Lambic Jazz Vol.7

No class last week, but there was tonight so I'm back for the Wednesday night post-class hang.

A couple of days ago two discs arrived via CD Baby. On Monday and Tuesday I listened to Virgo Dzurinko (p) & Ryan Messina (trpt) Undertow (New Artists) and tonight Carol Liebowitz (p) & Nick Lyons (as) First Set (Line Art Records) is getting it's first spin. Nick was the first person Connie Crothers introduced me to when I came to NYC to study with her and a couple of days later I met Carol at a session with Nick (at which they played duo). Over the years it's been great to hear them play together and now a moment of that relationship (in concert during 2012) has now been captured.

I've heard Carol and Nick improvise - freely and on standard forms -  many, many times and there are always surprises. The bonus here is that they play two lines written by Connie ("Carol's Dream" and "Roy's Joy"). Of interest to me is the final track - "Another Time." Even though it was recorded five years earlier (2007) and the energy is a bit different (studio vs live perhaps?) it doesn't distract from the flow of the album. This was recorded before I had met Carol and Nick (although I did have a couple of Carol's albums) and I'm curious to see if I pick up on anything I hadn't noticed before. Duos are a favorite format of mine so I expect these two albums will be getting plenty more airtime. Tonight's music was accompanied by De Troch Oude Gueuze.

I'm looking forward to hearing them play (Virg & Ryan too) as part of the Connie Crothers celebration concert on November 13th. If you're in the NYC area get on down to Roulette and check it out. The full line-up is here.

Yesterday Norman Meehan's Serious Fun: The life and music of Mike Nock came off the shelf and I started re-reading it this afternoon. This will be the third (I think) time reading it in full, although I do read a few pages or a chapter on a semi-regular basis. Norman has another book due out in December - New Zealand Jazz Life (Victoria University Press). I'm looking forward to it.

Now I'm going to keep an eye on the first few hours of the first test between Australia and South Africa (looks like I've already missed a bunch of the action!) as game 7 in the World Series goes right down to the wire.