A little freaky…not encouraging

It is Monday night, a week and a day before Mardi Gras. New Orleans is well into Carnival season, and there were parades this past weekend. This should be the busy time. I played at dba on Frenchmen St tonight with Jonathan Freilich.

The scene at dba (on nights when more overtly creative stuff is happening) is usually a dozen or more music fans who are there to hear the band, and a decent size bar crowd who are there for a cool hang. Tonight the street was dead and much of the bar crowd was absent. The music fans were there, the tip jar was full, the club paid the band as agreed, and we all left with the money we expected to leave with, BUT it felt weird. Empty. Dead. As I packed up my gear, then walked to my car, I could easily imagine a scene a year or two out that looked like a ghost town. Empty buildings; a few brave lonely wanderers; a shell of what used to be. I hope that imaginary scene is the surfacing of my fears more than a premonition.

Brazillian Food in Fat City

My good friend Ray Moore is a connoisseur of all things Brazillian, and the other night he took me and John Worthington to this fabulous little Brazillian restaurant in the Fat City area of Metairie. As I recall, the sign just says Luncheonette, and it is definitely aimed at the local Brazillian community. You have to ask for a menu in English. We didn’t, Ray just translated.

I had beef steak with onions that was served over rice and beans with fried bananas, and a breaded fried eggplant that was called an empanada, but was different from an empanada you might get in a Mexican restaurant. It was all slammin’. For dessert we had something that translated as sweet rice, which was very good, and huge. There was so much of it, I couldn’t finish it.

I feel electric

Just about everything I have done under my own name in the last few years has been acoustic. Today I did a recording session with some old and new friends, and for a variety of reasons, it ended up being all electric bass and electric keyboards, and it was way fun. I’m sure you’ll hear more about it soon.

Talking Jazz – Ben Sidran

In the mid-1980’s I was in high school in Lafayette ,LA. I was starting to discover jazz and gobbling up whatever info I could find. A big part of my process of discovery at that time was an NPR show called Sidran on Record. It was an hour long radio program of Ben Sidran interviewing jazz musicians, and playing music. Those interviews are now collected as Talking Jazz, a 24 CD set.

cd cover

The musical selections are missing, and I miss them, but the interviews are great. Carla Bley, Jackie McLean, Archie Shepp, Mel Lewis, Sonny Rollins, Arthur Blythe, Don Cherry, and loads more. The interviews are relaxed; like two musicians talking, which is what they essentially are. The box set is a little expensive, but well worth it.

Chicago’s emerging jazz musicians bow to the past

Here’s a nice piece from the Chicago Sun Times on some of the young free jazz scene players in Chicago. Several of my Lucky 7s compadres get some nice props.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Jazz :: Chicago’s emerging jazz musicians bow to the past

They swing, but they play free jazz. That is, they improvise freely (oh, no!), outside chord changes (shocking!), and sometimes they’re even arhythmic or atonal (the horror!). Sometimes their music is fierce, with exhilarated honks and explosions. More often, it’s intense, very tight group explorations, often lyrical or abstract or even charming.

Lucky 7s reviewed in Cadence Magazine

Here are some choice quotes from the Cadence Magazine review of the Lucky 7s Cd Farragut.

The originals are interesting, the ensemble plays loose or very tight depending on the needs of the moment and the solos are inspired. …You may already know Jeb Bishop’s work with Vandermark, Brotzmann, etc. The presence of Albert brings out the best in them both.

The ensemble plays a raucous, yet controlled form of Jazz that has some of the joy of old New Orleans style yet is thoroughly Post-Bop in its inflections.

The opening piece, “Stitch,” is a microcosm of all that is strong in this band. Swinging ensemble, an interesting head, a dynamic rhythm section that builds intensity in response to the heat of some great solos.

This is modern ensemble Jazz of the highest caliber. Grab this one!

You read what the man said…

2 good ones last Sunday

January can be a slow time in New Orleans. There’s a lull between the holidays and Mardi Gras. Well, I had the pleasure of playing two really fun and rewarding gigs this past Sunday.

The first was with Martin Krusche’s Magnetic Ear at Bacchanal. It is an early gig (6-9) and it is outdoors. It was pretty cold, but the music and the company were very happening. It is always an honor when friends and musicians come out to hear us play, and we were honored Sunday. The band had a couple of new members of the Magnetic Ear musician pool, and they both played great. Will Terry on sousaphone, and Charlie Kohlmeyer on drums were both grooving and aware, and a real pleasure to make music with.

Later that night I got to play with a Jonathan Freilich band called Klezmurder All-Stars, which was an amalgom of the long standing New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, and a newer band that Jonathan has called Klezmurder, which is a sort of free-jazz klezmer band. There was a lot of flying by the seat of my pants, but I was surrounded by great musicians, and it was tons of fun. There was a fun and engaging audience as well, which always helps.