THE GIG

All the Things

Chad Batka for The New York Times

Jim Hall Quartet

Blue Note, April 17

Brandon Seabrook, Considered

The new column is all about banjo and guitar player Brandon Seabrook, who appears on one of this year’s most slyly inviting jazz albums, If the Past Seems So Bright, by Jeremy Udden’s Plainville. 

My piece doesn’t deal much with Plainville, focusing instead on Seabrook himself, and his approach to the banjo, and his demonic presence in Seabrook Power Plant, the band he formed with his brother, drummer Jared. Two years ago, sometime between their first album and their second, I reviewed the band in Brooklyn.

There’s a pull quote from my review at the band’s website, though it’s not the one that goes “...a manic clusterfuck of merciless banjo torture...” (That phrase comes from Christopher Weingarten’s blog post for the Village Voice. He’s not wrong, btw.) 

Listening Walk

Critics' Choice: New CDs

Julian Lage, "Gladwell"

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. 

Full Spectrum Jazz

Photo courtesy of Peter Gannushkin

Playlist, Oct. 31

Mary Halvorson, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra,

Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly, Dan Tepfer Trio, Russell Malone

(Still) A Nice Idea

 

Richard Termine for the New York Times

John Abercrombie Quartet

Birdland, Oct. 12

Transparency the New Mystery

 

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

Marnie Stern, “Marnie Stern”

The Leaves, The Rain

Stephan Crump’s Rosetta Trio

Rockwood Music Hall, Sept. 8

Since You Asked

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

DeJohnette, Scofield, Lovano, Grenadier

The Falcon, Aug. 28

Ritenour Hour

Lee Ritenour with Dave Grusin

Blue Note, Aug. 11