An Beal Bocht Cafe

Last night was my first gig as producer of Linda's Jazz Nights with Eric Alexander on sax, Joe Farnsworth on drums, and John Webber on bass. The guys were on fire playing to an enthusiastic, ripe, sold out crowd at An Beal Bocht Cafe.

The best art gets inside you and changes you, gives you a new way to experience your own life. That's what happened to me when I first heard these guys which is why I'm doing this and it happened again last night.

They opened up with a bluesey, swinging original tune. Then Steve Davis, who stopped by for the first set, lead a melancholy, beautiful "The Nearness of You." His trombone is smooth and subtle, and then the depth of it catches up with you.

Joe Farnsworth's solo on on the next tune was explosive and hypnotic. He has tremendous presence as a musician. He is enticing and commanding while simultaneously leading you into a song and taking care of his audience. His distinctive, wide-ranging, nuanced voice comes through on those drums creating a whole world suspending me in the moment.

They opened the second set with a screaming version of "Night in Tunisia." Eric's playing was right on the edge, huge, insistent, and undeniably passionate. Joe hit it with his ravenous appetite and then all three of them dug into the music and took off flying.

Eric moved into "The Man With The Horn," graceful, lilting, click here to listen.

John Webber played a solo that was stunning in it's complexity. Jazz moves in oblique and unexpected patterns beyond my conscious control. It dives past all my logical reasoning and I have no choice but to let it happen. When I watch John play I feel his composure and pure concentration while his fingers race across the strings responding to the impulses of that particular time and place. He embodies the contradiction of control and risk, and it is endlessly fascinating to experience.

The guys killed it at the end of the night with a bluesy, sexy "Parker's Mood." The crowd was loving the swing and hard drive. It was a great night of music and I am thrilled to say we will back at An Beal Bocht Cafe on Wednesday, September 7th.

Coming Up . . .

My next gig will be Wednesday, June 22nd at An Beal Bocht Cafe, 445 West 238th Street, in the Bronx, 8:00 p.m., two sets, $15.00 cover. For reservations, tickets, or information email LindasJazzNights@gmail.com.

The night will feature world-renowned jazz musicians Eric Alexander on sax, Joe Farnsworth on drums, and John Webber on bass.

About Eric --
During the 1990's after placing second behind Joshua Redmond in the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition, Alexander threw himself into the whirlwind life of a professional jazz musician. In the last twenty years he has amassed a considerable discography of critically-acclaimed recordings. He has appeared on countless recordings as leader, sideman, producer, and composer. His latest, "Don't Follow the Crowd" has received a tremendous response including a rave review from All About Jazz. Eric continues to tour the world over and play with numerous jazz legends. He is considered one of the greatest saxophone players of his generation. I am thrilled to have him.

I hope you will join us and spread the word.

Steve Davis Quintet at Smalls

Last night the Steve Davis quintet played two sets to an absolutely packed house at Smalls in the Village. I stood in the back talking to an Australian guy visiting New York on business. We kept laughing because no matter where we stood our feet seemed to be in the way of people trying to get in. The space is tight and personal. You walk down a steep flight of stairs, and come into one small room. It feels like a church, with chairs lined up in rows facing the stage, and people treat it that way in the best sense. Early in the set they played "Vibration Blues" by McCoy Tyner. Mike LeDonne opened the tune with a kind of mind blowing precise attack on the piano, then the rest of the band came in and kept it up all the way through, Tyler Mitchell on bass, Mike DiRubbo on sax, Steve Davis on trombone and Willie Jones III on drums. It was thrilling to watch these guys navigate the demands of the song and give it everything they had. Then Steve announced that they were going to slow it down and DiRubbo came in with his sweet, melancholy sax on "You've Changed." I love that song and DiRubbo, a very souful, interesting dude, did it up just right. I rode the melody all the way with him and never wanted it to end. Josh Bruneau, a young trumpet player, sat in later on the first set and he was so good the crowd gave it to him at the end of his first solo. His solo on "Spirit Waltz" in the second set was heart-wrenching in the way the trumpet can express a voice teetering on the edge of something painful, dangerous, exciting, but never giving in or letting up . . . no matter what the cost. This is the first time I heard Willie Jones III on drums and he had a rigorous, exacting, right on the edge of control style that I really liked.

I don't know Steve Davis well, but from the first time I met him I felt his genuine, open, welcoming spirit and that comes across in his playing. His trombone has an honest, effortless, warm tone. He reached out into the crowd and held us there note by note all evening as he told his story. They will be at Smalls again tonight, don't miss it.

Birks Works

Last night I went to Smalls Jazz Club downtown and heard Mike LeDonne on piano, John Webber on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums. They are all at the top of their game, but it was Webber who drew me in with his magic hands flying up and down that bass, particularly on Birks Works. Webber's sound was dense and pulsating, unpredictable and soothing.

Birks Works is on a forthcoming duet album that LeDonne and Webber recorded in Italy earlier this year.

New Stuff

My blog is changing . . . while I am searching for the right place to re-start a weekly jazz night, I am going out to hear the great musicians and their music that I have fallen in love with, and I will be writing about my experience here. I knew very little about jazz when I first started promoting over a year ago. My background is in the theater as a writer and performer. What I found in the musicians I met is a group of artists who are relentlessly dedicated to the live experience, the chance to play, the connection with their audience.

Last night I stopped by Smoke where Mike LeDonne was playing along with Peppe Merolla on drums, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Andrew Beals on sax. LeDonne killed it on 'Round Midnight. Andrew introduced Mike, the room got still, and there was just the piano. It was simple, clean, inviting, then a rupture full of heart and abandon happened that tore away any lingering walls. I turned to the guy next to me, a complete stranger, to see if he was feeling it too, and he looked back and just said, "Yeah." It's the live experience I crave -- hot, serious commitment to the expression of the truest part of our human experience. It burrows deep into you and at the same time sets you free to be right there, not thinking about the moment before or the next one to come.

Last Saturday I heard One For All play their last set of the night featuring my good friends, Eric Alexander on sax and Joe Farnsworth on drums. Eric brought his muscular, elegant sound to Michael Jackson's "She's Out of My Life." It was a stunner. I wait for Joe's drum solos every time I go to hear him play and he didn't disappoint. His controlled, brilliant havoc was riveting. I never know where he is going or what is going to happen next, but I'm on the edge of my seat taking the ride with him. http://www.smokejazz.com/ Wednesday night I will be at Smalls.

Ibiza Jazz Nights first night

Frankie Goris, owner of Ibiza Lounge in Riverdale in the Bronx, a latin dance club on Friday and Saturday nights, started a whole new gig last Thursday. JAZZ! Hot, smoldering, soulful, gorgeous, jazz. It has been a long time dream of Frankie's to have a jazz night in his club, and with the help of virtuoso tenor sax player Eric Alexander and the gifted Joe Farnsworth on drums IBIZA JAZZ NIGHT was born. In their first set Eric played a romantic, passionate version of "Didn't We" by Jimmy Webb. And they ended the night with a smoking combination of "Estate" by Bruno Martino and "Girl From Ipanema." These guys love what they do and they give themselves to it completely. Eric is an elegant and powerful player. Joe Farnsworth creates his own world with rhythm on top of rhythm and sound on top of sound until you find yourself somewhere you've never been before. It's raw, real artistry. They are playing again this Thursday and every Thursday beyond that I hope. www.ibizany.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0K6brhD27M&feature=related