Saturday, January 1, 2011

My Jazz Highlights of 2010 #5:
John Escreet (with David Binney) breaks my brain in Toronto

I heard this group over 2 days at the Rex in Toronto, where I spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Deb. I didn't know John Escreet, but wanted to hear David Binney live. He killed (as expected), but what really surprised me was Escreet and his stunning compositions, layered and knotty and dark, calling to mind folks ranging from George Crumb to Cecil Taylor. I've been studying scores from his recording Don't Fight the Inevitable (available on his website) since attending these performances, to better understand how he got a quintet to do that stuff, and I'll be pondering his music, and being thrilled by it, throughout 2011 and beyond...

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