Evanescence concert last Wednesday at Grand Ballroom in NYC. They were awesome. James Black from Finger Eleven performed with them and he was pretty entertaining.

Happily, SF Jazz was back on track for the final show of the Fall Festival on Sunday. JP#s, blessingx, my wife, and I were among the adoring fans who saw Ornette Coleman and his Quartet at Davies Symphony Hall. From the moment the MC emphasized this month was the 50th anniversary of the release of The Shape of Jazz to Come and Ornette was announced, it was clear that the crowd's adulation had an impact on him. He said something like "Thank you all for being here. Now we're going to get to know each other very well."

They came out of the box strong with the first number, which was a free jazz screamer, and kept up the pace for 90 minutes straight, no intermission, including 3 encore tunes that they clearly weren't certain they would do. They seemed to consider even one more, but Ornette is a few months shy of 80 and we didn't begrudge them leaving the stage for the night.

Ornette's quartet is unusual in that it consists of Ornette on alto sax, trumpet and violin, Tony Falanga on acoustic bass, Al McDowell on electric bass, and Ornette's son Denardo Coleman on drums. Falanga plays amazing traditional bass, with an unusual emphasis on bowing, while McDowell plays electric and possibly even synthesized bass. It was described well in a Stereophile review of their recent Jazz at Lincoln Center performance: "Al McDowell, who plays electric bass guitar, has finally found a role for himself: sometimes strumming like a guitar, sometimes doubling on the melody line, sometimes echoing it, or tracing a countermelody. In short, he

The Musical Box - A Trick Of The Tail tour

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I'd love to see those guys sometime. I only saw Genesis once live, around 1982 or so. I would still say probably the best live show sound and playing-wise I have seen.

Awhile back, I had read about these guys... sounds fun, depending upon who they are doing:

Tributosaurus: The future of rock 'n' roll? - Chicago Tribune

Really great review Al -- I'm not usually a modern* jazz man, but you really made me want to hear that.

*By modern, I mean free, dissonant, scat-based, etc.

Thanks Peter. Any music lover would have enjoyed that show, and Ornette's free-ness seems way less free after seeing a bunch of John Zorn shows.

's'truth.

Saw Neko Case at the Portsmouth Music Hall tonight. Great show that refused to be marred by some minor technical difficulties with a dipshit sound engineer who couldn't quite get levels right all night. She played a variety of old and new, hit some of my favorites like "Hold On, Hold On" from FCBTF and "Polar Nettles" from Middle Cyclone. All in all she is one of those rare artists who is so much better live than on any recording because the voice you hear on the album is her real, unpolished singing voice and her band is just superb. If she tours anywhere near you go.

There was also a highly enjoyable opening act whose name escapes me right now, I'll track them down tomorrow.

Went to see Metallica last night at MSG. They were awesome.

Symphony this afternoon. Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto, with guest pianist Alpin Hong, who was really fun to watch. Then Beethoven's 7th. A wonderful day of music.

Also we drove over to New Orleans last night for a friend's engagement party. It was a pretty classy affair, complete with an awesome jazz trio. It was a trip to sit in this old New Orleans uptown home, eat perfect rare tenderloin and au gratin potatoes, and listen to these three guys (one from London, one from New York, and one from Gretna) tell stories and play jazz. An unexpected musical treat!

Just got back from the NSO/Joshua Bell concert. They played some new Scottish piece, Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, and Josh Bell played Lalo and Vieuxtemps Souvenir d

So is it true the J. Bell chases 18 year old girls?

Because thats what it seemed like when I saw him after the concert

I hear he is quite.. flirtatious. With guys as well as girls. When I mentioned to my doctor that my teacher was Bell's roommate at IU, he immediately asked me if he was his "partner." At first I had no idea wtf he was talking about, then he outright asked me if Josh Bell was gay. I was so surprised, I had no idea so it came out of nowhere.

heh. When I saw him a few years back, after the concert he asked some of the young girls to wait for him to finish signing so they could hang out together.

Did he know them? If he did, that makes sense. If he didn't, that's a little weird.

They were just random girls asking for his autograph. Most of them had their moms waiting off to the side

Wow, okay. That's pretty awkward. Yeah, he's a weird one. But for some reason musicians and weirdness go hand in hand.

That's pretty awkward.

Not if you're Joshua Bell, apparently.

For some reason I'm reminded of a Burt Reynolds skit from SNL, where he played...Burt Reynolds, visiting a fan at his home. Ends up sleeping with her...and her sister...with the parents' permission.

I think that was Burt Reynolds, anyway.

EDIT: "...his home..." -- Freudian slip? ...her home...

Edited November 22, 200916 yr by Dusty Chalk

That's my new goal in life: to become the Burt Reynolds of music. I guess Josh Bell got kinda close with that so that makes him my idol?

Last concert: The Temptations!

Devo doing Q: Are We Not Men and Freedom of Choice in SFO. The AWNM show was the best Devo I've ever seen, Freedom of Choice was so-so.

The last concert I attended was about 15 years ago, I went to see Ice-T and his then new album/song Cop Killer. As I recall the show was on Washington Avenue in Miami Beach.

I've got a Body Count video boot from the last few years. Good shit.

Also recently seen: KMFDM and Jello Biafra.

Phish in Charlottesville, VA, this past Saturday, 12/5/09. Right during the beginning of Ya Mar a completely butt naked guy jumped on stage and hugged Trey, then juked the security folks for about twenty seconds before they tackled him. Great show!

I tried to watch the video but I slipped into a coma. How can you watch those guys straight, PJ?

The last one that really mattered was Pink Floyd in Anaheim in 1977. Nothing since then has even come close.