DOUBLE DIGGING THE PERENNIALS: EMILY ASHER’S GARDEN PARTY LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO, JANUARY 16, 2014: PART TWO

“A good time was had by all” continued to be true for the second half of this delightful evening.  (Here is the first half, for anyone who missed it.)

I present again Emily Asher’s Garden Party — captured here nearing the end of their 2014 West Coast Tour (historians take note).  Here they are at a very rewarding house concert in San Francisco, hosted by Daniel Fabricant and Vic Wong, offering a good-old-good one and three Hoagy Carmichael classics.

The GP in these videos is Emily, trombone, vocals, arrangements / compositions; Mike Davis, trumpet, vocal; Tom Abbott, reeds; Nick Russo, banjo, guitar; Rob Adkins, string bass; Jay Lepley, drums. (My videos are a little dark but the music blazes brightly.)

DARDANELLA, featuring Tom Abbott and the rhythm:

GEORGIA ON MY MIND, with a soulful vocal from Mike Davis:

LAZY BONES, with preaching by Ms. Emily after a wonderfully surprising introduction:

RIVERBOAT SHUFFLE, for the ensemble, a happily free-wheeling bunch:

May your happiness increase!

DOIN’ THE HORTICULTURAL: EMILY ASHER’S GARDEN PARTY LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO, JANUARY 16, 2014: PART ONE

A good time was had by all.

Emily Asher’s Garden Party — captured here nearing the end of their 2014 West Coast Tour (historians take note).  Here they are at a very rewarding house concert in San Francisco, hosted by Daniel Fabricant and Vic Wong, offering good-old-good ones, Hoagy Carmichael, music associated with Louis Armstrong, and a few locally-sourced originals.

The GP in these videos is Emily, trombone, vocals, arrangements / compositions; Mike Davis, trumpet, vocal; Tom Abbott, reeds; Nick Russo, banjo, guitar; Rob Adkins, string bass; Jay Lepley, drums. (My videos are a little dark but the music blazes brightly.)

For Ella, the Mills Brothers, Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin, and the elusive Hy Zaret, DEDICATED TO YOU:

Emily’s original, dedicated to a clamorous stretch of road in her home town, EAST MERIDIAN:

TWO SLEEPY PEOPLE, a sweet bit of Carmichael voiced for Asher and Davis, soft-shoe tempo provided by that nimble rhythm section:

Appropriate for a Garden Party, WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP:

Thinking again of Ella and Chick, the band shouts HALLELUJAH!:

A small Louis-Jack trilogy (catch Mr. Davis’ beautiful sound here) STARS FELL ON ALABAMA:

From ‘way out West, BIG BUTTER AND EGG MAN:

At a nice tempo, MUSKRAT RAMBLE:

Emily’s original, for her flowering niece, SWEET PEA:

Music in blossom, with more to come!

May your happiness increase!

GAUCHO and TAMAR KORN CELEBRATE at AMNESIA (Aug. 29, 2012)

The cheerfully flexible gypsy-jazz organization known as GAUCHO celebrated its tenth anniversary at Amnesia (853 Valencia Street, San Francisco:  amnesia) on August 29, 2012.  Traditionally a tenth anniversary is celebrated with gifts of tin or aluminum . . . I hope that the tip basket brimming with bills stood in successfully for “tin.”  But the crowd at Amnesia gave GAUCHO and Tamar Korn an even better present — a warm reception.

And the videos that follow prove how deeply GAUCHO and Tamar were welcomed in San Francisco.  Occasionally the warmth proved physically exuberant: I and my tripod and camera were in fairly constant danger of being treated like Dorothy Gale by some positively athletic dancing couples.  But everyone survived.

For this celebration, GAUCHO consisted of leader – guitarist – composer Dave Ricketts and the eminent swing guitarist Michael Groh in tandem, with the vigorous reedman Ralph Carney, the wily Rob Reich on accordion and piano, the ingenious Ari Munkres on string bass.

They began the evening with an energized I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS:

Then one of Dave’s compositions that has reached a larger audience through the cinema, DOUBLE BARREL:

BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA was anything but wistful Midwestern nostalgia:

Then Tamar joined them for the cautionary yet swinging COMES LOVE:

She followed with a romping DINAH:

And harking back to what I perceive as her roots, Berlin’s RUSSIAN LULLABY:

Finally, she offered two Ricketts (melody) – Korn (lyrics) collaborations:

PEARL:

SING ON:

This party also served to announce once again Gaucho’s new CD, PART-TIME SWEETHEART (all originals by Dave) with contributions from Leon Oakley, cornet; Clint Baker, various instruments; Georgia English, vocals; Vic Wong, guitar; Elizabeth Goodfellow, drums; Marty Eggers, tuba; Dave and Michael.  Look for it wherever better music is sold — in this case, gauchojazz.

May your happiness increase.

“PANIQUE” SWINGS OUT at The Red Poppy Art House (August 16, 2012)

The band PANIQUE is a rare group, subtle and inventive, as their appearance at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco proved.  Click PANIQUE to be transported — in every possible way — back to their beautiful first set!

This imaginative quartet is Vic Wong, guitar; Benito Cortez, violin; Nick Christie, rhythm guitar; Daniel Fabricant, string bass.

Here is their second set.  I so admire the conversational eloquence of their solos, delightful ensemble interplay; their dynamics, tempos, and shadings, their love 0f melody.

WALTZ in C# MINOR / TOPSY (combining Chopin and Eddie Durham favors both of them):

MA PREMIERE GUITARRE:

Accordionist Gus Viseur’s SWING VALSE:

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY / THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU:

SUITE YUGOSLAV:

DANSE NORVEGIENNE:

MINOR SWING:

Learn more about PANIQUE and their live CD here; visit Vic Wong on Facebook there.  And The Red Poppy Art House is a remarkable place, full of friendship and inspirations: click Poppy to find out more.

May your happiness increase.

“PANIQUE” MEANS JOY (Part One, August 16, 2012)

Don’t let this band’s scary French name make you run for the closet.

They are truly generous in their offerings of joy, as they proved lavishly last Thursday at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco.

This imaginative quartet is Vic Wong, guitar; Benito Cortez, violin; Nick Christie, rhythm guitar; Daniel Fabricant, string bass.

And in their mix of standards and less-known material, they embody the great virtues of memorable swing improvisation: a speaking eloquence in their solos, delightful ensemble interplay; extraordinary subtlety in their dynamics, tempos, and shadings, and a real understanding of how deeply listeners need melodies.  Although the members of the group look youthful, they are mature improvisers with well-developed imaginations, ears, hearts, and wit.  But I will let the music speak for itself:

An opening built from two songs, played back-to-back (something other bands could learn from PANIQUE): DOUBLE WHISKY and J’AI CHERCHE APRES TITINE:

NUAGES, a little more briskly than it is often played, the change bringing the song into sharper focus:

DINETTE, so much more than a little table in the corner of the kitchen:

TROUBLANT BOLERO, Reinhardt — not Ravel:

COQUETTE:

An exploration of BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS that slowly unwraps itself:

JE SUIS SEUL CE SOIR (“I am alone tonight”):

I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS:

Learn more about PANIQUE and their live CD here; visit Vic Wong on Facebook there.

May your happiness increase.

SWINGING WITH GAUCHO at YOSHI’S (July 9, 2012)

A little more than a month ago, the Beloved and I were invited to the very beautiful jazz club Yoshi’s in Oakland, California, for an evening with the singular Gypsy jazz group GAUCHO — in celebration of their newest CD, PART-TIME SWEETHEART.  For this performance, GAUCHO was a sextet of Dave Ricketts, guitar and composer; Michael Groh, rhythm guitar; Ari Munkres, string bass; Rob Reich, piano and accordion; Ralph Carney, saxophone and clarinet; Elizabeth Goodfellow, drums.  And there were special guests: Leon Oakley, trumpet; Georgia English, vocals; Vic Wong, guitar; Marty Eggers, tuba.

You’ll hear instantly that GAUCHO, although paying homage to Django Reinhardt, goes its own engaging way with deep feeling, never offering speed-of-light copies of treasured Thirties records in lieu of inventiveness.

COQUETTE:

MISS MYSTERY / I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS:

SOME OF THESE DAYS:

PART-TIME SWEETHEART:

NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN AND OUT:

TIN MAN WALTZ:

To find out more about this fine band, both swinging and subtle, visit gauchojazz.  And to buy their new CD, PART-TIME SWEETHEART, you can have the double pleasure of hearing them in person, or you can find Dave on Facebook here.

What a delightful band!

May your happiness increase.

GAUCHO, TAMAR KORN, LEON OAKLEY

Courtesy of Porto Franco Records, recorded on October 16, 2010, COMES LOVE featuring the wonderfully diversified group GAUCHO — Dave Ricketts (solo guitar), Michael Groh (rhythm guitar), Ralph Carney (slide clarinet), Rob Reich (accordion), Ari Munkres (bass), Pete Devine (drums) and guests Leon Oakley (trumpet), and Tamar Korn (vocal):

Again courtesy of PFR — a new CD by Gaucho with guest appearances by Tamar and Leon (and guitarist Vic Wong)!  This is, I believe, Gaucho’s fourth disc, and they’re a wonderful group, mixing elements of New Orleans collective improvisation, French musette / grypsy swing, and unclassifiable down-home rocking. 

And where other “Hot Club” groups have dug themselves a comfortable chugging rut, Gaucho is not stuck with its collective head in the Djangocological past.  Ten of the twelve compositions on this disc are Dave Ricketts originals, with lyrics by Tamar and Pete Devine, and the songs have their own flavor and depth. 

Tamar sings on five tracks, and it’s fascinating to hear her in a different environment — reaching, inventing, finding corners that we didn’t know were there and then turning them in style.  She’s also written lyrics for three (SING ON, LITTLE SWEETIE, and PEARL) and I’m happy to report that her lyrics are heartfelt and graceful without being slick.  Rob Reich adds his own unusual flavorings and Leon (as is his habit) heats the place up in four bars. 

The songs are Sing On (Odessa Sing On)  (5:07) / Little Sweetie  (3:19)  /  Doublebarrel  (4:31)  /  Waiting  (3:25)  /  Pazzo  (3:10)  /   Maripoza Waltz  (3:33)  /  Pearl  (6:30)  /  Sergei Stomp  (2:50)  /  Angel  (5:00)  /  Amnesia  (4:13)  /  Lover, Come Back to Me  (6:08) //

I can’t write (even in jest), “Look for it wherever better books and records are sold,” but it is available as a CD or download through http://www.portofrancorecords.com.