JazzNights (38)
On Friday, March 12, 2010, JazzNights will present pianist Luis Perdomo with John Hebert on bass and Eric McPherson on drums. The concert will take place at 8 p.m. at the home of Judy Brodsky and Michael Curtis (53 Clarke Court, Princeton). We are asking for a donation of $50 per person and will send out a response form, directions, and a return envelope to all those who reserve places. You can email reservation requests to Mary at mary@wisnovsky (or by replying to this announcement).
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Please note: If you reserve but find you can't make it, please let us know as soon as you can. We will make reservations in the order we receive them. We often have a waitlist and can use the space, sometimes even at the last moment. We try to keep the costs as low as possible and "no-shows" inevitably raise the price to others in the future.
Some of you may remember the brilliant performance of the Miguel Zenon quartet at The Princeton Festival in June of 2007. At the heart of that exhilarating music was the young Venezuelan pianist, Luis Perdomo. We've been hearing him in clubs in New York and trying to bring him to JazzNights ever since - and we finally succeeded. Mr. Perdomo was born in Caracas in 1971, discovered jazz though his father's interest in all kinds of music, and came to New York in the early 1990's. He studied both classical and jazz piano, first at the Manhattan School of Music with Harold Danko and Martha Pestalozzi, then at Queens College with Sir Roland Hanna, someone who remains a great influence on him. During his studies he gigged around New York with, among others, Ravi Coltrane, John Patitucci, David Sanchez, Ray Barretto, and Brian Lynch. He is currently a regular member of the groups of Miguel Zenon, John Benitez, and Ravi Coltrane.
Don't expect "Latin Jazz" from this trio. Mr. Perdomo is a musical omnivore and his setlists and recordings tend to feature Jazz and American songbook standards as well as his own compositions. I heard two-thirds of this trio (Hans Glawischnig replaces Hebert) last May at Smalls and they played Evidence, Prelude to a Kiss, How Deep is the Ocean, and Softly as a Morning Sunrise along with two or three Perdomo tunes. My notes on "Softly" (freely translated into English from scribbles written in the semi-dark) describe the work of this group well, I think, and probably predict what you'll hear in March: "Perdomo plays serious, bop-influenced piano as McPherson whizzes and whomps, and Hans almost walks. What's not to love here? Super buildup of tension before they drop out for the bass solo, which builds the intensity back up to a set of fine, vigorous 4's." Then a bit of philiosophy "Standards are standards because they are good tunes and have developed a history - you can hear them in contrast to many other versions, and it is clear when a group has something new to say. A cliché tune? Not a bit in their hands - this one is a triumph of today/history. Loved it."
Luis Perdomo is one of the strongest, most inventive pianists in New York these days. March 12th promises to be a blast.
"A rather amazing improviser, [Luis Perdomo] is making a name for himself by feverishly assaulting the progressive edge of mainstream jazz."
The Village Voice
Bassist John Hebert (A-bear, he's from Louisiana) and drummer Eric McPherson have often played together. Indeed, they both play on one of the most important CDs of recent years, Andrew Hill's "Time Lines," and they contribute mightily to it.
"John Hebert and Eric McPherson are as agile and off-kilter as Hill needs the engine room to be. Hebert's fractured ostinatos are a thing of wonder throughout the album."
All About Jazz
John Hebert studied with Bill Huntington (JazzNights 6) in New Orleans and Rufus Reid (JazzNights 2, 18, and 37) in New Jersey at William Paterson University. He's an "indespensible presence" on the New York scene, and his first CD as a leader, Byzantine Monkey, came out a year ago on the Firehouse 12 label.
Eric McPherson was a prodigy, starting drums before he could walk - by beating on pots and pans. When he was three, he told the great drummer, Elvin Jones, a family friend, that he, too, was going to be a drummer. And so he is, first attending Jackie McLean's Hartt Academy in Hartford, and then touring fifteen years with Jackie until his recent death. He now plays all over New York and the jazz world.
This trio is likely to be exceptional. We strongly recommend it - hope to see you all on March 12th.
Some representative CDs:
Perdomo
Focus Point, (with Ravi Coltrane, Max King, Ugonna Okegwo,Carlo DeRosa, Miriam Sullivan, Miguel Zenon, Ralph Peterson, and Robert Quintero)
Awareness, RKM Music, KRM CD 1123, (with Glawischnig, McPherson)
Pathways, Criss Cross 1308 (with Glawischnig, McPherson)
McPherson
Continuum, Smalls Records, (with Hebert, Abraham Burton, Dezron Douglas, Shimrit Shoshan, and David Bryant)
Hebert
Byzantine Monkey, Firehouse 12, FH12-04-01-010, (with Tony Malaby, Adam Kolker, Michael Attias, Nasheet Waits and Satoshi Takeishi)
Hebert/McPherson
Time Lines, Blue Note 094633517028 - Andrew Hill, (with Charles Tolliver, Greg Tardy)