FAVORITE LIVE PERFORMANCES 2003

[Frisco]

Lotsa great live music happened in 2003. Here are some of my favorites that I was fortunate enough to have witnessed. I can't possibly limit it to ten, but I'll write a line on some and then list some others that were particularly inspiring. It would be great to hear from others who heard these concerts as well:

TRIO 3 (OLIVER LAKE, REGGIE WORKMAN, ANDREW CYRILLE)
10/4/03 - Kerrytown Concert House - Ann Arbor
I've heard this group live a few times, but this concert just hit on all cylinders. Oliver mentioned that the group sensed the vibe of the crowd and the space were just right. And they responded with some of the most adventurous and spirited music that I've heard from the group.

STEVE LACY SOLO
9/6/03 - Guelph Jazz Festival
Again the vibe seemed perfect. A small, intimate hall. Early morning show. No rush. Steve took the time to explore every nuance of the stage and the hall. He obviously enjoyed the opportunity.

EVAN PARKER, ALEX VON SCHLIPPENBACH, PAUL LYTTON
4/20/02 - Tonic, NYC
I only caught the second set but it was my favorite of the sets that I managed to hear on this tour. The amplification was perfect, with Schlippenbach's piano miked well enough to hear every detail. And the music just jumped with beautiful spirit, great interaction.

PETER BROTZMANN, HAMID DRAKE, KENT KESSLER, KEN VANDERMARK
12/20/03 - Onopa Brewing, Milwaukee
I wrote about this one in the Live Music Review Section. This was the second of two sets with Vandermark joining the trio. That raised the music to another level and Peter was greatly inspired.

ROSCOE MITCHELL OCTET
8/30/03 - Chicago Jazz Festival
Three percussions (Tani Tabal, Gerald Cleaver, and Vincent Davis) two basses (Harrison Bankhead and Jaribu Shahid) piano (Craig Taborn), and trumpet (Corey Wilkes?) set up enough energy for Roscoe that Lake Michigan threatned to catch fire.

ANDREW CYRILLE, KIDD JORDAN, WILLIAM PARKER
5/23/03 - Vision Festival, NYC
This was one of my favorites from this year's festival. It was good fun. The music was jumping with a lot of good interaction between William and Andrew, and Kidd's soaring explorations. Even though some of Andrew's antics of playing the stage, etc... have been seen before, they seemed fresh in the comany of Parker who danced around as Cyrille played the stage at his feet.

FRED ANDERSON, KIDD JORDAN, HAMIET BLUIETT, HARRISON BANKHEAD, HAMID DRAKE
8/30/03 - Velvet Lounge Jam, Chicago
If there wasn't enough creative energy still in the air from Roscoe's performance, the rhythm section of Harrison and Hamid made sure they kept it happening. Plenty of those "ecstatic" moments where you just break out in a smile of laughter from pure joy.

JIN HI KIM, BILLY BANG, WILLIAM PARKER
5/24/03 - Vision Festival, NYC
Another favorite of the fest. It was a beautiful contrast to much of the other music happening, but very much high energy in it own way. Billy played at a very high emotional leval as did the whole trio.

YUKO FUJIYAMA QUARTET W/REGGIE NICHOLSON, ED WILKERSON, TATSU AOKI
8/28/03 - Hot House, Chicago
One of the Afterfest sets. Yuko has to be one of the great unknown talents on piano. The music was vibrant, explorative, abstract at times, and swinging at others. Some of the most adventurous playing I've heard from Wilkerson on alto sax.

DAVE BURRELL SOLO / SHIPP/PARKER DUO
4/17/03 - Tonic, NYC
As part of a double bill with the Shipp-Parker Duo, Burrell must have explored every inch of the piano, inside and out (literally and figuratively). He took such a laid back, no hurry approach, would get into rhythmic patterns, riffs, and begin exploring to the nth degree. Mattew and William followed with a wonderful duo set that sounded particularly fresh since it'd been so long since I'd heard them in duo.

MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS & GEORGE LEWIS
5/23/03 - AACM, NYC
Two of the masters! Nuff said.

FRED ANDERSON & HARRISON BANKHEAD
5/22/03 - Vision Festival, NYC
Many of the festival goers favorite for good reason. Harrison a revelation for many.

BROTZMANN/W.PARKER/DRAKE, E.PARKER/SCHLIPPENBACH/LYTTON DOUBLE TRIO
5/19/03 - Victoriaville Festival
They said it wouldn't work. Ha!

PAUL DUNMALL, PAUL ROGERS, KEVIN NORTON
5/16/03 - Hallwalls, Buffalo

ALEX VON SCHLIPPENBACH SOLO MONK
4/25/03 - Chicago Empty Bottle Festival

FRED LONBERG-HOLM, KENT KESSLER, MICHAEL ZERANG
February @ Candlestick Maker, Chicago
The way Fred and Michael both get thousands of sounds from their instruments!

CECIL TAYLOR & ELVIN JONES
6/17/03 - Blue Note, NYC
My first time seeing them in duo so it was special for me.

ANDREW LAMB, HARRISON BANKHEAD, WARREN SMITH
8/28/03 - Velvet Lounge Afterfest, Chicago

NUBAND W/ ROY CAMPBELL, JOE FONDA, MARK WHITECAGE, LOU GRASSI
4/11/03 - Detroit Art Space
OK, I had to acknowledge one of the few Detroit concerts, one that I actually hosted. Featured a great salute to American politics from Roy (with his Dinosuar poem to the Bush-o- Saurus Rex) and a great Fonda rant. The music was top notch. Whitecage played some wild stuff, only his occasional use of elecrtronics hampering it for me.

[Jonathan Sutton]

Frisco, I caught Lacy in Guelph, too, and it was indeed splendid; just to see how the man moves when he plays solo, which he clearly has given a lot of though to, was a great pleasure, as well as seeing and hearing his playing into the hall's piano with the sustain pedal depressed by woodblock -- the sympathetic vibrations of the piano strings are much too subtle an effect to hear properly, or even suspect, on a recording, I imagine.

Although the set was not my absolute favorite of all those I saw in Guelph (which was most of them, and most of those were very good) -- that was the duo of Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer (??? Materials, I have momentarily forgotten what they name the duo).

[Uli]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Frisco

ROSCOE MITCHELL OCTET
8/30/03 - Chicago Jazz Festival
Three percussions (Tani Tabal, Gerald Cleaver, and Vincent Davis) two basses (Harrison Bankhead and Jaribu Shahid) piano (Craig Taborn), and trumpet (Corey Wilkes?) set up enough energy for Roscoe that Lake Michigan threatned to catch fire.

Yep that was Corey Wilkes. One of my favorite sets last year too.

[Jonathan Sutton]

On the general theme of things seen in my favorite live performances of the year (which is most of them, since I don't get to see too many in a year).

Parker/Lytton/Schlippenbach in Houston: watching Evan Parker fingering notes constantly on his tenor, figuring out (I assume) what he would play if he were to be playing at that moment, and then actually starting to play when he thought it just the right moment.

Dresser/Maroney/Ziegler in Guelph: having wondered from recordings how some bassists, Dresser being one, Barry Guy another, give the impression of playing arco and pizzicato at the same time, seeing how it was actually done -- Dresser hammering the string with one finger hard enough to produce the appropriate note even though he was not plucking the string, since he was holding a bow in the other hand.

Lacy's Beat Suite Quintet in Guelph: not quite a revelation unlike the above, but feeling sorry for Lacy starting a solo after another member of the group (George Lewis, I think) had taken his solo, and then having to stop immediately because he was visibly disturbed and annoyed by audience applause for Lewis's solo. He started again, of course, but the interruption was a bit of a shame.

[Frisco]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by David Gitin
[B]
MARILYN CRISPELL-FRANCOIS HOULE-JOELLE LEANDRE-DYLAN VAN DER SCHYFF


David, I was very interested in hearing more about this one. At the Vancouver Fest?

[Frisco]

Originally posted by Jonathan Sutton

Although the set was not my absolute favorite of all those I saw in Guelph (which was most of them, and most of those were very good) -- that was the duo of Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer (??? Materials, I have momentarily forgotten what they name the duo).

Jonathan, I only got into Guelph for a day and a half and didn't hear this one. I heard great things about it though. I've really not heard much of Vijay Iyer. How would you decribe his music?

[JaSt]

Return Of The New Thing (Warburton/Gionnet/Fucgs/Perraud)
At Glenn Miller Café, November 15

Fed Anderson/Harrison Bankhead
Visionfestival

Gush (Mats Gustafsson/Sten Sandell/Raymond Strid)
Annan Musik, May 6

Evan Parker solo
Annan Musik, April 6

Peter Brötzmann Tentett
Vasteras, November

[LeMo]

Not a precise remember of the dates:

Winter:

- Georg Graewe solo (Brussels)

- Paul Dunmall & Paul Lytton Duet (Brussels)

- Veryan Weston performing Tesselations for Luthéal Piano (Brussels, 14 March)

Spring:

- Anthony Braxton Standard Quartet (Antwerpen & Brussels)

- Cosmosamatics (Brussels)

- Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston duet (Brussels)

- Aki Takase Solo (Brussels)

- David S. Ware Quartet performing The Freedom Suite (Brussels)

- John Butcher & Thomas Lehn (Brussels)

- Stephane Oliva & Olivier Raulin Septet (Antwerpen)

- Spaceway Inc. (Gent)

- Aka Moon Quartet (Brussels)

Summer:

- Miroslav Vitous Quartet (Brussels)

- Michel Doneda/ Lê Quan Ninh/ Iwana Masaki (Antwerpen)

- Konrad Bauer/ Barre Phillips/ Gunter "Baby" Sommer Trio (Antwerpen)

- Fred Van Hove church organ solo (Antwerpen)

- Fred Van Hove/ Ivo Vander Borght/ Maurice Horthuis/ Michel Doneda (Antwerpen)

- William Parker/ John Edwards/ Peter Jacquemyn Bass trio "Remember Peter Kowald" (Antwerpen)

- Peter Brötzmann/ William Parker/ Hamid Drake (Antwerpen)

- Jason Moran Trio featuring Sam Rivers (Gent)

Autumn:

- Lew Tabackin Trio (Brussels)

- Keith Rowe and Friends (Brussels)

- Charles Lloyd Quintet (Brussels)

- Cuong Vu Trio (Antwerpen)

- Assif Tsahar & Cooper Moore (Antwerpen)

- ICP Orkester (Antwerpen)

- Ken Vandermark 5 (Hasselt)

- Noah Howard Quartet (Hasselt)

- Barry Guy Project (Antwerpen)

- Toby Delius Quartet (Antwerpen)

- Anthony Braxton Standard Quartet (Gent)

- Michel Doneda solo (Brussels)

- Dave Liebman/ Marc Copeland duet (Club Vilain XIIII, near the nederland border)

- Ray Anderson/ Mark Helias/ Gerry Hemingway BassDrumBone (Antwerpen)

[Nate Dorward]

Originally posted by Frisco
I've really not heard much of Vijay Iyer. How would you decribe his music?

Brilliant. Seriously. I don't know the duo with Mahanthappa but everything I've heard of Iyer's has been really good--the new quartet disc on Artists House, Blood Sutra, is remarkable stuff.

I think I'd name the Lacy solo set at Guelph, yes, as probably the best concert I've seen this year. The only other thing that really stands out was a solo set in Toronto by Gert-Jan Prins.

[Jon Abbey]

Originally posted by Nate Dorward
The only other thing that really stands out was a solo set in Toronto by Gert-Jan Prins.

wow, I wouldn't have pegged you as a Gert-Jan fan, nice to hear. I'm setting up some NYC shows for him in March...

[Jonathan Sutton]

FWIW (given my ineptitude at saying much substantive about music, especially given that I am not a musician), I would say Iyer makes very innovative, but still fairly mainstream jazz -- more concerned with harmony and melody than more out musicians are. He is explicitly influenced by Indian music, as is quite clear even if one knows relatively little about Indian music. Mahanthappa is a fantastic alto player -- again, in many ways he does not depart greatly from the mainstream, but he will make awe-inspiring subtle and very controlled use of false fingering and such from time to time.

Iyer and Mahanthapa don't sound anything like the JCC crowd (Allison, Kimbrough etc.), but I am nevertheless inclined to group them together in that if someone asks me to recommend some jazz that is distinctively new, but they have no time for any of that free stuff and what came after, Ornette being the last jazz musician from the pantheon that they have any time for, I would recommend Iyer. (And Ben Allison and the rest of the JCC crowd.)

[Nate Dorward]

Oh yes, the Sam Rivers Trio in Halifax, I forgot that.

I liked the Prins concert, yes. I was even so foolhardy as to refuse Ron Gaskin's offer of earplugs, which were being snapped up like candy around the room. I didn't in the end think them necessary, despite a couple of high-pitched thingies which would have sent me diving into the box of plugs if he'd kept them up more than briefly. I thought his solo set--about 20 minutes--was great; the rest of the evening, where a couple of Toronto musicians sat in, was much less interesting, as such things are, but I'm not sure I'd have wanted more than 20 minutes of the solo stuff anyway--it was pretty intense.

I haven't heard Fieldwork's Your Life Flashes which has Iyer on it but I gather it's a little more out-there than his quartet & duo records. Maybe someone who's heard it can comment?

[Frisco]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LeMo
[B]

Wow, plenty of great live music here. Could you recall a few of them:

This one intrigues me with Barre taking over for Peter Kowald. Do you know if this was done just in tribute to Peter or if they intend to carry on with the trio?:
- Konrad Bauer/ Barre Phillips/ Gunter "Baby" Sommer Trio (Antwerpen)

Always wanted to hear the church organ thing in a live setting!:
- Fred Van Hove church organ solo (Antwerpen)

Parker and Joelle Leandre did a duo for Peter's memorial in New York. That was nice but just a ten minute thing. The bass group tribute in Victoriaville was grossly undermiked and suffered greatly. This one sounds like it could've been great. John Edwards is just an excellent bass player!:
- William Parker/ John Edwards/ Peter Jacquemyn Bass trio "Remember Peter Kowald" (Antwerpen)

Jusr curious who took part if this one:
- Barry Guy Project (Antwerpen)

[Pete C]

I'm not good on dates. I'll list by venue.

NEW YORK CITY

Jazz Standard:

Charles Tolliver Big Band


Iridium:

Steve Lacy, Beat Suite


Fat Cat:

Hank Jones w/ Mickey Roker, John Weber & Eddie Diehl


Blue Note:

Joao Bosco (2 nights)
Cubanissmo


Satalla:

Trio da Paz with Claudio Roditi


Barbes (Brooklyn):

Mark Helias’ Open Loose


Blah-Blah Lounge (Brooklyn):

Frank Kimbrough - Solo


Tonic (I can be date-specific, since everything can be traced back on the website):

Louis Sclavis Quintet (3/8)
Courvoisier, Eskelin, Courtois (3/10)
Vandermark 5 (3/20)
Parker, Lytton, Schlippenbach (4/20)
Mephista (5/24)
Ehrlich, Dresser, Cyrille (7/18)
Dave Douglas Quartet w/ Roswell Rudd (8/23)
Duofel (Brazilian guitar duo) (8/25)
Brian Lynch & Spheres of Influence (Latin jazz group) (8/27)
Braam-De Joode-Vatcher / Berne, Courvoisier, Mori, Rainey (12/16)
Mario Pavone Nu Quintet (12/17)


Carnegie Hall:

Ornette Coleman Quartet (the other half, Charlie Haden w/ Michael Brecker & chamber orch. was one of the worst of 2003)
Cesar Camargo Mariano & Romero Lubambo (part of tribute to Jobim & Getz)


Central Park Summerstage:

Bembeya Jazz


Celebrate Brooklyn (Prospect Park):

Oliver Mtukudzi


Town Hall:

Orquesta Aragon


AACM NYC:

Muhal Richard Abrams & George Lewis


Vision Festival:

Fred Anderson-Harrison Bankhead


ELSEWHERE

Yoshi's (Oakland):

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble


Philadelphia Museum of Art:

Dave Burrell - solo


North Sea Jazz Festival:

Brotzmann Tentet
Solomon Burke
Jorge Ben Jor
Simon Nabatov & Nils Wogram
Cuong Vu Trio
Stacy Kent


Lausanne, Festival de la Cite:

Jerome Lefebvre, James MacGaw & Jean-Yves Roucan Trio (do any of our friends in Europe know these guys?)


Bumbershoot Festival (Seattle):

Solomon Burke
Blind Boys of Alabama
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (new to me, nice surprise)


Smithsonian Folklife Festival (D.C.):

Malian artists:

Oumou Sangare
Neba Solo
Tartit

[LeMo]

Originally posted by Frisco:

This one intrigues me with Barre taking over for Peter Kowald. Do you know if this was done just in tribute to Peter or if they intend to carry on with the trio?:
- Konrad Bauer/ Barre Phillips/ Gunter "Baby" Sommer Trio (Antwerpen)

- Seems than Barre Phillips will be a permanent replacement for the late Kowald.

Always wanted to hear the church organ thing in a live setting!:
- Fred Van Hove church organ solo (Antwerpen)

- There's a record of Van Hove playing Church organ. I don't remember the label, maybe his own Wimprotwee.
The concert, who took place in a small protestant church, was quite short but great.

Parker and Joelle Leandre did a duo for Peter's memorial in New York. That was nice but just a ten minute thing. The bass group tribute in Victoriaville was grossly undermiked and suffered greatly. This one sounds like it could've been great. John Edwards is just an excellent bass player!:
- William Parker/ John Edwards/ Peter Jacquemyn Bass trio "Remember Peter Kowald" (Antwerpen)

- One of the best thing I've heard this year. Edwards was the most inventive as you may guest & Parker was playing his usual earthy bass.
Jacquemyn, a good belgium impro player, was up with the boys. The Three mixed perfectly.
Lot of emotion during the set (around 40 minutes) who take place in the church following Van Hove solo.

Just curious who took part if this one:
- Barry Guy Project (Antwerpen)

- Maya Homburger, Stefaan Smagghe (Violins), Daan Vandewalle (piano), Jaap Blonk (vocal). They played the "graphic" partitions of Guy.
A good concert but I've heard better and greater music by the man in other context.

[Gary Sisco]

Jemeel Moondoc Quintet, Fire In The Valley, ICA, Boston
Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, William Parker, Hamid Drake, same.
Fred Anderson and Harrison Bankhead, Vision Festival, NYC.
Dunmall, Rogers, Norton, Knitting Factory, NYC.
Henry Grimes and William Parker (can't remember right now who else was on stage), Vision.
Ray Anderson Pocket Brass Band, Discover Jazz Festival, Burlington, VT.
Raphe Malik, Warren Smith, Sabir Mateen, and (forgetting the bassist's name), Johnson State College, Johnson, VT.
Joe Maneri, Matt Maneri, Randy Peterson, Michael Formanek, FlynnSpace, Burlington.
The Church Keys, at the Adam Lore-organized benefit for Otha Turner's family, NYC, can't remember the club (or much after the Church Keys' set ...)
Unstable Ensemble, Signal To Noise's former HQ, Burlington.

[Frisco]

Originally posted by Gary Sisco

Henry Grimes and William Parker (can't remember right now who else was on stage), Vision.

Gary, that was Rob Brown. Nice set, indeed. I'm waiting for the day that Cecil Taylor works with a trio including Rob.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Gary Sisco
The Church Keys, at the Adam Lore-organized benefit for Otha Turner's family, NYC, can't remember the club

Sin-é.

[Captain Hate]

This really pales in comparison to most of you guys but here goes:

Matt Wilson Quartet @ Beachland Ballroom
Lee Konitz w/ Paul Bley, Jason Moran & Kenny Werner @ Montreal Jazz Fest
Kenny Werner Trio @ MJF
OHMZ Quintet @ MJF
Tom Walsh & Fathed w/ Steve Swell @ MJF
Triage @ Beachland Ballroom
FME @ Beachland Ballroom
Asylum Street Spankers @ Beachland Ballroom

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Some of you guys go to more shows in a year than I have nights off!!


My favorites from the half-dozen or so I saw:

Wadada Leo Smith and drummer Steve Smith, in an offbeat but charming performance space South of Market.

John Scofield 4tet at Yoshi's.

Bobby Hutcherson 4tet at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival (George Cables was wonderful).


and for non-jazz:

The Old Lahaina Luau on Maui

[Jason Bivins]

Hmmmm, I think I played more gigs than I attended this year (and one of my faves as a player was the UE show in Burlington).

My highlights included the Eskelin/Parkins/Black trio and the Rowe/Nakamura duo.

[Tanager]

Par for the course in my case, I attended very few shows, sadly (I rarely get to more then three or so a year). Highlights included the Eskelin/Parkins/Black show (attended with Jason B, in fact, which was also a highlight) and Kenny Garrett's quartet at Ronnie Scott's.

[relyles]

A few that I can actually remember:

Charles Tolliver - Music Inc. - Massachussets
Wayne Shorter - Litchfield Jazz Festival
Dennis Gonzalez/Ellery Eskelin/Mark Helias/Michael Thompson - Tonic - and on the same day ...
Sonny Rollins - Central Park (primarily for the opportunity to see a giant as opposed to the actual performance)

[Fred K]

Top 10 Jazz Shows

Sheila Jordan w/ Steve Kuhn Trio at Club Soda (Montreal)
Lee Konitz Duets (w/ J. Moran, K. Werner, P. Bley) at Monument National (Montreal)
Kenny Werner Trio at Salle Gesu (Montreal)
Carla Bley Big Band at Iridium (NYC)
Paul Motian, Marilyn Crispell, Mark Helias at the Village Vanguard (NYC)
The Bad Plus at Blues Alley (DC)
Randy Weston at the Kennedy Center (DC)
Steve Coleman & Five Elements at Twins (DC)
Ellery Eskelin/Andrea Parkins/Jim Black at Twins (DC)
Robert Hurst, Ravi Coltrane, Mulgrew Miller & Ali Jackson at Blues Alley


Top 10 Non-Jazz Shows

Paul Weller at the 9:30 Club
Annie Lennox at the National Theater
Richard Thompson at the 9:30 Club (with band) and at the Birchmere (solo)
Daniel Lanois (duo with Brian Blade) at the 9:30 Club
Solomon Burke at the Birchmere
The New Pornographers at the Black Cat
Neko Case, Carolyn Mark, & Kelly Hogan at the Black Cat
Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey at the Kennedy Center
Rocket from the Tombs at the Black Cat
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at Roseland Ballroom (NYC)


I didn't attend many classical shows in 2003, but the best were 2 vocal recitals in February, from Susan Graham (various songs and arias) and especially Wolfgang Holzmair (Schubert and Krenck songs).

[Gary Sisco]

Thanks for the memory boosts, Frisco and Pete. Frisco, that was an incredible experience, the set with Brown, Grimes and Parker, what? Rob Brown is one of the most underrecognized altos on the scene (where he's been for a long time and more than paid his dues). Rob told me last summer that Derek Taylor called him "the Clark Kent of free jazz." Good one.

[Gary Sisco]

I can't believe I forgot about the ICP show, FlynnSpace, Burlington! Definitely one of the year's finer moments. Root Doctor and I had seats not five feet from the reeds. Great show.

[mke]

1. Brötzmann/Parker/Drake (along with LeMo)

2. Eskelin/Parker/Black, May, in Lille, playing stuff from Arcanum Moderne. I remember one guy head-banging through much of the concert.

2. Jason Moran and Bandwagon

2. ROVA, in Brussels, no microphones, it was glorious.

5. Steve Coleman, March, in Liège, with his then-new group with Dafnis Prieto and harmonicist Grégoire Maret.

6. Pascal Schumacher Quartet

6. Polar Bear

[Pete C]

Originally posted by mke
5. Steve Coleman, March, in Liège, with his then-new group with Dafnis Prieto and harmonicist Grégoire Maret.
[/URL]

Was this the group with Jonathan Finlayson, Reggie Washington and a latin percussionist? My feeling about this group was that while excellent, there was a sameness throughout the set that ultimately left me not totally satisfied.

[mke]

Originally posted by Pete C
Was this the group with Jonathan Finlayson, Reggie Washington and a latin percussionist? My feeling about this group was that while excellent, there was a sameness throughout the set that ultimately left me not totally satisfied.

Yeah, that's the group. What can I say? It was my first time seeing him live, I was overwhelmed and entranced.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by mke
Yeah, that's the group. What can I say? It was my first time seeing him live, I was overwhelmed and entranced.

My problem with the group could have been the choice of tunes for the set. I loved the first half, then when things pretty much stayed in the same groove I got a bit bored.

But the next time they come to the Jazz Gallery I may give it another chance, since the place is pretty reasonable.

I saw Coleman in a trio with Washington & Gene Lake a couple of years ago. Coleman was really on fire, and he and Lake had a great synergy, but I felt Washington was superfluous.

Does Coleman always use electric bass in his groups?

I haven't noticed too much enthusiasm for Coleman around here.

Does anybody know the live album, Curves of Life? David Murray guests on 2 tunes. That & Sonic Language of Myth are probably my favorite Coleman albums.