1. Anyone like cabaret jazz? You know, a simpatico pianist with a worldly-wise vocalist singing literate lyrics, both standards & obscurities. It exists here: whenever Amy Hancock sings with pianist Jonathan Markow at the Empress Room. Here's a sample: He Was Too Good to Me.
2. Anyone like gypsy jazz? Yeah, as in Django Reinhardt. The Onyx Club Boys will play two Tuesdays a month at Carrboro's Oak Leaf restaurant, in addition to the bi-weekly Sunday gypsy jazz jam at The Station in Carrboro.
3. I've never heard jazz duetting like last night! NYC-based guitarist Steve Cardenas joined his friend & fellow guitarist Keith Ganz at Sharp Nine Saturday night, backed by bassist Jason Foureman & drummer Kobie Watkins. Cardenas & Ganz played many overlapping runs with great grace & technical complexity & blew us away in their penultimate tune trading bars back & forth to ever greater excitement.
This Week: I'm a recovering grandparent after 1.5 weeks with our grrandkids. I'll do a little catching up...
Sunday: You know you could go from the Golden Belt to the Durham West End Wine Bar to Goorsha this afternoon, listening to various kinds of jazz (see below)...
- In 11 minutes the Golden Belt's "Brunches Brew" funk jazz jam starts (until 3p).
- Latin jazz @ that West End Wine bar4-6p.
- Bassist Ben Palmer's trio @ Durham's Ethiopian restaurant 6-8p.
- Gypsy jazz jam at The Station 3p.
- Onyx Club Boys at Carrboro's Oak Leaf 5p. I'll check out both the music & Oak Leaf's summer performances.
- Eric Hirsh's monthly residency at Durham's Arcana 8p. I need to catch up with him.
- Marimbero Juan Alamo celebrates a new CD at Sharp Nine 8p. A marimba is more beautiful than a vibraphone & Juan knows how to play it.