Bassist and composer Harish Raghavan, whose musical vocabulary stretches beyond the jazz curve into exciting uncharted territory, will appear at the Jazz Gallery (1158 Broadway) on Nov. 29–30. He will be joined by his able sextet, whose names may not be familiar but whose musicianship will surely grab the attention of anyone in listening distance: alto saxophonist Logan Richardson, trumpeter Steph Clement, guitarist Emmanuel Michael, pianist Miki Yamanaka, and drummer Jimmy Macbride.
Raghavan’s creative time on stage will be filled with some of his originals over the last decade, but he may lean toward tunes from his debut album, “Calls for Action” (Whirlwind Recordings). He has 15 original tracks to choose from. “The pieces range from reflections of key moments, to people who’ve had a profound impact on my life, while others are calls to ignite action,” he said.
Regardless of Raghavan’s repertoire, one can expect a jazz expedition outside of any preconceived jazz categories. For tickets, visit jazzgallery.org.
Immediately afer pianist Jason Moran’s maiden voyage with his 1999 Blue Note Records release, “Soundtrack to Human Motion,” it was evident that his musical comet was headed to four corners of infinity. Since playing with Greg Osby and his Blue Note debut, the Houston, Tex., native has lent his piano creativity to the collaborative Trio 3 with saxophonist Oliver Lake, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Andrew Cyrille on “Refraction — Breakin’ Glass” (Intakt, 2013). In 2007, he joined the already legendary saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s quartet, and still records with Lloyd today on his most recent album, “The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow” (Blue Note, 2024).
For more than two decades, the pianist has led one of the most daring trios in jazz history, Jason Moran & the Bandwagon, which features bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits (both are composers and lead their own bands).
On Nov. 26–Dec. 1, this unit of jazz explorers will perform at the Village Vanguard (178 7th Avenue South), where they will take audiences on a journey of improvisation and post-bop, with Moran possibly venturing into Fats Waller swing with a little stride piano combined with glimpses of classical music. His music will invigorate and challenge so-called borders.
Two shows, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. For tickets, visit villagevanguard.com.
Recently, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) was thumping, swinging hard to one of the funkiest concerts of 2024. How could it not be, with special guest pioneer Funk Master George Clinton, whose Parliament-Funkadelic machine ruled R&B music during the 1960s?
It was billed as a “Tribute to Funk” and featured such genre-bending musicians as vocalist Nona Hendryx, guitarist Vernon Reid (Living Colour and past blues), tap dancer Savion Glover, and jazz bassist Christian McBride, who is known to play everything from jazz to funk, R&B (never forgetting his soulful hometown of Philadelphia), with featured vocalist Bilal. The all-star house band included the drummer Will Calhoun, who defies categories; trumpeters Freddie Hendrix and Joe Romano; and keyboardist Russell Graham, among others.
These artists all creative innovators detonated a funk explosion that transformed a cool audience into dancing zombies, mesmerized by their inventive interpretations of tunes by Prince, Shuggie Otis, the Ohio Players, James “Sex Machine” Brown, Eddie “Change of Mind” Kendricks, Stevie Wonder, and Sly and the Family Stone. As the stage filled with funkadelic fans, the outrageous funkateer George Clinton appeared to “turn the mother out”: “We need funk, got to have that funk.” Clinton paraded across the stage, epitomizing funk, the blues of it all, that rock of soul. He is the true “Atomic Dog,” the professor of “One Nation under a Groove.” Clinton’s goal was to pursue the music of funk from all directions.
The cross-cultural concert carried on with loud shouts and foot stomping — “Nothing but the dog in me/Why must I chase the cat” — that transformed into a loud after-party in the NJPAC lobby with live DJ and sounds of the Funk from Cosmic Slope, “Chocolate City,” insightful lyrics on urban Black culture, “Get Up for the Down Stroke,” and all Clinton’s throw-down hits, including “I Just Want to Testify!”
Give credit to “The Funk” music director, producer, and composer Ray Chew. It was his imagination that brought this inventive group to fruition. He is another artist who disregards boundaries for unlimited possibilities, and this project proved to be a funkin’ magical moment.
“When I work with such a talented group of musicians and Ray Chew, that’s like a dream team for me! Ray Chew is an amazing musical director, and I’ve worked with him a lot,” said McBride. “We share this common love of diverse genres, so when you bring together all these different backgrounds — soul, funk, jazz, rock — it just makes sense. Everyone brings something unique to the table, and that’s the kind of collaboration I live for. It’s all about celebrating the art form in all its variations, and showing that genres don’t have to be separate — they can all feed off each other.”
