I started at the Stone for the Burgon/Dunn duo. It was excellent! I mean stellar! It was very quiet, but great avant-garde at it's best. They are both top-notch and it was awesome to see them in that way. Just 2 string instruments, playing in very different ways, and sounding awesome.
When I saw Burgon moving her harp before the show, I started wondering how she transports it. I noticed a hand-truck-like cart, which I guess is what she uses. She sounded awesome and rarely plays it in the traditional way you think of when you think harp. She does a lot of plucking. At times, when she hit the high notes, it sounded kind of like the high keys at the end of the piano. It was really cool.
Dunn was awesome and I don't know if I've seen him in that guise before. He is excellent every time I see him, including last night. He made full use of the upright, playing the sides as well as the strings. He even has a bow that he plays the strings from the other side. It was really great.
Welcome to Buffalo
Trevor Dunn (bass) Shelley Burgon (harp)
Subtle, acoustic chamber-improv.
After that I headed up to Jazz Standard for Dave Douglas & Keystone. He keeps amazing me with how diverse he can get. This was kind of like jazz meets electronica meets funk. It worked. The bass was quite interesting, it looked more like an electric cello. It was pretty intense. Douglas and Strickland mainly played lively jazz, but I liked how it fit into the whole thing. The drummer was great. The guy on the rodes was pretty good as well, sometimes adding another bassline, sometimes playing a little melody. For the most part I liked DJ Olive, but there were a few times where I wasn't thrilled. Those times when he had the spotlight. Now, I was remembering it wasn't too long ago when I was violently opposed to anything that had a turntablist. I guess I've grown.
The last song was especially grooving and it was really really hard to sit. I got jealous of the employee who was standing by the soundboard and was able to dance a bit. I should try it again, maybe they've realized nobody is going to pull cabaret license crap on them in that space.
Douglas said they were recording the set and it should be up on his website by noon today. I haven't had a chance to look. I just googled to find the greenleaf site and also found an AAJ article:
http://www.greenleafmusic.com/
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=20449
Dave Douglas & Keystone
Dave Douglas – trumpet
Marcus Strickland – tenor saxophone
Adam Benjamin – Fender Rhodes
Brad Jones – bass
Gene Lake – drums
DJ Olive – turntables
Tickets: $25 / $30 Friday & Saturday
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