Discoveries:

1. Fred Hersch's "Leaves of Grass" song cycle is a masterpiece: I listened to the CD fifteen years ago. saw it life online from Jazz At Lincoln Center, & Friday night we saw it live at Duke's Baldwin Auditorium. Lead vocalist Kurt Elling sang & spoke Walt Whitman's word abetted by Kate McGarry, while pianist Hersch played & led a sextet through instrumental interludes & back-up music that perfectly fit the singing & speaking. This performance will stay with me as long as I am sentient.

2. ​We thought we were in a New York cabaret--at Raleigh's Empress Room Thursday night. We walked in expecting just to listen to pianist Jonathan Markow play standards with loving care. We left extraordinarily happy to have heard vocalist Amy Hancock's devotion to & skill at intelligent lyrics, often with tunes completely new to us. We need more such music.

This Week: I'll complete this once some venues/performers put out May calendars.

Discoveries:
1. It's hard to put the brilliance of Jason Moran's Bandwagon trio into words: Having listened to them for 15+ of their 20 years together, I found their Duke Performances gig Thursday night at Durham Fruit & Produce one of the best I've heard, reflecting Moran's involvement with the quilters of Gee's Bend, private academy students whose music he played, & the legacy of WWI-era jazz pioneer James Reece Europe, etl al. That describes what but not how....
     Moran plays dramatically, complicatedly, going from thrashing to soft melody in the same tune, often quoting jazz history en route....

Check out this concert on YouTube--https://spectacularmag.com/2019/04/19/nccus-29th-annual-jazz-festival-brings-renowned-musicians-to-campus/

This doesn't sound like any other trio, any other pianist. I watching as I type, just realizing that they played a long intro to get into "Honeysuckle Rose". Wait for other surprises as Moran improvises from pieces of the tune, occasionally exposing the thread before moving. I could keep on for the 1+ hour of this concert but must move on. Keep listening to the YouTube, I will as I finish this blog.

2. "Leaves of Grass" is a do not miss performance (Duke Performances @ Baldwin Auditorium Saturday 4/27 8p): I heard the CD 15 years ago, I watched it live online 2 years ago, now I can--& you must--Saturday. Jazz pianist Fred Hersch put together this performance of Walt Whitman, leading a sextet with vocalists Kurt Elling & our Kate McGarry speaking & singing the free verses. A good fit for jazz, eh? You betcha. It is special, it is unique, who knows if/when it will be performed again in our area. You will leave Baldwin Auditorium enraptured...

3. How lucky can we be to have the two performances above in a nine-day stretch?

This Week: Not just "Leaves of Grass"! Yup, there's more...

Today/Sunday:

• Gypsy jazz jam at The Station 3p. I'll be there to check out this new-to-me.

Monday-Saturday:

• NCCU Jazz Fest details at 

https://spectacularmag.com/2019/04/19/nccus-29th-annual-jazz-festival-brings-renowned-musicians-to-campus/
Friday:

• Nnenna Freelon sings with the NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble in the above at B.N. Duke Auditorium 8p. I'll be there as much for the VJE as for Nnenna.
• Check Sharp Nine, Irregardless, Brasa Steakshouse, C Grace, the NC Museum of Art, Cary's Mayton Inn, & Carrboro's Second Wind for many more opportunities.

Saturday:

• Where else should you be than "Leaves of Grass"?
• OK, as much as I want everyone to go to "LoG" there's lots of usual suspects in the usual venues tonight too. Check them out if you have a good excuse for not going to "LoG". Doctors or parents note, babysitting grandchildren, sheer ennui...

Sunday: Two new jazz jams...

• Raleigh's Dix Park hosts a jazz brunch with Peter Lamb & the Wolves 11a.
• The Golden Belt has its second jam 12p.

Discoveries:
1. If you want a crowd, book a swing dance jazz band: Keenan McKenzie's Riffers band took over what may be a regular gig at Vecino's Brewery in Carrboro Tuesday. Dancing ensued. I'll let you know about the future.
2. Durham's Golden Belt starts a first & third Sunday Brunches Brew: Hosted by NCCU & locavore saxist Alan Thompson 12p. 

This Week: There's life after Games of Thrones.

Tuesday:

• My favorite NCCU student saxist, Dexter Moses, leads a young lions quartet at Sharp Nine 7p. I'll be there if I can escape at neighborhood meeting.

Thursday:

• My favorite pianist, Jason Moran, & his Bandwagon Trio at Duke Performances @ Durham Fruit & Produce 8p. Do I have a choice??

Friday: 

• Jason Moran talks at Durham's Pinhook 12p. He's always worth hearing speak.
• Moran hosts his Fats Waller Dance Party at Fruit & Product 8p. Check out the Fats Waller head mask. 
• Orquesta Gardel Latinizes Durham's Golden Belt Arts Center first Third Friday Arts Walk 7p.

Saturday:

• Kate McGarry/Keith Ganz Quartet at Sharp Nine 8p. Will be there.
• The Hot Club of Raleigh brings gypsy swing to Irregardless 9p.