Harlan Jefferson tonight at R Place

Last week the Isthmus newspaper featured Harlan Jefferson, a talented alto saxophone player from Rockford, as a critics pick for this Wednesday night. That reminded me that I’ve been wanting to check him out since I noticed back in January that he plays at R Place on Park on Wednesday nights. I guess I haven’t gotten there yet because I’m so into the New Breed jam sessions on Wednesday nights. It’s also easy to overlook R Place because I’ve never been there, they don’t have a webpage,  and for some reason they aren’t listed on the Crazeology calendar (they are, however, listed and mapped on the Venue page).

Now it looks like time is running out. Tonight might be the last time to hear Harlan in Madison for a while. Joined by drummer Rick Flowers and keyboardist Cheeseburger McClain, Harlan has been playing his mix of smooth jazz, RnB, and gospel on Wednesday nights for the last two months, but now neither his webpage calendar (which doesn’t extend into March) or the Isthmus show any Madison gigs in March. 

Tuesday night Blues Jam/Showcase at the Frequency starts 1-13-09

This site is devoted to Madison jazz but as jazz is rooted in the blues you may be interested in what’s new on the Madison blues scene.

Guitarist A.J. Love has done a good deed and organized another blues jam, an after work event from 5:30 to 8 pm every Tuesday at the Frequency. This will be great for those of us that work downtown. It’s also nice because it doesn’t compete with the other Tuesday night blues jams.

Here’s the scoop from A.J.:

Jazz on New Year’s Eve

Here’s the jazz  happening across Madison tonight.

From the Crazeology calendar:

12/31: Esther Knutson & Cliff Frederiksen, 7pm, Basie’s @ The Radisson Inn
12/31: Dave Stoler & others, 8pm, The Brink Lounge
12/31: Harmonious Wail, 9:30pm, The Concourse Hotel’s The Bar
12/31: The Don Peachey Big Band, 6pm, The East Side Club
12/31: John Chimes & The Gumbo Ya-Yas, 8pm, Louisianne’s – Middleton
12/31: The Doug White Trio featuring Ray Rideout, 9:30pm, Nadia’s
12/31: Swingtime Music, 8pm, Samba Brazilian Grill
12/31: The Stellanovas, 8:30pm, Stella’s Speakeasy – Stoughton

And from other sources:

Mama Digdown’s at the Majestic at 11 pm as part of a multiband lineup.

Rick Flowers Trio
New Year’s Eve Party
Food, party favors and champagne! Dress your best!
R Place on Park
1821 Park Street, Madison – 8:30PM – $12/person or $20/couple

If you think I forgot someone,  let us know via a comment.

Jazz jam reborn at Cabana Room

I can’t help myself. The New Breed gets booted by a sports bar and I have the nerve to compare them to Brett Favre. It’s only for a moment so please humor me. Favre has many Packer fans that continue to follow his play with the Jets. The question is are the New Breed fans just as loyal?

The answer is a no-brainer. The only special thing about the Concourse is it’s acoustics; the New Breed is the attraction. Considering the large crowd at the Cabana Room Wednesday night, playing at the Concourse may have actually limited the audience for the New Breed. The jam was a smashing success: the turnout was large, the room works well for jazz, and it was announced the jam will resume every Wednesday at the Cabana starting the second week of January.

Dave Cooper laments loss of Concourse jam

Dave Cooper sent in the following post before last night’s jam in the Cabana Room at Samba’s. His spirits should be higher this morning; the jam was a hit. I will post more on the jam soon.

As many of you know, the New Breed Jazz Quintet has held a jam session at the Concourse Hotel Bar every Wednesday evening for the past seven years. Wednesday, November 19th, the hotel management told the group that they were going to close the doors for a month for renovation and when it re-opens in January, it will be a sports bar with no live music. …Yes, no live music on any night of the week and yet another sports bar… It confounds me that the management would think this is a wise strategy. It seems to me that sports bars generally cater to local folks gathering together to be in a space of like-minded fans. (Generally drinking cheap beer and shouting at tv’s.) The Concourse is trying to be one of Madison’s premier hotels and cater to a national, if not international clientele. It would seem to me that those type of travelers would much rather go downstairs from their $150+ rooms to a more sophisticated room and have a glass of wine or scotch. If they really wanted to see a game they could very conveniently walk around the corner to State Street and have their pick of sports bars. Besides, I just don’t see the typical Madison sports-bar-goer wanting to watch a game in a hotel bar when there is State Street right there.

Madison Jazz Society Spring Concert Sampler

Traditional jazz lovers will want to mark their calendars for the recently announced Madison Jazz Society 2009 Spring Concert Series.

The Series opens with The Vagabond Reeds with special guest Brad Pregeant on Sunday, January 25. Brad is a terrific stride style jazz pianist who lived in Madison for many years and moved last year to Colorado. He will join the Vagabond reeds featuring reedmen David MacGregor and Harold Smith on clarinet, curved soprano sax, and bass clarinet. Check out this video, they’re having some fun!

 

Special Jazz Events Next Week

Looking ahead to this coming week reminds me of New Orleans – so much good music, so little time.

Before Katrina I went to New Orleans every other year for  jazzfest. Fortunately there was a work related conference the same weekend for which my travel expenses were covered.  This was my day: conference in the morning, jazzfest in the afternoon, dinner, to the clubs for more jazz, and crawl out of bed early the next morning to do it all over again. It was physically exhausting but worth it. There was so much to take in and I wanted to experience it all.

A funny thing happened after coming home from one of those trips. For some reason it dawned on me that Madison has a fantastic music scene too; I just need to take advantage of it. Like many people I push myself on vacations to make sure I don’t miss a thing, but back home let loads of great stuff pass by. After that epiphany I vowed to start hearing some of the great music right here in Madison. I waited for the smoking ban and then began attending jazz events regularly.

Unlike my New Orleans trips I pace myself; I go out about once a week. This next week I’m going to push myself a little harder. In addition to all the usual good jazz, there are 3 special events:

The Brink Lounge

Last night I met some friends at the Brink Lounge.  We had been out of touch for a few years and it was time to catch up. Besides, the Madison Jazz Orchestra was playing so why not combine socializing with some first rate big band jazz?  Unfortunately, I only caught 2 songs by the MJO before we moved to a quieter area to talk. Those 2 songs have whet my appetite for more; the band sounded great and the acoustics were really good. I’ll definitely catch them again and record those impressions here, but for now let’s talk about the Brink.

Letter from the Concourse

Today’s Wisconsin State Journal carries a story about the demise of jazz at the Concourse Hotel bar. See the article here. The article mentioned a letter sent to musicians notifying them about the Concourse’s change of plans. This letter was mentioned previously on this site, and on the Isthmus Daily Page thread on this same topic. I’ve been told that band leaders received the letter but sidemen did not. If you want to read the letter, here it is:

Concourse Jazz last night

It was another beautiful night of jazz at the Concourse Hotel bar last night. The band seemed mystified why trumpeter Dave Cooper wasn’t there, but the show went on as a quartet featuring tenor saxophonist Patrick Briener. Patrick has great technique, a seemingly unlimited supply of great ideas, puts them together in unexpected ways, and intersperses them with overtones, alternate fingerings, and other special effects. Really a treat to listen to.

Dave Cooper showed for the second set, maybe the fog had slowed him down? The band sounded great, so did some of the guest musicians. Among those that stood out were John Doing (drums), and Matt Donoghue (bass), from the Red Quartet. They were off from their usual gig at the Mercury Lounge on Wednesdays. This is the first time I heard them and based on their performance I’ll have to check out the entire group. Another notable jammer was Joey B. Banks , a very busy blues and funk Madison drummer who showed off some nice jazz chops.

More about the situation regarding the future of music at the Concourse…  Apparently, nothing has been decided. There is a meeting in early December when it’s believed decisions will be made. Let’s hope for the best.