In Europe with the Choir Invisible; Camila Nebbia and Michael Formanek
This week I’m on tour in Germany and Switzerland with saxophonist Charlotte Greve and bassist Chris Toridini with our collective trio, The Choir Invisible.
It’s our first European jaunt, and spirits are high. Last night’s concert, at the Kulterwerkstatt in Nuremberg, began with a set of Charlotte’s large ensemble music played by students from the HfM Nuremberg. During their soundcheck, I stood in the back of the group near the young drummers, getting some ideas, lending some support.
After the gig, the drummers and I sat outside and talked about Billy Hart, Tootie Heath, Mark Guiliana, Paul Motian, Josh Dion, Dan Weiss, Ari Hoenig, and Andrew Cyrille, which is my idea of a perfect conversation. They had some questions about NYC, were eager for any stories of friends, colleagues, and masters. Everyone gave me everything, so I give whatever I have to everyone, all the time.
It was a lovely gig, recorded by a local radio station to be broadcast on the internet and radio next week. Our brief jaunt is:
Monday, April 29th, Nuremberg, GE
Prior to this, I was touring with a brand-new trio featuring saxophonist Camila Nebbia and the great Michael Formanek on bass. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a touring group that was strictly an improvising ensemble.
Our dates were:
Thursday, April 19, Jazz Federation, Hamburg, GE
Friday, April 20, Sowieso, Berlin, GE
Saturday, April 21, Norden, GE
Monday, April 23, Blow Out, Oslo, NO
The Hamburg show was professionally recorded, I’m looking forward to hearing it.
Camila, Michael, and I first played a show at the Downtown Music Gallery in the summer of 2022, and then Camila organized this brief tour. As I was hoping, we had a great time and we’re looking for a way to make a recording and continue touring later this year.
I’ve then had a few days off in Germany, which I spent reading, walking, seeing some friends, working on some “bigger” posts— explorations of Kenny Clarke with Miles Davis, a look at Art Blakey and Donald Bailey with Jimmy Smith, and an interview with drummer/composer/vocalist Andrya Ambro that is almost in shape, notes on John Scofield’s trios and quartets, plus chipping away at an overview of the early Chano Pozo and Arsenio Rodriguez recordings…..
I do wish I’d finished more of the writing this month but I do think the work is moving forward, getting better, finding a center.
This would be impossible without your support, so once again: thank you all.
On Sunday, I visited the ‘Bach church’— St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where J. S. Bach lived and worked from 1723 until his death in 1750. I wasn’t there in time for a concert, but I sat in the church for about a half hour, letting something seep in.
On the train back to Berlin, I listened to some of Gould’s Well-Tempered Clavier and suddenly those imposing, rigorous Baroque essays sounded light, whimsical, discursive, playful, and human.
The statue in this photo I snapped projects an image of the man diametrically opposed to the feeling I got from Bach’s music that day, but I’d rather see a statue of a musician than anyone else: