Marta Sánchez Trio LunÀtico Weds, May 15
Gas, brakes, gas, brakes, lil more gas, tap it, tap it, tap it – now brakes. Okay, okay, move ahead slowly…The subtleties of locomotion loom heavy in pianist Sánchez’s trio work. Perpetual Void (Intakt) fascinates because of such interplay, using the give and take prowess of bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Savannah Harris to energize such sweet themes as “Black Cyclone” and “29B.” Accents are key to finalizing a performance’s look and feel, and this outfit’s use of inflection – to a large degree stemming from the leader’s own deployment of timbre and phraseology – makes this program sing. Loss and the grief that accompanies it wafts through the atmosphere. “Prelude To A Heartbreak,” “The Love Unable to Give” and the title cut help shape a story of sleepless nights and broken hearts. But the authority of the trio’s exchanges have an edge-of-your-seat drama that assuages the gloom. Sánchez was previously able to do this with her horn bands, and her expertise at simultaneously expressing more than one emotion is loud and clear on this enticing endeavor.
Stephan Crump Jazz Gallery Weds, May 15
When music is described as being “cinematic,” it usually means that the composer has concocted a sprawl so expressive that it borders on being visual…or maybe experiential is a better word. In any case, something close to this takes place as Crump’s new Slow Water unfolds. Guiding the motion of three strings, two brass, and a vibraphone, the bassist’s tranquil charts create a slow-moving world of transition, liquid in temperament, and trickling with idea after idea. The song titles enhance this suite on the daunting sprawl of the planet’s wetland ecosystem. “Pooling,” “Sediment and Flow,” and “Euphotic” hark to stasis, murk, and sunlight in varying degrees. Crump recently told Plume Poetry that he wanted his music to conjure everything “from primordial ooze, peat, and burbling gases, to water, currents, fishes, and critters within, to plants, insects, air currents, fog, trees, wind, birds and clouds above.” The cozy confines of the Gallery are going to feel like the expanse of Georgia Sea Islands if all goes right tonight.
Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio Sisters Tuesday, May 14
The bassist brings a wiry bounce to much of his work. Like Fred Hopkins before him, Stewart’s propulsion is loose, with phrases deciding in their final millisecond where they want to go next. That keeps an audience on its toes and challenges his confederates to stay super close – an investment in connectivity. You can feel this best in the work of his Silt Trio. 2022’s The Bottom (Cuneiform) united Stewart with saxophonist Brian Settles and drummer Chad Taylor, mapping out a sprawl of discrete vibes that stretched from genteel to raucous, and adding up to a rich ensemble portrait. That action is updated (and perhaps intensified) on the new Unknown Rivers (Pi Recordings) whose title cut conjures Air going down to the footwash for a little rub ‘n’ scrub. The leader, an essential part of Irreversible Entanglements who is currently enjoying a ride in David Murray’s latest quartet, invited drummer Trae Crudup to drive a chunk of the album (Taylor appears on three live tracks). His ability to deliver details during the stormiest of passages is a gift that keeps the pieces, especially “Baba Doo Way,” percolating. This Sisters show is their CD release bash.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
Tim Berne’s Bat Channel (Belisle-Chi, Davis, Opsvik) Lowlands Thursday, May 16
Eivind Opsvik’s Two Miles A Day Barbès Tuesday, May 14
Neal Kirkwood Big Band Shapeshifter Lab Thursday, May 16th
DoYeon Kim Roulette Wednesday, May 15
Tony Romano Quartet iBeam Friday, May 17
Eric Alexander Quartet The Django Wednesday, May 15
Capt Black Big Band vs New Orleans Jazz Orch Jazz At Lincoln Center Fri, May 17 – Sat, May 18
Will Bernard’s Freelance Subversives LunÀtico Friday, May 17
Emi Makabe / Tammy Sheffer & Moto Fukushima iBeam Sunday, May 19
Sam Kulik Residency The Stone May 15 – Saturday, May 18
Álvaro Torres Shapeshifter Lab Friday, May 17
Noah Garabedian Quartet Smalls Wedneday, May 15
Jerome Sabbagh/Melissa Aldana Bar Bayeux Wednesday, May 15
Dave Ambrosio Bar Bayeux Saturday, May 18
Columbia Icefield Union Pool Wednesday, May 15
Santiago Leibson Bar Bayeux Saturday, May 18
Andy Milne’s Unison Jazz Gallery Thursday, May 16
Bill Charlap Trio Birdland Tuesday, May 14 – Sat, May 18
Instrumental Underground iBeam Tuesday, May 16
Mingus Big Band Drom Wednesday, May 15
Kevin Sun Quartet Lowlands Tuesday, May 14
The EarRegulars Ear Inn Sunday, May 19
Curtis Hasselbring’s Curhachestra Barbès Sunday, May 19
Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Next Step Village Vanguard Tuesday, May 14 – Sunday, May 29
Bill Saxton & the Harlem All-Stars Bill’s Place Friday, May 17 – Saturday, May 18
Oscar Noriega’s Crooked Quartet Barbès Friday, May 17
Jane Moneheit Smoke Wednesday, May 15 – Sunday, May 19
Luke Stewart Silt Trio Sisters Tuesday, May 14
JP Nadien Downtown Music Gallery Tuesday, May 21
Stephan Crump Jazz Gallery Wednesday, May 15
When music is described as being “cinematic,” it usually means that the composer/performer has concocted a sprawl so vivid in tone and texture that it borders on being visual…or maybe experiential is a better word. In any case, something close to this takes place as Crump’s new Slow Water unfolds. Guiding the motion of three strings, two brass, and a vibraphone, the bassist’s tranquil charts create a slow-moving world of transition, liquid in temperament, and trickling with idea after idea. The pieces’ titles enhance this suite on the forever daunting sprawl of the planet’s wetland ecosystem. “Pooling,” “Sediment and Flow,” and “Euphotic” hark to stasis, murk, and sunlight in varying degrees. Crump recently told the Plume Poetry Website that he wanted his music to conjure everything “from primordial ooze, peat, and burbling gases, to water, currents, fishes, and critters within, to plants, insects, air currents, fog, trees, wind, birds and clouds above.” The cozy confines of the Gallery are going to feel like the expanse of Georgia Sea Islands if all goes right tonight.
Billy Mohler Quartet LunÀtico Monday, May 20
Lament For A Straight Line 