THE GIG

Never Come Back

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

Cuong Vu 4-Tet, “Leaps of Faith”

Redemption

Erin Baiano for The New York Times

Quest

Birdland, Feb. 22

Essentially Ellington

The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition, a flagship initiative of Jazz at Lincoln Center, draws many dozens of aspiring musicians to New York every spring, for an event both inspiring and entertaining. I caught a portion of the competition last year, when the winner was Garfield High, a perennial favorite from Seattle, Wa. 

This year’s throwdown is scheduled for May 12 to 14 at Frederick P. Rose Hall. Jazz at Lincoln Center just announced the finalists, and one twist is Garfield’s conspicuous absence, for the first time since 2001. (If this is beginning to sound like college football rankings, you have some idea of the intensity with which these bands and boosters approach their task.) Anyway, here are the 15 bands advancing to the finals: 

Kiss My Ass, Guys...

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

Hayes Carll, “KMAG YOYO (& other American stories)”

PME (Pat Metheny Extra)

I can’t make it to the 2011 EMP Pop Conference next weekend at UCLA, which is really too bad -- the conference is an unmatched opportunity to catch up with a bunch of fellow obsessives, find out what they’re working on and bask in (mostly) original thinking about music. It’s also just an excellent hang.

Last year’s EMP was, for me, a lot more hectic than most, because I spent a lot of my time in Seattle dashing around to talk to jazz musicians. (This story was the intended result.) In fact I found myself, late on the eve of my presentation, facing down a blank screen. This is standard practice for some EMP regulars -- holla at cha boy, Jody! -- but not the way I usually roll. Thankfully I knew my subject, the above-pictured Pat Metheny Orchestrion, pretty much top to bottom. I pulled an all-nighter and everything was fine.

I say all this now because audio from my presentation has just been made available at iTunes University, free of charge. Click this link, which should open your iTunes. Then scroll down to my name, or item #31. And when you finish with that, check out some of the other presentations. I certainly will -- I know there’s some really good stuff there that I missed the first time around. 

Jack of Clubs

The new JazzTimes column is up, with a personal riff on the value of jazz clubs, even in a pop-up age. I won’t parrot myself here, except to note that the Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus I knew had passed into lore well before the club itself expired. I haven’t come across a really good account of what went down over the last five years or so, but the comment thread beneath this item in the Philly City Paper will give you some idea. 

Also, a word about Sid Simmons, who partly defined the Ortlieb’s I remember. A gentleman in every respect, Simmons handled his post with a kind of superhuman patience and dignity. A battered piano, a noisy crowd, a parade of would-be hard-boppers clamoring to sit in. I learned a lot by watching Simmons deal with guys who couldn’t cut it. (I also learned a lot by sitting in with him and Mike Boone every week, but that’s a tale for another time.) 

The Sid Simmons-Mike Boone-Byron Landham album Keep the Faith is worth hearing if you’re interested in this corner of the often-underrated mid-Atlantic jazz mainstream; look here for audio samples and download options. And the EPK below features some good interview and performance footage, shot at Ortlieb’s. (Simmons’ thoughts about Boone are very touching.)

 

So They Say

McCoy Tyner Trio with José James

Blue Note, Feb. 15

Who is Esperanza Spalding?

Esperanza Spalding, a Surprise Winner at the Grammys

(a.k.a., My part in the post-award prognostication cycle)

 

Jazz Odyssey

Chris Potter Quartet

Village Vanguard, Feb. 8

Run Myself into the Ground

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

Jessica Lea Mayfield, “Tell Me”