Apr 30 2019
Your Tuesday night plans suck if they don’t include catching The Chicago Plan at the Niles Gallery
There’s no letup with the great music coming through Lexington, KY in 2019. Tomorrow night, it’s an excellent double bill with The Chicago Plan and Keefe Jackson‘s quartet both performing at The Niles Gallery on the UK campus.
The Chicago Plan is a quartet of trombonist Steve Swell, saxophonist Gebhard Ullmann, percussionist Michael Zerang and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm (who also adds a dose of electronics). This’ll be the kind of music that turns jazz on its head, but even flipped upside down, there’s a clear view of a familiar sound. It might not swing like your classic jazz albums, and the bounce of its bop will take some sharp, unexpected angles and spins, but the quartet plays with the energy and enthusiasm and a nod to the blues that makes all the different sounding music not so different after all.
Here’s a track from their 2016 self-titled release (on Clean Feed Records).
You can purchase the album at the Clean Feed Records store. Amazon, too.
And last year, this site gave a warm reception to another album from the trombonist Steve Swell, but with a slightly different kind of sound. His 2018 release Music for Six Musicians: Hommage à Olivier Messiaen is ten shades of fascinating.
Also performing this night is the quartet of multi-reedists Keefe Jackson and Christoph Erb, bassist Jason Roebke and percussionist Tim Barnes. Jackson has contributed to a bunch of excellent recordings receiving praise on this site (and elsewhere). While many of the albums representing Keefe’s body of work fall under the general category of post-bop, what he and his compatriots represent is the boundless creativity emblematic of the modern scene. This show could pretty much sound like anything.
This is the 15-year anniversary, and Event #212, 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.
The show details:
When: Tuesday, April 30th, 2019 at 7:00pm
Where: Niles Gallery (inside the UK Fine Arts Library), 160 Patterson Dr, Lexington, KY 40506
It’s a free show.
The Facebook Event page-> LINK
The Chicago Plan’s site-> LINK
Keefe Jackson’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.
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:
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.
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.
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By davesumner • Announcement - Music, Jazz in Kentucky, Jazz Recommendations - 2018, Live Jazz • 0 • Tags: Brian Krock, J.Gumbo's Lex, Jazz in Kentucky, Lexington (Kentucky), Live Jazz, Marty Kenney, Olli Hirvonen, Steven Crammer