John Ellis’ Double Wide & Somi @ Madison Square park

John Ellis & Double Wide @ Madison Square park

I was so looking forward to those, but was actually pretty disappointed, especially with the Double Wide. Didn’t like it so much at all, except for the last tune. Madison Square park concerts have such a great vibe though, I still remember John Scofield from last year as one of the best concerts ever :D. Yeah, I think I have actually liked John Ellis’s groups a lot previously. I wonder if it was just one of those days. John Ellis-sax/bass clarinet, Brian Coogan-piano, Matt Perrine-sousaphone, Jason Marsalis-drums.

Somi and her band somehow just didn’t seem to be for me, and I only heard the first song or two.

John Ellis' Double Wide & Somi @ Madison Square park

John Ellis & Double Wide @ Madison Square park

I was so looking forward to those, but was actually pretty disappointed, especially with the Double Wide. Didn’t like it so much at all, except for the last tune. Madison Square park concerts have such a great vibe though, I still remember John Scofield from last year as one of the best concerts ever :D. Yeah, I think I have actually liked John Ellis’s groups a lot previously. I wonder if it was just one of those days. John Ellis-sax/bass clarinet, Brian Coogan-piano, Matt Perrine-sousaphone, Jason Marsalis-drums.

Somi and her band somehow just didn’t seem to be for me, and I only heard the first song or two.

Davy Mooney Quartet @ Solo Kitchen Bar

Davy Mooney with John Ellis, Matt Clohesy, Jochen Rueckert @ Solo Kitchen Bar

With John Ellis on tenor, Matt Clohesy – bass, Jochen Rueckert – drums, Davy Mooney – guitar. I heard most of the tunes @ 55 Bar a couple of weeks ago. But it’s always good to listen to John Ellis 🙂 And I liked Matt Clohesy on bass a lot.

Solo Kitchen Bar on Sundays is just amazing – all the bands I’ve ever heard there have been really killin’. The only stupid thing about making the trip is the Q train which tends to run express on weekends, skipping the Cortelyou road stop. So that people end up @ Kings Highway and have to come back with the Manhattan-bound train.

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 :D. 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 :D.

John Ellis Group @ Solo Kitchen Bar

John Ellis Group @ Solo Kitchen Bar

Seems like Solo Kitchen Bar is a great place to hear jazz on Sundays – this time it was John Ellis Group playing, really amazing band, sounded great. Finally got to hear Tim Collins on vibraphone, loved it, especially his phrasing. . One of the highlights of the night was certainly when they played Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans. I got to thinking that laid back and bluesy vibes playing must be one of the sexiest things ever 🙂 But the band was still missing Grant Green for that tune :D. Yeah, and besides being an amazing tenor player, John Ellis is a really brilliant composer as well, heard a lot of great original tunes that night.

the Ice Siren @ the Jazz Gallery

Went to the Jazz Gallery again on Saturday to hear John Ellis’s Large Ensemble project, a “jazz opera”, the Ice Siren – it featured an 11-piece ensemble (strings, vibes, guitar, percussion, tuba, saxophones/woodwinds, 2 vocals).  I couldn’t really follow the music and the story very well this time, probably because I’d been having too much Sex on the beach at a bar before (another story), but I did notice Gretchen Parlato‘s magically impressive voice.  At the concert I also noticed that Mike Moreno is playing a guitar looking very much like mine. Went to check it out after the concert – the guitar was actually a Gibson, but we did go out for drinks later on.