DYNAMIC DUO: The Pat Metheny/Brad Mehldau Quartet comes to the Opera House April 14. |
The single hottest ticket among jazz fans this season will be for the PAT METHENY/BRAD MEHLDAU QUARTET at the Opera House April 14 (539 Washington St, Boston; 617.931.2000). The guitarist and pianist released a duo CD last year; that was followed up with a quartet CD this past week, and a three-CD “deluxe” package, The Complete Metheny Mehldau Sessions (all are on Nonesuch), will arrive March 27. The line-up is completed by Mehldau’s trio mates, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard.
NORAH JONES is at the Orpheum (1 Hamilton Place, Boston: 617.931.2000) April 14 with her opener, indie crooner M. WARD. The Celebrity Series brings WYNTON MARSALIS and the JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA to Symphony Hall (301 Mass Ave, Boston; 617.482.6661) March 28. The great composer/pianist RAN BLAKE and avant-garde big band AARDVARK join forces for “Jazz in Film: Ellington and Beyond” April 29 at the MFA (465 Huntington Ave, Boston: 617.669.3393). JAZZ WEEK, April 21-29, will comprise a series of events organized by the coalition of musicians, promoters, journalists, and fans known as JazzBoston. You can get more details as Jazz Week approaches atwww.JazzBoston.org, which is also a good one-stop for all news jazz.
After extensive licensing hassles and subsequent renovations, the LILY PAD (1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge; 617.395.1393) is back in business. Some coming highlights: the string-based Fifth Tier New Music Ensemble (April 1); the Bad Plus–ish local quartet Choose To Find (April 13); pianist Myra Melford with violinist/violist Tanya Kalmanovitch (May 16). In residence every Monday night is legendary trio the Fringe.
At RYLES (212 Hampshire St, Cambridge; 617.876.9330), Anita Coehlo’s Medici Music continues to dig into Boston’s rich pan-American-and-beyond scene for the “World Wednesdays” series: the Peru Mestizo octet led by Peruvian-Boston bassist Oscar Stagnaro (April 4); Seattle-based Brazilian pianist/composer Jovino Santos Neto (April 11); Salil Sachdev’s Khakatay African Drumming Ensemble (April 18); Venezuelan singer Carolina Chacin (April 25); Brazilian percussionist/vocalist Joca Perpignan (May 2); Russian-born vibist Alexei Tsiganov (May 9); Scottish jazz singer/harpist Maeve Gilchrist (May 16); Italian singer Eleonora Bianchini (May 23). Other Ryles gigs of note: Indo-jazz ensemble Natraj (March 22); bassist Ed Spargo (March 29); young guitar star Julian Lage (March 30). Meanwhile, Coehlo sings in her Brazilian Ensemble on a double bill with the percussion-based Afro-Brazil Project April 15 at Johnny D’s (17 Holland St, Somerville: 617.776.2004).
The REGATTABAR (Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St, Cambridge; 617.3957757) brings in Latin-jazz fusionists Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band (March 23); New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas (March 30); the Kenny Garrett Quartet (April 6-7); Ahmad Jamal (April 12); guitarist John Abercrombie (April 17); exciting young Argentine-born singer Sofía Koutsovitis (April 18); the Bruce Gertz/Jerry Bergonzi Quintet (April 19); and the Fred Hersch Trio (May 15).
SCULLERS (DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel, 400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston; 617.562.4111) has Benin guitar wizard Lionel Loueke & Gilfema (March 22); the Aaron Goldberg Trio with Eric Harland and Reuben Rogers (March 26); pianist Hiromi (April 5); Swedish piano trio E.S.T. (April 11); Delfeayo Marsalis (April 12-13); singer Kurt Elling (April 18-19); bebop alto sage Frank Morgan (April 26); patriarch Ellis Marsalis (April 27-28); and Ravi Coltrane (May 4-5).
Afro-German singer LYAMBIKO comes to the Real Deal Jazz Club & Café (Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St, Cambridge; 617.876.7777) April 20-21. And the Iron Man, SONNY ROLLINS, plays Symphony Hall (301 Mass Ave, Boston; 617.876.7777) April 6.
