Ralph Alessi’s This Against That @ I-Beam

With Ben Street on bass, Mark Ferber on drums, Andy Milne on piano, Tony Malaby on tenor sax, Ralph Alessi trumpet. I-Beam was packed in full . After a while I realised it’s so much easier to listen to that kind of music with my eyes closed -  otherwise it was too much information. After I discovered that it all blended into one great tripping experience (- the fact that I still have a jet lag and a small fever as well might have helped). Mark Ferber and Ben Street were just unbelievable.

Ralph Alessi's This Against That @ I-Beam

With Ben Street on bass, Mark Ferber on drums, Andy Milne on piano, Tony Malaby on tenor sax, Ralph Alessi trumpet. I-Beam was packed in full . After a while I realised it’s so much easier to listen to that kind of music with my eyes closed -  otherwise it was too much information. After I discovered that it all blended into one great tripping experience (- the fact that I still have a jet lag and a small fever as well might have helped). Mark Ferber and Ben Street were just unbelievable.

Vardan Ovsepian @ Solo Kitchen Bar

Vardan Ovsepian @ Solo Kitchen Bar

Heard Vardan Ovsepian’s band again, made it for the second set.  This time it was without Tim Miller, though. Quite a few guitar dorks showed up anyway . Mark Ferber on the drums was really killin’, I was thinking. They played the same compositions as @ 55 Bar a couple of months ago.

After that I went to the Sycamore for more drinks. This is the other place in the neighborhood that seems to be open late, besides Solo Kitchen Bar.

And I have found out by now that the great majority of New York jazz musicians live in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn area these days.

Davy Mooney Quartet; Arthur Kell Quartet @ 55 Bar

Davy Mooney Quartet @ 55 Bar

What a nice shelter from the rain – I spent the whole evening @ 55 Bar last night.  Early set was Davy Mooney Quartet – Dave Mooney (guitar), John Ellis (tenor sax), Orlando LeFleming (bass), Greg Ritchie (drums). Great choice of sidemen . Having that good sidemen might be dangerous though, but I guess it worked out. Davy Mooney did some singing as well – he has a really nice voice. I liked the drummer a lot. And John Ellis is just so incredibly expressive. He seems to have mastery over so many shades of sound and dynamics.

Arthur Kell Quartet @ 55 Bar

And the next band, Arthur Kell Quartet was just amazing! Nir Felder on guitar, Loren Stillman on alto, Mark Ferber on drums, Arthur Kell on bass and compositions. They were so tight and everybody was really killin’! The first set was especially good, I enjoyed it so much! Hearing that kind of music makes me not want to leave New York. Nir Felder really surprised me again – even though he suffered from a jet leg, that was some very inspired ground-breaking guitar playing there. He seems to get better with every time I hear him, or is it just me? Anyway, it was fun to hear him play next to Loren Stillman – those guys both play so incredible lines and have amazing sound. How can they be so killin’ when they just seem to be sight reading?  Yeah that first set was one of my favorite concerts here, so far .

Sunday @ Solo Kitchen Bar: Douglas Bradford Group and Ben Monder Trio

Douglas Bradford Group

Went to Solo Kitchen Bar again (Flatbush, Brooklyn, Cortelyou Rd stop from the Q-train) they have great free shows on Sundays. This time I checked out the first one (starting 6:30) as well, because a friend was playing – and it was a great band, really – Douglas Bradford Group featuring John Beaty on alto, Greg Chudzik on bass, Nick Anderson on drums, Douglas Bradford on guitar and  compositions. I really enjoyed it! But seriously, why is the only audience in all these concerts other musicians??? Quoting a guy called Alabaster here: The only good thing about the times we’re living in is dentistry.

Ben Monder Trio @ Solo Kitchen Bar

But actually a lot more people showed up for Ben Monder trio concert later on (Ben Street was on bass, Mark Ferber on drums)  finally the place was quite packed, with no free seats. It was a great concert with a really appreciative audience (musicians again?). They played some standards such as What’s New, I’ll Remember April, original compositions and Hey Jude, the Beatles song. Didn’t hear everything because I actually went out to smoke something in between. Some of the things the drummer did made it feel like surf jazz at times – great tripping music .