook event here). Moonstone is a really neat place to play in a music scene that is quickly losing safe havens for original music and jazz in general. Another neat aspect of the venue is that Moonstone is a BYOB establishment. Being that I am a huge fan of craft beer, I thought it would be fun to suggest a few beer pairings for our set on Friday.
Philadelphia Weekly’s Elliott Sharp recently called my new record “autumnal and wintry.” This is perfect for my first beer pairing! Anyone who followed my blog in its infancy knows that I am a big fan of Stillwater Artisanal Ales from Baltimore, MD. Brewer Brian Strumke’s intensely creative, delectable roster of Belgian inspired ales is full of great brews that would, in my mind, pair perfectly with my music. Specifically, Autumnal, a German influenced saison with a delightfully roasted flavor and unique Belgian inspiration and taste. Based on the name of the beer this seems like quite the obvious choice but I don’t mind recommending it and will likely be sharing a bottle with my band Friday night.
I really think the earthy, grassy qualities of Belgian saisons or pale ales relate to qualities found in my music. Try a bottle or two of Orval. a classic Belgian pale ale with a grassy flavor or a bottle from the Lost Abbey, an American brewery that has a nice roster of farmhouse style ales. Think balanced, spiced and lively instead of bitter, biting and aggressive.
Selecting a brew to play off of the “wintry” elements in my music will put us in a different flavor profile. Winter ales tend to be dark, malty, boozy and nicely spiced with seasonal flavors. When I think of beers to drink during the winter I think of Belgian dark ales, roasty imperial stouts and barleywines. Considering that the release concert is at a venue and not in your living room I’d suggest shying away from a heavy, high octane, highly alcoholic barleywine or stout (unless you plan to share with a friend or two).
If you’re into Belgian dark ales I’d look for a bottle of Three Philosopher’s from Ommegang or a perhaps one of Allagash‘s dark Belgian brews. Both of these Northeast breweries have a great roster of Belgian style ales and can be obtained quite readily at Philadelphia bottle shops and bars. For a great European dark Belgian ale I’d search out a bottle of Pannepot, an amazing fisherman’s ale from De Struise Brouwers and sip it throughout our entire set. For those that like roasty, coffee flavors in their beer a great, affordable option is a four-pack of Sixpoint‘s Diesel stout. This is a great American stout that will please the hopheads in the audience as well as the dark beer drinkers. For those that love coffee with their beer a bottle or two of Founders Breakfast Stout is a super roasty, strong imperial stout that is easily found all over Philadelphia. If you must go big with a barleywine, buy a bottle of Old Stock Ale from North Coast brewery and split with a friend or two. I recently tasted a 2011 bottle of this brew and found it to be pleasantly warming but not excessively boozy. Sweet malt and alcohol flavors help balance things out.
Since my new record is called Of the Woods I think a few beers with wood inspired flavors are appropriate. If you’ve ever had a barrel aged beer you know that a lot of interesting flavors can be imparted on the brew from various types of liquor barrels. Vinous, funky, dry and complex flavors from wine barrels, in my mind, pair better than sweet vanilla and whiskey notes from bourbon barrels. For the big spender, try any bottle of Russian River‘s wine barrel aged beers for a tart, complex brew or a bottle of Anchorage Brewing Company’s Love Buzz. Both choices can be pricey but are certainly worth finding and splitting with a few friends. If you like smoked flavors in your beer, try a bottle of Haandbrygerriet‘s Norweigan Wood, a fantastic, traditional Norweigan ale from one of my favorite breweries on the planet. If you want a little more bang for your buck search out a bottle of Dogfish Head’s Immort Ale for a boozy, smoked beer experience from one of the regions most famous and experimental breweries.
If these pairings don’t sound like your thing, check out the music on Of the Woods and come up with a pairing or two yourself. For digital versions of the record check out iTunes, CDBaby, eMusic, or almost any other digital music service. To order a copy of the CD, BandCamp is the place to go.
Once again, here are the details for Fridays show…I hope you can join us!
Friday, February 10th, 2012, 8:30pm
Mike Lorenz Quartet CD release show!
@ Moonstone Arts Center, 110 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA
also performing, Elliot Levin/Ed Watkins duo!
Happy New Year link roundup
When my grandmother was ending her phone conversation phone with my mom after our July 4th get together she thanked her for the nice time at our picnic and said “happy new year.” Here’s some links to things I’ve been reading, watching, listening-to, and drinking to share and celebrate the new year.
Reading-
Via Do the Math, I recently read through a really interesting interview from 1990 with Vernell Fournier, Ahmad Jamal’s drummer and creator of the “Poinciana-beat” among many other contributions to the trio’s sound. The interview covers a bunch of great topics involving the trio and its formation and concept.
I’m also just beginning to read Bob Spitz’s biography on the Beatles, a book that’s been sitting on my shelf for years. A few years ago I got through a bit of it but found it too dry. Recently reading through the prologue I was excited by the imagery and storytelling and look forward to reading through the entire book this time.
As always I pay close attention to the blogs in my “blog-roll” especially Do the Math and Beerleaguer.
Watching–
I don’t really watch much television other than tuning in to Phillies games. Nor do I get into YouTube as much as some of my fellow musicians and peers but on occasion, I do find something of interesting. Here are some things I’ve watched/listened to on YouTube of late.
Fight the Big Bull – I have one of their records but decided to see what their live shows look like since I plan on seeing them perform this weekend at the Stone in NYC. They’re an awesome band from Richmond, VA that seems to do things on their own terms and, to my knowledge, haven’t made a wrong step yet. I really like that this band operates from a “satellite” home base but is still able to play shows in NYC and elsewhere and have their records released on a recognized label in improvised music.
Kurt Rosenwinkel – As with most guitarists my age I check out a lot of Kurt Rosenwinkel stuff. Considering he is a jazz guitarist playing original music to a small listening base, he is heavily documented on YouTube. There are tons of great videos but a few recent solo performances really stand out.
Peter Bernstein w/ Michael Kanan – This stuff is really swingin’ and awesome! Beautiful duo playing from one of my favorite guitarists! There’s close-up video of what seems to be an entire set at Smalls in NYC.
Listening–
Here’s what’s rotated through my listening list lately as well as a few things I’m excited to finally check out…
Bill Evans Trio – 1960 Birdland Sessions – This set, although repetitive, is really interesting. It’s neat to hear “the” Bill Evans Trio before the recording of their two landmark albums. The music is loose but not quite what it is on Waltz for Debbie and Sunday at the Village Vanguard.
Skip Wilkins – I Concentrate on You & After – Skip was one of my teachers in college and before leaving the country for a year, he graciously played a gig with my band AND gave me copies of his two newest records (as well as an unreleased session with his son, saxophonist Dan Wilkins, which is awesome!). Both discs are great, taking me back to the countless times I went to see Skip play while I was in college.
Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter 1 : Gens de Couleur Libres -I own this on vinyl which I highly recommend because it comes with a CD and a poster and looks/sounds awesome! The music is powerful and emotional, something that isn’t always associated with jazz. I need to listen to this more but was really taken by the first time through.
Kurt Rosenwinkel w/ the Airmen of Note – this is from a recent NPR broadcast. My friend, saxophonist/composer/arranger Ian O’Beirne and I agree that if you combined the music from this broadcast with Kurt’s recent record, Our Secret World, with the OJM band, you’d have a much better record.
and a few things I haven’t listened to yet…
Dave King – Indelicate (just got this in the mail but am stoked to finally listen to it)
Ralph Peterson Trio feat. Geri Allen – Triangular (just bought this at Siren Records in Doylestown on the 4th of July…looking forward to checking out more 1980s Geri Allen)
Drinking–
Here are my most recent beer reviews for DrinkPhilly.com
In addition to the beers I’ve reviewed I’ve had some amazing stuff lately including Russian River Salvation and Supplication which were only $6.50 and $11 respectively at Whole Foods!
Better off Undead
This past Thursday night I had the great opportunity to attend the 2nd annual Undead jazz festival in New York City. Presented by Search and Restore and the Boom Collective, the Undead jazz festival is a summer version of the annual Winter Jazz Fest. On Thursday, three clubs off of Bleecker St in Manhattan offered a constant rotation of original, creative and improvised music performances from 7pm to about 2am.
Instead of going into great detail about each performance I’ll only offer a few choice words. I didn’t take any notes while I was there other than a few updates while attempting to “live-tweet” the festival (yes, I have a twitter account). After a long, arduous 3 hour bus ride, here is what I saw upon my arrival…
First off, Marc Ribot playing solo guitar at Le Poisson Rouge, a relatively new venue at the former location of the legendary Village Gate. I’ve seen Ribot perform solo before but it always a treat to check out someone so masterfully wield your instrument of choice. Catching the first 20-25 minutes of his set, the music transitioned freely between rootsy Americana, free explorations, exploitations and examinations of jazz standards and loose, bluesy riffing. From there, I rushed around the corner to Sullivan Hall to catch the middle of a set by the trio Paradoxical Frogs featuring Kris Davis on piano, Ingrid Laubrock on saxophones and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. As I arrived, the group was working their way through a long form composition with extended sections for improvisation and textural pursuits. Tyshawn Sorey’s set up was a great surprise! Not seated at a traditional drum set, he painted a wide palette of colors with 4 small cymbals, a hi hat, floor tom and a snare drum set up like a bass drum pedal. The group’s music left plenty of time and space between each composed section. Abstract and beautiful.
From there I headed to the third venue for the Undead jazz fest’s Thursday line up, Kenny’s Castaways, to catch a set by David Fiuczynski’s Planet MicroJam. “Fuze,” as he is sometimes called, is a great guitarist but this music was not for me. I guess I neglected the word “jam” in the groups name. Therefore, I quickly made my way back to Le Poisson Rouge for a set by Tarbaby, a collective trio featuring Orrin Evans, Eric Revis and Nasheet Waits with guest saxophonist Oliver Lake. This groups set was the first show stopping moment I experienced at the fest. Tarbaby had the audience fully in their court by their last piece, which featured a raw, fiery swinging groove with collective hollers interjected by the rhythm section. Each member shined in each of their solo flights except for a strangely aggressive, not very melodic version of Ornette Coleman’s “Song X,” slowed down to the point of being a totally different tune.
Towards the end of Tarbaby’s set I met up with Nick Wight, a drummer with Philly roots who now lives in the New York area, who would join me for the rest of the evening’s music. After finishing up a beer we rushed over the Sullivan Hall and caught the very end of Gerald Clayton’s duet set with vibraphonist Chris Dingman. They closed with a great, interactive version of Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz.” Their interplay sounded like an updated version of Gary Burton and Chick Corea’s duets with a great emphasis on swing. Back to Le Poisson Rouge from there to catch an all-star band of sorts assembled by pianist/keyboardist John Escreet. Here’s where the schedule started to fall behind as the group had a lot of equipment to set up for their very electric performance. The group, featuring Wayne Krantz on guitar, David Binney on alto saxophone and keyboard and Marcus Gilmore on drums, played a prog rock, groove driven music that resembled recent recordings by Chris Potter’s Underground. This music however lacked the jazz school showiness of Potter’s music and stuck more to group dynamic, composition and slow growth to get its point across. A great band I would have loved to have heard more of but I needed to rush to what would be the highlight of the night, Andrew D’angelo’s Big Band at Sullivan Hall.
Already mid-flight, the group was firing through some surprisingly idiomatic, swinging big band writing only to quickly shift into a thorny slow-jam. The group featured a five-three-three horn set up with a viola replacing a second tenor saxophone supported by a mind-bogglingly great rhythm section of Ben Monder, Reid Anderson (on electric bass!) and Dan Weiss. Performing arrangements of some of Andrew’s small group tunes, mostly from the Skirl Records catalog, the group was amazingly engaging and exciting to watch and listen to. Andrew D’angelo’s charisma as a bandleader was on display in spades during the entire set. Songs included “Meg Nem Sa,” a rocking, forceful tune of pseudo-metal quality, “Big Butt,” a angular groove tune about his friends fondness for women’s derrieres and a beautiful prayer for Matt Wilson’s wife, “Felecia.”
The energy level of the big band’s performance warranted a little breather before the following band, Dave King Trucking Company, would take the stage. Outside, I got to meet and chat with Bill McHenry for a minute, showing off my fandom by sharing my admiration for both of his bands featuring Paul Motian. He was excited to tell me that his quartet with Motian will be releasing a new record this fall! Inside, the Dave King Trucking Company jumped into a set of rock inspired small group songs (with emphasis on the word song). Featuring two tenor saxophones, electric guitar, upright bass and drums, the group showcased, to my ears, Dave King’s admiration for straight up rock music melded with Keith Jarrett’s American quartet of the 1970s. Other than Dave King and Chris Speed the other members of the group were pretty unfamiliar to me. Chris Speed was a especially great on these songs, improvising long, compositional solos that built on the energy of each piece. Great music that was only spoiled by the sound man at Sullivan Hall’s love affair with volume and reverb.
Next was one last stop at Kenny’s Castaways for a refreshing closing set from a trio featuring Michael Blake on tenor saxophone, Ben Allison on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. The group performed an arrangement of a Carpenters song followed by a swinging standard tune of which I don’t know the name. Although a nice group, the sound at Kenny’s Castaways made things sound a little stiff and canned. Despite this, their set was an appropriate cleanser after the high energy sets at Sullivan Hall. Last, one more trip to Le Poisson Rouge was in order for the last set of the evening by Goldfinger, a trio of David Torn on guitar, Tim Berne playing alto saxophone and Ches Smith on drums and electronics. This was unlike anything else I heard all evening, testing limits of dynamics and sound with the vast use of processors and electronics used by Ches Smith and David Torn.
———
During my 6 hours at the Undead jazz fest I was tempted to buy a bunch of records. Here’s a list of everything I saw that is now on my shopping list for future purchases.
John Escreet – the Age We Live In
Dave King Trucking Company – Good Old Light
Ches Smith – Congs for Brums (Ches was awesome with David Torn)
Nels Cline – Veil (didn’t perform Thursday but Torn’s set reminded me of this recording which features Tim Berne)
———
If I’m feeling productive this week expect my thoughts on a jazz festival similar to Undead happening in Philly. I know it’s already happened in the past but maybe we need something to happen now.
mikelorenzmusic 