the quiet things that no one ever knows

Julian Lage and Fred Hersch at SFJAZZ

Last week I saw Fred Hersch and Julian Lage at the Herbst performing for San Francisco Jazz Fest. The duo delighted a crowd of eager jazz festival goers all of whom were missing an important Golden State Warrior’s game to be there. I guess we all now know where my priorities lie. They lie with Julian Lage who has been a big love of mine for a while. While I do love Fred Hersch, it was Julian’s…

Chris Potter at SFJAZZ

This evening I went with my two jazz-loving parents to see Chris Potter at SFJAZZ. Often times my mother will take me and my father to see jazz, but tonight I was taking them. I’ve been interested in seeing Chris Potter for a while. I think I first became aware of him through Snarky Puppy’s social media account which reposted a video of him playing. I was captivated by the power of his tenor sax.…

Pinegrove and Half Waif at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Last month I saw Pinegrove with Half Waif and Hovvdy at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Half Waif’s music pulsates and soars with strength and complexity. Half Waif is Nandi Rose-Plunkett’s ongoing project and features Nandi on synth/keys, Zack Levine on drums, and Adan Carlo on bass. All three musicians are also in Pinegrove. This was my first time seeing Half Waif, and I was unsure how some of her…

Listen to this beautiful track from Pinegrove’s guitarist, Sam Skinner. It is so warm and comforting but also bittersweet. The banjo is absolutely beautiful. The sweet little harmonies and lyrics remind me of high school love and driving down the CA coast. https://soundcloud.com/softspeakrecords/sam-skinner-chestnuts  

So Emotions and Math is one of my favorite albums from 2016. Ironically my other favorite album from 2016 is probably guitarist and former child prodigy Julian Lage’s Arclight. I recently learned that Glaspy and Lage are together. After I became aware of this fact I felt unintelligent for not already knowing it because Lage and Glaspy have performed together on numerous occasions and the videos…

Check out the interview I did with Half Waif for Rare Candy: Half Waif is the ongoing project of Nandi Rose Plunkett who is also a member of the New Jersey band Pinegrove. Her ethereal and complex songs bring to mind an underwater impressionist painting, and her often haunting melodies pierce in their emotional intensity. Zach Levine and Adan Carlo, both also members of Pinegrove, play drums and…

Aaron Diehl presents Jelly & George feat. Adam Birnbaum & Cécile McLorin Salvant at SFJAZZ

Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin probably wouldn’t be your first idea for a pairing of two great jazz composers. Both are indeed great, but they never knew each other as Jelly Roll was in New Orleans while Gershwin was in New York City. However, they are contemporaries, born only 8 years apart from one another. Aaron Diehl in his most recent series of concerts takes on the pairing with a…

Brad Mehldau in Sonoma, CA

Last Saturday on a fine, warm California evening I went with my mother to hear Brad Mehldau solo at the Green Center in Sonoma. If you’ve never been inside this concert hall you don’t know true beauty. The whole thing (seats included) is pale pine which produces a fantastic reverberation throughout the hall. Behind and around the stage is more pine interlaced with deep red sound wall. The…

Jazz Profiles: Esperanza Spalding

This past Sunday WKCR’s listeners had the pleasure of hearing me play Esperanza Spalding’s whole discography. I’d known Spalding primarily for Junjo and her more classic bass work. Little did I know that in more recent years Spalding has been totally re-defining herself and the jazz album. She took the bass prodigy label and threw it out the window with albums that include spoken word poetry,…

Early Mornin’ Jazzin: Daybreak Express

Hi folks, how’re things? I discussed briefly how much time on air I have this week in my last message to you. Monday night from 1-5am I played some avant garde sounds: Carl Stone, John Cage and Chainsaw Jazz. It was a good time. I started the night with a little Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd Jazz Samba to transition from the show prior to mine, Latin Jazz Hour. A lovely friend of mine spent the first…

WKCR FM New York

Good evening. In the past I’ve mentioned that I program for WKCR FM New York, Columbia’s very own student run radio station. It’s a fantastic institution built on strong values and a desire to put “the alternative” out on the airwaves. I program for jazz, new music and maybe latin soon. This week I am actually on air for a ridiculous amount of shows. If you desire to hear me program some sweet…