Michael Formanek – Avant Music News

: Ned Rothenberg via last.fm

GRAY-ESKELIN-BALLOU-FORMANEK (Saturday) In the early set of this left-of-center performance, at 8 p.m., the pianist Frank Carlberg engages with the rhythm section of Michael Formanek on bass and Devin Gray on drums. Then at 9, the same rhythm section backs a front line consisting of the saxophonist Ellery Eskelin and the trumpeter Dave Ballou. Douglass Street Music Collective, 295 Douglass Street, near Third Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn , myspace.com/295douglass; $10 suggested donation. (Chinen)20090730

? ETHAN IVERSON, REID ANDERSON, PAUL MOTIAN (Friday through Sunday) Mr. Iverson, an acutely contemporary pianist, and Mr. Anderson, a warmly decisive bassist, make up two-thirds of the Bad Plus. Their output here — with the master drummer Paul Motian, a slippery influence on both — should suggest a similar full-tilt musical engagement, but perhaps with less steely certainty and more unanswerable questions. At 9 and 11 p.m., Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village , (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com; cover, $25, with a $10 minimum. (Chinen)20090730

DONNY MCCASLIN GROUP (Thursday) On his recent albums Donny McCaslin has applied his assertive tenor saxophone style to Latin American-inspired fusions. He does that here, in a free lunchtime concert, with expert help: the guitarist Lage Lund, the bassist Hans Glawischnig and the drummer Adam Cruz. From 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., Plaza at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Lexington Avenue at 54th Street , (212) 935-2200, saintpeters.org/jazz; free. (Chinen)20090730

? MOSTLY OTHER PEOPLE DO THE KILLING (Sunday) Led by the bassist Moppa Elliott, this prankishly named free-bop quartet has a fairly serious recent record called “This Is Our Moosic” (Hot Cup), featuring impressive contributions from the trumpeter Peter Evans and the alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon. The group appears here as part of the Freestyle Music Series; its 8:30 p.m. set arrives sandwiched between an equally boisterous free-jazz collective (at 7) and a band called Attention Screen (at 10). Local 269, 269 East Houston Street, at Suffolk Street, Lower East Side , (212) 228-9874, myspace.com/deepopnyc; $5. (Chinen)20090730

? NED ROTHENBERG’S SYNC/HARRIS EISENSTADT’S WOODBLOCK PRINTS (Friday) Ned Rothenberg is a saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist and composer with a penchant for insistent frictions. He appears here with Sync, his East-Asian-inspired ensemble with Jerome Harris on acoustic bass guitar and Samir Chatterjee on hand percussion. Sharing the bill is a chamberlike group called Woodblock Prints, a nonet led by the drummer Harris Eisenstadt that also includes Mr. Rothenberg and Mr. Harris. At 8 p.m., Drom, 85 Avenue A, at Fifth Street, East Village , (212) 777-1157, dromnyc.com; $10 in advance; $12 at the door. (Chinen)20090730

? JENNY SCHEINMAN’S MISCHIEF AND MAYHEM (Tuesday) Ms. Scheinman often goes for rustic charm as a violinist, but she never ceases to be an adventurous improviser. Her partners in this enticingly named band, first formed a couple of years ago, are the engagingly prickly guitarist Nels Cline, the stalwart bassist Matt Penman and the polymorphically propulsive drummer Jim Black. At 7 p.m., Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, near Thompson Street, Greenwich Village , (212) 505-3474, lepoissonrouge.com; $15 in advance; $17 at the door. (Chinen)20090730

SIM FACULTY CONCERT (Wednesday) The School for Improvised Music is a nonprofit enterprise in which the instructors are adventurous and communicative musicians. Among them are this concert’s featured guests: the saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, the trumpeter Ralph Alessi, the pianist Andy Milne, the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer Gerald Cleaver. At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, at Spring Street, South Village , (212) 242-1063, jazzgallery.org; $15; $10 for members and students. (Chinen)20090730

SKM TRIO (Friday) With an acronym derived from the first names of its members, this collective features smart musicians comfortable with free improvisation: the saxophonist Stephen Gauci, the pianist Kris Davis and the bassist Michael Bisio. At 8 p.m., 5C Cultural Center, 68 Avenue C, at East Fifth Street, East Village , (212) 477-5993, 5ccc.com; cover, $10, with a $5 minimum. (Chinen)20090730

? TRIO 3 WITH GERI ALLEN (Wednesday and Thursday) Never mind the redundancy in the title, or the fact that this avant-garde collective actually works here as a quartet. The alto saxophonist Oliver Lake, the bassist Reggie Workman and the drummer Andrew Cyrille are battle-ready teammates; they stand only to gain from the addition of the pianist Geri Allen, as they recently proved on an album called “At This Time” (Intakt). (Through Aug. 8.) At 8:30 and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton , (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com; $30 for general admission; $40 for premium seating; and a $10 minimum. (Chinen)

: Image via Wikipedia

From Philadelphia’s An die Musik LIVE:

CREATIVE DIFFERENCES FALL SERIES
@ AN DIE MUSIK LIVE, 409 N.Charles St, Baltimore MD Tel 410 385 2638
http://www.andiemusiklive.com

SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER @ 8.30PM

STEVE LEHMAN – MUSIC FOR SOLO SAXOPHONE WITH LIVE INTERACTIVE ELECTRONICS

$13/10 seniors & students

Named a Rising Star on the alto saxophone in 2006, 2007, and 2008 by the Downbeat Magazine International Critics Poll, STEVE LEHMAN is a saxophonist and composer whose work resides on the frontiers of contemporary music. He has been recognized as one of today’s truly original creative voices by The Wire, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Downbeat Magazine, as well as by National Public Radio.

A former student of both Jackie McLean and Anthony Braxton, he has performed and recorded throughout the United States and Europe with his own ensembles, and with those led by Anthony Braxton, Dave Burrell, Mark Dresser, Vijay Iyer, Oliver Lake, and Meshell Ndegeocello.

An award-winning composer, Lehman’s pieces for large orchestra and chamber ensembles have been performed by the Janacek Philharmonic, members of The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Ensemble 21 and Ensemble Sospeso, and by the pianist Marilyn Nonken. His music has received performances at the MusikTriennale Festival in Koln, the Ostrava New Music Days, The Kaleidophon Festival in Ulrichsberg, the Festival International de Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville, Dance Theater Workshop and the Interpretations Series at Merkin Hall, both in New York City.

DOUBLE BILL – SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 @ 8PM

TRIO BRAAM/DEJOODE/VATCHER
Michiel Braam – piano
Wilbert DeJoode – double bass
Michael Vatcher – drums

ALL CODA
Dave Ballou – trumpet
John Dierker – reeds
Marc Miller – guitar
Michael Formanek – double bass
Will Redman – drums
with special guest
Tim Berne – alto saxophone

$20/18 seniors and students w.ID

A mindblowing double bill. Who knows, maybe by the end of the evening it will have morphed into a supergroup!

TRIO BRAAM/DEJOODE/VATCHER
Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher comprises three of the Dutch jazz scene’s most idiosyncratic musicians, for whom freedom and adventure are essential values. They all play an absolutely equal role in the music, which can go in any which way, depending on decisions made on the spot. The long musical friendship (since 1989) results in intuitive playing of the highest order. Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher shines in short powerful pieces, honoring the jazz tradition by pushing it ahead with consummate, dazzling skill. The trio combines a playful incorporation and expansion of older forms with a great adventurousness. Partnered by powerhouse bassist Wilbert de Joode and drummer extraordinaire Michael Vatcher, Braam delivers some of the most confident and enjoyable piano work I’ve heard in recent years.” (Dan Warburton)

ALL CODA
This is truly a meeting of minds (the state of those minds is yet to be determined). These superb Baltimore improvisers (and a lone New Yorker) bring the honk, squeal, and bash, and yes, the quiet and lovely too. The pedigree here ranges from Michael Formanek’s work with Uri Caine, Tim Berne, and other modern jazz luminaries; to Dave Ballou’s associations with Andrew Hill, Dave Leibman, et al; to John Dierker’s collaborations with Lafayette Gilchrist, Jason Willett, Quartet Offensive, and basically anyone doing anything in the avant garde vein in Baltimore; to Marc Miller’s wildly and widely appreciated work with seminal Baltimore math rock band Oxes; to Dr. Will Redman’s compositions studies with the legendary composer Michael Finnissy and Baltimore’s own Stuart S. Smith, as well as co-leading Microkingdom with Marc. This combo plays both kinds of music: free and jazz and sometimes freejazz! Oh yeah, and did we mention that some guy named Tim Berne will be sitting in too!!

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: