1. Virtue Rewarded: I've added a link to Greensboro's O'Henry Hotel: It just celebrated five years of jazz in the expansive, wooded hotel lobby. Now it has jazz Thursday & Saturday nights. The only thing it needs is for much of the audience to learn to clap for solos.
2. Grewen & Griffanzo at Imbibe Mondays have inspired a jam session: It's taken a while but it's here, another reason for checking it out Monday nights.
3. The Chad Eby Quintet should travel down from Greensboro more often: They heated up Sharp Nine on a cold, wet Friday. I hadn't heard pianist Ariel Pocock in a long time, & not heard young, joyful drummer Xavier Ware at all--they were excellent as part of Chad's choice of tunes & arranging.
4. Simone Riley Hirsh: Congrats to Eric & his wife. Don't be surprised if Eric looks a little tired at his next gig.
This Week: A week like many weeks, except for...
Monday:
- Grewen, Griffanzo, & ultimately a jazz jam at Imbibe 7-10p.
- If you want New Orleans trad, Gregg Gelb's Second Line Stompers at C Grace 9p.
- Al Strong leads what I think should be a straight-ahead jazz jam at the Durham Hotel 7-10p.
- Starting at 6-6:30p Stephen Anderson & percussionist Beverly Botsford morph into Gregg Gelb's La Fiesta band at 9p at Irregardless.
- In between, exciting young pianist Sean Mason returns briefly from Julliard to Sharp Nine 8p.