I heard Kenny Barron with his great trio last night. I was jammed in the one bar seat against the village vanguard's back wall which isn't actually at the bar, but between the last barstool and the banquette.
An older woman, smartly dressed with a friendly manner, sat down at the last banquette seat. In a very funny and old school Brooklyn way, she was annoyed with herself because she walked west at the hospital on 7th ave instead of South, and was almost late. She said "I've been coming here for a hundred years! My husband used to play here!".
Turns out, I was seated next to Cedar Walton's wife. She'd avoided the vanguard, particularly this time of year. Cedar used to play Christmas week. She was a riot.
Kenny was a riot too. How is that man 81 years old? Kiyoshi is a harmonic rock and took some very beautiful solos. Johnathan Blake's drumming had so much variety, from swing to latin to real dirty funkiness at times.
They played a tune called "Canadian Sunset" by Eddie Heywood. I'd never heard it. It's lovely! What a tune! I'm transcribing it so that I can annoy my bandmates at a future jam with demands to play it.
I feel about Mehldau the way the critic John S. Wilson felt about Bill Evans. And as big admirer of Evans, I know that must be wrong, but despite having attended two Mehldau performances and purchased several albums I just can't get past feeling that his playing/composing is insufferably portentous. Perhaps someone can point me to a recording that would change my view, or maybe the one Ethan Iverson recommends here would. I'd happily be proven wrong.
It's fair to say Mehldau is someone that, for all his fame, is not beloved by all. Gong a step further: Nobody, not even the biggest names, can reach everybody, and that's more than OK. (It's one reason to stay engaged and listening!)
I heard Kenny Barron with his great trio last night. I was jammed in the one bar seat against the village vanguard's back wall which isn't actually at the bar, but between the last barstool and the banquette.
An older woman, smartly dressed with a friendly manner, sat down at the last banquette seat. In a very funny and old school Brooklyn way, she was annoyed with herself because she walked west at the hospital on 7th ave instead of South, and was almost late. She said "I've been coming here for a hundred years! My husband used to play here!".
Turns out, I was seated next to Cedar Walton's wife. She'd avoided the vanguard, particularly this time of year. Cedar used to play Christmas week. She was a riot.
Kenny was a riot too. How is that man 81 years old? Kiyoshi is a harmonic rock and took some very beautiful solos. Johnathan Blake's drumming had so much variety, from swing to latin to real dirty funkiness at times.
They played a tune called "Canadian Sunset" by Eddie Heywood. I'd never heard it. It's lovely! What a tune! I'm transcribing it so that I can annoy my bandmates at a future jam with demands to play it.
merry christmas, happy hanukkah, happy new year!
what a tremendous comment! May I repost this tomorrow in my year final?
yes you may!
I feel about Mehldau the way the critic John S. Wilson felt about Bill Evans. And as big admirer of Evans, I know that must be wrong, but despite having attended two Mehldau performances and purchased several albums I just can't get past feeling that his playing/composing is insufferably portentous. Perhaps someone can point me to a recording that would change my view, or maybe the one Ethan Iverson recommends here would. I'd happily be proven wrong.
It's fair to say Mehldau is someone that, for all his fame, is not beloved by all. Gong a step further: Nobody, not even the biggest names, can reach everybody, and that's more than OK. (It's one reason to stay engaged and listening!)