Ralph Alessi with Drew Gress, Jason Moran and Nasheet Waits @ Cornelia Street Cafe

Jason Moran, Drew Gress, Ralph Alessi, Nasheet Waits

Ralph Alessi (trumpet and compositions), Drew Gress (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums) and Jason Moran (piano). I heard Thursday 10:30 set. It was quite packed (many seemed to be  students or musicians). As a listener I felt this music didn’t speak to me that much – maybe one has to be Ralph Alessi’s composition student to grasp the ideas? I also wished he had introduced the songs just a little bit… Maybe that would have built some kind of connection. I thought Drew Gress played great, and naturally it was a pleasure to hear Nasheet Waits, but I guess it was just one of those night when the magic didn’t happen with the actual music.

Duane Eubanks Quintet @ Cornelia Street Café

Duane Eubanks Quintet @ Cornelia Street Café

Went to hear Duane Eubanks Quintet with Duane Eubanks on trumpet, Anthony Wonsey on piano (subbing for Orrin Evans I think), Dezron Douglas on bass, Abraham Burton on tenor sax and Eric McPherson on drums.

I liked the tunes they played (quite old school post bop, reminding a bit of Kenny Dorham) and the bass and drums were just mind blowing! It was the first time for me to hear Dezron Douglas: I liked his playing a lot, I think he really played as if he loves the whole concept of time and being in it…

Duane Eubanks had his son (or some kid) running around  the stage the whole time which was kind of cute in the beginning (and it’s great to have kids experiencing music like this, for sure) but after  a while I found it a little bit distracting, still…

Was worth going, anyhow. And Cornelia Street has nice wines 😀

Brad Shepik Quartet @ Cornelia Street Cafe

Brad Shepik Quartet

Brad Shepik (guitar), Tom Beckham (vibraphone), Jorge Roeder (bass), Mark Guiliana (drums) playing Brad Shepik’s latest compositions. Never seen that place this packed. I loved Brad Shepik’s new music, and the band was great – liked the bass player a lot, very melodic. Was good to get another dose of Mark Guiliana’s drumming 😀

Kristjan Randalu with the Transatlantic Collective @ Cornelia Street Cafe

The Transatlantic Collective

The same band as I heard in Estonia, in december 2008, except for the drummer (Patrick Cornelius – alto, Michael Janisch – double bass, Ambrose Akinmusire – trumpet, Kristjan Randalu – piano), Colin Stranahan on drums this time, sounded real good. Even some of the songs were the same as in Estonia, as it was the official US CD release concert of  their debut album “Traveling Song”. The music somehow even felt more organic and energetic here in New York. It was great jazz playing from everyone in the group and the feel of it all was quite intense – really going for it. But this kind of event feels so natural here – just sitting in a jazz club and listening to top grade musicians playing good jazz.
But yeah, it is still a fact that Kristjan Randalu is probably the only Estonian jazz musician who is in that league of players right now, and would actually comfortably stand a comparison to the big names in the scene. It has been a lot of fun to spot him here and there in the city (- we’ve actually met many times at various concerts in the past couple of weeks, sometimes a bit deliberately though). 🙂 But he’s going back to Europe now – guess I won’t have the luxury of talking Estonian to someone at the concerts anymore…

Cornelia Street Cafe

I really like Cornelia Street Cafe as a venue (downstairs) but  upstairs is an especially nice place to have drinks – it’s in a great neighborhood (West Village) and has a relaxed atmosphere – great for meeting people. I actually met the manager of Village Vanguard there and had some wine with him. Was fascinating to hear him talk about what he has seen here in NY – since he has worked at the Vanguard for over 20 years, hanged around with people like Dexter Gordon and seen the real jazz scene as it was  back in the days when there were no smoking regulations and all that. In New York all the places are so connected to jazz history –  great stories and great music – for those who know about it.

Oh yeah, and on my way home I actually did stop by at the Village Vanguard to confirm with my own eyes and ears that Brad Mehldau and Larry Grenadier were sitting in with Bill McHenry’s band (substituting Duane Eubanks and Ben Street). These kinds of things happen – only in New York.

Hmm… Ma tegin seda jälle

Manhattan

Huvitav, siin New Yorgis pole vahepeal ikka mingeid pidureid. Endalegi üllatuseks sattusin jälle otse tänavalt mingite tüüpidega baari (alguses Financial Districtis, kust hiljem liikusime Cornelia Street Cafe’sse – see päris hubane paik West Village’is) –  jõin veini ja proovisin uusi kokteile. Ma pole tegelikult varem otse baaris leti taga joonud – see on päris lahe. Natuke piinlik on ka, daamid ei tee selliseid asju ometigi. Ja joomine on ju tegelikult täitsa väsitav. Miskipärast on see vahel nii lõbus lihtsalt. Pärast käisime ühe tüübiga veel 55 Barist läbi – seal oli väga hea kontsert – David Binney, Jacob Sacks, Dan Weiss. Pidin sealt natuke enne lõppu jalga laskma, sest oli värsket õhku vaja pärast kõiki neid jooke.

Aga kuidas see võõrastega tutvumine ikkagi käib? Seekord näiteks ma lihtsalt kõndisin tänaval ja sõin jäätist, mis oli liiga suur, sulas ja tilkus sõrmedele. Siis üks abivalmis tüüp läks mulle salvrätikuid tooma… Ja saimegi tuttavaks. Sellega seoses meenub, kui olin esimest korda NYs – olin siis 15 ja ema ja vanem vend jätsid mu ühe restorani kõrvale ootama, kuni nad rendiauto toovad. Ja vahepeal lihtsalt keegi tore tegelane tõi mulle kõrvalt restoranist süüa ja juua, lubas mu eest hoolt kanda juhul kui mu pere järsku tagasi ei tulegi. Ja nagu ei olnud mingi ahistaja minu arust :D. Aga selliste asjadega, you never know. Õnneks mu pere ikka tuli tookord tagasi 😀