News

I’m always inspired by the deep musicianship of pianist Joshua White, and recently enjoyed two different performances with him in April. The first was an improvised concert at Dizzy’s in San Diego with his sextet, which also included Stephanie Richards, Ellen Weller, Mark Dresser, and Kjell Nordeson (thanks Robert Bush for the review!) . The next weekend, Joshua performed on … Read more

On Feb. 19 and 20, I have the privilege and pleasure of joining concerts at UC Irvine with a trio led by Kei Akagi, an outstanding pianist with a long and deep history in the jazz world including work as a sideman with Miles Davis, Stanley Turrentine and so many others. Kei has worked in a trio format for over … Read more

I started 2016 recording new albums with two of my favorite bandleaders and friends: the Mark Dresser Septet and Jason Robinson’s Janus Ensemble. Dresser’s group features Marty Ehrlich, Nicole Mitchell, myself, David Morales-Boroff, Joshua White and Kjell Nordeson. After a couple concerts in SoCal, we recorded in Hollywood’s famed EastWest Studios with the great engineer Ron Saint Germain (pictured here). That album … Read more

I had a great time subbing with the Steve Lehman Octet on a concert at Brown University in October. I’ve admired Steve’s music for years so it was great to experience it as a player, and a real pleasure to perform with this outstanding group of musicians that included Jonathan Finlayson, Mark Shim, Chris Dingman, Dan Peck, Drew Gress, and … Read more

I enjoyed starting fall 2015 performing with many outstanding and diverse musicians on a string of concerts in California. They included a double bill at REDCAT as part of the Angel City Jazz Festival, the first set with bassist Lisa Mezzacappa’s Glorious Ravage (pictured above), a wonderfully innovative, multimedia work about Victorian-era “lady explorers” featuring a 15-piece ensemble and several video artists, and the second set with … Read more

It was a pleasure and privilege to join Nicole Mitchell, Joelle Leandre, and Derf Recklaw for a set of improvised music at the Blue Whale in February. Joelle was passing through SoCal and gave a fantastic talk at our university that morning. She and Nicole have a unique duo together and played an incredible first set that night to celebrate a new … Read more

It’s always a joy to play with bassist-composer Mark Dresser’s quintet, on either coast. Last week, we performed some of Mark’s new compositions in San Diego with a west coast lineup, including flutist Nicole Mitchell joining the band for the first time, and pianist Joshua White and drummer Kjell Nordeson. Once again, the dedicated listener-scribe Robert Bush wrote a beautiful review of the concert.