Turtle Island

G-Dog and I just spent a great evening enjoying some jazz from the Turtle Island Quartet, who played some John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis, among other things. Awesome show (courtesy of the Patten Series)!! Here's a selection from the same group in August, 2010:

Weiss/Schmidt/Bailey Trio

I'm late getting this up, but on Monday night, G-Dog and I went to the final of this season's Patten Performances. It was supposed to be the Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey Trio, but Navah Perlman (daughter of Itzhak) is ripe with twins, so Orion Weiss filled in (breathtakingly) on the piano. Violinist Giora Schmidt and cellist Zuill Bailey completed the trio.

The first piece, Haydn's "Gypsy" Trio in G Major, Hob XV:25, was the most exciting (they played the Rondo again, though even faster, as an encore later) and was followed by Brahms's Trio in B Major, Op. 8 and Schubert's Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 99, D 898. As you can see from the picture below, our vantage point gave us a good view of the keyboard and of the cellist. I enjoyed that position both because I like to be able to see the pianist's hands (I was never any good, but I did used to play) and because it was so much fun to watch Bailey enjoy himself -- he was absolutely bursting with joy as he played, and he kept breaking into the biggest grins throughout the performance. All three musicians (young as they are) treated us to a great night -- they played with skill, maturity and depth, and performed with incredible energy, while interacting with each other on a level that gave the audience a sense of being part of something that was intimate and unique.

The Statesmen of Jazz

While the majority of Chattanoogans were watching the Superbowl tonight, a relatively small group of us were at UTC's Roland Hayes Concert Hall to enjoy The Statesmen of Jazz (part of the Patten Performances series). The turnout was impressive for a Superbowl Sunday, and the crowd was treated to some wonderful improvisational jazz. Tonight's concert featured (pictured above, from left) John Bunch on piano, Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, Earl May on bass, Bucky Pizzarreli on guitar, Jackie Williams on drums, Warren Vaché on trumpet, and Houston Person on sax.

Here's a closer look at Wycliffe Gordon and Warren Vaché.

According to the program, "the Statesmen of Jazz was organized in 1994 as a pilot program sponsored by the American Federation of Jazz Societies. It has since grown to become a premier performing and educational outreach program for Jazz around the globe." The musicians have an astonishing amount of performance and recording experience among them. They range in age from the youngster Gordon, who is in his late 30s, to the 84-year old Bunch, who has been performing since he was 12 years old (with a 3-year break from playing while he fought in WWII, including some time as a POW). I'm not sure if you can see it in this photo, but I think guitar player Pizzarelli, who Vaché claims should be president, looks a lot like Uncle Walter (Cronkite).

The performance ended with a Duke Ellington number featuring a drum solo that just about brought down the house. Williams variously played the full drum set with sticks, mallets, a tamborine and his hands and I was lucky enough to catch this shot of him looking rather pleased with his own efforts. Each musician soloed at multiple points throughout the night and I was blown away by each of them (though I would have liked it if the piano was miked -- it sounded a bit soft on my side of the hall).
I hope the Superbowl was just as much fun for those of you who didn't get to enjoy the Statesmen with us!

The Ahns

I went to see the Ahn Trio (as part of the Patten Series) tonight and was really blown away. If you have the opportunity to see these sisters live, leap at the chance. It was a beautiful, energetic performance featuring a broad spectrum of musical styles -- we heard everything from more traditional trio music to flat out bluegrass fiddle, Prince's "Purple Rain" and "This Is Not America" from the soundtrack of "Falcon and the Snowman." There was such a variety of styles, and the intimacy of the Roland Hayes Concert Hall let us really enjoy the subtlety and depth that you can only hear in a live performance. Both "Swing Shift" (by Kenji Bunch) and "Mr. Twitty's Chair" (by Katrina Wreede) were thrilling and an encore performance of "Orange Blossom Special" nearly brought down the house.

I was impressed when the Ahns hung around after the performance in the Fine Arts Center lobby to chat with people and sign autographs. The light was poor, but I didn't want to make them self-conscious with my flash, so I took some blurry photos. They don't really do the Ahns justice, but here's one of the less awful ones, with (from left to right) Lucia (piano), Angella (violin), and Maria (cello) greeting the crowd.