Herbie at Carnegie Hall

No, I didn't go but I thought I'd heard that he opened with Spank-a-Lee,
one of my favorite Herbie funk tunes. I love Bennie Maupin's playing on the original Spank-a-Lee -- wah-wah sax, yeah. Wish I could find a YouTube of it. But anyway...this NY Times review says the opening tune was "Actual Proof". Herbie finished the set with Chameleon playing the "key-tar". There is a YouTube of H. finishing Chameleon on the key-tar. Dave Hollandand Chris Potter joined Herbie at Carnegie.

Mara Quartet plays Cachaca in Manhatten

...to a full house at Cachaca on Friday night (6/20). The Quartet is Mara on piano, Darius Jones on alto sax, Isaac Jaffe on bass and Nick Anderson on drums. The group performed all original tunes by Mara and one by Isaac. I love Mara's tunes and the group does a great job with them. I'm really glad she's working with these very talented guys.

Kenny Werner and Toots

Colleen and I saw Kenny Werner and Toots Thielemans at Iridium in Manhattan on Sunday (6/22) night. They were joined by masters Scott Colley on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. Just in case these names are new to you, this is a truly awesome group of artists. Colleen said that Toots was the highlight for her. Toots is a living legend (and recently named an NEA Jazz Master) but what's inspiring to me is that at 86 years old he is still a huge creative force and a joy to listen to. And Kenny, man, the music just pours out of his hands like stories untold but already written.

Isthmus Jazz 2008

Sometimes Madison is just so perfect. It was a beautiful summer evening last night when Colleen and I rode our bikes to Memorial Union. As you might expect on such a lovely Friday evening lots of people had the same idea. Luckily we found a spot on the terrace in front of the bandstand -- lake Mendota spread out behind it. As the sun went down we listened to bebop statesman Richie Cole and the Dave Stoler trio. And if that weren't enough Richie invited up his old friend Ben Sidran and son Leo Sidran to take over for a few numbers. Here's a new one - Ben brought his dog Molly up to the stage and tried to play the first number while watching the little white dog at his feet. On the 2nd number I think someone took charge of the pooch. In any case, Ben was his usual ultimate musician self and lit up the crowd.