Helen Sung Trio with Carolyn Leonhart. Music is poetry ... Poetry is music

Just because the line up for the 2009 Rochester International Jazz Festival has been announced doesn't mean that you have to save it up until June. Lot's of music to listen to hear between now and then. Here's the jazz listings for the next seven days.

Thursday, March 26th

• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:30 pm
• Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Friday, March 27th

• Bobby DiBaudo @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• The Westview Project @ Brio Wine Bar & Grill, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• "Sung with Words", Helen Sung Trio with Carolyn Leonhart (Exodus to Jazz) @ Clarion Riverside Hotel (now the Radisson), 8:00 pm
• Bill Dobbins Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Madeline Forster @ Little Theatre Cafe 8:30 pm
• The Mark Cassara Band @ Argyle Grill @ Eagle Vale Golf Club, 8:30 pm
• Franks Rat Pack @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 9:00 pm

Saturday, March 28th

• Mambo Kings @ Barnes & Noble (Pittsford), 7:00 pm
• Steve Greene & Tina Albright @ Bodhi's Cafe & Lounge, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• The Westview Project @ Brio Wine Bar & Grill, 7:30 pm
• Down by the Riverside: The Blind Boys of Alabama, Preservation Hall Jazz Band @ State Theater, Ithaca, 8:00 pm
• Brad Batz Quartet @ Pane Vino, 8:00 pm
• Kinloch Nelson Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Bob Sneider Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Nick Finzer Trio @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion (657 Ridge Rd., Webster), 8:30 pm
• Hard Logic @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm
• Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes (East Ave.), 9:30 pm

Sunday, March 29th

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Nazareth College Jazz Combo w/Paul Smoker/Director @ Nazareth College-Wilmot Recital Hall, 3:00 pm
• Ted Nash @ Albright Knox Art Gallery, 3:00 pm
• Jazz Night Westview Project with saxophonist Nick Brust @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm

Monday, March 30th

• The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, March 31st

• Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
• Stardust Ballroom Dance Series: Joe Pera @ Edgerton Community Center, 7:30 pm

Wednesday, April 1st

• Margaret Explosion @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Jazz Jam Session with Mike Allen & Troup Street @ Clarissa's, 9:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

In Rochester @ the Bop Shop with Steve Adams on organ and Phil Haynes on drums.

Where are u?

This year the John Nugent, Marc Iacona and the folks at Rochester International Jazz Festival, with new sponsor Xerox, did the lineup announcement proud.  Instead of an email or press release, this morning the media, including yours truly, were brought together at the RIJF's newest venue, the 500+ seat Xerox Auditorium, for an announcement of the lineup for this year's festival.  It's going to be a good one.

As John Nugent put it, a music festival is "not just about who you know, it it about who you don't know."  As in past years there are familiar faces and complete unknowns, there is blues, world music flavors, a bit of Southern Fried Rock, some Nawlins' stuff and, of course, a sh*tload of jazz (it's my blog, I can say it...).

I'm not going to go into much detail here in this post as I will be doing that from now until June in the blog anyway and RIJF does a fine job of telling you all about it on through links from its artist lineup on the website.

All I'll say is that there will be the aforementioned new venue (which is going to be a great space).  The Nordic Jazz Now series at the Lutheran Church is back.  A new series will begin at Christ Church with some well known and up and coming jazz artists from the United Kingdom (to announce that, John joined on the web with two of the artists and the friend who help him set it up from Xerox's HQ in the UK). I'll be doing the usual as we approach, but thought I'd let you know that the lineup is out there so you can start doing this June Jazz grid instead of the one for March Madness.

You'd better think about getting your Club Pass.  Watch for more here, but go and check out the lineup on the site now.  Come back here and leave your thoughts in the comments. Nine days man...

On Friday, March 27th, the Exodus to Jazz series of concerts returns to the Clarion Riverside Hotel with "Sung with Words," a new project of Helen Sung, who will be appearing with the Helen Sung Trio and vocalist Carolyn Leonhart. “Sung With Words” shows the pianist's willingness to take risks with innovative concepts grounded in the jazz tradition. Sung's new project combines jazz standards and her own original compositions with lyrics derived from the poetry of Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Emily Dickinson and Dana Gioia (who was originally going to appear with Sung). Vocalist Carolyn Leonhart is an accomplished and versatile singer. Check Carolyn out singing with her husband tenor sax player Wayne Escoffrey.

The festivities commence at the Clarion Riverside Hotel (now Radisson) at 8:00 pm, with doors opening at 7:00 pm. There will be two, 1-hour sets.  Reserved seats are $25.00, general admission seats $20.00. Reserved seats are table seating for 2 to 4 people, assigned based on receipt of your reservation. General Admission seats include table and theatre style seating on a “first come, first served” basis. Student tickets are available at a 50% discount with current ID (purchased at the door). For more information, send an email or call 585-733-7685.

Either by email or through a RSS feed reader like Google Reader or Bloglines (or many others), you can keep up-to-date with new posts from Jazz@Rochester. I just found out that for a little while my email box in the right panel has not been functioning. It's all fixed up and spiffy now, so if you'd like to get the new posts to Jazz@Rochester via email then put your email address in the box and follow the directions (including verifying it through the email you'll be sent). Although in the future I may from time to time send an extra email to my email subscribers, I will not sell, share or spam your email without your prior consent.

The Bop Arts, Inc. Jazz in the Atrium series continues with a rare opportunity to hear saxman/flautist Dave Liebman in an organ trio setting with Phil Haynes and Steve Adams on March 24th at 8:00 pm. I really enjoyed hearing Liebman's high energy set when he appeared here in last year's RIJF with his quartet. Downbeat has called Liebman "one of the most important saxophonists in contemporary music...a leader and artist of integrity and independent direction." He has made numerous recordings as a leader and has played with Elvin Jones, Miles and Chick Corea. Check out the cuts on Liebman's MySpace page and this conversation with Ted Panken on Jazz.com. This is a great opportunity to hear him in a unique setting, both in terms of the group he's bringing and the acoustics and setting of the Bop Shop Atrium.  It should be a great show.

Come out on Tuesday March 24th at 8:00 pm in the Bop Shop Atrium, 274 N Goodman St. in Village Gate. Please bring a $10 donation to Bop Arts, Inc. (the nonprofit Bop Shop owner Tom Kohn has created to keep bringing us innovative music).

For your listening pleasure, here's the jazz in and around Rochester for the next seven days:

Thursday, March 19th

• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:30 pm
• Dave Rivello Ensemble @ Village Rock Cafe, 9:00 pm

Friday, March 20th

• Dave Spinner Organ Trio @ Jack's Place, 6:00 pm
• Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Bill Tiberio Band @ Jazz at Immanuel Baptist Church, 7:30 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Walt Weiskopf Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Madeline Forster @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• The Mark Cassara Band @ Argyle Grill @ Eagle Vale Golf Club, 8:30 pm
• Filthy Funk & The Funky Soul Break Down @ Dub Land Underground, 10:00 pm
• Hard Logic @ Smokin Joes Bar & Grill, no time given

Saturday, March 21st

• Noa Bursie @ Record Archive, 6:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• The Westview Project @ Pane Vino Ristorante, 7:30 pm
• Artisan Jazz @ Starry Nites Cafe, 8:00 pm
• Kinloch Nelson Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Walt Weiskopf Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• The Jennifer Heieck Band @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm
• East End Boys @ Havana Moes (East Ave.), 9:30 pm

Sunday, March 22nd

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Jazz Night @ The Lovin Cup, 7:00 pm

Monday, March 23rd

• The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Faculty Artist Series: Clay Jenkins/Jazz Trumpet @ Kilbourn Hall, 8:00 pm

Tuesday, March 24th

• Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
• Dave Liebman w/Paul Haynes & Steve Adams (Bop Arts Jazz in the Atrium Series) @ Bop Shop Atrium, 8:00 pm

Wednesday, March 25th

• Paul Deloria @ Bistro 135, 6:30 pm
• Margaret Explosion @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Eastman Jazz Lab @ Kilbourn Hall, 8:00 pm
• Rick Holland/Evan Dobbins Little Big Band @ Lovin Cup, 8:00 pm
• Jazz Jam Session with Mike Allen & Troup Street @ Clarissa's, 9:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

As the effects of this recession take hold, some are asking whether jazz is recession-proof,as in a recent post on Jazz.com musing on the "big elephant in the corner of the jazz club that no one is mentioning" of what may happen to the music as the layoffs and financial uncertainty unfold.

Some might say we don't have it so bad here in Rochester.  Unlike New York City, the focus of the Jazz.com post, we here in Rochester don't suffer from the same level of wallet-draining effects of a night out hearing jazz music(my recent foray to see Joey DeFrancesco and Larry Coryell at Iridium was a reminder for me). At many local jazz gigs we pay (less) for the drinks and our jazz usually comes with no cover and no drink minimum, not to mention the parking (we howl here when parking is $5...I used to be thankful when I could find parking within a mile that didn't cost $20 or more in Chicago). However, we are getting more than our fair share of layoffs and pink slips around here (and have for quite awhile before the recession started) and, let's be frank, the audiences at jazz gigs were nothing to brag about before this economic mess started. The real issue, as jazz writer Howard Mandel notes in the comments to the post, is how this recession will affect the musicians themselves: 

Musicians will carry on--there's no evidence of musicality vanishing in the financial meltdown--but there are few young players emerging who believe they can survive without doing something other than playing. Let's not kid ourselves that jazz is immune from economic downturns.

Sure, the music will survive. It survived the 1930s and has done OK during all the other recessions since then. But don't kid yourself. Like the rest of us, musicians will have to make choices when faced with the realities of this economy and sometimes those choices will undermine their art. And it is not only the musicians. Venues around here are already cutting back on the amount of live music. Restaurants in general, on which our local jazz scene is heavily reliant, seem to be getting hit pretty hard. Some of them will not be around in a year or two. I wouldn't hold my breath on jazz getting much of the stimulus package.

We here in Rochester are blessed with incredible local talent, young and old, a major music school, a jazz festival that is putting us on the international jazz map, and more than our share of opportunities to hear artists from out of town who played NYC or Toronto the night before and are known to jazz audiences throughout the world. So what can we do?  Like I ask most Wednesdays in the Jazz@Rochester jazz listings, just try to get out and hear some live jazz. Take a chance on an artist, either local or from out of town, who may not be familiar (I try to link to sources where you often can hear them or watch a video of a performance). Even if we are still heading for harder times, at least we'll doing so tapping our feet and nodding our heads.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this recession will be affecting the music in Rochester and in general in the comments to this post. 

Third set and going...

For your clicking pleasure, here are five more links about jazz and music that I've found in my meanderings about the Internet.

• Last time I linked you to the recreation of Thelonious Monk's Town Hall concert that was put together Charles Tolliver. Doug Ramsey has some inside stuff on the concert over at the Rifftides blog.
• Howard Mandel has some musings on the new President and his predecessors relationship with music in the Jazz Beyond Jazz blog with Big Ears in the White House: Obama's boomer soul, and predecessors.
• There's a great series of conferences called simply TED that bring what they call "ideas worth spreading." The videos of these short presentations by people from all areas of life and practice talking or otherwise expressing themselves about their passions is worth a look itself. The performance of pianist Eric Lewis, who the TED blog describes as "driving the next evolution of jazz—forging new musical alloys of classic blue note scuttles, delicate improvisations and heady alt rock hooks" is really pretty amazing dancing on the ivories. You can link to the video on this TED blog post with an interview of Lewis.
• On the NPR Series with a similar name as this (really, I didn't know about NPR's "Take Five" until I'd already started and it isn't the same anyway), last week on March 8th, International Women's Day, celebrated six women in jazz who "paved the way for women's work in a jazz world once dominated by men ... [or] are modern innovators" including Mary Lou Williams, Shirley Scott, Marian McPartland, Geri Allen, Regina Carter and Maria Schneider.
• For those of you who like the innovative work of John Zorn, here is a two part YouTube documentary about him with footage of both performances and interviews (Part One) (Part Two).

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

Some great jazz shows ... The return of the Jazz@Rochester Wordle ... What more can you ask for? Here are the jazz listings for the next seven days.

Thursday, March 12th

• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:30 pm
• Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Friday, March 13th

• Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Jimmie Highsmith Group @ Charlie Brown on the Green at Jacks Place, 7:00 pm
• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ PaRe Restaurant, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Bill Dobbins Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Madeline Forster @ Little Theatre Cafe 8:30 pm
• The Mark Cassara Band @ Argyle Grill @ Eagle Vale Golf Club, 8:30 pm

Saturday, March 14th

• Madeline Forster @ Brio Wine Bar & Grill, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Freddy Colon Latin Jazz Trio @ Bistro 135, 8:00 pm
• Jazz Dawgs @ Starry Nites Cafe, 8:00 pm
• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Mona Lisa Cafe (Webster), 8:00 pm
• Mike Allen (AKOS) w/ The Greg Wachala Band @ The Mez, 8:00 pm
• Kinloch Nelson Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Paul Hofmann Trio with Eric Alexander @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• East End Boys @ Havana Moes (East Ave.), 9:30 pm

Sunday, March 15th

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Michael McNeill Quartet Featuring Paul Smoker @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm (jam session follows)
• Bob Sneider Trio with Eric Alexander @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:00 pm

Monday, March 16th

• The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Mike Allen (AKOS) & Nick Weiser @ Abilene Bar & Lounge

Tuesday, March 17th

• Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, March 18th

• Paul Deloria @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Margaret Explosion @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

Been offline for a few days to nurse a cold, but Jose DaCosta recently sent out a heads up on the Spring series of jazz events that Exodus to Jazz is going to bring to town and I thought I'd share the information with you. Starting this month, ETJ will bringing back three artists, but with new twists:

• March 27th—"Sung with Words” The Helen Sung Trio with Vocalist Carolyn Leonhart: “Sung With Words” reflects pianist Helen Sung’s willingness to take risks with innovative concepts that remain grounded in the jazz tradition. This new project integrates jazz standards and original compositions with lyrics derived from the poetry of Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Emily Dickinson and Dana Gioia (who was originally going to appear with Sung). Vocalist Carolyn Leonhart (daughter of famed bassist Jay Leonhart) is acclaimed by critics as one of the most accomplished and versatile singers of her generation. Ms. Leonhart’s tenure with Steely Dan and collaborations with tenor saxophonist/husband Wayne Escoffery, promise an entertaining blending of her talent with that of The Helen Sung Trio. The Clarion Riverside Hotel, 8:00 pm (2 1-hour sets) with doors opening at 7:00 pm. Reserved seats $25.00, general admission $20.00.
• April 24th—"Person to Person," Eric Person & Meta Four with Houston Person: Alto/soprano saxophonist Eric Person came by in September 2007 and showed us his chops and his creative compositions. He will be joined by his father Houston Person, who is considered by many the natural heir to the Boss Tenor crown with a style in the Gene Ammons/Stanley Turrentine tradition. The Clarion Riverside Hotel, 8:00 pm (2 1-hour sets) with doors opening at 7:00 pm. Reserved seats $25.00, general admission $20.00.
• [CANCELLED] May 21st—The Tamir Hendelman Trio with Terell Stafford:Tamir Hendelman came to ETJ in December 2007 ETJ engagement, and has since maintained an active schedule with the Jeff Hamilton Trio, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and recordings with acclaimed vocalists including Natalie Cole’s recent CD release. For ETJ, he is joined by trumpeter Terell Stafford, who has has been integral to groups led by Bobby Watson, Cedar Waldon, Herbie Mann, Jon Faddis and Wynton Marsalis. The Hyatt Regency Hotel, 8:00 pm (2 1-hour sets) with doors opening at 7:00 pm. Reserved seats $25.00, general admission $20.00.

ETJ's new two-set approach makes for a great night of jazz. On all shows reserved seats include table seating for 2 to 4 people assigned based on receipt of reservation. General Admission seats include both table and theatre style seating on a “first come, first served” basis. Student tickets are available at a 50% discount with current ID (purchased at the door). For more information call 585-733-7685 or email.

It's time again for Take Five Friday, a relatively recurring post here on Jazz@Rochester collecting links about an assortment of things that you might find interesting, entertaining or even useful:

• Local group Hard Logic won 1st place in the 2008 Billboard World Song Contest in the Jazz category for their song "Crudites" on their 2nd CD Group Theory. Congratulations guys!
• Last Saturday marked the 50th Anniversary of Monk's great Town Hall Concert in NYC, where Monk, for the first time, presented his tunes scored for big band. Trumpeter and arranger Charles Tolliver, who attended Monk's Town Hall concert, recreated it almost 50 years to the day and National Public Radio has made the remake available for us to hear.
• Wonder who died on a particular day? OK, I don't spend much time on it, but if you're interested, The Music's Over blog has collected profiles of musicians from all genres and publishes on the date of the anniversary of their death. Here's the Jazz category.
• One of the organizations trying to help musicians build a sustainable career is ArtistHouse.org. They have a blog, too.
• In honor of the Bop Arts' bringing Dave Liebman with Phil Haynes and Steve Adams to Rochester on March 24th, here is a video from the Jazz Video Guy of Liebman doing Trane Lives with Joey Calderazzo, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette.

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

Things are beginning to warm up around here and, to help us thaw a bit, I'm proposing you get out and hear some jazz around town. But I'm a bit worried as the gig volume seems to be heading South toward the end of the week. Here are the jazz listings for the next seven days:

Thursday, March 5th

• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Matt Valerio @ Grill at Strathallan, 7:30 pm
• Standard Jazz Quartet @ Starry Nites Cafe, 8:00 pm

Friday, March 6th

• Jazz & Poetry Night @ RISEGO 336 Arnett Blvd, 5:00 pm
• Ted Nicolosi/Shared Genes @ Oak Hill Country Club, 6:00 pm
• The Jimmie Highsmith Group with Art Beaty @ Pazzo Cucina, 7:00pm
• Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Madeline Forster @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Tony Giannavola @ PaRe Bar & Grill, 8:00 pm
• Mike Kaupa Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• The Mark Cassara Band @ Argyle Grill, Eagle Vale Golf Club, 8:30 pm
• A Few Bad Apples @ Jack's Place, no time given

Saturday, March 7th

• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Bob Sneider Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Kinloch Nelson Trio with Kit Nelson & Pete Monacelli @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Madeline Forster @ Bistro 135, 8:30 pm
• Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes (East Ave.), 9:30 pm

Sunday, March 8th

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Jazz Night & Jam Session with Joel Kastner & Stardust, 7:00 pm

Monday, March 9th

• The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, March 10th

• Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
• New Horizons Big Band, Saxology & Latin Jazz @ Kilbourn Hall, 7:30 pm

Wednesday, March 11th

• Paul Deloria @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Jazz Jam Session with Mike Allen & Troup Street @ Clarissa's, 9:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

Tom Kohn is relentless .... He is passionate about the music that inhabits the edges of our listening and he wants to share that passion with Rochester. He doesn't care that, from all evidence, there are few around town who share his feelings. Listening to music that challenges him fills him with joy and Tom simply is going to root out those who the music has a chance to reach and then try to share his joy with them. This desire in him has led him to spend more than 25 years running the Bop Shop, arguably one of the best remaining independent record stores in the country and also to put on more than 200 jazz (and another 50 or more rock, blues and other music) events near his store and elsewhere. He continues to branch out in his work of proselytizing. It is why he recently formed a nonprofit, Bop Arts Inc., to help fund more of this innovative and improvisational music throughout the year. It definitely ain't making him money. A similar passion is why I do this blog. I'm not trying to shove one type of jazz or another down any of my readers' throats. I just want you to try once in awhile to open up your ears to something other than what you've always been told to was “good music” by others.

So I came down to the Bop Shop Atrium on Sunday night, March 1st, to check out the symposium, called “The Making of a Music Community: Perspectives on New Music from Performers and Listeners," that Bop Arts put on to bring musicians and others together to talk about building a community of music. In this world, the “experts” are the musicians. Like the music that Tom programmed which took up most of the event, the symposium was improvised, but it was much more than a panel of experts. Trumpeter Paul Smoker, who brought his jazz ensemble from Nazareth College, and percussionist and vibe player Kevin Norton, who was here with his trio Counterpoint, both riffed on some great stories of why they “keep beating their heads” against the wall of indifference that confronts their music. Both have deep and long association with jazz and those who ply its less traveled paths like Anthony Braxton (who both played with on several projects). As Smoker put it, playing the music and the focus and drive it has given him saved his life. Guitarist Adam Caine, whose trio finished up the night brought the perspective of a younger artist who was just coming up in the jazz world.

Like the name Kohn gave to the symposium, last night we created a small community. As Norton said during the symposium, the music he loves forms "audiences and musicians into a community of the moment.” We came together for some compelling music, some tasty lasagna, and a bit of exploration of why we keep “beating our heads” in trying to bring live music making and improvising to a wider audience. All in all, it was a good night....