Anbessa Orchestra w/ Nick Dimaria's Wired 11/20/19 State House

Local trumpeter Nick Dimaria has assembled a hip cast of local jazzbo's to flesh out his Wired project. A friend said that Dimaria fashions the sound after Mwandishi- era Herbie Hancock. 70s horn driven big band funk is an apt jumping off point for this sextet. Organ, guitar, athletic drummer, bass, and sax join Dimaria's trumpet for a full blast that gives the individual players room to stretch out. I recognized the wool-capped sax blower from a recent multiplex skronk-off. Bass man
was steady, even giving rise to dubby backdrop for one tune. On some sections, the music reminded me of long lost British prog-jazz-rock outfit If. Closing tune was the title track from their excellent new release Mr. Millenial's Revenge.
Anbessa Orchestra came exactly as billed. Young crew steeped in the traditions of 60s-70s era Ethiopian funk. Guitarist and leader seemed a little older than the 20-something band mates. The group consisted of organ, drums, bass, trumpet, sax/flute, baritone sax, and guitar. The leader talked of specific scale structure and some historical context. The music was straight-up instrumental trance African. I had pleasant flashes of Antibalas and The Budos Band. What is it about the musical melting pot of Brooklyn that gives birth to all of these groups? Access? Pool of talent? No matter, this matching suited crew of African music acolytes cruised through their high energy set. Trumpeter was a site to see, dancing and bobbing his way through tunes, dude was definitely buggin. Wish there was more in attendance for this truly danceable set.

Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet 11/8/19 Firehouse 12

I take it for granted that Firehouse 12, a New Haven haven for improvised music,  is a magnet for top quality music exploration. Cornet player Taylor Ho Bynum is a progenitor of the venue, musically, and I think financially. The crew he assembled, is the Firehouse home team. Joined by Jim Hobbs on sax, Bill Lowe on tuba and trombone, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Ken Filiano on bass, and Mary Halvorsen on guitar, the sextet explored one long piece for the second set. Most of these musicians have some tutelage from the great Anthony Braxton, and it shows. One section had Bynum doing a circular breathing workout, another section had the brass "laughing" through cup mutes and plungers. The bass was furious providing some funk backdrop with Fujiwara. Much of the piece had some duo doing a lyrical passage under some improvised blowing.