Jazz in Kentucky

May 8 2019

Big reason to be in Lexington: Brian Krock’s liddle at J.Gumbo’s Lex on May 15th

It would be a very good idea to be in Lexington, KY on Wednesday night, May 15th.  Brian Krock’s liddle will be hitting town for a 8pm show in the J.Gumbo’s Lex courtyard, located in the North Limestone corridor.  The latest installment of the J.Gumbo’s Lex music series will see Krock performing music from his sophomore release liddle.

The saxophonist’s debut Big Heart Machine was a car chase movie scene as big band ensemble performance.  By way of introduction, it was a bold statement that caught the attention of critics and fans alike.  Krock’s follow-up brings him back full circle to the core quartet that began it all.  The sophomore release liddle generates the frenetic energy and sudden changes that marked the success of his big band debut.

This iteration of Krock’s liddle ensemble includes guitarist Olli Hirvonen, bassist Marty Kenney, and drummer Steven Crammer.  Lexington, KY has recently been host to a number of all-star outfits from the modern jazz scene.  This is yet one more instance of outstanding music hitting town.

Here’s a track off their new album, liddle…

It’s available for purchase on Bandcamp and Amazon.  I imagine that you will also have the opportunity to purchase music from the merch table on the night of the show.

The show is happening along the NoLi corridor, in the J.Gumbo’s Lex courtyard.  Previously the site of art installations, the expanded courtyard now doubles as a performance area.  It should be a great night to have a drink outside and hear some great music.  Tickets are $10.  If a meal is purchased inside at the restaurant, the ticket price is included with the meal.  In addition, the meal-ticket deal comes with a guarantee for outside seating at the show.  Reservations are highly recommended, as previous shows in the music series have sold out, and the venue is currently reporting that open slots are almost all gone.  But don’t worry, there is additional capacity for show-only attendees.

The show details:

  • Who:  Brian Krock’s liddle
  • Where:  J. Gumbo’s Lex, 808 North Limestone, Lexington, KY 40505
    • Free parking is available right around the corner from the venue at 127 Loudon Avenue, in the parking lot of Grace Baptist Church.
  • When:  May 15th, 2019.
  • Time:  Doors open at 7pm
  • Price:  $10.00, or free with a dinner purchase.

The Brian Krock site:  https://www.briankrock.com/

The J.Gumbo’s Lex site:  https://jgumboslex.com/

If you ‘d like to read more about the band and their music, check out Water Tunis’s interview with Brian Krock for UnderMain.

My write-up of Krock’s liddle has been published The Bandcamp Daily.  It was included in my latest Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations column.  In the meantime, here’s a write-up of his big band debut, Big Heart Machine.  You should definitely go scoop that one up.  It’s pretty amazing.

And here’s a couple live performance videos, the first at NYC’s Cornelia Street Cafe…

… And the second at Freddy’s Bar in Brooklyn.

By • Announcement - Music, Jazz in Kentucky, Jazz Recommendations - 2018, Live Jazz • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Apr 15 2019

The Lexington scene has got two more shows for you this week: Rempis/Lopez/Packard at The Kentucky School; Keigo Hirakawa at TeeDee’s

 

Yet more evidence that Lexington, KY is a magnet for the modern jazz scene is displayed this week, with shows that’ll give you something to do midweek and for the weekend.

On Tuesday is the next installment of the Outside the Spotlight series, featuring the trio of saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Brandon Lopez, and percussionist-electronics specialist Ryan Packard performing at The Kentucky School. The trio are touring in support of their latest recording The Early Bird Gets.  If they’re anything in a live setting like they are on the recorded medium, then expect the kind of focused intensity that is as likely to bleed into a catchy groove as it is to explode into a thousand fragments of melody.

[Listen to more of the album, and purchase it, on Bandcamp]

And I’m sure they’ll also have stuff available at their merch table, which, really, is the best way to support the band.  Their album is released on Aerophonic Records, and if you like what you hear on this recording, you should go give some of the other music in their catalog a listen, because it’s all bird of a feather stuff.

This is the 15-year anniversary, and Event #209, of Ross Compton’s Outside the Spotlight series.  Ross is one of those local music scene heroes who devotes a ton of sweat work bringing great music to his community.  There have been a ridiculous wealth of talent from the experimental and jazz pool that has performed in Lexington because of Ross’s efforts.  And most of those shows, like this one, is free to the public.

I’m personally excited to go see another show at The Kentucky School.  I caught one there last week, and their outdoor area was an excellent spot to catch some live music and have a beer.  Check out my write-up of the Friends & Neighbors gig for a rundown of what it was like.  Also, if the weather looks like rain, the venue has an indoor option, too, so don’t let that dissuade you from coming on out.

If you want to read more about the artist, check out Lexington journalist Walter Tunis’s write-up for Under Main.  Nobody covers the Lexington music & arts scene like Walter, so be sure to bookmark him for future reading, too.

The show details:

When:  Tuesday, April 16th, 2019 at 7:00pm

Where:  The Kentucky School.  607 North Limestone, Lexington, KY.

It’s a free show.

The Facebook Event page-> LINK

The Kentucky School’s site-> LINK

The artist’s site-> LINK

And a shout-out of thanks to the local student-run radio station 88.1 FM WRFL for their part in helping bring this music to town.

Here’s a video from a recent gig at the Elastic Arts Studio, back in my old neighborhood in Chicago…

 

And your weekend plans are covered, too.  On Saturday night, the next installment of the Origins Jazz Series goes down at TeeDee’s Lounge over on 2nd & Elm, right next to The Lyric Theater.  Keigo Hirakawa will be in town with his trio performing two sets, at 7pm and 9:15pm.  The pianist brings a straight-ahead sound, like a fastball right over the heart of jazz.  My personal tastes trend toward the more experimental stuff on the scene, but when it’s Saturday night and I just want to be out on the town and hear some sounds, give me the kind of jazz that originally got me hooked on this music, y’know?  This right here is the stuff.

Here’s a video from a recent show at a cool jazz joint, the Greenwich, just up north in our neighbor city, Cincinnati.  It included a performance by JD Allen, who is an Origin Jazz Series alum, as well as a musician I’ve written some glowing words about previously.  Go buy all of his music.

As I mentioned previously, this show is brought to us courtesy of the Origins Jazz Series, a non-profit that has been bringing an impressive array of jazz to Lexington.  That includes all-stars like Christian McBride, The Bad Plus, JD Allen, Chris Potter, Tryptych, Kneebody, and in upcoming show, Regina Carter & Xavier Davis.  This is their second season, and it’s in Lexington’s best interests to support this organization so that the pipeline for all this excellent music keeps flowing.  And, hell, this is an ideal way to spend your Saturday night.

Hirakawa has some CDs retailing on Amazon.  I’m guessing, however, that there will be better opportunities to buy music at the show.

The show details:

When:  Saturday, April 20th, 2019 at 7:00pm (1st show), 9:15 (2nd show)

Where:  Tee Dee’s Lounge, 266 E. Second Street, Lexington, KY.

Tickets are $17.50 for each seating or $30 for the entire night (purchase here)

The artist’s site-> LINK

Learn more about the Origins Jazz Series-> LINK

Some other shows on the horizon:

  • Tuesday, April 30 – The Chicago Plan (of Steve Swell, Gebhard Ullmann, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Zerang) plus the quartet of Keefe Jackson, Christoph Erb, Jason Roebke, Tim Barnes @ UK’s Niles Gallery
  • Friday, May 3 – Regina Carter & Xavier Davis @ First Presbyterian Church of Lexington
  • Wednesday, May 15 – Brian Krock’s liddle @ JGumbosLex

By • Jazz in Kentucky, Live Jazz • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 7 2019

Why, yes, the Friends & Neighbors show at The Kentucky School was even better than I’d hoped it would be

 

This language typically gets included with any show preview I put out there:

We have no way of knowing what any one live show will ultimately sound like, but here’s a sense of what’s what…

And this, then, is followed by an embedded track of a recent album.

For the Friends & Neighbors show at The Kentucky School in Lexington’s North Limestone (NoLi) neighborhood, this was especially true.

Their previous releases could be summarized as updated visions of an Ornette Coleman free jazz era.  There are unconventional expressions that range from chaotic to whimsical, depending on your frame of mind while listening.  The recordings are exciting and fun, and the general sense was, were one to hear it live, the band would radiate all kinds of energy.

Well, that last part was true of Saturday night’s show in the outdoor area behind Al’s Bar, where the Kentucky School is setting down roots.  The wide open sky was filled with the quintet’s exuberance.  But the sound was more spiritual than spasmodic, or, to carry forward the jazz giant analogy as presented… more Coltrane than Coleman.

There was a solemn tone to much of Friends & Neighbors quintet’s sound, even at ita most frenzied, a sort of reverential approach to melody instead of one more whimsical.  There were a few exceptions to this in both the second piece of the night and the quintet’s finale.  But for the most part, the music expressed more soul than smile, and the result was quite beautiful and a little bit awe inspiring at times.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  CHECK OUT THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL’S FACEBOOK PAGE FOR SOME VIDEO FROM THE PERFORMANCE.

And it was a perfect fit for that outdoor stage.  Spring has finally begun to make its presence felt in Lexington, and that cool evening marking the start of the weekend, in that neighborhood which has so much culture in its roots and the essential qualities to a community… residents walking about, sitting on front stoops, an abiding sense of Home… the sound of Friends & Neighbors music filling the air with that solemn tone, a resonant cry of sax, trumpet, keys, bass and drums, it became, on that night, a part of the fabric of the community, a part of that neighborhood’s lives… whether they were sitting in the crowd, walking their dog down the nearby street or just distant notes carried on the warm breeze, the quintet’s music became of part of all that.  That the quintet calls themselves Friends & Neighbors couldn’t have been any more symbolic of their music’s presence that night.

The different sound is also reflected on their new album, What’s Next?  Released on Clean Feed Records just a few months ago, the quintet’s focused lyricism reveals a different facet to an already interesting group.  And where opening track “Influx” is symbolic of those changes to the groups sound, “WLB,” both in concert and on the new recording, show that their eccentricities and sense of humor haven’t gone anywhere.  But even in this instance, there’s a different kind of locomotion to the tune, a driving intensity where their previous recording would be more likely to hop and sway and dart side to side.  It’s always exciting to hear the evolution of a band, especially when the result is as rewarding as this one.

You can buy their new album on Amazon.  You can also purchase it direct from Clean Feed Records.

The band is:  Thomas Johansson (trumpet), André Roligheten (tenor sax, bass clarinet), Oscar Grönberg (piano), Jon Rune Strøm (double bass) and Tollef Østvang (drums).

Friends & Neighbors are currently touring the U.S.

Their Upcoming Shows (as best as I could find them):

  • April 7th: Hungry Brain (Chicago) !!!THIS IS HAPPENING IN JUST A COUPLE HOURS!!!
  • April 8th: Trinosophes (Detroit)
  • April 9th: Bop Shop (Cleveland)
  • April 10th: One Spirit Center (Rockford, IL)
  • April 11th: Arts & Literature Laboratory (Madison, WI)
  • April 12th: Popelka Trenchard Glass (Sturgeon Bay, WI)

But, again, please confirm for yourself where they’re performing and when.  But here’s a link to a Facebook post on the artist’s site.

They are selling their current CD, previous recordings, and related side project recordings at their merch table.  For me personally, this was pretty cool.  Look, I have lived in the middle of nowhere Kentucky for the last ten years, so seeing an array of Clean Feed Records label recordings spread out on a table before me is no longer the (relatively) common experience it was for me back in Chicago.  In addition to their new album, I also scooped up a copy of the ensemble All Included, which counts personal favorite Martin Küchen among its number.  Go check out my write-up of this album, Satan in Plain Clothes.

And take note, this show is just the precursor of many other excellent shows coming through Lexington over the next sixty days.  That list includes:

  • Friday, April 12 – TIm Daisy & Raleigh Dailey @ UK’s Niles Gallery
  • Tuesday, April 16 – Dave Rempis, Brandon Lopez, Ryan Packard @ KY Fun Mall
  • Friday, April 20 – Keigo Hirakawa @ TeeDee’s Progressive Bluegrass Club
  • Tuesday, April 30 – The Chicago Plan (of Steve Swell, Gebhard Ullmann, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Zerang) plus the quartet of Keefe Jackson, Christoph Erb, Jason Roebke, Tim Barnes @ UK’s Niles Gallery
  • Friday, May 3 – Regina Carter & Xavier Davis @ First Presbyterian Church of Lexington
  • Wednesday, May 15 – Brian Krock’s liddle @ JGumbosLex

Details for all of the above shows to follow soon.

By • Jazz in Kentucky, Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2019, Live Jazz • 0 • Tags: , ,

Apr 5 2019

Lock in your Lexington Saturday night plans: Friends & Neighbors at The Kentucky School

 

It would be a pretty good idea to be in Lexington, KY on Saturday night.  The quintet Friends & Neighbors is gonna be in town tomorrow night for an April 6th show at The Kentucky School.  The Norwegian group will bring their intriguing mix of old-school free jazz and new-school avant-bop.  The cadences and whirlwind free-for-all echoes the 1960s improvisational era when names like Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry were obliterating conventional jazz structures, but there’s a stomp and a sway to their music that reflects the modern approach of warping traditional music into something far less familiar.  But, hell, there’s not going to be any test, so don’t feel compelled to learn or understand anything I just typed.  What’s most important is to know that this is a band that has tons of energy and performs music that’ll be lively and fun and electric.  It’s exactly the kind of show you want to spend your Saturday night enjoying.

The show is going down at The Kentucky School, over in the North Limestone neighborhood and sharing the same intersection as Al’s Bar, Arcadium, Beach House and North Lime Donuts.

This is the 15-year anniversary, and Event #209, of Ross Compton’s Outside the Spotlight series.  Ross is one of those local music scene heroes who devotes a ton of sweatwork bringing great music to his community.  There have been a ridiculous wealth of talent from the experimental and jazz pool that has performed in Lexington because of Ross’s efforts.  And most of those shows, like this one, is free to the public.

The shows happens tomorrow, Saturday, April 6th.  Doors open at 6:30pm, show starts at 7pm.

The band is:  Thomas Johansson (trumpet), André Roligheten (tenor saxophone & clarinets), Oscar Grönberg (piano), Jon Rune Strøm (double bass) and Tollef Østvang (drums).

Here’s a track off their solid 2016 release What’s Wrong? We have no way of knowing what any one live show will ultimately sound like, but here’s a sense of what’s what:

You can buy this album on Amazon.  It was released by Clean Feed Records, and you can buy the album direct from their store.

The show details:

When:  Saturday, April 6th, 2019 at 7:00pm

Where:  The Kentucky School.  607 North Limestone, Lexington, KY.

It’s a free show.

The Facebook Event page-> LINK

The Kentucky School’s site-> LINK

The artist’s site-> LINK

Here’s a video from their gig at the Portalegre JazzFest 2017…

And take note, this show is just the precursor of many other excellent shows coming through Lexington over the next sixty days.  That list includes:

  • Friday, April 12 – TIm Daisy & Raleigh Dailey @ UK’s Niles Gallery
  • Tuesday, April 16 – Dave Rempis, Brandon Lopez, Ryan Packard @ KY Fun Mall
  • Friday, April 20 – Keigo Hirakawa @ TeeDee’s Progressive Bluegrass Club
  • Tuesday, April 30 – The Chicago Plan (of Steve Swell, Gebhard Ullmann, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Zerang) plus the quartet of Keefe Jackson, Christoph Erb, Jason Roebke, Tim Barnes @ UK’s Niles Gallery
  • Friday, May 3 – Regina Carter & Xavier Davis @ First Presbyterian Church of Lexington
  • Wednesday, May 15 – Brian Krock’s liddle @ JGumbosLex

Details for all of the above shows to follow soon.

By • Announcement - Music, Jazz in Kentucky, Live Jazz • 0 • Tags:

Dec 8 2018

The Bad Plus are in Lexington and you should be too

 

This Sunday, December 9th, The Bad Plus are making a tour stop in Lexington.  They’re supporting their new album Never Stop II, but the series of shows also has the benefit of helping the trio gel.  When drummer Dave King, bassist Reid Anderson and pianist Orrin Evans perform Sunday evening at the Lexington Children’s Theatre, it will be as a new working unit.  It’s kind of a big deal.  Even in the context of jazz, where musicians must learn to collaborate with changing personnel while still taking their initial baby steps with their instrument, the fact is trio members of The Bad Plus have been together for decades.  So, with Orrin Evans having replacing founding member Ethan Iverson, there’s gonna be an acclimation period, and a tour is the kind of thing to help that along right quick.  The upside to all that is it’s the kind of thing that can lead to some fun surprises during the performance.

Another upside is that we get to see Orrin Evans perform live.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve recommended his music on this site (and my various other platforms), and so I’m personally thrilled to finally get to hear him in person.  Concerts or CDs, I don’t favor one over the other.  I am just as happy kicking back at home listening to music as I am going to a venue to hear it live, but they can lead to very different connections with the music.  I get to round out that experience on Sunday.

I’m also excited to get to see Dave King behind the drum set again.  Kevin Coultas, former Music Director at WXOX-FM (and who now has his own blog) told me years ago that I should go see The Bad Plus in concert for no other reason than to watch Dave King in action.  When I saw the trio perform as part of a larger ensemble at the Chicago Jazz Festival several years ago, I finally understood what Kevin was alluding to.  Some musicians react physically to the release of music, and some more than others.  For the most part, there’s nothing particularly compelling about this.  But there are rare instances when a musician’s physical reaction perfectly captures the poetry of the moment, and the intangible is given corporeal form.  During that CJF performance, Dave King was the living embodiment of that music.  Not saying that’s gonna happen on Sunday.  Just throwing that out there.

The Bad Plus are one of those bands who have established some genuine crossover appeal.  Your friend who is mostly into indie-rock and post-punk, but keeps her ear open to other kinds of music?  The Bad Plus will be one of the jazz acts on her radar.  And for good reason, the Bad Plus were one of a handful of acts who were offering up a concrete vision of where they thought the modern jazz scene could go, and doing it at a time when modern jazz had hit a certain lull.  That this sound incorporated rock standards and current pop hits only amplified the trio’s reach to non-jazz ears.

Even though Orrin Evans is The Bad Plus’s new pianist, he’s not new to the scene. It’s weird to learn that Downbeat just voted him this year as the winner of the Rising Star category, because as readers of this site know, Evans’ has been recording excellent music for years.  Dude’s star been risen.  He’s got close to thirty albums with his stamp on it.  He’s been releasing stuff lately on the excellent Smoke Sessions Records label, with both his big band and smaller ensembles.  What do I appreciate most about this guy’s music?  That even when his music gets further away from a traditional jazz sound it always keeps a close proximity to the blues.  And when his music plants itself dead center in jazz territory, well, the blues is there, too.

As mentioned previously, they’re touring in support of their “debut” as a new trio.  The title Never Stop II is a reference to their sole album that is comprised by only original material, no covers.  That’s the case here, too.  And while some of their covers of pop music were pretty damn cool, honestly, I’d rather hear the sounds that have been bubbling up in their heads all these years.  And with Evans now in the mix, it seems like an opportune time get all that out there.

Never Stop II isn’t a huge departure from previous The Bad Plus recordings, so fans of what was aren’t going to be let down by what is.  That said, the Evans composition “Boffadem” provides a nifty vision of one potential new direction the trio could embark upon.

Their new album is available at Amazon.

This show is part of the Origins Jazz Series, which has been bringing some intriguing shows to the Lexington scene.

Show Details:

Who:  The Bad Plus

When:  Sunday, December 9th, 2018

Time:  7:30-9:30pm

Where:  Lexington Children’s Theater, 418 West Short Street, Lexington, KY, 40507

Cost:  $25 (buy tickets here)

Learn more about the Origins Jazz Series.

Here’s a video from a recent performance in Stockholm.  It’s shaky but in the spirit.

By • Live Jazz • 0 • Tags: ,

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