Jazz Picks

Jimmy Greene Quartet @ Smoke

Here is my pick of the week:

August 18-19, 2006
Jimmy Greene Quartet appearing at Smoke
3 sets per night at 8 PM, 10 PM, & 11:30 PM

Jimmy Greene - saxophones
Xavier Davis - piano
Reuben Rogers - bass
Greg Hutchinson- drums

This is a band featuring four of the most underappreciated guys on the NY jazz scene.

Jimmy, who grew up being mentored in his native Hartford by Jackie McLean should be most well-known as the 2nd Place winner of the 1996 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for saxophone, but is actually better known as a member of the Tom Harrell Quintet, the Harry Connick Jr. Big Band, Claudia Acuna's quintet, and drummer Lewis Nash's band.

For more info, visit Smoke's website.

Visit Jimmy online here.

Smoke is located at 2751 Broadway (between 105th and 106th streets) New York, NY 10025.

The phone number is (212)864-6662.

posted by Matt @ 7:43 PM 0 Comments

Jeremy Pelt @ The Village Vanguard

My NY jazz pick of the week:

Jeremy is one of the leading icons of the new jazz trumpet. He is equally steeped in contemporary rock, pop, hip-hop, neo-soul, and electronica as he is in the jazz tradition. His band presents a fresh perspective of what jazz today can be about...

Note Frank LoCrasto, the 23 year-old pianist who appears on Pelt's latest effort [i]Identity[/i] (MaxJazz). I recently caught LoCrasto with Greg Osby's quartet and this kid is the real deal. Very deep player. Word on the street is that LoCrasto just recorded his debut record for MaxJazz's Piano Series.

More info on this string of dates (this past Tuesday August 8 - Sunday August 13) can be found at the Village Vanguard website.

posted by Matt @ 8:11 PM 0 Comments