Friendly experiencers,
Have the hints of summer earlier this week stirred you to come out of hibernation? If so, you’ve picked a good week to do so with a variety of musical styles to choose from. Your sense of tradition will be sated by a reappraisal of a beloved musical chestnut while a sense of adventure will rewarded by a paint-peeling excursion to the outer reaches by a young saxophone sensation. Get ready for the ride and remember to tip your servers.
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There are many reasons to pursue the life of a professional musician, but doing a van tour of the Great Lakes in January is not one of them. Yet Chicago percussionist Tim Daisy could barely conceal his delight at piling in the van and driving across I-90 for a concert with his longtime pal Ken Vandermark at Convivium 33 (I previewed it here).
“t was the first time I started driving around the country since the—quote/unquote–end of the pandemic,” Daisy said by phone from Virginia where he was vacationing. “We show up, there’s a nice audience, the music goes well, there’s a beautiful vibe, and I kind of had the sense of like, “Ha! We’re back to touring. We’re back.”
The experience was so positive that on Friday, Daisy will be back at Convivium 33 for another concert presented by the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project, this time with his exploratory chamber ensemble Vox 4.
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Despite the increasing numbers of creative improvising musicians who play it, the double bass in a solo context—on record or in performance–remains a comparatively uncommon sound.
Yet Brandon Lopez, with a new recording and a showcase at this weekend’s Re:Sound festival presented by the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project, is the exception that proves the rule.
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In the popular imagination, an evening of torch songs inevitably takes place in a smoky basement club where a singer in a velvet gown purrs songbook standards while perched on a stool as her cigarette smolders in a nearby ashtray. A half-filled rocks glass is not far away.
It’s an appealingly nostalgic image, but don’t expect anything like that Friday at Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project‘s (CUSP) Torch Songs program.
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One of the great consolations of hanging around the music business stage door for a long time comes when people who assume that you know things ask you questions. One of my favorites is: Which band have you seen the most times? I love this question because it gives me a chance to talk about Kahil El’Zabar’s magnificent Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, which is also my favorite band.
Now, for the first time since I moved to Cleveland in 2019, I get to talk about an upcoming concert of theirs that I will attend. It’s Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Convivium 33 Gallery, presented by the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project and needless to say, if you’re reading this, you should go, too (full disclosure: I played a small part in making this concert happen). An Ethnics concert is never less than completely enjoyable and on any given night, it can be a transformative experience.
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