Tuesday, December 20, 2005

The Cool Concert Tour ('06 Edition)

The new year hasn't even started yet, and already I'm looking forward to several cool jazz concerts coming up in various parts of Texas next year:
  • March 3: Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra at UT-Austin. I've really been enjoying the two CD's I bought from her website recently; she's doing some of the best big-band writing out there at the moment, and her band is smokin'. I can't pass up the chance to see the whole band without having to go to New York to do so.

  • April 28: Joshua Redman at the Denton Arts/Jazz Festival. I haven't seen Redman live since 1999, when he played the Denton festival with a busted PA system; the result was intimate and amazing. I'm hoping he'll tour with the "Elastic" band, because I've really been digging their stuff over the past two CD's.

  • September 16: Dave Holland at the Jazz'SAlive festival, San Antonio. This is the same outdoor festival where we saw Wayne Shorter play a few months ago, on what was considered the Best. Roadtrip. Ever. Needless to say, I'm psyched that next year's headliner is equally cool.
So there you have it--three great shows already in the works (not to mention a possible Maynard trip in a few months, but I'm not going to talk too loudly about that one until I make sure he's not sold out yet). It's going to be another great year for live jazz in Texas...

I'm dreaming of a (monde)green Christmas: Snopes has once again updated its annual list of holiday mondegreens, which, as always, is incredibly funny. (For those not in the know, "mondegreens" are the phrases that result from mis-heard lyrics to songs; I still maintain that "Mondegreens" would also be a great name for an upscale drugstore.) I'll pass along the friendly warning not to drink anything while you're reading these, or you're likely to spray the keyboard.

Blowing out the candles: Happy Birthday Dad! I always miss getting to see him in person on his special day by maybe one or two days, but thank goodness for phone calls and e-cards and regular cards and all that.

2 comments:

Kev said...

Heh, well, it wasn't an intentional slight, it's just that...

1) I'm not that much of a shameless self-promoter (all that often) except on the sidebar, so I wasn't counting my own forthcoming appearance with Shew for that reason. Besides, the Cool Concert Tour tends to be stuff that I'm seeing as an observer and that might require a bit of a drive to go see.

2) I thought that Elling was a private thing, open to TI-ers and a few lucky lottery winners only.

3) I don't know a thing about Mahogany or "Waynard"--fill me in.

Kev said...

Excellent. Keep me posted on the status of all this, and once they're official, I'll be happy to trumpet them (wait--isn't that your job? Heh.) on a main post.