Mario Pavone + Rashanim

I went to the 1st set at The Stone, Mario Pavone. Good stuff. I would call it lively jazz. It was very good and intense. I find it interesting that he categorizes himself as avant-garde and tends to play that circuit. I think I’m getting jaded because I didn’t think it was so new or different. It was great, however. I thought it was something you’d here at a fancy jazz club that plays great music, like Dizzy’s or something. Bernstein was awesome. I loved the drummer. He was a little different. The piano was a nice touch. They did one song with just the piano trio and Mario commented that’s the core and the music builds up from there as opposed to starting larger and building down.

http://www.mariopavone.com/home.html
http://www.mariopavone.com/artist.html

Mario Pavone Project
Mario Pavone(bass) Craig Taborn (piano) Michael Sarin(drums) Steven Bernstein(trumpet, slide trumpet)

I wanted more but didn’t feel like sticking around The Stone for a horn duo, even though I’m sure it was awesome. I then remembered there was some Jewish thing going on at Bowery Poetry Club and Rashanim was on the bill. I decided to head over and check it out. When I got there, there was a funky band playing and I figured it was worth the $7 to stick around for a bit. They ended quickly and there was going to be some poetry before the next band. The 1st guy was pretty good. I’ve seen him around the jazz circuit, at Vision Fest or something. He was reading a few poems from a book he wrote for Charles Gayle. He was an excellent reader and the poems had a lot of rhythm. They were kind of depressing, though. Next up was a woman who was difficult to listen to, she just had no energy in her reading. Then there was a guy who when they introduced him said he was guaranteed not to suck. Well, he sucked. At least according to the 1st 90 seconds, which was about all I could take. I took a break in the other room and came back when Rashanim was setting up. Unfortunately, the poets went long and their set was only 25 minutes. However, it was an excellent 25 minutes and saved me from being tired today. They played from 10:35 – 11, and were just excellent, every moment. It was rocking, grooving, free, etc. They had a guest drummer and I’m not sure who he was. He was great, though. I wanted a cd, but again didn’t want to wait until they packed up. They had to get off quickly so the next and last band could come on.

Overall it was a very nice evening.