- Peter Gannushkin / downtownmusic.net
- Pandelis Karayorgis at the Hungry Brain
Chicagoans usually have many nightly options when it comes to quality jazz, but this is an especially fertile weekend. In this week’s Soundboard I wrote previews for shows by violinist Regina Carter, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, and pianist Brad Mehldau, but there are three more strong bands—both local and touring—playing around town over the next couple of nights. Tonight at Constellation the fantastic Boston pianist and composer Pandelis Karayorgis will perform with the Chicago-centric quintet responsible for last year’s Circuitous (Driff), one of my favorite albums of 2013. It will mark the first time the group has played in town since the album was released.
More recently the reedist released three new duo recordings on his own Ramboy imprint with pianist Achim Kaufmann (a German musician also based in Amsterdam)—they’ve been playing together for 25 years, although they haven’t made many records together. Something Nothing focuses on original pieces by Moore, Nothing Something is a collection of improvisations, and Furthermore includes readings of eight compositions by the great Herbie Nichols (a strong influence on the playing of Misha Mengelberg, Moore’s boss in ICP) as well as a tune by Andrew Hill and one by Kaufmann. While Furthermore generally resides in a postbop bag, it shares a deep intimacy with the other two efforts, one revealing the sort of strong rapport between the players that requires years of development. Below you can check out “Crisp Day,” the opening piece on Furthermore.
