Young Jazz Lions Stage
Jazz on Jackson
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2:20 PM James Falzone’s Klang: The Goodman Project Clarinetist James Falzone, leader of Klang, clearly has a thing for the trio music of Jimmy Giuffre—a gorgeous, austere, and distinctive variety of chamber jazz that’s focused on the ensemble rather than the soloist. That’s not to say the group’s excellent studio debut, the recent Tea Music (Allos Documents), has a lick of slavishness about it, just that you can tell what their likely jumping-off point was: Falzone, bassist Jason Roebke, drummer Tim Daisy, and vibist Jason Adasiewicz, all of whom contribute tunes, function as a unit, forming an array of gripping unison patterns and abstract contrapuntal lines. For this performance Falzone will adapt that sound to pay homage to swing king Benny Goodman with a mix of originals and Goodman-associated classics. Frank Rosaly will replace Daisy and guitarist Dave Miller will sit in, playing Charlie Christian to Falzone’s Goodman. —PM
Jazz & Heritage Stage
5 PM Archie Shepp Quartet featuring Willie Pickens, Avery Sharpe, and Ronnie Burrage Back in the 60s Archie Shepp’s sandpapery tenor tone, uncompromising rhetoric, and association with John Coltrane tied him to the “new thing,” as free jazz was called at the time, even as his unironic rendering of Ellington’s “Prelude to a Kiss” on 1965’s Fire Music confirmed his engagement with jazz history. His latest album, Phat Jam in Milano (Dawn of Freedom), experiments with a newer thing—hip-hop—but the straight-ahead players behind him tonight, who include Chicago pianist Willie Pickens, should keep him rooted in tradition. —BM