DOUBLING UP: Joshua Redman brings his “Double Trio” to Berklee. |
One of the most hotly anticipated concerts of the season will be JOSHUA REDMAN's "Double Trio" concert at Berklee on January 22. It follows the release on January 13 of the double-trio album Compass (Nonesuch), which takes off from the ideas of his first trio album, 2007's Back East (Nonesuch). In the studio, Redman, teamed with bassists Larry Grenadier and Reuben Rogers and drummers Brian Blade and Gregory Hutchinson in a "rotating, and intertwining, pair of trios." For the initial seven-city tour, the plan is for Redman to perform with Grenadier and Hutchinson, then the double trio. The show is a co-presentation by the Regattabar and AEG Live. (The Berklee Performance Center is at 136 Mass Ave, Boston; 617.931.200 or www.ticketmaster.com.)
Speaking of the REGATTABAR (Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St, Cambridge; 617.395.7757 or www.regattabar.com), the club's winter line-up features two of jazz's most important jazz singers in quick succession, following the release last year of superb albums on Blue Note. Cassandra Wilson, whose Loverly came out in September, is at the R-Bar for four shows over the weekend of February 6 and 7; Patricia Barber, who released The Cole Porter Mix in September, is in the following Tuesday, February 11. Also at the R-Bar: exciting young Benin guitarist Lionel Loueke in his collaborative band Gilfema, with bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth, in this case appearing as Gilfema + 2 (January 14), celebrating the release of an album of the same name on Obliqsound. The + 2 on the album are reed players Anat Cohen and John Ellis; at the R-bar it will be Ellis and Joris Roelofs.
Other highlights from the Regattabar winter schedule: terrific young pan-Latin vocalist (i.e., Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese) Eleonora Bianchini (January 15) ; veteran Boston pan-American folk and jazz band Sol y Canto (January 16); the Either/Orchestra celebrating its 23rd birthday (January 17); the Bill Frisell Trio with violinist Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston (January 20); alto sax monster Kenny Garrett (January 23-24); Israeli pianist Gilad Barkan with flutist Amir Milstein (January 28); Boston jazz-funk organ trio Otis Grove (January 29); drummer Art Hoenig and pianist Jean Michel Pilc's trio, with bassist Hans Glawischnig (February 4); Tunisian oud player and singer Dhafer Youssef (February 10); singer Jack Donahue (February 12); South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela (February 12); singer Ernestine Anderson (February 14); pianist Kevin Hays (February 17); Nat "King" Cole's "little" brother Freddy (February 25); Cajun-music heroes Beausoleil (February 26); the McCoy Tyner Trio plus special guest TBA (February 27-28); family doctor/jazz pianist Stanley Sagov and his Remembering the Future Band (March 4); Afro-Cuban dance band Obbini Tumbao (March 7); blues singer-songwriter John Hammond Jr. (March 12); the Kenny Barron Trio (March 26-27); violinist/vocalist Jenny Scheinman (March 28); and guitar hero John Scofield's New Orleans-centric Piety Street Band, with pianist Jon Cleary and Meters bassist George Porter Jr. (April 3-4).
Meanwhile, across the river, SCULLERS (DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel, 400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston; 617.52.4111 or www.scullersjazz.com) brings in the James Carter Organ Trio (January 9-10); guitar god Pat Martino (January 23-24); esteemed Boston jazz singer Maggie Scott in a special show with sisters in crime Rebecca Parris, Donna Byrne, and Wannetta Jackson (January 28); Jamaican-jazz fusionist pianist Monty Alexander (January 30-31); Brazilian pianist Eliane Elias (February 6-7); pianist Mike Melvoin and his trio (February 10); local cabaret avatars Bobbi Carry and Will McMillan (February 11); singer Robin McKelle (February 12); the Caribbean Jazz Project with vibist Dave Samuels (February 18); drummer Antonio Sanchez with saxophonists David Binney and Seamus Blake (February 19); the Heath Brothers (February 20-21); young hot trumpet Dominick Farinacci (February 25); fusion monsters the Yellowjackets (February 27-28); vocal dynamo Rachelle Ferrell (March 6-7); Boston soul-jazz singer-pianist Bill Champitto (March 10); young piano wizard Taylor Eigsti (March 11); smooth-jazz sax man Walter Beasley (March 13-14); Boston pop-jazz saxophonist Myanna with fellow reed-woman Cercie Miller (March 18); New Orleans trumpet king Christian Scott (March 26); and the James Cotton Blues Band (March 27-28).
The CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON (617.482.6661 or www.celebrityseries.org) brings back the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (March 15, Symphony Hall); the Blind Boys of Alabama with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (March 27, Symphony Hall); and a beyond-genre crossover concert where operatic mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter alternates sets with her longtime piano accompanist Bengt Forsberg and jazz keyboard star Brad Mehldau (February 13, Sanders Theatre).
At the ICA (100 Northern Ave, Boston; 617.478.3103 or www.icaboston.org) composers Ned Rothenberg and Marty Ehrlich continue their "New Music Now" series. On January 30, in a program of vocal music, singer Shelley Hirsch presents "a collage of song, spoken word, and vocal accompaniments to the soundtrack compositions of Bernard Hermann." She'll be accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismailly. Also on the bill is another exciting downtown New York vocal experimenter Theo Bleckman, accompanied by guitarist Ben Monder. On February 13 at the ICA, it's "Brave New Piano Worlds," with the Australian piano trio the Necks and keyboard man Craig Taborn with his Ancients and Moderns ensemble — drummer Dan Weiss, bassist Thomas Morgan, trombonist Ben Gerstein, and reedman Chris Speed.
