Here's a question for Ellery and/or anyone else who may know. I see that Harris Eisenstadt has a residency at the Stone for the first week of September, just wondering if you will be one of the "special guests" listed for later in the week? He lists two trio dates with the other two trio ...

Regarding the music - I had the opportunity to hear Wilson's group the week before they recorded the music on the new release. If it is anything like the sets I caught, the recording should be very rewarding. I also heard live the ensemble on the first Golden State recording with Nicole Mitchell, an...

I still have not embraced the download approach to collection official recordings. Considering my storage space issues at home, I really should consider it more.

One of my favorite recent recordings. I heard this quartet live a couple of years before they recorded the music on this release. I have said this in other contexts - as much as I enjoyed the performance when I first heard them, the recording benefits from additional time spent together as it is a m...

I had my jacket on and was walking out the door to attend this concert when my wife and daughter asked me to stay home and hang out with them. Although I am sure in the long run I made the right decision to stay home, still feel bummed that I missed this one as I had been looking forward to it for a...

I heard the Street Songs band live last month and it was excellent. Considering taking a drive down for the Saturday performance with Eskelin, Michael Pavone and Gerald Cleaver.

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Yes, the album was recorded at New York's Avatar Studio some months ago. It's not yet mixed, though that's happening soon. Release date hasn't yet been set. But 2014 will be a good year for Mark Turner followers. In addition to his own album, he will be heard on a new recording from the Billy Hart ...

A few months ago I read an article on jazztimes.com that Mark Turner was scheduled to record an album with his quartet on ECM. Did that recording actually take place? If so, any estimate on when it will be released?

A reent release that I have been enjoying recently:

Last night I caught the Hartford leg of the Ken Vandermark Nate Wooley tour. Vandermark and Wooley performed as part of the Improvisations series curated by Joe Morris and Stephen Haynes at Real Art Ways in Hartford. The first set was the Vandermark-Wooley duo. Inspired by the great John Carter-Bobb...

Last night I traveled three hours in rush hour traffic to Shapeshifter Lab in Brooklyn to catch the premier public performance of bassist Michael Formanek's Ensemble Kolossus. This big band featured a lot of heavy hitters. The trumpet section included Dave Ballou, Jonathan Finlayson, Ralph Alessi an...

Regardless of the motivation, the Cary solo CD is a marvelous document. One of my favorite releases this year.

It was a very musical weekend for me. Friday night i caught Gerald Cleaver and Black Host at Firehouse 12 in New Haven. In addition to Cleaver, the band features pianist Cooper-Moore, alto saxophonist Darius Jones, bassist Pascal Niggenkemper and guitarist Brandon Seabrook. Cleaver describes the con...

Entertaining, but nothing really unexpected. His opinions about what he likes and dislikes have been pretty consistent. The only surprise to me was the remarks about David Murray. I did not know there were tracks from the recording he appeared on with Murray that were cut.

I'm probably a bigger fan of Turner than of Potter, whose constant virtuosity sometimes wears me out. But when I saw him with his own quartet last year--David Virelles, Joe Martin, and Gerald Cleaver--I was convinced. There's a level of instrumental virtuosity, the sheer chops and the ability to cr...

I vaguely recall reading about that saxophone quartet. Interesting that you would mention Potter's ability to generate some exciting moments. Compared to Turner, I would certainly agree that Saturday night Potter served that role, but I think Turner's somewhat more calculated approach was the perfec...

Saturday night I caught an impromptu group at the Jazz Gallery featuring Chris Potter, Mark Turner, Ben Street and Johnathan Blake. David Virelles was scheduled to perform with his group, but one of the members of the ensemble was unable to make it, his show was therefore cancelled and this group wa...