No Room For Squares

Coming Soon!

I’m back from the 16th installment of the Vision Festival in NYC.  I had a great time running around the city all day and photographing all night.  It was exhausting as usual.  I arrived in New York on Wednesday, grabbed something to eat and headed to the Abrons Art Center for the first of four nights. Wednesday night’s performances which were called “Peter Brotzmann: A Lifetime of Achievement”, included four shows, three of them featuring Brotzmann with different bands.  The first set was with his quartet including Joe McPhee on sax & trumpet and two bass players….Eric Revis and William Parker.   Following this set, Brotzmann returned to perform as part of a duo with Chicago vibist Jason Adasiewicz which I found to be my favorite performance of the evening.  The 3rd set of the night was called “Pulverize the Sound” and the name says it all!  Peter Evans on trumpet, Mike Pride on drums and Tim Dahl on electric bass.  The final performance of the night brought back Brotzmann, this time with his Quintet featuring Chicago based musicians Ken Vandermark and Mars Williams, both on sax, an amazing Kent Kessler on double bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums.

Peter Brotzmann © 2011 Mark Sheldon

Thursday June 9th

I got up early and headed to the International Center of Photography (ICP) @ 43rd and Avenue of the Americas to see two exhibits.  The first was an amazing exhibit by Elliott Erwitt.  I have been a fan of his for many years and it was great to see his prints up close. The second was by a photojournalist I knew very little about…Ruth Gruber.  An amazing story, amazing photographs and an amazing person.  Read more about Ruth here.  Always a joy to spend some time in the ICP book store/gift shop.  Hundreds of books, in this case I picked up a book on Erwitt, featuring the prints from the exhibit.

Prior to the evening shows, I hooked up with tenor player & composer Ellery Eskelin for a photo-shoot.  I saw him performing from a distance last year and loved the look of the guy, couldn’t wait for the chance to photograph him.  Photos took place at his residence in mid-town.  We made some photographs inside and on a third floor roof of the building. Had a great time while I was there, talking about his music, his career, his mother, who was also a fine musician, photography, the great photographer Lee Friedlander and Ellery’s hat collection is amazing!!!  Check out his web site, including his very nice blog “musings from a saxophonist…”.  Picked up a couple copies of his new cd “Trio New York” with Gerald Cleaver/Gary Versace, very nice!!!  These one-on-one shoots/conversations with the musicians are generally  the highlights of being in NYC….this was no exception.

Ellery Eskelin ©2011 Mark Sheldon

I photographed four more shows on Thursday night, the first featuring a band called AFRAZZ who was originally scheduled to perform outdoors but was moved inside due to a big thunderstorm..   Next up on the Abron main stage was the Dick Griffin String Quartet “Moving Out”.  The music performed was actually commissioned by Max Roach.  I think this is the first time it had been performed publicly.  This was another performance that I really liked.  Dick Griffin on trombone, Mazz Swift & Charles Burnham on violin, Judith Insell on viola, Akua Dixon on Cello and Warren Smith on percussion.

Following Griffin was Kidd Jordan’s Quintet.  I’ve know Kidd for several years and always look forward to catching up on what’s going on back home in New Orleans and of course hearing him perform. Kidd’s quintet included the great Dave Burrell on piano, Hamiet Bluiett on sax/clarinet, William Parker on bass and William Hooker on drums.  The final performance of the night was a duo featuring pianist Matthew Shipp and Evan Parker on saxophone.

Friday June 10th

Friday night started off with Emily Coates’s Dancers, actually featuring one dancer and violinist Charles Burnham.  The next band was called “Paradoxical Frog”….strange name, very good performance showcasing front-person Ingrid Laubrock on tenor along with Kris Davis on piano, Mat Maneri on violin & viola and a very good Tyshawn Sorey on drums.  Next up…”Planetary Unknown” featuring the amazing David S. Ware on tenor, William Parker once again on bass, the multi, multi instrumentalist Cooper-Moore on piano and Muhammad Ali on Drum.  Amazing how much Muhammad looks like  his father, the late, great Rashied Ali.  Loved Mohammad’s playing, full of energy and joy!!!  The final performance of the night was a duo featuring master-bassist/violinist Henry Grimes and guitarist Marc Ribot.  Very nice performance, went back stage afterwards to photograph Henry and Marc.

Henry Grimes & Marc Ribot ©2011 Mark Sheldon

Saturday June 11th

The final night arrives with five  shows on tap.  First up was Reut Regev’s “R*Time Special Addition” with Reut on trombone, Burton Greene on piano, Adam Lane on bass and Igal Foni on drums. Pianist Connie Crothers Quartet with Richard Tabnik on alto, bassist Ken Filiano and Roger Mancuso on drums.  One show everyone in attendance was waiting for was the “All-Star-Mystery Collective” showcasing Cooper-Moore on piano, Rob Brown on alto, Roy Campbell on trumpet, violinist Jason Kao-Hwang, William Parker on bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums and Patricia Parker performing dance throughout.  The show I was waiting for was legendary saxophonist Sonny Simmons with pianist Francois Tusques.  I enjoyed this show but apparently Sonny didn’t as he apologized at the end, saying he was not at this best and promised to do better the next time.

The final performance of the night was “Mystery of Mekong” a tribute to violinist Billy Bang who passed away a short time before this year’s festival.  This was a big band under the leadership of William Parker and featured a 25 piece string section (Henry Grimes, Mazz Swift, Charles Burnham, Jason Hwang) as well as some special guests such as Roy Campbell and James Spaulding.

Sonny Simmons ©2011 Mark Sheldon

I was given the opportunity to show several photographs at this year’s Vision Fest in NYC.  I chose to feature five photographs of musicians that were born in Chicago or have long ties with the city.  First and foremost, I chose an image of the late, great Fred Anderson.  Fred was a wonderful person and musician.  As the owner of the famed Velvet Lounge on the near South side of Chicago, Fred spent a lot of time at the club either playing or tending bar.  Over the past several years of his life, I managed to see him play many times and had the chance to spend some time with him talking about music.  Fred passed away on the day he was scheduled to play at the 2010 Vision  Festival.  I thought it was only fitting to include an image of Fred in the exhibit.

Other musicians I included in the exhibit are Muhal Richard Abrams, the great bassist Harrison Bankhead,  AEC members Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell.

Hopefully some of you will have the chance to attend the festival….the organizers of the festival, led by Patricia Parker once again did a wonderful job pulling it together.  If you’re into avant music, the Vision Fest should be on your bucket list!

I’m looking forward to hearing, seeing & photographing Vision Fest 16 in New York City…..more details and photographs to come!  The images here are of  the legendary Joseph Jarman from Vision Fest 15.

In celebration of the 80th Birthdays of both Ira Sullivan & Willie Pickens, both will perform this week at Joe & Wayne Segal’s Jazz Showcase.  More details and photos to come!

In celebration of the 85th Birthday of Miles Davis, the beautiful Carmel Palladium celebrated in a big way with two great sets of Davis classics.

The first set featured Wallace Roney, channeling Miles in a way no one else can. Along side was an all-star cast of musicians including Donald Harrison on alto, Javon Jackson on tenor, George Cables on piano, Buster Williams on bass and Lenny White on drums.

This set was dedicated to “early” Miles featuring some of his well know tunes such as My Funny Valentine, So What, Walkin, Autumn Leaves and an encore of the classic tune, All Blues featuring a nice solo by Lenny White.

After a brief intermission, bassist Marcus Miller along side trumpeter Sean Jones, saxophonist Alex Ham, Louis Cato on drums and Frederico Pena on keyboards performed a set of Mile’s tunes from his later electric period including “Splatch” from the 1986 recording “Tutu” which Miller had a his hands all over.  Other tunes included the Ray Nobel penned classic “Cherokee”, and “Jean Pierre” recorded for the 1981 album “We Want Miles”.

The legendary Benny Golson made a rare club appearance in Indy, performing at The Jazz Kitchen on Saturday April 30th.  I raced from another show just in time to catch Benny’s second set with pianist Steve Allee, bassist Frank Smith and drummer Jason Tieman.  Benny treated the packed house to many of his jazz standards including Along Came Betty, Stablemates, Killer Joe, I Remember Clifford and more.

If you’ve seen Benny before, you know he likes to reminisce about the early days in his career, sharing many great stories of meeting and playing with John Coltrane, the day Clifford Brown died….a real jazz history lesson from a guy that was right in the thick of it.

Music fans, friends and musicians crowded into Chicago’s legendary Jazz Showcase to pay tribute to the one and only Fred Anderson, who passed away in June 2010 after a short illness.  

Bassist/violinist & poet Henry Grimes opened the show with an extented piece on violin.  Kidd Jordan, a New Orleans native, close friend and contemporary of Fred’s, played two sets with different bands.  The first featured an emotional Jordan along side bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Hamid Drake. 

After a short intermission Kidd was joined on stage by pianist Jim Baker, bassist Tatsu Aoki and drummer Chad Taylor, all bandmates of Fred’s at one time or another.   At one point, Kidd played a short piece that he had written the day John Coltrane passed away.  While Kidd could not attend Fred’s funeral this past June, this was the same tune he played via the telephone to those in attendance.

There were several other musicians in the house, most notibly Dee Alexander, Douglas Ewart and Billy Brimfield.

THE BROTHERHOOD OF FRED 

1. Introduction: Henry Grimes, bass solo

11. Alderman Bob Fioretti, 2nd Ward

The Brotherhood of Fred in Two Sets

111.  In the Tradition of the After-Fest Sets

Kidd Jordan, tenor saxophone

Jim Baker, piano

Harrison Bankhead, bass

Hamid Drake, drums

(break)

1v.  In the Tradition of the Fred Anderson Trio

Kidd Jordan, tenor saxophone

Tatsu Aoki, bass

Chad Taylor, drums

Professor Robert Rhodes – Master of Ceremonies

All Photographs © 2011 Mark Sheldon and may not be reproduced, downloaded or used in any form without written permission.

Interesting night at the Jazz Kitchen featuring Christian and his band “Inside Straight”.  In addition to Christian, the band was to feature pianist Eric Reed, alto player Steve Wilson, drummer Carl Allen and vibraphonist Warren Wolf.  Ultimately the band was Christian, Peter Martin on piano, Wilson on Alto and Carl Allen on drums.  Wolf was bumped from his flight out of Baltimore, McBride drove 5 hours from STL before the show and I’m not sure what happened to Eric Reed.  Allen’s cymbals were lost by the airline and he had to find a loaner when he got to Indy…. 

This is a great acoustic band and my preferred way to see Christian perform.  The band played several originals plus some tunes by Ellington, Horace Silver and others.

The image below is from the first set.  McBride looks a little like Charles Mingus in this shot.

After a good nights sleep; my good friend Jeff, a Portland native picked me up at the hotel.  The morning was clear so we took a tram ride to check out the view.  From the tram you could see Mt. Saint Helens, minus the lid it blew off back in the late 70′s as well as a cool view of snow covered Mt. Hood.  Great veiw….very cold.  Typically this time of year in Portland at least based on past experience, it’s 50 plus degrees….this particular day it was about 20.  The first couple days in town, Portland was setting new marks for low temperatures for this time of year…I thought I had left this behind in Indy but apparently not.

Once back at ground level, we went to check out “Making Music” a jazz photo exhibit by New York based photographer Fran Kaufman.  A showing of about 20 images were are being shown at the Oregon Jewish Museum.  Keeping with the theme of the festival; this exhibit was a great edition.   The primary exhibit on display at this time was that of 20th century composer and photographer Ernest Bloch.  Many of his photographs, negatives, original musical scores, letters and personal memorabilia were on display as well, very nice to see.

After a quick lunch, we went to one of the many always interesting roundtable discussions put together by the PDX organizers.  This one featured Don Byron, a man with a lot to say as well as Esperanza Spalding, Anat Cohen, her brother Yuval and Oran Etkin, moderated by pianist Darrell Grant.   With all on the panel either being African America or Jewish, it was a conversation on the link between the two.  We unfortunately missed the discussion with the 3 Cohens, not sure how that happened.

The first of two evening performances that I shot was Portland native and very recent Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding and her Chamber Music Society.  Introduced by Anat Cohen, Spalding and her group of great musicians put on a wonderful 90 minute show for a capacity crowd  at the Newmark Theater.  Not my favorite place to shoot at but I found a nice spot for this particular show and the soon to come images are from that performance.  This band featured a 3 piece string section, a second singer, Darrell Grant on piano and Terri Lynn Carrington on drums.

The last set of the day was the Pancho Sanchez “Latin Dance Party” at the Crystal Ballroom, a beautiful old room built as a dance hall, complete with a wooden floor on top of ball bearings that literally bounces when you walk on it.  Throw in the great master conquero like Sanchez and hundreds of listeners/dancers and you can only imagine how much the floor moves with the beat.  Trying to hand hold a camera at a 30th of a second with the floor bouncing non-stop is not the easiest thing to do.

Up early for a 6:a.m. flight to Portland to cover the second weekend of this year’s Portland Jazz Fest for Downbeat.

After hopping on the shuttle at the Indy airport and realizing I left my cell phone on the table at home…. and after a long, cramped flight and a short layover in Denver, I arrived to an uncharacteristically cold Portland @ 10:30 a.m.  The PDX festival organizer sent a car to pick me up at the airport which was great!  The driver/volunteer was a fellow photographer so we had some great conversation on the drive into the city.  I staying at a very nice hotel, built 100 plus years ago called Hotel deLuxe…..some the best service I’ve had at any hotel anywhere.  If you ever make your way to Portland, give them a try.

Only one show to shoot today; that being clairinetist Don Byron who would be performing the music of musical pioneer Mickey Katz.  Not being that familiar with the Klezmer style of music, it was very interesting to here.  This year’s Festival theme was “Bridges and Boundaries; Jewish & African Americans Playing Jazz” and this performance fit the bill.

Stay tuned….photos to come!