(Part Two) “JAZZ IS MUSIC MADE BY AND FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO FEEL GOOD IN SPITE OF CONDITIONS”: DAN BLOCK, ROBERT REDD, SEAN SMITH (Cafe Ornithology, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, October 30, 2025)

Three crucial facts.

One, the quotation comes from tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, and I and others believe it like a gospel. I also think of it as a prayer, a benediction, and a low bow.

Two, the three musicians celebrated here are Dan Block, tenor saxophone and clarinet; Robert Redd, piano; Sean Smith, double bass. Subtle alchemists, humane transformationalists through vibration of the best kind.

Three, they will be playing again this coming Wednesday, January 7, at Cafe Ornithology, 1037 Broadway at Suydam Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, beginning at 7:30 PM for two extended sets.

Here are some selections from their first set of October 30:

“JAZZ IS MUSIC MADE BY AND FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO FEEL GOOD IN SPITE OF CONDITIONS”: DAN BLOCK, ROBERT REDD, SEAN SMITH (Cafe Ornithology, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, October 30, 2025)

and two extended explorations from the second set: PICK YOURSELF UP and THE MAN I LOVE:

PICK YOURSELF UP on Wednesday, January 7, and get to Cafe Ornithology, a truly welcoming place.

May your happiness increase!

“JAZZ IS MUSIC MADE BY AND FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO FEEL GOOD IN SPITE OF CONDITIONS”: DAN BLOCK, ROBERT REDD, SEAN SMITH (Cafe Ornithology, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, October 30, 2025)

The sentiments are from legendary tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, and they were never not true. Music uplifts us if we allow it entrance, and we can always choose to do so. I offer you living, breathing evidence: quietly brilliant music from three lyrical swinging explorers: Dan Block, tenor saxophone and clarinet; Robert Redd, piano; Sean Smith, double bass.

October 30, 2025, at Cafe Ornithology, 1037 Suydam Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City.

BLUE ROOM / PURPLE GAZELLE / TIME ON MY HANDS / EMILY / IT’S ALL RIGHT WITH ME.

Please allow yourself the luxury of watching and listening at leisure: the singular and collective creativity here is a great reward.

Even better: this trio will be playing, in as many dimensions as you care to tabulate, at Cafe Ornithology, on January 7, 2026.

Wear your warm coat, bring cash for the tip jar, and prepare for an infusion of what Ruby Braff called “aesthetic vitamins.” In fewer syllables, I call it joy.

May your happiness increase!

DUKE’S WORLD AND BEYOND: DAN BLOCK, ROBERT REDD, SEAN SMITH (Cafe Ornithology, Bushwick, Brooklyn, September 11, 2025)

In the past few days, I have posted monumental music by Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, and Sidney Catlett in a 1948 concert, and the entirety of the Count Basie – Lester Young session from November 1936. I feel good about these offerings, but they have one serious limitation. No one can see these musicians live at a club; no one can ask for an autograph or respectfully shake a hand. I remind myself that this blog (eighteen years old next February, in case anyone wants to invite it out for a mojito) is called JAZZ LIVES, and thus has an obligation to living musicians in present tense. And fortunately for us, the living jazz is happily in evidence all around us.

Here are selections from an evening of ravishing music performed by Dan Block, tenor saxophone and clarinet; Robert Redd, piano; Sean Smith, double bass, at the welcoming Cafe Ornithology in Bushwick, Brooklyn. (Looking ahead: this same trio will again perform there on October 30, the music beginning at 7:30 PM.) This trio is a compact orchestra, full of dear surprises. And the “beyond” encompasses Carmichael, Berlin, Kern, and so much more.

“ALL TOO SOON”:

“CHANGE PARTNERS”:

“WHAT AM I HERE FOR?”:

“NEW ORLEANS”:

“PICK YOURSELF UP”:

I’m taking the unsung lyrics of that last song seriously. On October 30, I will pick myself up, dust myself off, shoulder my video gear, and head to Cafe Ornithology for another evening of delightful trio sonatas.

May your happiness increase!