Twi-night Double Header

I decided to catch two different shows tonight.

Infinite Partials

Infinite Partials was first up in the evening. I have known the Cellist, Andrew Davis, through a mutual friend and we had corresponded via email and phone, about various aspects of mastering a CD. Seeing an ad for their gig on Facebook, I decided to go check this band out in person, after failing on 3 prior attempts (for various reasons).

The Partials do a mix of originals and covers, in what I guess you would call an Americana style. The venue was great, the acoustics good, and helping the band sound great. Added pluses were an early start, and a family friendly venue. The patrons were really enjoying the band, with some dancing occurring. I enjoyed the music enough I felt compelled to buy their CD.

I have made a mental note to see this band again:

Ab Baars Trio with Ken Vandermark

I finished the night catching the second set of a Free Jazz show at the Victory Grill, featuring the Ab Baars (a Sax/Clarinet player) Trio from Amsterdam , and Ken Vandermark (a Tenor Saxophonist). I was already familiar with Ken's work from Powerhouse sound, and his solo efforts. I am a Jazz player, fan and like free Jazz. I have seen quite a few unusual improvisation shows in my past, the type where you have to be careful who you invite. This show was relatively tame in comparison.

This was also my first trip to the Victory Grill, and I must say that it is a great venue. It looks like it could get hot in the summer. It's nice to know that the Elephant Room isn't the only venue in town for Jazz.

The good parts of this show for me were the interplay between Ken and Ab. They did interesting things with their instruments, pulling out a lot of tricks. Over-blowing, playing harmonics, trading phrases, all coupled with some mutant counterpoint every once and while. I enjoyed the show in general, but I found the rhythm section to be a little mechanical for my tastes. I suspect I would have enjoyed them with a bit more swing (which probably really means that I would have preferred a different rhythm section).