Who HAVEN'T you seen play?

[Chaz Longue]

Nothing compares to seeing music played live.

A lot of us are very fortunate - we've seen a lot of live music over the years.

Even though it's January, if you think about it...Festival season is really not too far off.

So who HAVEN'T you seen who you'd love a chance to see this Summer?


I have a longer list, but the only name that comes to mind right now (I have a wicked bad case of CRS) is Paal Nilssen Love. I'll post a few more tomorrow...

[Pete C]

Why's this in the Alley?

There aren't too many living musicians I haven't seen that I'd love to, but off the top of my head:

Joyce
Djivan Gasparyan
Martinho Da Vila
Joao Donato
Renaud Garcia-Fons
Rabih Abou-Khalil

I can't really think of other individual jazz musicians, though there are certainly new & interesting combinations I always look forward to. I've been pretty lucky in my live music life. There are musicians I'm not interested in seeing now, but would love to have seen 30 or so years ago, like Surman & Garbarek.

I'm sure other names will come to me.

[Sergio Zamora]

What, you wanna scare off the Alley cats by talking about music?

[chuckyd4]

Anouar Brahem
Richard Galliano


Jesus, too many to mention. But one which I am *finally* going to see live this April:

Sonny Rollins

1. Buddy Bolden
2. Tommy Ladnier
3. Brad Meldau
4. Johnny Dodds
5. Stanley Jordan
6. Joe Oliver
7. Bix
8. Frankie Trumbauer
9. James P. Johnson
10. Hot Lips Page
11. Ira Gitler
12. Muggsy Spanier
13. Frank Teschmacher
14. Jimmie Noone
15. Ellery Eskelin
16. Chu Berry
17. Charlie Christian
    and...

[Bill Barton]

Chaz, my man, where the heck have you been? Haunting different threads?

Only one person springs immediately to mind for me: Steve Lacy!

[chuckyd4]

Bill - I saw Steve with Mal Waldron in one of those Kaplan Penthouse shows a few years ago... that ranks up there among the best... and I'm eternally grateful I did so before Mal passed on to the great jam session in the sky.


Chris - I can highly recommend Mehldau's live show. I don't really know how the troops aroudn here rate him, but he knocks me out every time.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by chuckyd4
Anouar Brahem

I've seen the Astrakan Cafe trio. Would love to see the Chat Noir trio.

[Other Steve]

I'm pleasantly surprised at how initially difficult it was to come up with names, as least as far as jazz and improv performers are concerned. Living in New York will do that, I guess. When I opened it up to EAI players, I managed a baker's dozen:

Lee Konitz
AMM
Alexander von Schlippenbach
Fred van Hove
Sven-Ake Johansson
Otomo Yoshihide
Martin Brandlmayr
Thomas Lehn
Andrea Neumann
Annette Krebs
Axel Dörner
Ami Yoshida
Utah Kawasaki

Were I to open up the list to non-jazz and improv performers, then surely Bob Dylan and Tom Waits would top the list.

Pete C, are you aware that Djivan Gasparyan is at Joe's Pub this Monday with Simon Shaheen's ensemble? 9pm, $30 -- pretty stiff, but it might well be worth it. The one time I caught Gasparyan was also at Joe's Pub a few years back, playing in (wince) Andreas Vollenweider's band along with the great Galician piper Carlos Nuñez... and Carly Simon. Gasparyan and Nuñez made it worthwhile.

[Other Steve]

Oh! And Zentralquartett! I'd love to catch them live.

[Jon Abbey]

wow, you've never seen Otomo, Steve? I'm a little surprised, off the top of my head I've seen him do at least eight sets in NYC, although I guess six of those were bunched into three nights at Tonic which I knew you missed, but it still surprises me a bit.

anyway, you can knock six off your list with a well-timed week in Germany in May, you know...

[mgjazz]

Bobby Hutcherson!! I know that he lives in California and midwest promoters don't want to fly him out here, but I know he has been in Chicago, New York City, and overseas. Would love to hear him on the marimba. Also Andrew Hill is far overdue for a date here in Michigan. And how about saxophonist Bert Wilson, wheelchair and all.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Other Steve
Pete C, are you aware that Djivan Gasparyan is at Joe's Pub this Monday with Simon Shaheen's ensemble? 9pm, $30 -- pretty stiff, but it might well be worth it.

I'm aware, but I've seen Shaheen, and I'm not that interested in his music. I want to see Gasparyan do his own thing. I suspect the World Music Institute will have him back some time. I think the last time they presented him was before I knew his music.

Steve, I'm surprised you haven't seen Konitz, since he performs pretty regularly in NY. The first time I saw him was with his nonet, years ago. Schlippenbach was the star of the show for me with Evan parker last year.

[HLJ]

Nick Payton
Cassandra Wilson
Stefon Harris
Peace and all that

[Other Steve]

Originally posted by Jon Abbey
anyway, you can knock six off your list with a well-timed week in Germany in May, you know...

Ahhh, yezzzzz. Working on making that happen somehow. Even my girlfriend is encouraging me to go.

Originally posted by Pete C
Steve, I'm surprised you haven't seen Konitz, since he performs pretty regularly in NY.

Yeah, I know, and I've always just missed him. I need to do something about that -- he's not getting any younger, bless him.

[crawjo]

Born too late...that's my problem.

Basically, I haven't seen anybody play live. I mean, I've gone up to Saratoga Springs and seen a local jazz band twice, but that's it, as far as jazz is concerned. I've never seen any of the musicians that I adore: Miles Davis (dead), John Coltrane (dead), Cecil Taylor, Patricia Barber, the list goes on. It's too depressing, really.

I do hope to see Cecil play sometime, if possible. And the next time I'm visiting relatives in Chicago I'm going to hope that Patricia is playing at the Green Mill that week.

[Gordon B]

Evan Parker
AMM or any of the three individually
Alexander von Schlippenbach
Keith Tippett
LJCO (disbanded but theoretically...)
Burkhard Stangl
Bar Kokhba

[Jon Abbey]

Originally posted by Gordon B
AMM or any of the three individually

I saw AMM in Baltimore, but you know that. that won't be happening again in the near future.

[Other Steve]

Originally posted by crawjo
I do hope to see Cecil play sometime, if possible.

Cecil's got a whole week with a big band at Iridium in New York City coming up in March; maybe you could make one of the weekend shows? I get the feeling a bunch of us will be attending those gigs.

Steve Lacy (with Roswell Rudd and Dave Douglas) and the Art Ensemble of Chicago are also playing Iridium that month, respectively a week prior to Taylor and a week after. My jaw's still scraping the floor.

[Captain Hate]

Originally posted by Gordon B
Evan Parker
AMM or any of the three individually
Alexander von Schlippenbach
Keith Tippett
LJCO (disbanded but theoretically...)
Burkhard Stangl
Bar Kokhba

Those all go for me too Gordon. I would gladly sacrifice our great Abdullah Ibrahim experience for any one of them. There are others for me:

Fred Anderson
Brotz
Misha Mengelberg
Masada (the only time I saw Zorn was a duet with Milford Graves)
Michael Moore or any of the Clusone trio
Kidd Jordan
Dennis Gonzalez

[Nick]

Off the top of my head:

Anthony Braxton (ideally with Gerry Hemingway and/or George Lewis)
Cecil Taylor
Masada
Mats Gustafsson
Die Like A Dog Quartet (I've seen Drake, Parker, and Brotz but never together and I've never seen Kondo at all)

[Cem]

I'm realizing how much I've seen in this backwater town where I live. Still haven't seen Braxton, Cecil or Ornette, ottomh. Looking at Gordon's, Other Steve's & Cap'n's lists (folks who know a ton more about the music than I do and are much deeper into it)...I've seen 80% of them! Cap'n, now that your Hattettes are out of the house (right?), maybe move to Vancouver...? Seriously, as much as I bitch & complain about the scene here, we get so much great live music of all stripes.

[Gordon B]

Originally posted by Jon Abbey
I saw AMM in Baltimore, but you know that. that won't be happening again in the near future.

That's because you won't tap into the city that has the highest percentage of eai fans to other music fans in the entire country! AMM was here before I discovered them. Brian got me started by loaning me two of their cds.

I have a friend who's both a Don Pullen and Woody Shaw completist but never saw either of them. I occasionally remind him that I saw each artist at least 15 times.

[Tom Storer]

I've seen too many jazz musicians to list. The ones I haven't seen are also too many to list.

Conclusion: there sure are a lot of jazz musicians.

[John B]

A complete list would be far too long, so I'll limit myself a bit:

Rabih Abou-Khalil
Anouar Brahem
Cecil Taylor
Ben Allison
Die Like a Dog
Jemeel Moondoc
Eskelin/Parkins/Black
William Parker Violin Trio
Vijay Iyer
Rudresh Mahanthappa
Keith Jarrett solo
Italian Instabile Orchestra
Gianluigi Trovesi
Brad Shepik Trio
Evan Parker
Jason Moran
Ahmad Jamal

[stonemonkts]

During 2000-2002 I went to see as many shows as I could, but now I kick myself for not seeing Paul Bley when he appeared at the Vanguard with Paul Motian and ? bassist (artist's name escapes me).

I'll gladly make the trek to see Bley if he comes to NYC in 2004.

[Brian Olewnick]

The two musicians I most deeply regret never having seen when I had at least a bit of a chance were Mingus and Rahsaan.

Otherwise....damn, I think I've seen everyone. Dama Mahaleo or Kim Sinh, maybe.

[walto]

Evan Parker

[Tom Storer]

I saw Mingus and Rahsaan but never saw Ellington, Basie or Armstrong. I was 13 when Armstrong died and 15 when Ellington died, and at 15 I was just beginning to get truly interested in jazz, so I forgive myself. But I was 26 when Basie died and I really should have found a way to see him before it was too late.

And I never saw Ella Fitzgerald, a source of bitter regret. Whenever she appeared near me, either I couldn't afford it or I couldn't go on the night of her concert.

But the thread wasn't about regrets, it was about seeing people for the first time this summer.

I've never seen Brookmeyer and would love to.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by stonemonkts
I'll gladly make the trek to see Bley if he comes to NYC in 2004.

Birdland, Feb. 4-7, with Peacock & Motian.