DMG Benefit @ Roulette

I had trouble leaving on time because I got sucked into a movie on HBO. I ended up tearing myself away at a huge part, where 3 big things were happening. Still, I did see the beginning before and eventually I'll catch up with the end, it is HBO after all.

I got to Roulette at 8:40 and they were already on, as I knew they would be. Anything with John Zorn in it tends to start on time or occasionally a few minutes early.

I am so glad I came out for this. It was awesome. Belogenis, Blumenkranz, and Wollesen already have a CD together, Unbroken. The 1st set was them with Zorn sitting in as a special guest. It was awesome. I loved it all. After a while, Zorn sat down and it was just the trio. We also got some great Shanir/Kenny duo time. The bass solo and drum solo were awesome. There was a lot of groove to a lot of it as well. I loved it. It ended at about 9:20.

There were also some great cookies and fruit courtesy of Bruce and Manny.

The next band was The Downtown Horns, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, and Sabir Mateen. That's always good. They also had special guest Steve Dalachinsky read some poems. He read one for the new DMG, one for Roy, and one from listening to Daniel. I think there was a 4th for the New Year. That set was approximately 9:40-10:25.

I am sorry I couldn't make it to the benefit at Bowery Poetry Club on 12/17. I had intended to go, but as usual, couldn't get myself to leave the department Holiday Party. I learned so much about jazz from going to Downtown Music Gallery. Even their display window is a wealth of knowledge. I used to go and buy anything that looked interesting from the used CDs. I would also by the new ones when they had plastic around them with one of the artist's names and an exclamation point. I remember when Bruce sold me the new Albert Ayler box set. It was like magic the way he was showing me the contents. There was no way I could leave without that box. Its still one of my favorite things that I own. He told me they sold 100 of them and the company gave them a free one. Now that I know the drill, I can easily understand why it was so popular with their clientele.

Anyway, it was a great night and if you aren't already familiar with DMG, check them out online and at their new location.