THE GIG

Night Life

 

Willie Nelson, Levon Helm

Radio City Music Hall, July 28

Jazz Listings

July 30 to Aug. 5

Kollektief Farewell

Willem Breuker, Dutch Composer-Bandleader, Dies at 65

Brothers

The Black Keys

Summerstage, July 27

Shiny Side Up

Widespread Panic

Radio City Music Hall, July 22

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

These United States, “What Lasts”

Smooth Sailing

A couple of weeks ago I took a ride on the Smooth Cruise. I had a pretty good time. Then I wrote about it. Above, see an iPhone picture of me on the rear deck. The image has not been doctored, so if it looks like a Polaroid from the Carter Era -- well, that might just be the influence of “Shaker Song.” You think I kid? Behold:

Happy Friday, everybody. Let’s keep Al Jarreau in our prayers.

 

 

Jazz in July

Jazz Listings

July 23 to 29

Clave Maria

 

Maria Schneider kicked off her heels within the first few minutes of the early set at Birdland on Tuesday night. I mean literally, as in: she conducted her band barefoot. This small, seemingly extraneous detail struck me as noteworthy, though I thought twice about commenting on it, for fear of dredging up some bad associations, or seeming unduly focused on Schneider’s image, rather than her music. 

Here’s the thing: the notion of conducting barefoot is emblematic of Schneider’s modus operandi as a bandleader. Much has been made of the flowing, intuitive feeling of her music, a feeling that tends to get coded (by critics and, I suspect, no less by audiences) as somehow essentially female. That’s hogwash, of course, but it shouldn’t preclude talk of intuition -- and yes, even comfort -- in Schneider’s work. Her compositions reflect a deeply analytical perspective, but they’re always mediated by discernable human emotion. That’s a rare gift of communication, shared by few composers in jazz, and the only reason it gets gendered in conversations about Schneider is, well, her gender.

I hadn’t intended on approaching Schneider’s Birdland run from the angle of “women in music,” which both honors and reduces her art. What brought me to that angle here was a worthy feature currently underway at NPR. For the record, I believe the Maria Schneider Orchestra to be our best large jazz ensemble, period. (This is hardly a minority opinion.) It occurred to me, halfway through Tuesday’s set, that the MSO also fits the bill of an excellent prog-rock band.

Deer John

Deer Tick

Maxwell’s, July 19

Look at Me

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

Marc Cohn, “Listening Booth: 1970”

Heat, Wave

Jazz Listings

 July 16 through 22