Comedies For The Young @ The Stone 12/2/12

Just look at the lineup and you already know how phenomenal it was.  I was captivated by Mathias, the only one I wasn't previously familiar with.  He had lots and lots of stuff at his percussion setup and he played all of it.  I just did another amazing workshop with Ariel & Shya Kane and I would say he was very present to know exactly what to play and when and what to do with it.  There was no thinking involved, just being.  Charlie was inspired to put his guitar down a couple of times and play one of Mathias' instruments;  a cowbell with stick one time and the bass drum another.

Scott had a drumkit, some percussion things, and some electronic boxes and he was awesome.  He played thumb piano for a bit.  Nels had his guitar and electronics and was always great.

It was all improvised, intense, and amazing.

Comedies For The Young Mathias Bossi (percussion, voice) Scott Amendola (drums, electronics, percussion) Special Guests Nels Cline (guitar, stuff) Charlie Hunter (7-string guitar)

Some Cat From Japan @ Brooklyn Bowl 12/22/12

Wow! They were losing the audience, so instead of waiting until 12:30, they went on not too long after Anders finished.  Very cool since Metzger and Bolivar were in both bands and just played a 2 hour set. 

It was awesome!  I was going to stick around because I hadn't seen them yet, but I wasn't expecting anything great.  Well, great it was.  I had an awesome time.  I slipped out during a slow song, which sounded great, I just knew it was time for me to leave.

Some Cat From Japan (ft. Nigel Hall, Scott Metzger, Will Bernard, Eric Bolivar & Ron Johnson)

Some Cat From Japan is a super group that explores the music of Jimi Hendrix. The group includes bass player Ron Johnson (KDTU, Brett Dennen) guitarist Scott Metzger (RANA, Particle, American Babies, Serena Jean Band, Bustle in Your Hedgerow), guitarist Will Bernard (Stanton Moore trio, Will Bernard trio, T.J. Kirk), keyboard player and vocalist Nigel Hall (Soulive, Eric Krasno’s Chapter 2, Lettuce, the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi band), and drummer Eric Bolivar (Bonerama, KDTU, Pimps of Joytime, Anders Osborne.).

Anders Osborne @ Brooklyn Bowl 12/22/12

This was Anders' last show of the year and it was a good one.  It was one long 2 hour set with a 2 song encore.  It rocked.  I loved that Scott Metzger was playing with him, he was awesome. I was happy to see Eric Bolivar on drums.  There were some others up there at times:  Charlie Musselwhite played harmonica on a few.  Nigel Hall came up and played keyboard for a couple and he sounded great.

For the encore, they first had Will Bernard and Ron Johnson join them.  They played a great Hendrix song that I can't remember right now.  Then we got a final encore with the band and 2 harmonica players.

It was awesome.

Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O @ Jazz Standard 12/18/12

It was Matt Wilson, Bill Frisell, Jeff Lederer, Paul Sikivie and special guests playing Christmas tunes their own way.  Joe Lovano played soprano sax on one.  There was a 7 person choir on a couple.  A male vocalist joined them on the last one.  It was fun and a great show.  I also felt more in the holiday spirit as a result.

It looks like there were different guests the next night, looking at the NY Times blog post below.

The listing:

Drummer Matt Wilson fires up his Christmas Tree-O, first heard on an enjoyable 2010 Palmetto CD, with reedist Jeff Lederer and bassist Paul Sikivie—plus a very special guest in maverick guitarist Bill Frisell. You'll hear a number of holiday favorites filtered through a refreshingly edgy postbop lens.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/arts/music/matt-wilsons-christmas-tree-o-at-jazz-standard.html?_r=0

MMW + Ribot Set 2 @ Blue Note 12/13/12

It just gets better and better.  It was as if their musical memory kicked in suddenly and they took it all to another level.  I don't even know how it's possible to top that amazing 1st set, but they did it.  It went to places only the 4 of them could go.  Forget my same setlist theory, this set was completely and totally different.  It really belonged in a standing/dancing venue.  There was also a dofference in that there were talkers there this set.  You could only hear them during the quieter moments, but it was wierd and annoying.  The music was too good to remember you were with other people.

They ended it with an amazing "Hey Joe".

I'm kicking myself for not buying tickets for the show with Mary Ehrlich and the straight up MMW.  My loss as I heard they were awesome.


http://www.jambands.com/news/2012/11/29/new-guests-added-for-mmw-blue-note-residency

Senegalese percussionist Aïyb Dieng and multi-instrumentalist Marty Ehrlich will join Medeski, Martin & Wood as special guests during some of their upcoming Blue Note residency shows. Dieng will play with the group on December 11, while Ehrlich will sit in on December 15. As previously reported, the modern jazz trio will also be joined by Wilco guitarist Nels Cline on December 12, guitarist Marc Ribot on December 13 and saxophonist Bill Evans on December 14. Their final residency shows on December 16 will be pure Medeski, Martin & Wood. The trio will play two shows per night throughout the residency, with one show at 8pm and one at 10:30pm.

MMW + Ribot set 1 @ Blue Note 12/13/12

Ribot!  As much as I absolutely loved the night before with Nels Cline, I loved this 10 times more.  I didn't know that was possible until I saw the 1st set.  The set seems like it may have been similar to the night before, as an idea, but then with Ribot they went in all kinds of different directions. 

Chris has a way of making the bass sound like a theremin.  He uses a stick, perhaps a drumstick, held vertically behind the strings at the base and the bow in the same area of the strings.  It sounds great.

Billy had all the stuff he had the previous night:  the aquasonic without water, basic drumkit, table gongs, those shaky things I still haven't found out the name for (not a shakere), a tambourine and this night he also had some kind of tribal whistle.  I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

John had most or all of his various keyboards.  He sounded great.

It was phenomenal.

MMW w/ Nels Cline 12/12/12

I went to both sets and they were incredible.  Yeah, it was pricey and I still hate Blue Note, but sometimes I gotta suck it up and it's usually worth the trouble.  I admit that one set was satisfying and enough, but 2 was definitely twice as nice.  While I saw some hardcore MMW fans listed a setlist, it seemed pretty improvised.  When you add another great improviser to the mix it's bound to feel that way.  Nels definitely fits in really well with them - it was as if he was always in the band.