Anyone here from Philly? What's the jazz scene like?

[MikeBarber]

About a year and a half ago I moved to Columbia, Missouri from Hamilton, Ontario (yes, that's Canada... please don't hate me for my health care) to live with my wife (seemed a good idea at the time ) who is from Missouri and was going to University here. She just got accepted into the "International Conflict Resolution & Peace Studies" MA program at Arcadia University (in Glenside, PA... a suburb of Philadelphia).

I've never been to Philly. I here it has something of a jazz scene. What's it like? Will an avant-garde guy like me feel at home?

[MikeBarber]

Originally Posted by DZ

You do know Arcadia's former name i hope...

Yes, yes I do. Made me laugh pretty hard, especially considering I'm a Canuk.

Remind's me of Bob Jones University, or BJU for short.

Originally Posted by DZ

No, you will not feel at home as an avant-gardist; take it from one.

The jazz scene here is 98% II-V-I....The upshot is that we have a bumper crop of talent here tho most of it lies with guitarists and pianists so most of the shows you will see are high quality.

That's a little depressing, but what I am used to. Hamilton has jazz every night of the week, but little that comes close to venturing outside the box... same here in Columbia (bare in mind, Columbia is a small University town).

Originally Posted by DZ

some places that offer jazz:

Ortliebs - ultra trad jazz. they have an open mic night but
the house band consists of Snobs.

Chris' Jazz Cafe - first rate small bands. You might catch
Jimmy Bruno or Pat Martino here. small and
intimate place

Zanzibar Blue - Upscale jazz dinner club.

The Tritone - the only place to catch some avant-garde music.

There are of course hundreds of other places but these are the first to come to mind.

IF you like your jazz buttoned down you will like Philly...

woo-hoo is this the kind of place that I can expect to here "Take the 'A' Train" no matter where I am?

[MikeBarber]

Originally Posted by DZ

A-Train...not quite that bad but not much more....

I swear, if I hear that tune one more time...

Originally Posted by DZ

The jazz that is performed in the city is generally of a high quality and if you are like me you will appreciate the contributions of the performers regardless of the material covered.

Yeah, I do appreciate the quality of a performance... but I can only take so much. Great playing is great, but old hat is old hat.

I am curious to here more about The Tritone (which is also my most favourite of intervals) and the acts it puts on there. What can you tell me of the avant scene?

[ee-san]

Been to the Ortlieb's jam a couple times when I was visiting family back in Philly (where I grew up). It's pretty much straight-ahead playing. I didn't find the people to be snobby but the playing was very demanding when I sat in. That would be a good thing, in my opinion. I believe Philly is like most cities in not having much of an avant-garde scene but there may be some outside players around looking for colleagues.

Arcadia used to be an all-women's school named Beaver College.

[Ed Fuqua]

Tweren't Dave Crackhousekey doin an avant scene in Philly? What's up with the Painted Bride, the only time I played there was with an "out to lunch" bunch...

[Ben Rose]

**note: I haven't lived in Philly for 5 years***

One of the best things that I remember about Philly jam sessions is that they were led by instrumentalists instead of vocalists. That makes a world of difference in the tunes picked.

DZ, do you know if the jam session at Chris's is still led by an organ trio?

[jbass24]

Check out the ars nova workshops (usually through the slought foundation) for avant-garde or free jazz in philly. Michael Formanek is playin this sunday. Although the playing is traditional in a sense, there are some guys doing some pretty interesting things (without going to far out) like Jimmy Bruno, Pat Martino, Tony Micelli, Mike Kennedy, and Chris Faar.

[Fretless5verfan]

The Jimmy Bruno trio has become almost a house band for chris'. The crowd sucks, but jimmy and the gang are a blast to watch...for a while. I met my first 21 year old female jazz snob there...needless to say, we didn't get a long

Anyone find anything new lately in the Jazz scene?

[Fretless5verfan]

Originally Posted by Don Zebrauskas

david murray at the 5 spot tonight.

Argh...i'm going to see Marcus Miller and Stanley Clarke tonight in glenside.

[Fretless5verfan]

Pretty good show. Definately not a crowd full of musicians though

P.S. Where your ears burning at the show? Me and my buddy Bobby where talking up a storm about you and Ken Smith

[Fretless5verfan]

Originally Posted by Don Zebrauskas

only from the loudmouth's next to me... did you see Ken ? and what were you talking about ?

I know what you mean. Some of the people there were ridiculous. "TURN THE TOM TOMS UP!"

No we didn't see Ken, was he there too?

We were mostly talking about coordinating a trip up to the shop at some point. We were also talking about the differences in the models and which ones we really wanted to play(again).

[Fretless5verfan]

Originally Posted by Don Zebrauskas

yeah he was there. most of the guys from the shop were there. I went to the 5 spot after and caught the second set of David Murray (Jamaaladeen Tacuma was with him.)

Damn, we figured it would've been near over by then. Where is the 5 spot anyway?

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Don Zebrauskas

only from the loudmouth's nex tto me... di you see Ken ? and what were yo utalking about ?

Yes, I confess, I actually went to a Concert. Actually, I set-up Stanleys Bass just before the sound check. I was there from around 2pm. When Stanley pulled the Bass out of the trunk and took off the cover, the Bridge was way out of wack. He plays with such low action, I could barely pull on the string. Anyway, I centered the Bridge, rasied up the adjusters and got it playable. I even did a little duet with Stanley on Piano playing Stella but George came over and showed him some of the changes that he was playing wrong. No offence, but Geroge Duke plays better piano than Stanley..lol

I sat in the back left row 'V' for Marcus and then went back stage between shows. My son was doing a TV taping and was on his was back so I stood in the back waiting for him and he missed only a tune of so of Stanley but missed all of Marcus. They know each other well so no major loss there. I ended up leaving sometime around midnight after all was said and done.

Nothing like a modern Hendrix that plays the Double Bass.. lol

[Fretless5verfan]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

Yes, I confess, I actually went to a Concert. Actually, I set-up Stanleys Bass just before the sound check. I was there from around 2pm. When Stanley pulled the Bass out of the trunk and took off the cover, the Bridge was way out of wack. He plays with such low action, I could barely pull on the string. Anyway, I centered the Bridge, rasied up the adjusters and got it playable. I even did a little duet with Stanley on Piano playing Stella but George came over and showed him some of the changes that he was playing wrong. No offence, but Geroge Duke plays better piano than Stanley..lol

I sat in the back left row 'V' for Marcus and then went back stage between shows. My son was doing a TV taping and was on his was back so I stood in the back waiting for him and he missed only a tune of so of Stanley but missed all of Marcus. They know each other well so no major loss there. I ended up leaving sometime around midnight after all was said and done.

Nothing like a modern Hendrix that plays the Double Bass.. lol

I knew there was a reason Stanley looked extra comfy on his basses


Bobby Ishmail was telling me a story before we got to the show about how you guys met at the old guitar show out in King of Prussia and he asked you if you worked for ken smith! I laughed about it for ten minutes...until i realized that i had no idea what you look like either. First thing i did when i got home was learn "Frankenstein" and google you. lol

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Fretless5verfan

I knew there was a reason Stanley looked extra comfy on his basses


Bobby Ishmail was telling me a story before we got to the show about how you guys met at the old guitar show out in King of Prussia and he asked you if you worked for ken smith! I laughed about it for ten minutes...until i realized that i had no idea what you look like either. First thing i did when i got home was learn "Frankenstein" and google you. lol

Did you get what you needed from Google? By the way, Stanley and I have a long long history together. When he got his first major Job with Horace Silver, I was the Bass player he was replacing. When he moved to NY from Philly, I was his 'go-to' guy. I knew the town and was able to hook him up when he needed something from repairs to Bows to Basses.

With my business as it is now, I try not to go into too much detail about my playing career. Until I retired from playing I could hardly sell a single Bass in NY to the main Pros. Things are way different now since I retired from playing. Working on Stanley's Bass and playing it at the sound check was priceless.

[Fretless5verfan]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

Did you get what you needed from Google? By the way, Stanley and I have a long long history together. When he got his first major Job with Horace Silver, I was the Bass player he was replacing. When he moved to NY from Philly, I was his 'go-to' guy. I knew the town and was able to hook him up when he needed something from repairs to Bows to Basses.

With my business as it is now, I try not to go into too much detail about my playing career. Until I retired from playing I could hardly sell a single Bass in NY to the main Pros. Things are way different now since I retired from playing. Working on Stanley's Bass and playing it at the sound check was priceless.

Yup

Man, that's really interesting! It's cool to see how people are connected like that. Makes me wish i was around in those days.

[Bobby King]

Hey, I'm originally from Philly (I've lived in Nashville, TN since 1991) but still have a lot of friends and family there and I visit often.

One old friend who's a great bassist is Steve Beskrone. Steve teaches at the University of the Arts and has worked with Ray Charles, Horace Silver, Pat Martino and others. Another great player/friend is Chico Huff, who plays with pianist Dave Posmontier and the Irish- fusion band Solis. Do any of you know Steve or Chico?

Solis has been produced by my old best friend John Anthony who coincidentally, lives in Glenside, right near the Keswick Theater and the former women's junior college, Beaver College . John co-owns Maja Audio in the Society Hill Towers complex.

There's always been great jazz in Philly. Anyone remember The Showboat Lounge (later The Bijou Cafe)? Trey's Lounge in Germantown?(where I sat, transfixed, directly in front of Charles Mingus for hours). The Aqua Lounge in West Philly? Geno's Empty Foxhole on the Penn Campus? (people like Sun Ra, Stanley Clarke, Gary Bartz and Reggie Lucas would play there).

You might not believe it, but Nashville has a decent jazz scene these days!

[Fretless5verfan]

Originally Posted by Bobby King

Solis has been produced by my old best friend John Anthony who coincidentally, lives in Glenside, right near the Keswick Theater and the former women's junior college, Beaver College . John co-owns Maja Audio in the Society Hill Towers complex.

Wow! That's awesome. I've wanted to record there with my band for the last 18 months almost. Seems like an awesome place to play. Sadly, my band is quite...how you say...lazy and unreliable

Is there anywhere to find Solis music? Sounds really cool

[Bobby King]

Originally Posted by Fretless5verfan

Is there anywhere to find Solis music? Sounds really cool

Oops, I spelled that wrong, it's : Solas

Try this:

http://www.solasmusic.com/

[Fretless5verfan]

Originally Posted by Bobby King

Oops, I spelled that wrong, it's : Solas

Try this:

http://www.solasmusic.com/

lol yea that made the search rather hard

They're playing pretty close to me in august. Hopefully i can catch them then.