Sunday, March 22, 2009

Claudia Quintet @ Cornelia St 3/20/09

I walked in towards the end of the 2nd set and was very happy about my choice. The music was great and intense. I was especially happy with the vibes in the midst of all of those great musicians.. Its been so long since I've seen Matt Moran, I forgot he exists. I used to see him in all kinds of great stuff at Tonic, including The Claudia Quintet.

The 2nd set was awesome. There were some loud talkers back by the bar, which caused me to take a seat up front. That was a good move because everything sounded better up there. I really enjoyed watching Matt. He had a old-tyme type microphone at times, the kind that helps amplify but uses no electricity. It looks like of like a collapsible sip cup.

They were only going to do one more and asked us to vote based on the titles. I really wanted both, and I'm so glad both got a lot of votes even though the one about Denmark toilets was the clear winner. They surprised us and did "Jazz Envy" after that after all. AND they featured Gary Versace on accordion for that one. It was awesome. Gary was there instead of Ted Reichman, listed below.

I walked by 55 Bar on my way to Highline. I was contemplating seeing Chris Potter and Mark Turner. It was midnight, the first set was still going on (or they hadn't cleared the room, more likely), and there was a big crowd waiting to get in for the 2nd set. Boy did I have flashbacks to waiting outside much earlier than that, sometimes in bitter cold weather, to get into Wayne Krantz or Uri Caine's Bedrock. Needless to say, I didn't feel like waiting around or dealing with the tiny space. I need to get over that.

9:00PM & 10:30PM JOHN HOLLENBECK'S CLAUDIA QUINTET
John Hollenbeck, composition/drums/percussion; Drew Gress, bass; Ted Reichman, accordion; Chris Speed, clarinet/tenor sax; Matt Moran, vibraphone

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