With bassist Richard Davis on our cover, this marks the third instance of an upright player as our featured artist. That makes it about one a year so far (Dave Holland and Charlie Haden being the other two). Sure the sax is sexier and drums are louder (for that, check out our Interview, Frank Wess, and our Artist Feature, Gerry Hemingway) but where would most jazz musicians be with the bassist in the back? For an opportunity to see the bassist in the front for a change, be sure to visit Iridium for its Bass Hits engagement with Davis and colleagues Eddie Gomez and Avishai Cohen. If that’s not enough, check out bass-led groups this month by Mark Dresser, William Parker, Bob Cunningham, Ben Allison (as part of the annual Jazz Composers Collective Festival), Dave Holland, Tom Abbs, Alex Blake, Mario Pavone and Ron Carter. All are included in our event calendar, as well as bassists in their more traditional role as the backbone of duos, trio, quartets and larger! To follow up on last month’s announcement, Tonic is well on its way to addressing its financial woes and being able to keep presenting fine music. CB’s Lounge has doubled its fare of improvised music. The musician cooperative The Stone opens it doors (Special Feature) with an impressive inaugural month. For those less interested in the musings of the avant garde and who want perhaps a stirring set of traditional vocal jazz should look no further than Le Jazz Au Bar and its commitment to singers and singing (Club Profile).
And while you’re running around to all the above, don’t forget that New York, and indeed AllAboutJazz-New York, is a sum of its boroughs. Maybe you never thought to go to Brooklyn, or, if you live there, that jazz is abundant. April features the month-long annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium Festival at venues across the city’s largest borough. Now’s your chance to visit and be a city-wide jazz supporter.
See you at the shows...
Laurence Donohue-Greene & Andrey Henkin
For more information contact All About Jazz.
