On the day after Christmas (how appropriate the date), David Arner gave a solo performance at the Performing Arts Center in Rhinebeck, NY. The spry, tall, thin, angular pianist walked on stage, bowed, sat on the bench in front of a baby grand piano and looked at the keyboard in thought. One hand playing two notes later began the setting of a framework for what Arner dubs a spontaneous composition. The first piece established his focus: span, interval, and a unity of functioning of both han

In an age of decay, destruction, torment and little evident to save us, it is a blessing to know that in existence is a group of musicians like this trio. Led by top-shelf pianist, Dave Burrell, joined by virtuosos, bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille, the Full-Blown Trio performed at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Ma on Friday, Nov. 21. Two sets were played; the second was a "recap" of the first thus making both sets one. The sets were comprised of the integration of two origin

The Solos & Duos Concert Series at UMASS Amherst closed on November 20 with an unforgettable performance by Rashied Ali on drums and Sonny Fortune on alto sax. Both of these musicians played so freshly and intensely with each other that their long term musical relationship made sense. Never in my experience with the music, have I heard a duo produce such a huge, deeply three-dimensional and persistent sound. Fortune grunted, stomped to count off the opening of "Just One of Those Things." S

It had been raining. In the west toward the Hudson Valley, the sun broke through. The apparitions of how we are in the universe were evident. A stark contrast of clouds in the sky yawned with slate blues, grays and bright whites. The dark rich black-greens of the tree lines were slapped against the surface of the sky. The land and sky-scapes were concurrent with the sunset and moonrise. It was not raining. With this Samuel Beckettian backdrop, entrance to the Deep Listening Space in Kingston

We only live once. And for some, to be able to experience pianist Brad Mehldau in his Trio with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums more than once is surely a blessing. Last night in the small but densely cultured town of Northampton, MA, in a club which Mehldau visits frequently, the SRO audience was vocally aghast at the Trio’s performance. There are good reasons why. First of all, these three musicians have been together for a long time. Their union, faithfulness and dedicatio