Returning to this side of the globe from an astonishing trip to India. Music fills the air in India everywhere you go: from the ringing bells announcing the hundreds of worshipers to Hindu Temples in Jaipur every Wednesday to celebrate the Elephant God Ganesh’s birthday; to the chants and drums of Sikhs worshiping at their Golden Temple in Amritsar; to the blasts of horns leading daily processions through the streets of the desert towns of Bikaner, with camels and cows striding forth in their slow gait rhythms.

Upon return from this glorious adventure, I yearned for a dose of true grit and gusto from some Americana roots music and so landed at the Regattabar (www.regattabarjazz.com) in Cambridge, MA. last week for some swing and sway from a foursome of illustrious Vermonters who pulled into Beantown for this sold-out show: Jamie Masefield on mandolin (he of the Jazz Mandolin Project); virtuoso Doug Perkins on acoustic and electric guitar; Jon Fishman on drums (he of Phish and Jazz Mandolin Project rhythm devil fame) and the puckish young Vermonter Tyler Bolles on upright bass.

The Regattabar’s intimate confines were packed and the band immediately latched onto the heat and enthusiasm of the adoring crowd and tore into a medley of rambunctious acoustic string action.

Perkin’s “Hang Glide” ripped through the air with Masefield carousing on his crisp mandolin solo in partnership with Perkin’s soft and fleet guitar swipes. A great rollicking bass solo from Bolles also entered the fray with huge isolated plucks that rattled and shook the walls of the R-Bar (picking up a little tin fuzz from Fishman’s nearby snare as well). Perkins is one gifted guitar player, as well as a bold and adventurous songwriter.

The band featured several of Perkins’ compositions ranging from a lilting ballad, “Jill’s Waltz” (taken from his 2012 solo album, Music For Flat Top Guitar, [Thunder Road Records] to a happy-go-lucky “Troll Party,” steaming up with Perkins’ loose and free electric guitar work, all expansive and punchy.

From these delectable original creations, the band also swerved into traditional bluegrass territory serving up steaming hot medleys built around slap-happy railroad songs (“Reuben’s Train”); gospel soars (“Working On A Building”) and barn-burning licks (“Cattle In The Cane”). Each number brought its own glittering rewards: Perkins and Masefield trading high velocity solos; Bolles pumping his bass in deep and rich tremors and that little dynamo, Fishman, creating a churning engine of percussive sounds on his drum kit with a pair of light brushes as his vehicle. Those brushes (which Fishman utilized for the entire concert) lit up everything from a soft purring Rumba beat to a headlong boil of snare, tom and bass drum swagger.

From bluegrass to jazz and the blues, these four consummate musicians spread their wings and even tackled a little-known chestnut from Victor Young (who composed for Hollywood back in the 1930’s) entitled “Golden Earrings.” This number swept the audience off our feet with a version sounding like a sumptuous blend of Django Reinhardt swing combined with a Latin pulse – full of soft passion on Masefield’s opening mandolin solo (in which he took his time to deliberately pluck each note for its harmonic resonance).

Here was a band in joyous flight: moving like a butterfly lightly from flower to flower with sparkling mandolin and guitar phrases that swooped and combined in unfolding, spontaneous and beautiful ways. This is a band to watch and relish as they evolve further in their infectious, beguiling musical comradeship.

There’s another guy to keep an eye on in the swirling pot of great Americana roots scene creators, judging by his new full throttled recording. This is the singular new voice of Charlie Parr, ranging and raging through old blues, murder ballads and Spider John Koerner inspired originals in his 2015 release, Stumpjumper [Red House Records-www.redhouserecords.com].

Here is a string master and songwriter at the height of his powers offering songs that stick in your gut and your head, so much so that you may find yourself rolling over a lyric or two in your daydreaming moments or deep in the night. Joined by Emily Parr on vocals, Phil Cook on guitar and banjo, Ryan Gustafson on electric bass and fiddle and James Wallace on drums, Parr works his expressive music into a pounding, hypnotic brew. From the opening jostle of “Evil Companion” (with its crashing velocity of guitar strums, bass and drum thumps surging next to Parr’s feisty vocals) to the following gospel creaking number, “Empty Out Your Pockets” (with its spare banjo and electric twists), Parr is clearly on to something powerful. His voice is a perfect foil for all of this exuberant, irreverent action: craggy, gnarly, (thin as a reed) and full of raw vitality. The recording quality is not audiophile by any means, with compressed thinness and a small soundstage, but somehow this recording made at a farmhouse in North Carolina seeps into the mind and stays there, like a woodpecker burrowing into an old tree.

Parr’s artistry ranges from his feisty originals about humans scurrying, hording and celebrating to survive:  the round and round musical feast of “Falcon” (“when I pass by, Lord, please cover up my tracks”) to the title number, (a whirlwind of propulsive congestion, vocal soars and machine gun guitar brilliance). Parr also delivers lovely musings in soft, spinning ballads about family connections, memories and the passage of time. These include the beautiful, unfolding “Over The Red Cedar” (with Emily Parr’s soft harmonies perched next to Parr’s radiant vocal inflections and unflinching, circular guitar patterns) to the lovely “Remember Me If I Forget” with its chirp of light banjo and guitar, (with a pounding foot pedal on wooden floorboards keeping the airy song from launching into the air).

Parr follows with the soulful and spirited push of his “Temperance River Blues” – an original that floats on the virtuosity of Parr’s lyrics and arresting images – all caressed in his surging vocal and guitar wake. The album ends with Parr taking the great murder ballad, “Delia”, (made famous by the master rogue David Bromberg) and spins this tale in his own web of light guitar intrigue and vocal explorations. Parr is the real deal: a rover of Americana with nervy urgency and a virtuoso’s eye for the prickly facets of life.

If you would like to read more reviews like this one, visit Nelson’s blog at www.bostonconcertreviews.com.

The world came to Boston recently in a series of stellar concerts that swiveled the hips and transfixed the mind.

First up was the glittering show put on by Ricardo Lemvo and his Makina Loca Band on a mid-September evening at a packed Johnny D’s in Somerville, MA., as part of World Music/CRASHarts music series (www.worldmusic.org). The minute Lemvo and his band hit their first soaring notes, the dance floor was buzzing with crowded bodies swaying to the Angolan, Cuban street party sounds. Lemvo, who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Angolan family roots, is a vocalist who is unstoppable: his deep vocal delivery possesses a great mixture of ardor, smoothness and prankish fun. His voice is a perfect vessel to bring the kinetic grooves of this music to flight, with everything from salsa swing, Congolese rumba and Cuban son pelting forth in joyous abandon. The musicians joining Lemvo were all sensational, including sterling solos by Stephen “Mofongo” Giraldo on his soaring trumpet, and stinging, lilting guitar work from Huit “Wee Kilo” Kilos. Trombonist John Roberts was full of brawn and might, joining Papo Rodriguez in his percussive flights as they both punctuated Lemvo’s swaying vocals. After more than two hours of whirl and sweat, the band reluctantly left the stage at closing time to the ecstatic ovations from the effusive crowd.

To get a taste of Lemvo and Makina Loca’s glorious creative stew, grab a copy of their 1998 recording entitled Mambo Yo Yo [Putumayo;www.makinaloca.com] or their 2004 recording, Ay Valeria! [Mopiato Music] and wallow in the beautiful sway.

As a recording, Ay Valeria has a fuller sound (and a richer tonal palette to its brass and percussion sections) and Lemvo’s radiant voice is better integrated into a larger and deeper soundstage than found on the earlier Mambo Yo Yorecording, which, although rich in its own musical might, sounds a bit thin in the highs and less dynamic overall. Both recordings raise the roof off these life-affirming rhythms and grooves that Lemvo and Makina Loca have impeccably fused into their own dazzling dance party.

Down the street from the dance party at Johnny D’s lies The Burren, (www.burren.com) a rollicking little Irish pub with an intimate “Backroom” where, on October 10th, another slice of global grooves was taking shape. At this concert, Irish singer/songwriter Eleanor McEvoy brought her impeccable and searching touch to a song mix both “borrowed and blue” (the title of one of her originals on her 2008 frisky gem of a recording, Love Must Be Tough[Diverse Records; www.eleanormcevoy.com].

McEvoy held the audience at The Burren in the palm of her hand as she combined crisp guitar hooks with smart, sharply attentive vocals. In her eclectic mix, McEvoy addressed child sex abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Church; corruption in Irish politics and the highways and byways of love gained and lost. She effortlessly brought together influences as far afield as the glowing poetry of the Irish writer, Thomas Moore (1779-1852) to the lilting lyrics of the Beach Boys in her version of their classic, “God Only Knows” (which McEvoy delivered in spare and lucid vocals sitting at her keyboard). McEvoy’s guitar sound was dynamic, punctual and percussive, and she announced that for this concert she was utilizing a new instrument cable, (called an “Axe Angel”) manufactured by local high end audio cable company, Nordost (www.nordost.com) a company that has supported independent artists like McEvoy for many years. That dynamic and searing guitar sound shone best on McEvoy’s rocking and sassy side: particularly galvanizing on McEvoy’s knife-sharp version of P.F. Sloan’s 1965 protest song, “Eve of Destruction.” Her encore, (to the delight of the capacity crowd), was Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” with McEvoy inhabiting her version with pulsing guitar grooves and her expressive vocal touches, lucid and flowing in crisp and dynamic ways.

Speaking of vocal dynamos, the fabulous and venturesome vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant (whose debut recording, WomanChild [Mack Avenue Records;www.mackavenue.com] has been reviewed here as one of the finest vocal albums of recent memory, [with one of my favorite drummers, Herlin Riley, driving the percussive train]), put on a glorious show at a packed Scullers Jazz Club (www.scullersjazz.com) in Cambridge, MA. on October 2nd.  Salvant was joined by her swinging, brilliant compatriots: bassist Paul Sikivie, pianist Aaron Diehl and drummer Lawrence Leathers. The show commenced with Sikivie’s roving solo bass digging deep and pungent (Sikivie was a coiled marvel on his bass all evening) with Salvant eventually joining him in a careening version of “Lonely Town.”

From this brisk blast-off, Salvant and Sikivie were joined by Diehl and Leathers in what Salvant announced was her survey of “Infidelity.” This delicious foray into darkness included a delicate (then devastating) version of “Guess Who I Saw Today” (made famous by singer Nancy Wilson) with Salvant commencing the ditty with her beautiful simple talking, (up and down her fluid register) and then ending this tale of subterfuge with a volcanic intensity of deep vocal holds and powerful, glowing growls. Take a listen to Salvant’s fierce “Growlin’ Dan” from her latest album, For One To Love [Mack Avenue Records;www.mackavenue.com) for a taste of this same emotional intensity combining spoken word, leaping vocals and earthy growls to ensnare the emotional core of a song.

“Guess Who I Saw Today” was followed by a totally different artistic flight of fancy: Cole Porter’s “Most Gentlemen Don’t Like Love,” swung with sass and roving action, with Salvant humming along and then hanging on one bladelike high note while Leathers cracked fiercely on his wood rims and Diehl sprayed delicate, light runs on his piano.

The global reach of Salvant’s artistry extends to singing in French, and at her Scullers show, this included a brewing, intoxicating version of a 1932 song from Josephine Baker entitled, “Si J’Etais Blanche”(“If I Were White”). On this song, Salvant inhabited the shoes of a young black girl coming to understand her own beauty in a white world with an eloquent delicacy to her vocals-playful and coiled- accompanied by Diehl and his fastidious piano touches. Salvant has the uncanny ability to alight perfectly on any level of her vast and fluid vocal range, (like a songbird alighting on branches in the wind) to drive home the emotional power and core of the songs she offers as unfolding gifts.

Towards the end of their performance, Salvant announced that she and the band were “making their way slowly back into the light” (from their dark theme of infidelity). The highlight of this surge back into optimistic territory was their glorious version of Bernstein and Sondheim’s optimistic leap of faith in their “Something’s Coming” (from West Side Story). Here was a locomotive free-for-all, with Salvant and her band in perfect flight. Take a listen to “Something’s Coming” performed on Salvant’s latest and superbly recorded album, For One I Love, and you will hear a slice of the magic that was heard at Scullers this evening.

Sikivie’s soulful bass commences the action, with Leathers and Diehl prowling along in their own creative ways. Salvant then enters singing deep and soulful and the momentum builds to a crescendo of sounds and colors.  Salvant’s vocal buoyancy and Diehl’s velvet dapper chatter on piano lead the festive outpouring. Salvant’s final long-held high vocal note casts a beautiful spell over the last tumultuous down pouring of drum, piano and bass colors – drenching with its joyful expanse and power. This is a singer and band at the top of their game and there is nothing that is beyond their collective, dazzling reach.

This recent concert glimpse tour ends at the stages of two of our venerable Boston music schools: Berklee College of Music (“Berklee”) and The New England Conservatory (“NEC).

Berklee is teeming with student recitals that offer the reward of hearing talented young musicians just waiting to be discovered. (Check out the weekly schedule at www.berklee.edu).  At Berklee’s recent “Guitar Night” (held on October 27th  at the Berklee Performance Center), there were a number of young musicians to discover, including freshman Sean Jordan on his searing blues guitar (performing a blistering version of “Crosscut Saw”) and a sprawling, colorful set from Venezuelan composer and Quatro player, Carlos Capacho. The Quatro is an electrified version of a traditional Venezuelan four stringed instrument, resembling a ukulele, and Capacho joined his large ensemble to burst forth with plucky, tensile sounds (including bright soars from Italian trumpeter, Cosimo Boni).

The highlight of this evening’s excellent performances, however, had to be the short set by young Canadian jazz guitarist Andrew Marzotto and his trio: Jongkuk Kim (from Korea) on drums and Mats Sandahl (from Sweden) on bass. Marzotto displayed a fluid touch on his guitar that was fantastic, and he improvised with a sense of melodic freedom, rhythmic feel and choice of chords and colors that was astonishing. Marzotto is primed for the big time and he is definitely a guitarist to keep an eye on. His band mates were sensational as well: Kim is a young master of creating decaying sheets of sound from his creative cymbal and snare work and the lanky Sandahl knows how to quietly move underneath the flow of his partners to keep the propulsion going.

For more great jazz guitar work, (reminding me a bit of Marzotto’s inventive blend of jazz, blues and rock inspirations), check out the latest release entitledDuets [Mack Avenue Records] from guitarists Stanley Jordan (on electric guitar and piano) and Kevin Eubanks (on acoustic, bass and electric guitars and piano). From the meditative “Morning Sun” to the twisting beauty of “Vibes” and “Nature Boy” to the rollicking “Old School Jam”, these two masters communicate as One, on a recording with stellar dynamic presence and tactile feel.

Finally, nothing could be more magical than a night spent at NEC’s magnificent Jordan Hall celebrating the 60th birthday of one of today’s most celebrated and treasured pianists, Fred Hersch, as he sent a valentine our way with a free solo concert performed at his alma mater on October 29th. Here the global reach of music came full circle in the softly expansive and unbounded freedom of Hersch’s creative touches. He started with Brazil: a romp on a Jobim theme that plummeted and grooved with a chug that was irresistible. He then launched into an Americana journey: taking the sweet whisper from his original composition dedicated to his mother entitled “West Virginia Rose” (which can be found on Hersch’s latest glowing release, Floating [Palmetto Records] with his synergetic partners John Hebert on bass and Eric McPherson on drums) and weaving that sweet theme into the light piano boogie propelling another Hersch composition, “Down Home” (dedicated to Bill Frisell and heard on Hersch’s stellar 2011 Alone At The Vanguard release [Palmetto Records].

The crowd in Jordan Hall sat transfixed as Hersch swept us off on a journey through his own childhood musical memories bookended by his renditions of a tune by Lennon and McCartney and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Everything in these glorious pop tunes lay fresh and open for discovery in Hersch’s hands. Mitchell’s simple melody expanded and contracted on Hersch’s creative left hand bass holds and his leaping high runs. Those velvety high runs were so airy and gorgeous when heard in the expanse and deep silence of Jordan Hall and every now and then, (especially on the meditative tranquility of his selection from his opus, “Leaves of Grass” (performed several years ago with the NEC Jazz Orchestra), Hersch would linger to the very last key up top, to softly caress it and then begin his winding journey again. Hersch’s final gifts to us this evening were a spirited romp to his mentor at NEC, keyboard soloist extraordinaire Jaki Byard (in which Hersch outstretched his arms from one end of his Steinway to the other in funky, stride piano glory) and in his meltingly beautiful encore: his original composition “Valentine,” that wrapped up serenity, peace and a sense of home all in one final soft piano flourish.

If you would like to read more reviews like this one, visit Nelson’s blog at www.bostonconcertreviews.com.

Big band jazz is alive and well in Boston. One of its leading creative forces is Ayn Inserto and her Jazz Orchestra (“AI Jazz Orchestra”) who performed two shows before capacity audiences in the intimate confines of the Lilypad in Cambridge, MA. (www.lilypadinman.com) in June and at the David Friend Recital Hall at Berklee College of Music (“Berklee”-www.berklee.edu) on September 14, 2015. Inserto, Associate Professor of Jazz Composition at Berklee, is a composer and bandleader who clearly relishes working with the rhythmic freedom and expansive instrumental textures and colors that come with composing for a large ensemble. Her compositions embody an intense electricity. Music flows in unpredictable dynamic ways where seesawing instrumental lines and colors weave, mesh and interlock, supported by surging grooves and leaping whimsical rhythms. In live performance, her compositions are intricate sound puzzles that are unlocked and mined for their virtuosity (and structural beauty) by the superb musicians of her Jazz Orchestra, many of whom also serve on the faculty of Berklee. The AI Jazz Orchestra can deliver Inserto’s huge crescendos with glee (and volcanic power) or, (in a blink of an eye), can send one of her unpredictable melodic lines soaring on the soft caress of a brush stroke or a trombone’s plunge.

The AI Jazz Orchestra’s recent performances at the Lilypad and at Berklee were studded with great solo and collective moments- delighting at every twist and turn. One of my favorite Inserto compositions is “Snow Place Like Home” and this piece opened the Berklee recital with cavorting swagger. Inserto talks about being inspired by the 80’s pop she grew up with, and “Snow” captures some of this driving, restless feel. Here is a pell-mell rhythmic feast, with staccato stops and starts and big brass blasts in unpredictable moments. All of this cavorting action showcased the percussive humming engine of drummer Austin McMahon, who impresses with his porous light touch that fills every rhythmic nook and cranny. “Snow” also highlighted the swashbuckling sax work by Allan Chase and Mark Zaleski who challenged each other with a steeplechase frolic up and down their instruments’ registers, fierce and flowing.

The piece ended in a whoosh of furious brass explosions with lead trumpeter Jeff Claassen (also a composer of intrigue) swashbuckling up high with his other partners. It all sounded like a powerful, unpredictable rainstorm where each droplet of sound hits the ground in irregular patterns, drenching the listener in combinations of fresh sounds and a wash of restless instrumental colors.

Another highlight from the Inserto treasure chest is her original composition entitled “Ze Teach and Me,” Inserto’s tribute to her mentor, the great trombonist and composer Bob Brookmeyer (who taught at The New England Conservatory before his death in 2011). Inserto presented this piece at both the Lillypad and the Berklee recitals and its two-movement construction is a thing of beauty. The first movement is filled with soaring optimism in the rising holds of trumpets and trombones, with a softly penetrating solo from trombonist Randy Pingrey. The second movement is completely different: a whirligig of frenetic cross currents of sounds and colors across the big ensemble’s sprawling palette.

At the Berklee show, this second section of “Ze Teach and Me” was highlighted by two trumpeters: guest trumpeter Sean Jones (Chair of the Berklee Brass Department in possession of the most majestic, light and articulate tone on his trumpet you can imagine) and Dan Rosenthal, a trumpeter sporting his own brand of mercurial fierceness on his instrument. These two trumpeters engaged in a funky and galloping duet, trading licks and sassy, high holds. The superb rhythm section of Jason Yeager on piano, Sean Farias on bass, Eric Hofbauer on guitar and Austin McMahon on drums kept the (always shifting and creative Brookmeyer-inspired) grooves and foundation in focus until Inserto brought up both her hands to gesture a final cloud burst of brass and woodwind thunder. After this sudden eruption, a quick dash of piano notes and soft drum roll and the piece was over- another surprising twist in this flight of fancy from Inserto, inspired by her mentor, Bob Brookmeyer.

A 2008 recording of Inserto with her AI Jazz Orchestra, Muse [Creative Nation Music], offers a great slice of the magic of this group in live performance and features many of the musicians heard strutting forth in glory at the recent Lilypad and Berklee recitals. Although the quality of the recording sometimes compresses the full body of instruments, (such as the piano and some of the most volcanic surges of the orchestra), it still captures nicely the sprawling sounds of this ensemble with good layering and an up-front presence. McMahon’s light drumming is delivered beautifully through out (listen to his cymbal/snare prancing on “Eshel Sketch” or “Dear John”) and the recording delivers the propulsive soprano and tenor sax playing of Boston’s stellar saxophonist, George Garzone, a special guest on this outing.

Muse delivers a raucous version of “Snow Place Like Home” (with a blazing solo by Garzone, this time tangling with Alan Chase in muscular duet). Inserto also displays her contemplative side on Muse, highlighted by her glowing tribute to another unflinching explorer: composer and saxophonist Steve Lacy, (who also made Boston his home for many years before his death). She calls her tribute “Laced With Love” and at the AI Jazz Orchestra’s Berklee recital, this piece featured Sean Jones soloing with a velvet touch to his highest trumpet notes- at one point squeezing up top for the barest nub of sound (in soft pierces) on his eloquent trumpet. On Muse, “Laced With Love” is equally transfixing with solo work by Garzone on his soprano sax. Muse concludes with “Simple”, a swinging feast of big band full throttle that buoyantly strides out the door with Garzone joyously leading the way.

For further explorations into the musical genius of Inserto’s mentor, the mold-breaking composer Brookmeyer, grab a copy of OverTime – The Music of Bob Brookmeyer [Planet Arts] performed by The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (“VJO”).

Here is an audiophile quality recording of a big band with all of its glorious dynamics and energy fully recreated, on a layered and deep soundstage with great image dimensionality. The VJO was first established by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis (www.vanguardjazzorchestra.com) and became the vehicle for many of Brookmeyer’s later compositional experiments and performances.

The musicianship displayed by the current members of the VJO is extraordinary on this recording and the music they perform is challenging, prickly and not for the faint of heart. It swerves from the carnival atmosphere of Brookmeyer’s “Big Time” (with pianist Jim McNeely sparkling next to flights of scurrying saxophones and horns) to “At The Corner of Ralph and Gary.” This latter tune highlights Brookmeyer’s great talent for writing Big Swing with many a challenging twist and turn (including a baritone sax solo by Gary Smulyan in which he cavorts with tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama in a swirling, off-kilter maze of sounds and metric changes).

So does “Suite For Three” (written for three members of the VJO) in which Brookmeyer explores the rich vocabulary of Dick Oatts on alto saxophone, Scott Wendholt on fugelhorn and Rich Perry on tenor saxophone. In these three separate movements,  Brookmeyer ingeniously weaves instrumental voices both penetrating and softly melodic (Wendholt), with soulful, full-throttle big band locomotion (Oatts and Perry). Brookmeyer’s music, like his protégé Inserto’s, is knotty and elegant, soulful and twitchy. It’s a sprawling challenge for the ears worth taking, and in the hands of the VJO, it sounds quite splendid indeed.

Next up for Big Jazz Band Reviews: the beautiful world of Maria Schneider and the next installment of Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project.

If you would like to read more reviews like this one, visit Nelson’s blog at www.bostonconcertreviews.com.