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Alliance for Improvised Music |
A special late-night gig
DAVE DOUGLAS with his CHARMS OF THE NIGHT SKY BAND (Mark Feldman, Greg Cohen, Guy Klucevsek) with special guests GREG TARDY and (woo-hoo!!) SUSIE IBARRA. Friday June 30, Cat's Cradle, 11 pm, $10
Dave Douglas is one mighty fine jazz trumpeter and one mighty fine jazz composer who constantly explores connections between jazz and other musical traditions and other artforms. He's returning to the Triangle to perform with the Trisha Brown dance company at ADF on June 29th, 30th, and July 1 at Page Auditorium at Duke. He wanted a chance to perform a music gig too while he was down here and we're more than happy to oblige. He was here just last fall with his Tiny Bell Trio at Duke in an outstanding performance. This venture includes his Charms of the Night Sky band, which features Greg Cohen on bass, Mark Feldman on violin, and Guy Klucevsek on accordion. At the dance and at the gig at the Cradle, this group will be augmented by saxist Greg Tardy (who was recently here with Andrew Hill) and drummer Susie Ibarra, whom we all know and love from her days with the Ware quartet and her stop here with Assif Tsahar a couple years back.
Douglas is one of those few musicians who is held in esteem by pretty much everyone in the overly-balkanized jazz world. From early days playing with Horace Silver, through the time with John Zorn's Masada, and collaborations with everyone from Rabih Abou-Khalil to Cibo Matto to Dr. Nerve to his current days leading six different groups (Tiny Bell, Charms of the Night Sky, Parallel Worlds, a quartet, a sextet, and the electric combo Sanctuary), he's won about a bejillion "best of" awards including: JazzTimes 1999 artist of the year; Downbeat's 1999 International Critics' Poll winner as artist, composer, trumpeter deserving wider recognition; 1999 NY Jazz Award for best artist, composer, trumpeter and daring innovator/explorer; and best recording nods for Tiny Bell Trio (1994), Parallel Worlds (1994), In Our Lifetime (1995), Five (1996), Constellations (1996), Sanctuary (1997), Stargazer (1997), and Charms of the Night Sky (1998) from folks like the NY Times, Boston Globe, Jazziz, Village Voice, etc. This may be our last (and only) chance to catch Douglas in an intimate club setting in the Triangle. (More info on Dave at www.davedouglas.com)
Greg Cohen held down the bass spot in Masada and has played with all the movers and shakers on the NY downtown scene. Mark Feldman seems to appear on half the records coming out of NY the last few years, my favorite turns being his guest spot on Thomas Chapin's Haywire and his recent Music for Violin & Piano with Sylvie Courvoisier on Avant which is just gorgeous. And no need to worry, he used to make his money as a session violinist in Nashville, so he can pull out some of that when he's in the mood. Guy Klucevsek is an accordion superstar. Greg Tardy is a young saxist who has already recorded at least 3 albums under his own name and is a member of Andrew Hill's sextet and I must say is one of the sweetest, most optimistic musicians I've ever met.
And Susie Ibarra ... even if none of these other folks were showing up, I'd consider this a major event. Susie remains, in my estimation, the finest young drummer on the scene today. OK, maybe finest drummer period. Any drummer within 3 states ought to make it here just to check her out. Since her last time here, she's stepped out on her own, leaving the Ware quartet and releasing some fine material on her own Hopscotch label, especially a wonderful trio recording with Cooper-Moore and Charles Burnham.
This show will take place after their dance gig on Friday June 30th. Yeah, I know that makes it a late night, but this opportunity is simply too good to pass up. Don't worry, we'll make sure the Cradle puts out chairs for all our old, aching bodies. :-)
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