Jazz Stories

San Franciso-based Train rolled into Madison, Wisconsin—and Audrey and I enjoyed our fourth show from the 1990s pop-rock band. We’re temporarily based in Madison while Audrey works here on Voter Protection. The concert venue was just a 10 minute walk from our apartment—Madison is very walkable town. And we enjoyed a pre-concert gathering at the adjacent glass apartment tower, where Audrey’s new colleagues have a beautiful apartment. Their balcony looked over the concert venue and had a beautiful view across both of the lakes that surround the Madison isthmus. ...

Ethan Iverson, formerly of the Bad Plus, played a great set in the intimate Joe Henderson room at SF Jazz. The trio with Reuben Rogers and Gerald Cleaver had excellent chemistry and impeccable swing. Rogers was particularly impressive on bass with expressive, dynamic solos. I enjoyed learning from his perfect walking bass, especially as we were in the 3rd row. They played a mix of standards and compositions by Iverson, closing with a cover of Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly. The band featured music from their new album, ironically titled “Technical Acceptable.” Iverson introduced one new composition as the theme song for a TV series he hoped to produce. ...

Ravi Coltrane played two long sets at the opening of his residency at SF Jazz, each filled with extended, soaring solos. The first set featured the “electric band” which was electric by virtue of using a synthesizer to enable the keyboard player to cover the bass line. The second set involved his long-standing Coltraxx quartet, with piano, drums, and bass. The two drummers were the highlight of the date; both were very intense. Also, the Alice Coltrane compositions they featured were particularly strong. ...

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. ...

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. ...