Jazz Concerts

2014-08-02 Bruce Hornsby / Pat Methany Unity Group

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Venetian Theatre at Caramoor

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Bruce played with Sonny Emory on drums / percussion, then they played together with Pat Methany's group. Watching Methany perform on one of his double neck Manzer guitars like the one shown above is quite a unique experience. Most Hornsby fans know that Pat helped out on some of Bruce’s albums; but I wonder how many fans of Trey Anastasio know what a primary inspiration/influence he has been on Trey. According to Manzer’s website, Pat’s Manzer guitar collection includes 12 different models and is still growing.

2016-01-07 Jeff Lorber Fusion

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Birdland

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The main man of Jazz Fusion keyboards played with the amazing Jimmy Haslip on bass at this show. They stayed after the show and mingled with people for photos. Jeff and Jimmy each signed my program, below. Jimmy is a monster bass player who was a founder of the Yellowjackets and who played with Crosby and Stills in the seventies. Jimmy plays an unusual five-string bass and I had a chance to chat with him about it after the show. JC Collier succeeded Jimmy in Bruce Hornsby’s live band and sometimes plays a similar 5-string instrument.

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2016-12-03 John Pizzarelli Quartet

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Tarrytown Music Hall

Another fine show at Tarrytown Music Hall.  John Pizzarelli is a great jazz guitar player and fabulous entertainer and band leader.  I have seen him play several times, including his Sinatra Show at Radio City Music Hall.

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I saw his Sinatra tribute show at Radio City (years earlier) and thought he did a great job. I told him so when I met him by chance one night at Dizzy's Café. Its always good to support Tarrytown Music Hall, a rare not-for-profit venue.

2017-12-22 Harold Mabern, Jimmy Cobb, Eric Alexander

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Smoke

Was interested to recently see that Harold Mabern released an album from these sessions at Smoke in 2017, and was really pleasantly surprised to see that Ciro Baptista was involved, although not on this night at Smoke.

This is one of several times I saw Jimmy Cobb play recently and, as perhaps the most legendary jazz drummer alive, each time was much appreciated. I had a chance to meet both Jimmy and Harold at the club this night. Harold spoke to me about how the process by which he learned the piano, and suggested trying to play solos and other right hand parts only with your left hand as a practice routine. My piano teacher had mentioned that he liked playing at Smoke probably best of any NY jazz venue. We enjoyed dinner at the club and definitely found Smoke to be quite pleasant and comfortable on this night.

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