Russ Davis here, and from time to time citizens of MOJA Nation who get out to see and hear MOJA live write me to report.  Anytime you do please send me your review however long or short it might be and I’ll be happy to post in this space. Thanks!

Here is a new one from MOJAN Bill Lewis from Pittsburgh who attends shows at a venue called Mr Small’s Theater, in Millvale PA. He tells us that he’s seen several good shows there including Medeski, Martin and Wood.

Bill Lewis wrote: “Hey Russ…Listening to Soul Rebels on MOJA at the moment. So glad you played this. I actually think I enjoyed their set even more than Galactic two nights ago here.

In addition to the point you read about “the liberating absence of chording instruments”, is also the marching-band rhythm section: instead of a set drummer–a snare drummer and a bass drummer. Makes for such a unique (yet traditional, of course) percussion sound, especially the rudiments on that persistent, driving snare. We’re so accustomed to set drums in jazz and rock!

Then there’s that “horn line”, two trumpets, tenor sax and two trombones out front, blowing the audience’s hair back…Bill Lewis“

Thanks Bill! Now, here are a few recent ones from MOJANs Joe Armel of Mill Valley, California, who spent the 2011 holiday season in New York City, Bruce Raff (whose LSU Tigers were # 1 in College Football’s regular season this year by the way) , another from Bill Lewis, Randy Borst and Scott Macpherson, as well as a couple of mine thrown in for good measure. Read on and enjoy!

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Happy New Year MOJA NATION:  Christmas 2011 Jazz Report from New York City

We just spent 10 days in New York City this year and celebrated 2012 in Times Square with thousands of crazies and it was FUN~

Among many other things, these are the live jazz shows we caught while in the Big Apple~

December 23:  Bernie Worrell was awesome at the Bowery Electric with a 10 piece band and everyone was bad ass!  The band sounded big, fat and very interesting.  Bernie seemed to enjoy himself the most.  We were hoping to see him New Years Eve with John Zorn and Marc Ribot at THE STONE….an interesting place that takes no reservations and serves no food or drinks.  The show sounded very cool….even though it wasn’t meant to be for us on this visit.

December 26:  Checked out the 55 Bar (my fave)….. Benjamin Drazen was playing the early show with a great 4 piece band.  Drazen on alto with Carlo de Rosa on Bass (amazing), & Raz Abassi on guitar!  These guys were GREAT~  They had a guy sit in on Soprano who was equally amazing.  I got the CD/”Inner Flights” and chatted with Benjamin for a while.  This is what I LOVE about this venue.  The artists are real, incredible and available…..there’s no back stage for them to hide!

December 27:  Richard Bona at the Village Vanguard…..always great….this time playing with a Cuban ensemble and the flavor was sweet!!

December 28:  We hiked the HIGHLINE in the day….*(don’t miss it)….and caught Mike Stern, John Pattitucci, Dave Weckl and Randy Brecker at the Iridium that night!  This was an incredible show….with masters playing in all positions~  I’ve seen Mike many times….and he’s always amazing!  Brecker did some interesting MIDI patching with his trumpet, Weckl is a drum freak, and Pattittucci just slays the bass.

December 29:  the BEST night of music we had…..SMALLS in Greenwich Village was showcasing Larry Goldings with Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart.  We got there early since seating is limited and got blown away by Ehud Sherie (piano) & Luigi Grasso (alto sax).  These guys were playing some fantastic Cole Porter and period music but so fresh!  A great duo….we didn’t miss any side pieces at all!  Larry Goldings & Co. came on afterwards and treated us with two sets of close up magic.  I could reach out and touch Peter Bernstein playing 2 feet in front of me.  It’s the magic of SMALLS and the 55 BAR…..you’re right up close with the artists and the music.  As usual…..I got the CD LIVE at SMALLS and photos with Peter and Larry…these guys are so nice!

Finally realizing where we were, we hiked 2 blocks over to the 55 Bar and caught yet another stellar band just like that.  No reservations…..just plain great luck and incredible venues.  This was my HOT DISCOVERY on this trip to NYC.  My only regret was we weren’t staying over into January.  Mike Stern is  playing January 4, 9, 11, 16 & 18 at the 55 Bar!!  I’ve seen him there before and it’s very powerful to be up close and receive the musical blessing of this great master!

December 30:  the Beacon Theater  / Gov’t Mule and Warren Haynes.  Not exactly Jazz….but phenomenal BLUES!!!  This was our last night of live music and it was as usual….INCREDIBLE!!  Looking forward to the next opportunity…..for NYC Jazz!!

Have a GREAT 2012 & LOTSA LIVE JAZZ,

Joe Armel, Mill Valley, CA

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From: Bruce Raff

Subject: Charlie Hunter & Umphrey’s McGee

Got to see Hunter last night, 15 feet from him.  That is the most incredible playing I  have ever seen. How that man can play two different riff’s simultaneously is amazing.  In fact, sometimes three.  It was him and Scott Amendola.  And it was free!  Baton Rouge has a new feature called the listening room where they bring in unique acts to showcase innovative artist.  Bad Plus is one of them.

Umphrey’s McGee was KILLER dude.  And as always, I was the closest person to the lead guitarist most of the night and he ROARED.  You have got to play some of their Jazzier stuff. (Editor’s Note: You’ll hear the jazzier side of Umphrey’s McGee on THE ATTACK OF THE JAZZY JAMBANDS!)

Here’s another just posted by Bruce…he just saw Gregg Allman and he’s his report…

You may want to pass this on.  I got to see the Gregg Allman Band as they start a very limited tour in the Southeast.  Although not MOJA, they had a four piece horn section that added a jazzy flare to several tunes.  In particular, Whipping Post and One Way Out.  Although they had an excellent guitarist, Scott Sharrard, they chose to fill in most of the slide guitar riffs with flute or clarinet along with tenor and alto sax enhancing the background.  Well worth the opportunity to see them if you have a chance.  Also had Bruce Katz on electric piano.

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From: Scott Macpherson

Subject: Bela Fleck & the Original Flecktones

Hey Russ,

Just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed the show I saw 2 nights ago with my son at the Calvin in Northampton, Ma. I have seen this group advertised on the local venues for over 2o years, but never checked them out till now. Truly inspiring and unique blend and sound. Each musician brought so much to the group. My son said he was as excited to see Victor as Bela. They played for over 2 hours to an excellent crowd. It was hearing them on Moja that got me interested.

Thanks again for all the great tunes you share with the rest of us, that we may not hear otherwise.

Ska-t (Editor’s Note: Ska-T is Scott’s nickname for himself…pretty cool, huh?)

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RTF IV is all done (for now anyway) and the month-long celebration of the 70th birthday of possibly the greatest and most important living  master…CHICK COREA…happened at the Blue Note in New York City in November of 2011.

I had the chance to see one of the shows on the second night of the RTF Unplugged run and found the mix of jazz standards and RTF classics played by Chick, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Frank Gambale almost exclusively on acoustic instruments to be delightful and a fitting end to the series of RTF IV shows I took in beginning in the summer at the Montreal Jazz Fest. During the month of November Chick brought in a number of the world’s most important jazzmen to help him celebrate his 70th birthday, just as he had a decade ago when he turned 60.  That became the wonderful multi-media event called Rendezvous In New York, which chronicled the shows in audio and video.  We can only hope that the same will happen with this month of historic performances that included Chick playing with the likes of legendary figures including Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Gary Burton and many more.  You can see the complete list of the shows following the next segment of this blog as offered up by your fellow MOJAN Bill Lewis, who took in one of the very last shows of the month-long celebration featuring the original Chick Corea Elektric Band. Take it away Bill…

“Bill Lewis for MOJARadio.com

The Chick Corea Elektric Band, The Blue Note, NYC, November 26, 2011, first set, 8:00PM

The crowd at the bar was probably five-deep before the band took the stage. The line of sight for standees at the bar, such as me, is parallel with the front of the bandstand, which is probably forty feet away. Luckily those standing between me and the bandstand were relatively short.  (In crowd situations this is always a consideration for me, at a towering 5’7″ with my platform shoes on.) Tables in the main room had sold out long before. I managed to talk myself out of leaping onto the stage before the set to offer significant money to anyone willing to let me join the party at their table.

As a recovering wind player I was particularly curious about Chick’s choice of saxophonists. My familiarity with Eric Marienthal’s work was based on his recordings with The Rippingtons and one of his solo albums. All of this work was pretty much grounded in smooth jazz, so I was interested to see what the man might bring to a harder fusion style. Well, there are good reasons EM’s part of the Elekric Band, rather than a smoothie such as Dave Koz or Kenny G. The alto sax, for whatever reason, is unusual as a lead instrument in an electric fusion band–but every note out of Marienthal’s alto, and there were a lot of them, was right on the mark. He’s no slouch on soprano either.

Chick, alternating between electronic keyboards and grand piano, demonstrated technical and improvisatory chops continuing unabated into this his 70th year.

John Patitucci wielded a fretted electric bass which–at least from the perspective of the bar–appeared to have a mile-wide fingerboard and at least thirty strings. (Okay, evidently it’s a 6-string Yamaha.) He contributed both unerring foundational support and a couple very tasteful, aggressive solos.

On elektric guitar, Frank Gambale. is of course an awesome technician, and while he may not be as much the rock star as Al DiMeola, his improvisations serve the music more so than serving flash.

Dave Weckl’s ensemble and solo drumming was unfailingly on the mark and on the money.

I’ve been a loyal fan of RTF in its various incarnations Since the mid 70s, but I must confess I hadn’t heard this band before this performance either live or on record. So unfortunately, the exact composition of the set list remains a mystery to me, but I look forward to catching up on this facet of Mr. Corea’s oeuvre. On first hearing at least, the tunes sounded quite consistent with Chick’s recognizable style: angular, abstract compositional and improvisational lines; modal harmonies (Phrygian, specifically…his Spanish Heart) that remain grounded inside with tasteful outside decorations around the edges.

Perhaps most impressive overall to me was that each band member seemed to be offering his considerable talents in the service of the compositions and the ensemble rather than using the venue as a frame for individual star turns. Each member also took a minute between tunes to speak about his relationship with Chick, and their admiration and gratitude was genuine and unanimous. “

Thanks Bill!  Now here’s the complete list of every show that was part of Chick’s 70th Birthday Celebration month at New York’s Blue Note…

The Return To Forever IV tour has finished it’s triumphant journey across North America and two of your fellow MOJANs saw the shows and wrote up their reports. First, Randy Borst, was lucky enough to see them on Monday, August 8th in Buffalo.  Here’s his report…

“Hi Russ,

Boy, were we lucky. Got to see Return to Forever IV with Zappa on Zappa upon their return to the United States at the UB Center for the Arts Monday evening.

You already know, considering who was involved in this effort, it was nothing short of spectacular. I had never seen Zappa played live, so I’m very glad I got the chance to, played by true masters of the art. Personally, for me, Zappa is a little like triple chocolate pie. The first three bites are perfection, but the thrill diminishes as you eat the thing. But creativity and showmanship out the wazoo nonetheless. (EDITOR’S NOTE…I’m sure Randy meant out the GRAND WAZOO!)

And RTF IV? Those guys are playing like never before, and all of them acting privileged to be playing with one another. What a contribution Ponty’s  lines were. And Clarke can still play those fast-tempo 32^nd notes. I tell you he can make that bass sound like an airplane motor,  whether he plays the electric bass guitar or the acoustic double  bass. And all of it as musical as the first lullaby you ever heard.

We heard Corea, Clarke, and White last year acoustically, and I couldn’t help wondering if White could still kick the traps as he did with the electric version of RTF back in the day. Silly me. The man is a wonder of an athlete, and he played like he was 25.

The music was so great. The musicians were so gracious, and the fans were absolutely crazy with joy over the evening. What a treat.

All my best, and keep that MOJA coming.

Randy Borst”

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Here’s what MOJAN Bruce Raff had to say after seeing RTF IV at their show in June at the Montreal International Jazz Festival…

”Beyond Belief!  I had huge expectations for the show and it was even more than that.  One of my biggest was to see Jean-Luc Ponty for the first time.  It was already awesome to see the world’s greatest fusion band, but to add to that another of the world’s greatest fusion pioneers, as well as greatest violin player, made this one of the best shows I have ever seen! “

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OK, I can’t resist…I saw the show at the Beacon Theatre here in NYC on Saturday night, August 13th and LOVED IT all over again.  It was different from the Montreal show in that the New York crowd in the smaller Beacon Theatre was closer to the stage and were somehow more rabid than the crowd in the larger hall in MTL.  I was told backstage after the show by the band’s manager Bill Rooney that the Philadelphia and Boston crowds were even more raucous!

One outstanding feature that separated this show from Montreal was that Dweezil Zappa, Frank’s son, led his 8-piece band Zappa Plays Zappa through a spirited hour of his Dad’s music and the crowd went wild.  Dweezil can play guitar with the best of them and considering the main elements that were the music that was Zappa…Rock, Jazz-Classical-Rock, and Comedy-Rock…all elements were presented and of course I preferred the jazz-classical side the most.  The band included an orchestra of instruments and featured a female saxophonist who played a couple of tenor solos that were superb!  The highlight of the set was when former Zappa collaborator, Jean-Luc Ponty came on to jam on “Fifty-Fifty” with Dweezil and the crew and the results were spectacular!  Jean-Luc told me afterwards that they’d only decided to do it earlier in the day and worked it out before the show.  Not only “coulda fooled me…DID fool me!”  What a treat!

The RTF IV show was another 2 hours of incredible musicianship, familiar songs turned upside down with re-harmonization and new arrangements and a general celebratory spirit that was palpable from beginning to end!  Highlights included a funky twist or two on Lenny White’s tune “Sorceress,” Jean-Luc’s classic “Renaissance” given the RFF IV treatment, an incredible version of “Spain” complete with audience sing along, and the most incredible version of Stanley’s classic “School Days” for the encore with Frank Gambale and Stanley standing center stage letting it rock to kick things off.

I could go on but needless to say, a splendid time was had by all!I count myself as lucky to have been able to see the band live three times, in their performance at the 32nd Montreal Jazz Festival in June and again in New York at the Beacon Theatre on August 13th as well as later in October in Austin, Texas! Here’s hoping that the guys will decide to keep RTF IV going and give us more!

Russ Davis/MOJA Radio

P.S. In June, 2011, Chick celebrated his 70th birthday (6/12) and Stanley Clarke his 60th (6/30).