May
The Teresa Inês Quintet: Dreaming of Rio
1 MAY THU 8:30pm: $12
Born and raised in Rio and blessed with a warm stage presence and a sophisticated voice, vocalist/guitarist/composer Inês, whose music blends Brazilian samba and bossa nova with American jazz and funk, returns to the R with a top-shelf band, including Fernando Brandão (flute), Claudio Ragazzi (g), Fernando Huergo (b) and Steve Langone (dm).
The Steve Lacy/Danilo Pérez Duo
2 MAY FRI 7:30 & 10pm: $16
3 MAY SAT 7:30 & 10pm: $18
Over the years, soprano saxophonist Lacy has performed with his share of great jazz explorers-from Thelonious Monk and Gil Evans to Cecil Taylor and Don Cherry. After a lengthy expatriate stay in Europe, Mr. Lacy has returned to join the faculty at NEC. While here Mr. Lacy has embarked on a number of projects, and perhaps his most significant is a duo setting with his favorite collaborator, Panamanian pianist and composer Danilo Pérez, who is himself a leader in a new generation of jazz musicians. On this engagement, the pair will unveil their latest work.
The Steven Kirby Quintet
6 MAY TUE 8:30pm: $12
Jazz guitarist and composer Kirby returns to the R with Bill Cint (sax), Mark Shilansky (p), Keala Kaumeheiwa (b) and Mike Connors (dm) to celebrate the release of his new CD on A-Records, North Light.
The Dave Holland Quintet with Robin Eubanks, Chris Potter, Steve Nelson and Billy Kilson
7 MAY WED 8:30pm: $16; 8 MAY THU 8:30pm: $18
9 MAY FRI 7:30 & 10pm: $18
10 MAY SAT 7:30 & 10pm: $20
Last year was a standout year for Grammy-nominated bassist Holland, who swept. the DownBeat Readers and Critics polls for Jazz Artist of the Year, Best Jazz Album, Best Acoustic Jazz Group and Best Acoustic Bassist, as well as appearing in New England at both The Boston Globe and Newport Jazz Festivals. Now he returns to the intimate R, where he has nurtured his Boston audience for over decade, with bandmates Eubanks (tb), Potter (sax), Nelson (vibes) and Kilson (dm) to celebrate his new ECM CD, Vertical Vision. As Howard Mable in DownBeat opined "The Dave Holland Quintet stands as one of the tightest, most progressive and risk-taking working jazz ensembles today."
The Ben Schwendener Group
13 MAY TUE 8:30pm: $12
Acclaimed by audiences from Boston to Berlin, pianist Schwendener returns to the R with innovative saxophonist Bhob Rainey, bassist Bill Urmson and drummer Steve Chaggaris, with a special appearance by Shari Repasz and her modern dance trio. Mr. Schwendener offers fresh and exciting sounds in the contemporary jazz landscape, forging, according to Paul Robicheau in The Boston Globe, "a new sound in jazz."
The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra
14 MAY WED 8:30pm: $12
Hailed as "a bracing walk on the wild side of the big band spectrum" by JazzTimes and for its "crisp belting ensembles and uproarious but disciplined raves" by DownBeat, Aardvark, a 20-piece group under the direction of trumpeter Mark Harvey, celebrated the beginning of its 30th season here last fall and now returns with a passel of high-energy hits, including selections from its newly released all-Ellington CD.
Annie Royer: Cabaret de Paris
15 MAY THU 8:30pm: $16
International chanteuse Royer, a native of Paris (and now a Florida resident), is equally at home with the soulful songs of Edith Piaf as she is with jazz standards. Backed by her band, Les garcons musettes, she makes a welcome return.
The Rebecca Parris Quintet with Mike Monaghan, George Mesterhazy, Peter Kontrimas and Matt Gordy
16 MAY FRI 7:30 & 10pm: $16
The redoubtable Ms. P, who recently came in fourth (after Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves) in the DownBeat Readers' Poll, returns for another spring frolic with saxist Monaghan, keyboardist Mesterhazy, bassist Kontrimas and drummer Gordy. Her latest CD is The Secret of Christmas.
Roomful of Blues
17 MAY SAT 7:30 & 10pm: $18
Begun in 1968, the ten piece blues band has perfected and maintained its hard-driving, infectious energy and gritty attack. It was named Blues Group of 1996 and 1998 in the DownBeat Critics' Poll, has been nominated for four Grammys beginning in 1983 and won the W. C. Handy Award in 1998 and 1999. It returns to the R to celebrate its new CD, That's Right.
The John Payne Saxophone Choir
20 MAY TUE 8:30pm: $12
Saxman Payne returns to the R'bar with his quartet and reed entourage, whose performances The Boston Globe calls "a lot of fun for audience and choir alike."
Natraj with special guest Steve Gorn
21 MAY WED 8:30pm: $12
Selected as Boston's Best Jazz Band by the Improper Bostonian and nominated as Best World Music Act in the Boston Music Awards, Natraj returns to the R with special guest bamboo-flute/soprano-saxophonist Gorn, who will bring his mastery of Indian classical music to Natraj's blend of jazz, Indian classical and West African musics. He will collaborate with regulars Phil Scarff on soprano saxophone, Michael Rivard on bass, Jerry Leake on tabla and multipercussion and Bertram Lehmann on drums for another evening of vivid cross genre music. In the words of The Boston Globe, "Natraj blends complex tempos and traditions with graceful, hypnotic tapestry. Fusion is rarely this deep and exotic."
Eddie Palmieri y su Orquesta
22 MAY THU 8:30pm: $18; 23 MAY FRI 7:30 & 10pm: $20
24 MAY SAT 7:30 & 10pm: $22
Innovative Latin jazz pianist Palmieri returns to the music of his classic 60s ensemble La Perfecta on his latest Concord Jazz CD, La Perfecta II. His eleven-piece Orquesta renders classic salsa, charanga, and mambo performed by some of the finest musicians in the Latin and jazz idioms. Joining him are trombonist Doug Beavers, trumpeter Brian Lynch, trombonist Conrad Herwig, saxophonist Mario Rivera and percussionist John Rodriguez Jr. to make music you can dance to that also features creative jazz soloing of the highest order, and to complete the experience, the R will provide a dance floor.
Regattabar closed MAY 27
The Mark Kross Five-Piece Trio
28 MAY WED 8:30pm: $12
Pianist Kross, often seen around town in solo or duo formats, returns to the R tonight (and celebrates his birthday) with his group, now expanded further to a sextet featuring Herb Pomeroy (tp), John Pierce (tb), Billy Novick (reeds), Mark Pucci (b) and Gordon Grottenthaler (dm).
Donal Fox: Inventions in Blue with special guest Stefon Harris
29 MAY THU 8:30pm: $16
30 MAY FRI 7:30 & 10pm: $16
Innovative pianist/composer Fox defies any easy attempt at categorization. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and was nominated for a CalArts Alpert Award in l999 and 2001 for his ground breaking work in both the jazz and classical worlds. Jon Garelick of The Boston Phoenix, in reviewing his 2002 Blues on Bach show wrote "The music rocked...he set up fierce vamps, sometimes with a Latin montuno flavor, and played variations on the simple melodic material...it never stopped swinging." On this engagement he will premiere a number of new works inspired by Bach's Two-Part Inventions and present a few MJQ classics with vibraphonist Harris, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel, continuing his virtuosic explorations of classical and jazz masters.
Regattabar closed MAY 31
