Marcus Miller played a haunting version of Gorée on bass clarinet, after introducing this composition as inspired by his visit to the island in Africa that was a slave trading center. His tune for his mother-in-law, Bunny’s Dream, was also especially beautiful. His tribute to Jaco Pastorius, “Mr Pastorius,” was another highlight, featuring Russell Gunn on trumpet who played with a Miles Davis-inspired muted tone. The show had no shortage of jaw-dropping bass solos, but especially featured Marcus’s talents as a composer. ...

Upon arriving in Vancouver for the AAAI Conference, I took a photo walk and water taxi to False Creek. In two hours it was misty, then sunny, then it hailed, then sunny, then gale force winds. Welcome to Vancouver! There is a wonderful public market on Granville Island, and I found smoked salmon, some rice paper rolls, and a little soup for lunch. Granville Island was an industrial area and became an art gallery area, perhaps best illustrated by the “Giants” painted onto cement towers. The final photo is from the conference site, the next morning. ...

The power was out, yet the music lit up the night as Delfayo Marsalis led a joyful set at the Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society in Half Moon Bay. Getting there was half the fun, as California was in the midst of a major winter storm, with high winds and strong rain. And when Micah and I arrived, we learned that there was a power outage from the storm, so the set would be played acoustically by battery-powered camper lights. You can see the lights in the photo. ...

On a warm Sunday afternoon in January, the Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society offered the best of both worlds. Indoors, we enjoyed an energizing set led by Australian bassist Linda May Han Oh. She was playing fresh compositions from her album, The Glass Hours. The album is described as “a collection of works based on abstract themes of the fragility of time and life; exploring paradoxes seeded within our individual and societal values.” We were seated near the very creative pianist, Fabian Almazan. The quintet also featured vocals by Sarah Serpa, drummer Mark Wittfield jr, and saxophonist Mark Turner. The music was intricate, rhythmic, and uplifting. ...

Julian Lage led a quartet through an inspiring take on Jazz Standards on a rainy Sunday evening at SFJazz. The fourth member of the quartet, Chris Potter, was the guest sax player. I love when a band is having a great time, and the quartet seemed just overjoyed with how this set went. Julian was playing a four-night stand at SFJazz and this was the final night. The show was organized as a tribute to seminal jazz guitarist Jim Hall, who was a mentor to Lage. It was also somewhat of a homecoming for Lage, as he grew up in Santa Rosa. Because it was a tribute show, Lage did not play his own compositions, but instead chose Standards like: ...