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**pXss8cyx** · 02-20-2008, 01:46 AM

John, Hard Cell was amazing! Tim Berne is someone I've come to start really appreciating for the past few years. I tried real hard for 15 years, but found his writing & playing too.... loopy, swirling, kind of like Evan Parker's playing, but Evan I dug from the first note on. Go, figure... Now, whenever I get a chance to hear Tim in any situation, I'm there. I was a little concerned about Gerald Cleaver sitting in my man Tom Rainey's throne and Craig Taborn playing piano, instead of the Rhodes or some such, where he shines, imo. Craig's piano playing, though I admire it, has kinda left me cold in the past, with James Carter, Susie Ibarra & Jennifer Choi, Marty Ehrlich & others. Was I ever wrong!! It was as if he anticipated or was super-inspired by Cecil's presence in the area... his playing was bold, sublime, ferocious, awesome! Cleaver is his own man, a very inventive one at that. He's got a completely different vocabulary than Rainey does. Where Rainey cannot not swing (which to me is a good thing, too), Cleaver accesses more of that free European thing and does his thing really well. I guess, it's true what they say about one of the signs of a good band, how it responds to another good drummer and sounds very different, but very good. Berne was in top form, playing his own impossibly beautiful compositions so fluidly and with much heart, unlike how I perceived his playing as too cerebral in the past. I think, he'd had it with all the chatter from his involvement in at least 3 artist talks, was ready to communicate through his horn. Fabulous group interplay. Quite the memorable evening.

On a sour note, I couldn't stand the Bad Plus. I'd never heard them before. Kinda like Medeski, Martin & Wood with no soul or groovy feel. Not my thing.

Cecil was outstanding! He has not lost his fire one bit, nor his vision and sharp artistry, both as pianist and poet. I wish it was in a more intimate setting, but I doubt that it's possible (it was in the ballroom of the Mariott). I can now die a happy man -after I hear Braxton live, that is...

02-20-2008, 01:46 AM	#4
pXss8cyx Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 471 Senior Member	John, Hard Cell was amazing! Tim Berne is someone I've come to start really appreciating for the past few years. I tried real hard for 15 years, but found his writing & playing too.... loopy, swirling, kind of like Evan Parker's playing, but Evan I dug from the first note on. Go, figure... Now, whenever I get a chance to hear Tim in any situation, I'm there. I was a little concerned about Gerald Cleaver sitting in my man Tom Rainey's throne and Craig Taborn playing piano, instead of the Rhodes or some such, where he shines, imo. Craig's piano playing, though I admire it, has kinda left me cold in the past, with James Carter, Susie Ibarra & Jennifer Choi, Marty Ehrlich & others. Was I ever wrong!! It was as if he anticipated or was super-inspired by Cecil's presence in the area... his playing was bold, sublime, ferocious, awesome! Cleaver is his own man, a very inventive one at that. He's got a completely different vocabulary than Rainey does. Where Rainey cannot not swing (which to me is a good thing, too), Cleaver accesses more of that free European thing and does his thing really well. I guess, it's true what they say about one of the signs of a good band, how it responds to another good drummer and sounds very different, but very good. Berne was in top form, playing his own impossibly beautiful compositions so fluidly and with much heart, unlike how I perceived his playing as too cerebral in the past. I think, he'd had it with all the chatter from his involvement in at least 3 artist talks, was ready to communicate through his horn. Fabulous group interplay. Quite the memorable evening. On a sour note, I couldn't stand the Bad Plus. I'd never heard them before. Kinda like Medeski, Martin & Wood with no soul or groovy feel. Not my thing. Cecil was outstanding! He has not lost his fire one bit, nor his vision and sharp artistry, both as pianist and poet. I wish it was in a more intimate setting, but I doubt that it's possible (it was in the ballroom of the Mariott). I can now die a happy man -after I hear Braxton live, that is...
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