Double Bass Best Jazz Concert You've Seen?

[Clay_Bass]

What would you say is the best jazz concert/show/jam session youve ever witnessed? Mine is a jam session that occured after the Syracuse Jazz Festival. Rufus Rieds group only got to play a set of 3 songs that day on account of rain so the planned to finish the set later at the jam. That night Branford Marsalis' band played and was amazing. Anyways after Rufus's group finished up branford and his group came out. The line up was Frank Puzzulo on keys, Rufus on Bass, Jeff "Tain" Watts(UN-FREAKING-BELIAVEABLE and now my favorite drummer) on drums, Alex Sipiagin on trumpet,Bob Sheppard on tenor sax and Branford Marsalis on tenor. They just jammed standards for about 2 hours. Some memorable songs were stardust, softly as in a morning sunrise, and what is this thing called love.

 

[RD]

MJQ at Purdue University 1983 or so. It was called their reunion tour. Great show! Jackson, Lewis, Heath and Kay danced on my tympanic membranes.
RD

 

[Bethelbass1]

I saw the old Wynton Marsalis Septet in Sioux City, IA about 5 or 6 years back. They were swingin so hard and playing some sick stuff. I concetrated so hard for the 3 or so hours they played that I hurt afterwards. It was that concert that really helped me hear jazz on a new level.

 

[oliebrice]

Stan Sulzman quartet with Marc Copland, Drew Gress and Joachim Reuckert, in Sheffield about 3 years ago. I'd never heard any of them before, but it was the most exciting and interactive playing I'd ever heard, and Drew Gress' bass playing, for obvious reasons, was life changing.

 

[jazzbassnerd]

Scott Coley trio with Antonio Sanchez on kit and Chris Potter on tenor. It was at the Jazz Bakery in LA a little more than a year ago (I think. maybe almost two).

Amazing show. Kept me on the edge of my seat (literally) and tapping my foot the whole time. Great tunes and playing and everything.

I still remember how I feel from listening to that music.

 

[Aaron Saunders]

Double bill of Brad Mehldau (solo) and the Wayne Shorter Quartet at Massey Hall last...April? Great show.

 

[arnoldschnitzer]

VSOP at Avery Fisher Hall in NY, around 1980 (?). Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Tony Williams. Or I guess I could have just said Herbie, Wayne, Freddie, Ron and Tony! Amazing band...

 

[Jazzdogg]

About 24 years ago, went to hear Sarah Vaughan in a moderately-sized venue; we had great seats. Turned out, it was Sassy's birthday; for her encore, she sang about half-a-dozen tunes accompanying herself on piano. Unforgettable, and unbelievably musical!

 

[Sam Sherry]

Let's see. Tough choice between:

Fall, 1976. Bushnell Memorial, Hartford. Herbie Hancock, Bennie Maupin, James Levi and the young, sane, sober Jaco Pastorius present a collage of Herbie's music through the years.

Spring, 1981. Berklee PAC, Boston. Sonny Rollins opens for Freddie Hubbard.

Spring, 1982. Symphony Hall, Boston. Corea, Brecker, Gomez and Gadd play The Three Quartets, take a break and then back up Dizzy Gillespie for the second set

November 1, 2003. Merrill Auditorium, Portland, ME. Herbie Hancock Quartet with Gary Thomas, Scott Colley & Terri Lynne Carrington is utterly in the moment. Several hundred people leave the hall before the concert is over.

But all of that takes a back seat to:

June, 1981. Kix Disco Juice Bar, Boston. Miles Davis comes out of retirement in a 200-seat bar. First night, second set. Fourth night, first set. History is in the house. So am I, spinning a tape in my backpack.

MJQ at Purdue University 1983 or so.

Ooh. That brought back a bizarre memory of seeing that tour with a woman hitting on me after her daughter and I broke up. Ooh.

 

[tzadik]

I am trying to craft a response to this thread but there are too many great ones. I can't seem to narrow it down. I have been VERY very lucky...

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Agreed, impossible to pick one. I am looking forward to seeing Chick Corea and Gary Burton on the 15th.

 

[sibass89]

Mine was at the newly created New York Summer Music Festival. Dick Oatts came to give a master class and gave one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Dick Oatts, Jon Irabagon, Jason Rigby - saxophones
Roland Barber - Trombone
Nathan Warner - Trumpet
Bob Sabin - Bass
Brenda Earle - Piano
Gernot Bernroider - Drums
Jesse Lewis - Guitar

All of these guys are young and some of the big up and coming jazz musicians in NYC. Great show.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

Ray Brown Trio with Jeff Hamilton, and Benny Green at Kuumbwa in '93.
Also a great CD.

 

[Clay_Bass]

Dick Oatts came to give a master class and gave one of the best shows I've ever seen.

I actually saw dick oatts the night before the Branford show. He was playing with Joe Magnarelli, Sam Yehel, and I cant remember who the drummer was. That was really a great show and theyre all nice guys.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

I saw Ornette w/ Charnett Moffett and Denardo Coleman at the San Francisco Symphony Hall during the SFJazz Fest several years ago. Despite the nosebleed seats, the music made me feel as if I was on fire. I was an instant Charnett Moffett fan after that too. I'd never heard distorted Hendrix-like arco on a bass before..

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Spring, 1982. Symphony Hall, Boston. Corea, Brecker, Gomez and Gadd play The Three Quartets, take a break and then back up Dizzy Gillespie for the second set

Holy ****, that must have been amazing. Color me green!


Lessee, hard to choose between:

Ray brown Trio with Gene Harris and Jeff Hamilton at a tiny little club called "Othello's". A bud and I got there 2 1/2 hours before the show, grabbed the front table, and had a 16 course meal before getting our hair blown back by the happy energy these guys threw out all night. Unforgettable.

Fred Hersch Trio with Drew Gress and Tom Rainey. They never walked the entire first set. After about the second tune, I spent the rest of the night with goosebumps, and I knew that my life had just changed.

Chick Corea Acoustic band in Frankfort, KY, in - of all places - a hockey rink. The best live sound I've ever heard to date, and the band was absolutely killing all night. I remember sitting in a waffle house after the show talking to a bud whose mind was also blown by what those guys could do.

Frank Morgan and Cyrus Chestnut at the jazz factory, just this last year. I was eating dinner with my wife, and suddenly found myself with tears streaming down my face and onto my plate from Morgan's playing. My wife asked me worriedly if I was alright. I was way better than alright...

 

[Jazzin']

TOP 3
1. Kenny Garrett Quartet - Montreal Jazzfest 2006
2. McCoy Tyner Septet - Montreal Jazzfest 2006
3. Dave Holland Bigband - Montreal Jazzfest 2005

 

[Marcus Johnson]

As strange a dude as he is, I really enjoyed watching Dave Friesen in his duo with guitarist John Stowell back in the early 80's. They really had a great, modern concept for a jazz duo, and John Stowell is really a lovely guy. David was still playing his real bass at this point, and was playing some remarkable stuff; beautiful compositions. I wish he'd stuck around and finished the gig, but what he did play was great.

 

[dhadleyray]

Elvin Jones at Ronnie Scott's. I've never seen a drummer (musician) play like that.

 

[Bodin]

Agreed, impossible to pick one. I am looking forward to seeing Chick Corea and Gary Burton on the 15th.

The first time I went to NYC its for New Year's 02, and on Jan 1 I saw Chick and Gary Burton with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard at the Blue Note. What a great show.