I've opined that our good straight-ahead local jazz gets spiced by outside players; that was proved last night at the Sharp Nine Gallery/Durham Jazz Workshop. Led by the powerful rhythm section of twin brothers Francois & Louis Moutin, this French quintet blew us away in their first gig on their US tour. The Moutin brothers play like twins, having at some point divided themselves between batterie & contrabasse, driving the band instead of just keeping time while adding frills to the mix.
Over that played Jean-Michel Pilc on piano, Christophe Monniot on alto & soprano, & Manu Koja on rock-pitched guitar. It got noisy at time in that small room but it was delightful, just the kind of contrast I need to more familiar-sounding local players....
And, I think, that should be our expectation for now. We haven't the fans to support a world-class jazz club (yet). However, outside of New York "jazz" clubs keep themselves alive with the range of music the Art of Cool supports. J