Wednesday, August 30, 2006

David Weiss @ FatCat Tonight & Every Wednesday Night

Fat Cat
presents
David Weiss and the Point of Departure Quintet

David Weiss- Trumpet
J.D. Allen- Tenor Sax
Nir Felder- Guitar
Luques Curtis- Bass
Jamire Williams- Drums
Kendrick Scott- Drums (August 30)

Fat Cat
75 Christopher Street
(between 7th Avenue and Bleecker Street)
(212) 343-0612
www.Fatcatjazz.com
Wednesday August 30
Shows at 10 pm and 12 midnight
$10 Cover with this invite
http://www.davidweissmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/davidweisssextet


Go see this killin' band tonight (Wednesday August 30) in Greenwich Village (subway: 1/2 to Christopher Street) if you are in NY. I will post more info in a bit. Gotta run....

Monday, August 28, 2006

Fat Possum Records documentary on IFC

Fat Possum is a blues and indie rock label that was started by some white dudes who loved the music of the Mississippi Delta and wanted to record some of the last remaining original players who had never left Mississippi to pursue any kind of careers in the music industry. Now their roster includes such lame indie rock acts as The Fiery Furnaces and The Black Keys (whose latest album is covers of Junior Kimbrough's music, one of the original Delta blues artists on the label - now deceased).

Now these musicians are old uneducated black men, many of whom can't read or write so having them sign a record contract is a bit dubious to say the least. But the documentary I saw on IFC, You See Me Laughin': The Last of the Hill Country Bluesmen (2003) (produced and directed by Mandy Stein), gives you the impression that the guys who started the company are not in it for the money. They want to expose new audiences to the music of these guys by pairing them up with remix producers and punk bands like Blues Explosion to make the music more accessible and palatable to young people. I think its a noble mission.

Anyways, check out Fat Possum Records' website. And check your local listings for IFC on the right side of the page in the second search box from the top here.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Esperanza Spalding; Doug Ramsey - Rifftides mentions The Jazz Clinic!!!

So tonight by phone, I introduced the amazing Esperanza Spalding (Full Discloser: a client of mine) to the world of Last.fm, which readers of this blog know I'm crazy about. But I'm also crazy about Esperanza's music. The title of this entry links to her Last.fm artist page and if you all could go and vote on the picture of her I posted so that it can go up, I would appreciate it. Of course, you'll have to sign up for an account but it's totally free for the basic service. For the price though that I've paid, I've been turned on to so many new artists to me as well as music by artists I already knew, just hadn't heard the specific albums.

Check out Esperanza's music on the Esperanza Spalding Myspace Page that I created for her. She melds bass and vocals fluidly to produce a uniquely indentifiable sound which draws heavily on spontaneous creativity and soulfulness. I mean, I don't want to take this space to rant about my clients but I do want you all to hear her music.

And if anyone has a 2-month sublet available in New York, I might know someone looking for a place for September and October.

Thanks to Doug Ramsey for linking to my blog. This probably means more people are reading now and I'll have to professionalize my blog a little bit and post about my personal life elsewhere...get a livejournal account....and really focus on jazz for this blog.

Anyways, to continue with a tradition I have, I will leave you with the music I'm currently listening to right now.

Currently listening to: Maria Schneider Orchestra - Começar de Novo (featuring a stunning soprano sax solo by Tim Ries) off of the recently released Days of Wine and Roses: Live at the Jazz Standard.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

George Garzone - The Fringe in New York

This album is absolutely sick! Garzone is basically Joe Lovano without press. He's the cat who everyone at Barklee has shedded off but cats don't talk about when listing their influences. To give you an idea, here is a track from this album. Let the music do the convincing.

I can't figure out the hosting stuff right now. So just listen at the outlets below.

The Fringe In New York

The Fringe In New York


George Garzone
NYC Records


Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Jimmy Greene Quartet @ Smoke Aug. 18-19, 2006

Here is my pick for THIS COMING WEEKEND:

August 18-19, 2006
Jimmy Greene Quartet appearing at Smoke
3 sets per night at 8 PM, 10 PM, & 11:30 PM

(From left to right): drummer Eric Harland, Jimmy Greene, bassist Reuben Rogers, and pianist Xavier Davis) Note: On the far left of this picture is drummer Eric Harland who appears on Jimmy's latest recording True Life Stories (Criss Cross Records). Eric will be replaced by Greg Hutchinson on this gig as he is on the road with saxophonist Charles Lloyd. Everyone else in the picture is on this weekend's gigs.

Jimmy Greene - saxophones
Xavier Davis - piano
Reuben Rogers - bass
Greg Hutchinson- drums

Jimmy, who grew up being mentored in his native Hartford by Jackie McLean should be most well-known as the 2nd Place winner of the 1996 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for saxophone, but is actually better known as a member of the Tom Harrell Quintet, the Harry Connick Jr. Big Band, Claudia Acuna's quintet, and drummer Lewis Nash's band.

For more info, visit Smoke's website.

Visit Jimmy online here.

Smoke is located at 2751 Broadway (between 105th and 106th streets) New York, NY 10025.

The phone number is (212) 864-6662.