On Monday, I went to see Ingrid Jensen play at Jimmy Mak’s with Alan Jones, Randy Porter, and Dave Speranza. It was a great show with only a $5 cover. I was worried that the crowd might be thin, since I hadn’t heard much press about the event, but both sets were pretty full. It was especially great to see so many musicians out to hear a show - young and old.
I first met Ingrid at the Port Townsend Jazz Workshop in 2005, when she was my combo coach there. I was lucky enough to be able to sit in with her band in NYC a few months later at a club called Kitano. I also got to see her play a number of times, mostly with Maria Schneider’s band. As far as trumpet players go, I don’t think you can ask for much more. I hope Alan keeps finding ways to bring her out here.
In other news, JazzPDX.org has a new look, or will soon after I post this. I’m looking forward to adding some new features, most notably a podcast which is in the works. If you’re a Portland musician, be sure to send your album info to submit@jazzpdx.org so that I can put it in the “Featured Album” section.
Last night I went to Jimmy Mak’s to see Alan Jones‘ CD release party for “Day,” the first of two new CD’s from the Bridge Quartet. The quartet (Alan, Darrell Grant, Tom Wakeling, and Phil Dwyer) played three amazing sets of music. The group really stretched the pieces and focused on heavily improvised music rather than intricate arrangements.
Although all the players were great, I know all of the saxophone players in the audience were especially blown-away by Phil Dwyer. What a monster tenor player.
Alan mentioned during the release that the group was proud of the recording-quality of the project, which they did out at Clackamas Community College in the new studio there. After listening to the disc, I have to agree - it sounds great. It definitely makes me tempted to record my first studio project there.
In other news, I have some new recordings that I’m working on editing to put on the site. I got the tracks from the Old Church concert (which Patrick Springer did a great job of recording) and I have some stuff from my trio gig at Wilf’s as well.More soon.
Last night was E4’s first show since the summer. We played at Jimmy Mak’s, subbing for Balmer while he’s on tour. We had a good sized crowd that actually stuck around through the second set.
We were lucky to have a number of friends stop by at sit in, including Ben Darwish, Shelly Rudolph, and Russ Kleiner. Also nice to see other new and old friends like journalist Tom D’Antoni, bassist Eric Gruber (who has played often in my acoustic band), and jazz super-fan and community activist Pam Jones.
Instead of the usual E4 setup, we tried it with Clay playing mostly acoustic piano, Damian on his new fretless, and me splitting my time between alto and tenor. I liked the new sound - I think there was a bit more flexibility than our usual style.
I’m hoping to get some pictures from the event soon, but for now, here’s a clip from my composition “Weasel Socks”:
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Last night I hit Jimmy Mak’s to catch Dan Balmer’s last show before he heads out on tour with vocalist Diane Schuur. While he’s gone, a bunch of different groups will be taking over his Monday residence, including E4 on March 3rd.
I’m still playing lots of tenor, trying out the new sound. Played last night at Produce Row at Ron Steen’s session and had an exciting tenor battle with Marc Hutchinson. That guy sounds great.
There’s a new addition to the website - on the right there’s a JazzPDX widget showing all of the recent articles I’ve posted on that site.
