#jazzcentral

[ap2photography]

Oct. 17th 2017, @7pm The Legendary Jazz Central, "a staple in music in Dayton since the 70's" will be transformed into a Juke Joint for one night as we present: Black Blues a Blues Expressional. Featuring the creatives: @sculpchelle @try_my_mind @proph3ssorx and @ap2photography @jazzcentral_dayton #blackblues #bluesexpressional #daytoncreatives #blues #jazzcentral #dayton #daytoninspires #dance #dancer #expressions (at Jazz Central)

[swashindustries]

The homie @russell.anthony.evans been doin' thangs lately. A few Ratz will be heading to Jazz Central on August 5th, who else is comin'? #WuddyaThink #og #Russ #JazzCentral (at Jazz Central Studios)

[musicallyrich]

A special performance of Terry Riley's "In C"

Chris Bate's Spring Cleaning @ Jazz Central

Performing Terry Riley's "In C"

Cody McKinney - electric bass Casey O'Brien - electric bass Charles Fletcher - electric bass Doan Brian Roessler - string bass Martin Dosh - piano, keys, percussion Cory Healey - drums, percussion Greg Schutte - drums, percussion Chris Bates - string bass

In the cozy confines of Jazz Central Studios (NE Minneapolis), the octet above brought to life a riveting performance of Terry Riley's work "In C". The 1964 piece is open to liberal interpretation (and if you're not familiar follow the link below for a good, quick description of the piece on wikipedia) and is definitely an influential piece on a variety of music to come.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_C

I heard strong elements of early, experimental Pink Floyd, Phish, Chemical Brothers as well as modern compositions (i.e. John Adam's 'Short Ride In A Fast Machine') just to name a few of the most obvious influences in this setting. The piece, I believe, ran just under an hour and the obvious commitment to the material and hard work of getting it ready was evident as the musicians seemed to let out a collective breath after being in deep concentration throughout the work. It was wonderfully performed, and it was great to sit back and just let the waves of music wash over you as their various parts mingled with one another in an amazing trance.

In the second set the group (minus Cody McKinney, who was unable to stay after the initial performance, and Doan Brain Roessler) proceeded with a free improvisation that had a chaotic start but yielded into a funky groove that, I think, Charles Fletcher started laying down and the band gravitated to for a while. The band then launched into space and after an amazing array of technical display came right back down to earth as the group was able to as a collective ebb and flow with where the music went. That was followed by another shorter piece with Doan Brian Roessler back into the mix, that was also exciting and well executed. With the manic highs and the lulling, soothing sparseness of the final two free pieces the 2nd set held it's own compared to the first.

It was a pleasure to hear these excellent and flexible musicians come together for these two very special sets of music in the BASSment of Jazz Central Studios!

(Full disclosure: I know a number of the people that participated in the performance)

This blog was written Under The Influence of...Queen- Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl (DVD), Can- Tago Mago (another band that was very possibly inspired by "In C")

(Under the Influence are the albums I was listening to while preparing and writing this blog, and may be why it takes so long for me to get through a post)

[musicallyrich]

Made In Chicago in Minneapolis

Coming to Minneapolis tonight!

 I also want to mention 2 places in the cities that I've recently seen jazz shows that you can almost always get a high quality jazz show (although they could be outside the box). 

3/6/2015 at Jazz Central (407 Central Avenue Southeast, Minneapolis, MN 55414)  I saw JT Bates B3 Organ Trio, and for a relatively new venture with Zacc Harris on Guitar and Kevin Gastonguay playing the B3 Organ JT of course, was manning drums), they were in sync with each other throughout the night.  Bringing in some more modern freer influences, the overall vibe stayed within the classic organ trio vibe both funky and swinging.  JT is definitely a unique (and fantastic) drummer and brings interesting ideas to his playing consistently.  Zacc Harris has developed his own voice in a Pat Martino-influenced style.  Kevin Gastonguay brings a timeless-styled playing, that has great groove and interesting solos, to the proceedings to make for a very enjoyable night with a set that mixed originals with standards

3/10/2015 (Monday nights are JTs Jazz Implosion at the Icehouse)  I saw two wonderful and interesting bands featuring the great Dean Granros on guitar. The first set featured '58 Belvedere with Dave Power and Jordan Jenkins they were a band that was a little more outside/in, with the focus being on the angular guitar playing of Dean.  The drummer set a deep pocket while the bass blayer made full use of his upright and turned in some outstanding solos as well.  The second set featured Tall Tales Jay Epstein (drums) Chris Bates (bass) and Zacc Harris (guitar) playing with Dean.  This band was a little more inside/out and the dual guitar leads led to some great interplay while Jay and Chris both  laid the foundation for an interesting journey for the players to navigate. I have information that there may be an album in the future for Tall Tales. 

Besides for watching out for these bands, if you are looking for jazz in the Twin Cities, certainly there is the Dakota, but typically from Monday-Saturday you'll be able to hear high quality musicians at Jazz Central (shows usually start at 7:30 or 8:30, admission is a suggested donation), and JT Bates always books high quality jazz at the Icehouse every Monday night.  There are a lot of great jazz musicians in the city and they play at a lot of venues, but here are a couple places that (given the night) you know you can see something interesting.

The Icehouse 2528 Nicollet Avenue South Minneapolis, Mn 55404

I will also note that I know a number of the players that I mentioned above personally.