Journeying to Winter Jazz Fest & Thursday Night's Happenings

I haven't been to NYC Winter Jazz Fest since 2020. In 2022, it seemed like it was going to rebound, post-pandemic. Then a surge cancelled in-person performances yet again a few weeks ahead of the date. Last year, with JazzTimes gone and having only contributed a few short album reviews to The New York City Jazz Record, I didn't feel right going. 

This year, things felt different. I'd been away too long, so why not make the journey. On top of that, it was announced in December that JazzTimes was coming back from the grave - for a second time - so it seemed like the moment to immerse myself in the music. If that wasn't enough motivation, a few days before leaving Pittsburgh, I was given the assignment of writing about NYCWJF's Manhattan Marathon, which took place last Friday on stages around town. 

With the California fires raging at the same time, it was hard to fully rejoice in my good fortune. Many musicians were losing everything at that time. But the entire weekend left me a good sense of community - people that care for one another and always have the thoughts of others close at heart, especially while they were playing.

My dispatch on the Manhattan Marathon can be found here. I have included some other photos from those shows below as well. 

But Thursday comes first. 

Another thing I haven't done - in over a decade - is ride the Amtrak train from Pittsburgh to New York. After flying once or twice, I opted for the Megabus for most of my trips to Winter Jazz Fest. It was comfortable - especially if I reserved the front seat on the upper level - and affordable. These days, Megabus is a shell of its former self (details forthcoming in the next post). The only bus leaving Pittsburgh leaves at Christ O'clock in the morning, too early for me to check in at my hotel. So the train it was. It takes all day to get there but the scenery is great. 

Winter Jazz Fest officially began on Thursday, January 9 with four stand-alone shows at three different venues. My stop was (Le) Poisson Rouge, to catch Fay Victor with her Herbie Nichols SUNG project, in which she takes the compositions of unsung Blue Note pianist Nichols and adds lyrics to them. Their album, Life Is Funny That Way, came out on TAO Forms last year. 

Jazz vocalists are often a tough sell for my ears, including ones who dabble more in avant-garde circles, taking sonic ideas from free jazz players and adapting them to voice. But Victor was magnetic onstage, commanding everyone's attention. Her performance plunged into the power of the lyrics and what they meant. "That was a journey, wasn't it," she asked after the band finished "The Culprit is You," an adaptation of Nichols' "2300 Skidoo," after a taking us on such a trek. The observation couldn't have been more accurate, especially in light of the country at this moment. 

Victor's band included Michael Attias (alto and baritone saxophone), Tom Rainey (drums), Ratzo Harris (bass) and Anthony Coleman (piano), all of whom played on the album. Attias was an especially good foil for Victor, in terms of soloing. "Lady Sings The Blues," the Nichols/Billie Holiday co-written song, was played rubato, with everyone stretching out and digging into the space provided by that arrangement. The quintet also provided that they knew how to swing hard, with Victor ending the set with some solid scatting with Attias picking up from there.

I caught a little of Sophye Soliveau's set before heading to my next destination. Brandee Younger isn't the only jazz harpist, as Soliveau commanded the huge instrument, singing while playing. The opening tunes of her set seemed rooted as much in R&B as jazz, which the audience dug.

As I looked around the room, fully feeling like the small town guy in the big city, I recalled that the room once was the Village Gate, where one of my earliest favorite recordings was made: Herbie Mann's "Coming Home Baby." My dad had it on a pre-recorded, coverless cassette that was like an EP (that song on one side, three shorter tunes on the other) and I used to try an imagine what the room looked like where the group was playing. Although when I was three, I didn't fully grasp it was a live recording (the only applause comes after Hagood Hardy's vibes solo), let alone that it was at the Village Gate. Thursday wasn't my first time in the room, but my first time making the connection.
 

The Village Vanguard was not a venue that took part in the festival, but having only been there once, I made a point, while still at home, to see if I should check it out . As luck would have it, pianist Kris Davis was there all week, so I bought a ticket online to make sure I'd get in. (In 2020, there was quite the line to see Julian Lage, though I did finally get a table.)

When people say there are no bad seats at the Vanguard, they're right. But my stars were lining up that night because the picture below was taken from my seat.

Yes - I was right in front of the piano. I could have touched Kris Davis. But that would be rude. So would the act of trying to take a picture during her set. The Vanguard specifically frowns on such things and I may be a tourist but I'm not an ugly tourist. The phone stayed closed. All I needed was a scoop pad.

Robert Hurst (bass) and Johnathan Blake (drums), who also appeared on Davis' Run the Gauntlet album, joined her for the week's residency. The pianist took the stage with focus and a commanding presence, reaching into her instrument to hold the piano strings as she struck the opening notes of what I believe was "Knotweek." Blake, who sets up his kit with each drum at the same height, astounded with a skill that often took jerky passages and gradually reshaped them into funky 4/4 grooves. Hurst skillfully locked in with Davis' left hand during a version of Steve Lacy's "The Flame." He continued to drone and slide during that tune, while the piano splashed over him. 

This was followed by an interlude with a delicate flow that recalled Paul Motian's compositions. It turns out, it was "Beauty Beneath the Rubble," which was written by Blake. The set ended with "Run the Gauntlet" the title track to the trio's 2024 release. Hurst's wild arco solo led to some hammered left hand chords from Davis, as Blake thundered away on his kit. Interestingly, as loud as Blake was, the set-up of the room insured that he never drowned out the piano or bass. 

Note: The Vanguard has a one drink minimum, but considering the mood that night, and that my signature gin and soda was only $10, I bought two. 

FRIDAY NIGHT PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS

Violinist Jenny Scheinman's All Species Parade kicked off the Friday night Manhattan Marathon. 

Dancer Julianna Cressman joined Scheinman's group, playing up the lyrical qualities of the music with her movement.

Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith, played a rich, flowing set at Performance Space NY.

Saxophonist Josh Johnson, who played on Saturday with the group SML and has played with Jeff Parker, performed a solo set with electronics that turned his horn into a whole section.

I only caught a few minutes of the Air Legacy Trio - l to r, Marty Ehrlich, Hillard Greene and Pheeroan akLaff. 

The Two Albums of 2024 That Slayed Me

This is the time of year when music scribes around the world wrack their brains to try and remember everything they listened to, and decide what was the Best. An esteemed colleague of mine recently said that there is no such thing as "the best." And he's right. He went on further to say that it's impossible to compile a list, at least in the realm of jazz music (the industry in which he works) because there are too many damn albums out there to hear in a 12-month period. Those are my words, not his. 

But I agree wholeheartedly. You know why I don't post here more often?  One big reason is because I often don't feel ready to sound off on an album without giving it several detailed listens, getting a good idea of what the performer strives to get across. That takes time away from other albums. Which contributes to my neurosis about never being able to catch up. Overthinking? Yeah, sure. But I don't have an editor here to bust my chops if I get something wrong.

Having said all that, I did compile a Year End list for both The New York City Jazz Record (for which I contribute) and for the 19th Annual Jazz Critic's Poll, which was founded by Francis Davis. Those lists can be seen in a few weeks. Right now I have decided to write about two albums that officially knocked my socks off this year. One kinda, sorta has jazz improvisation in its make-up, the other does not. But both albums need to be heard by more people. So, uh, pay attention, please.

Quivers

Oyster Cuts

(Merge) 

This Melbourne, Australia quartet has released three albums, but Oyster Cuts is their first on the US Merge label. Bella Quinlan (bass), Sam Nicholson (guitar, keys), Michael Panton (guitar) and Holly Thomas (drums) take turns singing, evoking those pre-indie rock days when it was fine for to not have one person fronting the band all the time. The hype sticker on Oyster Cuts made a comparison to Australian forefathers (and - sisters) the Go-Betweens and that was all it took for me to make a blind buy. (I had purchased several of that bands CDs earlier this year in hopes of making up for lost pop time). Little did I know that this would probably be the best blind purchase I made since springing for the Dream Syndicate's The Days of Wine and Roses, based on a review in Creem magazine. 

Quivers occupy a solid corner in the world of dreamy pop, with simple but steady grooves, delicate hooks and guitars that can jangle or wail, depending on the mood. The album opens with the lyric, "All I ever wanted was a true friend/ all I ever wanted was a friend with benefits/ all I ever wanted was transcendence."  From there, the band's take on relationships gets deeper. "There's nothing like a radio when the batteries are dying/ there's nothing like running away from someone/ Just from fear of trying." ("Grief Has Feathers"). 

My personal highpoint comes in the down tempo swell of "Screensaver" where the reverb-heavy three-chord riff never gets tired and all four band members join together on the chorus line, "I'll be yours/ I'll be yours/ I'll be your/ screensaver." It might be the year's best metaphorical take on devotion and some of the most blissful moments to come down the pike since Galaxie 500's second album. Album closer "Reckless" also offers a tutorial on how to play two chords for six minutes and keep it compelling through subtle changes in harmony and dynamics.

Oyster Cuts bowled me over so hard on the first listen that I looked up the band's contact info and sent them a gushing email that night. They were nice enough to reply soon too. Turns out I missed an earlier trip to Pittsburgh and considered driving out to eastern Pennsylvania to catch their fall tour. It didn't happen, but hopefully they'll come back this way again before too long. In the meantime, everyone should get this album. 

Here is a video the band made for the album's title track.

Wendy Eisenberg

Viewfinder

(American Dreams)

A disclaimer is probably not necessary  - because it's been explained several times in this space - but Wendy Eisenberg played guitar and banjo on a few tracks on the album by my band, the Harry Von Zells. Bias? One might say that. But Eisenberg's discography offers plenty of explanation.

The guitarist could be considered something of a musical polymath. Their discography includes solo free improvisation guitar (Its Shape Is In Your Touch), compositions played on both guitar and banjo (Bloodletting), several albums of singer-songwriter ideas crossed with a prog-like scope that never goes where it's expected (Auto, just to name one) and two albums with the punk-metal-jazz trio Editrix. Honorable mention should also be made of Eisenberg's cover of Judee Sill's "The Kiss," also released as a single earlier this year.

The beauty of Viewfinder comes from the way that Eisenberg virtually brings all of these influences together in a song cycle that chronicles the experience of getting Lasik surgery on their eyes. After years of enduring virtually every complication from bad eyesight, the procedure literally gave them a new perspective on life and everything around them. 

In lesser hands, this could be a flimsy or heavy-handed concept full of clunky metaphors. But Eisenberg doesn't brings some heft in the blend of the music and the subject matter. "Lasik" opens the album with guitar urgently pedaling a single note while the lyrics candidly discuss getting the procedure, answered by pensive trombone lines. When that tension finally breaks, they strum tense chords, with piano splashing in the background before returning to that single note. 

Four songs in, "Afterimage" presents 22 minutes of improvisation which moves from loosely-structured and calm to free. It could be considered a break from the program but in other ways, the mood fits appropriately. Again, Eisenberg's guitar starts off in the distance, giving trumpeter Chris Williams and trombonist Zekereyya el-Magharbel much of the blowing space, before things open up. It's only on the penultimate track, "Viewfinder," that the guitar locks into a dirty skronk of a riff that feels like a signature Eisenberg sound (one that would be at home with Editrix, for instance). In between, they deliver a compelling blend of strings and vocals that present different nuances with each listen.  

If Viewfinder weren't enough, Eisenberg released two other albums this year - Accept When (Astral Spirits), a collaboration with saxophonist Caroline Davis, and If a Body Meet a Body, a trio album as part of Squanderers with David Grubbs and Kramer. 

 Here is a video of "Lasik" 

CD Review - Jeff Lederer - Guilty!!!

Jeff Lederer

Guilty!!!

(Little [i] Music) www.littleimusic.com

I hope Jeff Lederer is okay. He released this politically-charged, this-might-cost-me-some-fans-but-if-they-can-t-handle-it-screw-them album on October 7 (my birthday), commenting on the absurdity of the political climate, not limited the presidential race that was running whole hog at the time. Then a month later, the stupidity of the country reared its ugly head, assuring us the village might be burned in order to save it. What did Lederer think? And now, is he worried that The Man might come after him and this album?

The saxophonist is no stranger to wild concepts. In the past, Lederer has combined Albert Ayler compositions with sea shanties, to a rollicking effect. He also paired up songs from Ayler's infamous New Grass album with Shaker hymns on Heart Love (2018). Last year's Schoenberg On the Beach dug into the music of Arnold Schoenberg. Considering the year that 2024 was turning into, a set of politically-charged jazz tunes isn't out of the question.

Guilty!!! overflows with bold moves. They begin with the cover, an homage to Jackie McLean's 1965 Blue Note album It's Time! which had ten rows of exclamation points following the title. This one has the titular word written 34 times, one for each felony conviction that the current President-elect was handed earlier this year. That number continues in the title track, a composition co-written with trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, who transformed a recording of Adam Schiff reading the word 34 times, turning it into a melody. Unsettling and unnerving at first blush, once the ear knows what to expect, the focus shifts to the melodic introduction of the song and the groovy brass and sax horn tune that follows. The group can't resist repeating the 34 words again at the end, but they deliver it more like a Minor Threat lyric.

Samples of different members of Congress appear throughout the album, creating scenes that might be closer to Kramer's samples on early Bongwater albums than any jazz album. "Buttigieg vs. Sanders" includes both of those men, the tune reflecting on a time when both came close to getting a nomination a few elections ago. "Cheapening the Process" spears George Santos, "Deportation Operation" was inspired by a speech from our new leader and "We The People" draws from Senator Katie Britt's whispery, misleading rebuttal to President Biden's State of the Union. Though the voices play a big part of each track, they don't overshadow the music, which takes the idea of an acoustic brass (and reed) band to places where it rarely ventures. Stewart and Wilson create some steady foundations that give the horns a chance to go wild.

Along with the original musical commentary, Lederer also brings in a few non-originals with related issues. John Carter's "And She Speaks" touches on violence against Black woman, with some free vocals from Mary LaRose which feel a bit unsettling. Charles Mingus's "Fables of Faubus" updates the names of those who were speared in the lyrics, though LaRose, drummer Matt Wilson and the band come off a tad closer to a Wait Wait Don't Tell Me panel than a group of pissed off jazz musicians. (In other words, it's a little too lighthearted.) But the blowing can't be beat. 

The general tone of Guilty!!! places in league with other albums born during times of civil unrest. If it might not be quite as heavy as Max Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, the closing interpretation of Ayler's "Truth is Marching In," evokes another bold statement - Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. That album closed with a one-chorus version of "We Shall Overcome," following a musical recreation of the chaotic Democratic Convention of 1968. The message was clear - at least to these ears: We're beaten down but we're not giving up. We shall overcome in the end. 

With "Truth Is Marching in" Lederer is delivering a similar message. Despite the bullshit out there, the truth will get us through, as long as we're willing to let it march in. Lederer and Knuffke intone the opening melody with Stewart and Hasselbring poking at it, and then Wilson leads the procession. 

Maybe this overstates the idea, but maybe the times call for it. 

Who knows, maybe Lederer could be our next president. I mean, if we learned anything this past November, it's that anyone can be president. 

CD Review: Peter Lenz - Breathe: Music for Large Ensembles

 

Peter Lenz 

Breathe: Music for Large Ensembles

(gamsbART) peterlenzmusic.bandcamp.com/album/breathe-music-for-large-ensembles

With 21 musicians under his direction, Peter Lenz exploits their sonic potential in the opening seconds of "Between Lines," the first track on Breathe. A broken chord begins in the upper range with trumpets and saxophones, spilling down slowly over a couple octaves to the trombones. Then drummer Jim Black goes into a joust with the ensemble, going wild over the stop-start horns that could accompany an onscreen slugfest (albeit one out of an episode of Batman perhaps), before everyone arrives at the song's theme. 

And that all takes place in the first 21 seconds. 

Lenz, known initially as a drummer who has lead the band Lithium, reveals a great amount of depth in writing for the orchestra (two tracks), chamber ensemble (one track) and big band (two). He makes sure that each section gets used appropriately, bringing distinct color to the composition and the nuances of his writing. The ensemble create a sound that feels both lush and aggressive as "Between Lines" builds to a climax where Keisuke Matsuno's guitar erupts in skronk, again driven by Black. 

The other orchestra piece, "Von Inneren Grenzen" ("of internal boundaries") is inspired by a 2015 refugee crisis in Europe and a Bertold Brecht poem. Lenz wrote original lyrics, sung by Efrat Alony in a manner that works more like another instrument, complementing the chords that the orchestra stacks up before Jacob Garchik (trombone) solos, with more guitar scrapes lurking beneath the surface.  

Of the two big band pieces, "Eleanor" borrows from the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" but skillfully avoids the pitfalls of most attempts at dressing up the Beatles in jazz clothes. Traces of the original melody surface early on, and might be missed. But when the song's original chorus comes out at the end, Lenz lets the natural pathos of the melody (and perhaps the memory of the lyrical storyline) carry it. 

The 15-minute title track could arguably be considered the album's centerpiece. A chamber ensemble of four strings, two reeds, trombone, bass and drums play the four-part work that combines Chris Speed's penetrating clarinet tone, ostinatos, bent notes that play up frequency vibrations, along with more tender moments. 

Breathe became a bit of a collaborative project with Lenz's wife Violeta Puerta Cana, who created illustrations for each composition, all included in the package. The album was recorded after Lenz had been diagnosed with cancer. Despite minimal rehearsal and a rush to get everything getting completed within a series of days, the players don't cut any corners. Here's hoping that Lenz will rebound, as he sounds like he's just getting warmed up with this type of work.

CD Review: Darius Jones - Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)

Darius Jones

Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)

(AUM Fidelity) dariusjones.bandcamp.com/album/legend-of-eboi-the-hypervigilant-eye

Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) represents the seventh chapter in alto saxophonist Darius Jones's Man'ish Boy epic, which began with an album of that name in 2009. (The series will include two more chapters/albums.) The music is inspired by and deals with Black mental health and healing from personal trauma. The booklet with the disc features short essays and poems that deal with the issue. Jones also highlights two organizations dealing with mental health services for musicians and trauma-informed care for queer communities of color: Backline and NYC Affirmative Psychotherapy, respectively. 

While the more intense versions of free jazz (Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler) often scare listeners away due to the high intensity levels of the playing, it has always hit my ears as something transcendent, or, if not that, a music that attempts to mow down all forms of adversity in the way in order to help musicians and listeners reach that level of peace that comes after. Legend of e'Boi feels like that type of an album. "No More My Lord," based on a recording Alan Lomax made of singing prison workers, has that kind of feeling. Bassist Chris Lightcap creates a heavy, almost overdriven drone with the bow, allowing Jones to take a spiritual melody and use it as a gateway to some unhinged blowing. Even as he starts a fire, he creates something that feels beautiful.

"Affirmation Needed" climaxes with some altissimo squeals and upper register filigrees, but long before Jones gets to that, the body of his solo unleashes a rapid line of notes that he tongues most of the time, rather than slurring them together. The approach gives it a tough edge and drummer Gerald Cleaver, the third member of the group, seems to spur the saxophonist, motivating him to come to a boil and hold some lines with serious vibrato.

Jones proves himself equally as capable with a ballad as with the wilder moments. "We Inside Now" (a companion piece to the shape-shifting "We Outside") is stark and slow with Cleaver and Lightcap keeping the accompaniment to a bare minimum of quarter notes, while the saxophone lines also move slowly, in a combination of grace and an undercurrent of melancholy. 

It might come as a surprise that the closing track, titled "Motherfuckin [sic] Roosevelt" does not close the album out with some more free blowing. Named for the uncle that gave Jones his first saxophone, the track begins with some beefy lines from the leader, moving into a bass solo full of heavy plucking by Lightcap.

The history of jazz has been informed by a wealth of social issues that have affected artists personally, to an extent that the music serves as a strong document of that aspect of this country's history. When it comes the mental health and wellness, as well as the topic of sexuality, those ideas often get overlooked or swept under the jazz carpet. Legend of e'Boi takes a subtle approach to this subject matter but that results in a strong set that is hard to ignore. Jones's work just keeps getting stronger with each release.

Note: "We Outside" and "Motherfuckin Roosevelt" do not appear on the vinyl edition but the package includes a download card with all six tracks.

CD/LP Review: Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr - Breezy

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr

Breezy

(Sonic Transmissions) ingebrigtflaten.bandcamp.com/album/breezy

Bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten has declared, "Free the jazz," a turn of phrase so appropriate, it's surprising no one else has used it yet. The members of Flaten's (Exit) Knarr group have taken his rallying cry seriously. In the track "Free The Jazz" the bassist anchors a choppy groove while alto saxophonist Mette Rasmussen erupts in a series of joyful honks and wails. The other members of the sextet hold down the fort while tenor saxophonist Karl Hjalmar Nyberg answers Rasmussen's call with a steady low note. Rasmussen's pitch goes higher and higher as if to test the limits of her alto's range. Her sense of discovery feels infectious.

Like a good deal of Breezy, the music combines free moments without completely forsaking a steady background, stirring up the excitement in the process. Flaten and guitarist  Jonathan F. Horne play a staccato vamp throughout "Dylar," giving the rest of the band the leeway to take off.  Horne gets manic in "Ability" as the horns (which include trumpeter Erik Kimestad Pedersen) play a five-note line behind them and Nyberg eventually begins to joust with the guitarist.

On the other end, "Hilma" begins with tranquil synth wooshes (courtesy of guest Joakim Rainer Petersen). Trumpet calls float down the hillside, answered in a canon by the saxophones. When everything seems to be heading in a Eno-esque direction, the group shifts into a jagged line in which everyone moves together. 

Flaten gives himself one moment to solo in the opening of "Breezy," a piece dedicated to the late trumpeter jaimie branch. Because of its subject matter, Pedersen's trumpet becomes the most prominent voice as the piece continues with a blue theme, almost reminiscent of a Mingus line. With everyone joining in (including Petersen) things skillfully avoid getting busy before they fade naturally into alto wails and synth noise.

Born in Norway, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten has recorded extensively in a variety of projects - appearing on 200 albums, including the bands Atomic and the Thing, as well as many Ken Vandermark bands. (Exit) Knarr came together initially as a one-off commission for the 2021 Vossa Jazz Festival, releasing an album under the bassist's name which now serves as the group's moniker.  With his rep as a prolific sideman set, it's high time to catch up on his skills as a leader and composer.

Pitt Jazz Concert Report

What a week, eh? There is a lot to unpack from the turn of events that occurred on Tuesday and I'm not about to dig into here. I have my opinions on it and felt like slugging at least one person this week ("felt" is different than actually doing it, remember) and don't want to get into a debate about it. Wherever you are and whoever you are, I hope you're doing okay, all things considered. 

I sat down at the laptop this morning, thinking about an album that I wanted to write about, only to remember I never offered a dispatch on last week's Pitt Jazz Concert. So despite that fact that it happened a week ago, it felt like a quickie was in order. 

Chad Taylor, the new head of Jazz Studies at Pitt, understands that Pittsburgh likes its hard bop and isn't too certain about new things, so he programmed an evening that combined the best of both worlds, never playing it too safe or taking it too out. While the more adventurous moments provided the highlights and gave the ensemble the chance to really click, the standards portion also provided a pretty good time.

The evening honored local jazz godfather and drummer Roger Humphries and Philadelphia-born, internationally known bassist Reggie Workman. Along with those musicians, the ensemble included Taylor  (who alternated drum duties with Humphries), Pitt's Dr. Aaron J. Johnson (trombone, conch shells), Sumi Tonooka (piano), Jeff Parker (guitar), Brian Settles (tenor saxophone), Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Immanuel Wilkins (alto saxophone) and Jessica Boykin Settles (vocals). My far away picture up above features Settles, Parker, Jensen, Workman and Wilkins.

Pitt's Bellefield Hall has a spacious auditorium with nearly 700 seats. Not quite the fancy space of the Jazz Concert's old home down the street, the Carnegie Music Hall, it also doesn't quite have the sound system to accommodate a group like this. The horns and Parker's guitar cut through, but the rhythm section sounded as if they were quite jelling at all times, which seemed less a symptom of the performance and more of the room.

Workman's compositions factored heavily into the two sets and they provided moments when the group really clicked. "Shades of Angola," which started set number two, caught the band in full gear. Taylor kicked it off with an unaccompanied solo, followed by Workman bowing beneath the bridge before kicking into a boppish vamp. Parker's bright tone and Tonooka's two-handed chords kept things exciting. 

His "Conversations" was a highlight in the first set, with Johnson blowing conch shells and Jensen delivering a sprite tone that evoked Out To Lunch-era Freddie Hubbard to these ears. 

With Humphries behind the drum kit and Jessica Boykin Settles on the mic, the first set included a version of Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'," with the lyrics Jon Hendricks penned for his version with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. She paid tribute to vocalist Shirley Horn with "Here's to Life" but the ballad seemed like it could have been a chorus or two shorter. In the second set, she returned to the stage for a bold version of "Strange Fruit." "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," gave Parker and Wilkins (whose sense of invention was on display all night every time he soloed) some good space and might have been better with the sugary audience participation portion.

"Blues March" might be one of those songs that has become an easy blowing vehicle at jam sessions, but with Humphries leading the march, it served as a fitting way to close the evening, as well as a way to honor Benny Golson, who composed it and recently passed away.

In closing, there is the subject of etiquette. From my perch in the balcony, I didn't notice anyone leaving mid-performance, but friends sitting below said that some of the older patrons didn't have the patience to wait until intermission or the end of the night to leave. While I understand that, after 54 years, some people might expect to hear nothing more adventurous than "Killer Joe" and "Blue Bossa," it would be nice if people opened their minds a little to explore new ideas. After all, the music wasn't foisting Cecil Taylor-style attacks on them.

Closer to my seats, the couple in front of me seemed to be having a deep conversation throughout the evening. That is, they were when they weren't whipping out their devices and watching Pitt get clobbered in a football game. Once again, your reporter's pal on the floor also saw the same lack of social graces going on there. What's next - yelling during "Strange Fruit" if the team makes an interception? I know it was a rough game, but just because technology allows you to explore two Pitt events at once, it doesn't mean you should.

We've all seen or heard stories about the chatty person in the back of the jazz club during the set. DON'T BECOME THAT PERSON. (Please repeat the message to your friends.)