Yale Percussion Group 2/27/26 Sprague Hall

 Billed as a send off for storied Yale professor Martin Bresnick, the winter YPG concert is must-see viewing for any music fan in the New Haven area. Free, open to the public, the concert must take place at Sprague Hall due to the size of the instrumentation. Huge grand piano, no less than six xylophones, marimbas,  drum kits, the evening is a delightful mash of music and performance art. Bresnick is in the same club as Glass, Reich, and Adams,  where the music is modern classical as shot through the YPG lens. The first piece was Bresnick’s 2007 composition Caprichos Enfaticos. A concerto in 8 movements, it was commissioned for Australian pianist Lisa Moore and the world famous So Percussion group. The work was inspired by Francisco Goya’s book of etchings Los Desastres de la Guerra, fitting for our time. The movements are titled “farandula” or “farandole” which was a chain dance popular in Provence. The show starts with Moore coming out and playing a xylophone sequence, the four students appear one by one and seamlessly push the chain forward. Moving from one side of the xylophone, pushed to the opposite side, pushed to a drum kit, Moore finally landed at the piano bench, her perch for the piece. The movements were fascinating with piano as counterpoint to the student banging. Drums, shakers, even a long tubular bell were expertly struck. Goya’s images were projected on the large screen to lend context to the farandula. The (translated) names of the movements also invoked context. The “ravages of war” movement had Moore playing a peaceful melody that was interrupted by the militaristic squall from the drummers. The  “ politician-against the common good” movement starred whistles and shakers that emphasized politicians as jesters. At the junction of each movement, the players froze for about 10 seconds, mid strike or plink as the case may be. The audience, fearful for clapping out of turn,  also froze. A wonderful composition that had Bresnick coming to the stage for applause was expertly delivered by the group and it’s commisionee. After the intermission, YPG director and Bresnick cohort Robert van Sice takes the mic. The next segment was called “A Bouquet of Surprises for Martin”. Apparently van Sice reached out to contemporaries to compose farewell minis for the event. Five short pieces were introduced by van Sice with stories of their Bresrelevance. One piece, by David Lang, had two marimbists interlocking an arm so that their one mallet was striking in front of the other player. It was mesmerizing from my stage right seat, I caught the students chuckling about their reach and proximity. van Sice, too, beamed from his stool, as if the shrooms were about to kick in. Another piece was composed by one of the students, Kyle Rappe, who seems to be heir apparent at Yale. The final flower was by colleague and New Music New Haven director Aaron Jay Kernis. A Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winner, Kernis came out with a choir of students to add to the YPG. He conducted his piece that was a riot of percussion and voice about the family cat. The final piece of the evening was Hallelujah Junction by celebrated American composer John Adams. Adams’ work has the expansive feel of Copland, and this piece was originally written for two pianos. Transposed for the group by Bresnick protege Doug Perry, the YPG reveled in its execution. My annual glowing review of this event is a bright light in a dark month.

Instantiations 2/15/26 Real Art Ways, Hartford

 We’ve established that local guitar hero and educator Joe Morris is a higher order thinker. He teaches at the distinguished New England Conservatory and wrangles a monthly jazz series formerly known as Improv Now. Joe changed the name to Instantiations which requires some Websterin. Turns out that instantiations refers to “the act of representing an abstract concept with a concrete example.” The music is certainly concrete, but covered in the abstract. Today’s offering had Morris on guitar, Adam Matlock on accordion, Diane Buetner on clarinet and bass clarinet, and Yoona Kim on ajaeng (a bowed zither from Korea). Regional improv masters, this crew fashioned a heady stew of sounds. The mix of instrumentation was fascinating. Morris quietly squiggled, Matlock could sustain a note indefinitely, Buetner’s bass clarinet gave a cartoonish vibe, and the ajaeng emitted a wide array of sounds. At the start of the set, Joe mentions that next month he will receive a lifetime achievement award at New York’s Vision Festival. Adventurous music for a wintry a Sunday afternoon.

Meshell Ndegeocello No More Water- The Gospel of James Baldwin 2/6/26 Sprague Hall

 Grammy winning electric bassist Ndegeocello presents a wonderful Baldwin tribute as part of the Ellington Jazz Series. The show was highly anticipated and was sold out months in advance. As the first woman to be featured on the cover of Bass Player Magazine, Meshell is an uncompromising artist that refuses to be pigeonholed. An in-demand bass player, she has played with a wide array of artists including The Rolling Stones, Madonna,  James Blood Ulmer, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and Chaka Khan. Her projects include works related to Sun Ra, Nina Simone, and on this evening James Baldwin. A pivotal voice in the Civil Rights Movement, Baldwin’s work seems just as pertinent in 2026. The show kicks off with an opening set by Jake and Abe. As part of Meshell’s band, Jake Sherman on organ and Abraham Rounds on drums played some cuts from their new album Finally, aptly named by Meshell cuz it took forever to be released. After some light opening tunes, the meat of the tomato ensued. Meshell, Jake, and Abe were joined by vocalist Justin Hicks and guitarist Christopher Bruce. Baldwin’s visceral take on the plight of African Americans is on full display. Meshell would read or recite some passages from a paper that resembled a newspaper. At one point, the page she held up read “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do”. Topical in today’s information- rich but truth-deficient times. Vocalist Hicks had a wonderful haunting style that brought me to tears at several points. The interplay of male and female voice is always compelling, Justin and Meshell were no exception. I did not spend time with the recording prior to the show and was blown away by the performance. Songs like Travel, The Price of the Ticket, What Did I Do? , and Trouble were expertly delivered. For one tune Hatred, she quietly chanted  “ hatred, that which causes so much destruction, never fails to destroy the one who hates”, we can only hope. Disdain for “the other” is a well worn thread through our society, and Baldwin’s observations ring so true today. I notice that this group will soon be heading to Minneapolis, warriors on the current battle of love versus hate.

Patrick Bartley Quartet w/ YUJC 1/31/26 Sudler Hall at Yale

 The Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective is a loose assemblage of well connected jazzbos that flex for an annual festival. Usually held in the spring, this one took over the final weekend of the longest month of the year. I’ve seen such luminaries as Randy Weston (at Toads!), Dave Holland, Jason Moran. Recently, the emphasis has been on emerging talent, young lions so to speak. Nate Smith and Kinfolk, Dezron Douglas, and this years offering, Patrick Bartley are all new to the scene.

The afternoon show starts with a set by the students. Piano, bass, guitar, drums, clarinet, and dueling saxes made up the septet. A disparate group of nerds might birth a future lion, more likely a behind the scenes, Yale-educated, inhabitant of the music teaching or business world. A capacity crowd at Sudler enjoys their offering.

The beauty of highlighting emerging talent is to see new directions in jazz. Dezron Douglas shared the stage with Phish and Patrick Bartley has the notion of fusing video game music with jazz. A self-deprecating intro has Bartley describing his slacker youth as a video game obsessed anti-student. His suffering grades would inhibit entry to such a prestigious school but, here he is. He polls the audience as to their familiarity with video games. 62 year old me is in the minority, with absolutely zero knowledge or interest in the genre. The set is fascinating as the quartet blows through Pokémon, Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, and others. Having no baseline for the tunes, I am pleasantly surprised by how complex the renditions are. Mario has a distinct tradjazz feel while Final Fantasy feels like a film score. The other players were also jazz visionaries. William Schwartzman on piano, Wallace Stelzer on bass, and Dom Palombi on drums capably handled their roles. Turns out that Patrick is Grammy-nominated and has played with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Emmet Cohen, Herbie Hancock, and Carole King. Lead jazz nerd seemed Asian-American and met up with Patrick in Japan, a hotbed of video game music I assume. There has always been a push-pull relationship between tradition and the notion of “music” with jazz roots. I am happy for the existence of the YUJC who continually shine a light towards the future.

Frederic Acquaviva and Kombat Diva 1/28/26 The Institute Library

 The Institute Library, established in 1826, is the oldest membership library in the US. Occupying a second and third floor of a lower Chapel street address, the IL is not easy to find. With no real sign, one must trust one’s own wits, entering to a stairway with a meek placard that says “we’re open”. On this block, we’re open could have led me to a hair braiding or yoga studio. Happy to enter the library, a long thin space with floor to ceiling shelves of books that ends in a comfortable reading room. The incredulous librarian takes my entry fee while feebly trying to explain the “music” that is about to happen. “I see plenty of weird shit” I explain while finding a chair amongst the 30 brave souls who thought it would be a good idea to leave the couch on this sub zero evening. The self taught Acquaviva is a prolific artist on the underground experimental music scene. He works on the notion of “oxymoron” and the intersection of voice and computer editing which includes video, text, or livestreams. Lore Lixenberg is a mezzo-soprano sound artist that performs under the moniker of Kombat Diva. The performance is choreographed by Frederic who remains hidden amongst the books. The show starts with Lixenberg rolling her suitcase through the crowd. The Doppler of the rolling casters clanking over threadbare carpet and hardwood is mesmerizing. She settles in front of the audience and performs a series of skits that were numbered “musicas”. Seems that Acquaviva has created a work called 120 Musicas, small vignettes that use found sounds or music. I should have been tipped off when Lixenberg starts the sequence by stating “ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight’s performance. We ask that you turn your cellphones……On, for the duration of the show”. She starts with some passages of yelping, high pitched squealing, and other vocalizing. She pulls out her phone and wanders the room taking selfies with the audience while sticking her tongue out and blowing raspberries. At one point, Elton John’s Rocket Man plays loudly while she reads a biographic passage of Wagner. Then Wagner plays while she reads a biographic passage of Elton John. She polls the audience if they have any “musical allergies”. Country music, bagpipes, death metal, the open minded attendees found joy in explaining their allergies. She finds one audience member and coaxes some bills from her wallet. She proceeds to crumple and fold the money in close proximity to the woman’s face creating her own personal performance. After a short set break, the lights are turned low and Kombat Diva emerges, dressed in a sequined Sun Ra frock and head dress. Her head gear is made from CDs strapped together to completely shroud her face. This is her piece called Panic Room. She roams the audience and sticks her shrouded face at people asking if they are “panicked”. She does this in operatic tones which adds to the surreality. She asks me if I am panicked, to which I reply “no”. “Why not?” This is normal for me, I reply. She settles on Martha Willette Lewis, Institute Librarian and local DJ on the fiercely independent WPKN. Martha joins Kombat Diva up front and proceeds to be psychoanalyzed by the opera singing figure. Trippy video backdrop has a calming effect for this panic room. As I exit the performance, I encounter the librarian and tell him his lack of description of the performance hit the nail on the head, it was truly indescribable.

Kayodot w/ Tongue Depressor 1/8/26 Space Ballroom

 Local string wranglers Henry Birdsey and Zach Rowden form the duo known asTongue Depressor.  Zach bowed a standup bass while Henry played some sort of bagpipe. I asked local scenester and instrument aficionado Adam Matlock for a ruling on the pipes and he thought North Umbrian Pipes. The pipes are perfectly suited for instrumental drone music. The bowed bass had swoops and scrapes, while the pipes could sustain a note indefinitely. They played one long song. Henry usually plays fiddle but must have gotten the pipes for Christmas.

NYC outfit Kayodot has been around for years. I remember seeing them in the back room at Bar in the early aughts. Led by bassist/ vocalist Toby Driver, the lineup seems to have evolved. Keyboard player also played clarinet and sax, fiddle player also played trumpet, guitar, and in your face prog drumming rounded out the quintet. The music was a muddy prog metal mix with Driver’s vocals often distorted. I previewed the recent release and it had some sections with aggro death metal vocals. Towards the end of the set, a bald, leather panted biker hops on stage to supply the growl. The problem with being a genre defying group is that the sound often gets lost in the schizophrenia.

Ingrid Laubrock’s Grammy Season 12/19/25 Firehouse 12

 Fitting artist to close the 2025 Fall season and celebrate 20 years of phenomenal jazz from the folks at the Firehouse. Laubrock has graced the Firehouse many times over the years and her evolution from squawking busker to compositional wunderkind has been a pleasure to view. The trimmed Grammy Season lineup has Ingrid on saxophones, Brandon Seabrook on guitar, Shawn Lovato  on standup bass, Tom Rainey on drums, with special guest DoYeon Kim on gayageum. Ingrid starts with fire and toggles easily from soprano to alto, carrying herself as the bandleader. Seabrook is a Firehouse regular and seems at home with delicate shading or strenuous noodling. At one point, Brandon scrapes what looks to be a small tape player on his strings giving a haunting word-less vocal quality. Lovato’s capable bowing or plucking along with Rainey’s understated timekeeping forms the canvas for the others to spill paint. The gayageum is an odd Korean instrument like a large zither, Japanese koto, the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Vietnamese Dan tranh, the Sudanese kacapi, or the Kazakh jetigen. With 12 strings, it looks like a diving board with a couple of bridges. The sound could morph from harp, to acoustic guitar with a decidedly “eastern” accompaniment. Laubrock’s excellent recent recording Purposing The Air has her conducting a series of duets based on a book of poetry. Makes sense that one of tonight’s pieces was inspired by a Rilke poem. Firehouse owner Nick Lloyd came out to thank the audience for years of support. The thanks go both ways as I am very grateful to have participated heavily over the past two decades.