01/10/09 NYC Winter Jazzfest @ various venues, New York, NY

For the Manhattan portion of my ambition birthday celebration, I started a tradition at the NYC Winter Jazzfest and I haven't missed one since.

The highlights were Marco Benevento Trio, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (sans Reed Mathis), Burnt Sugar and a late night DJ set by A Tribe Called Quest beat master Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

The next day I completed the 5 boro birthday bash with a trip to Staten Island's beer lover paradise Adobe Blues for an intoxicating breakfast.

03/19/08 Scotty Hard Benefit @ Highline Ballroom, New York, NY

The early months of 2008 turned out to be quite fertile in terms of epic concert events. Just a couple months after a "best show ever" contender, came this viable canidate.

This was a benefit for a prolific producer who happened to have worked with nearly all of my favorite local musicians, so the night featured the creme de la creme of New York City's venerable jazz and jam scene.

The night was a bit of a blur, with the stand outs being Bill Laswells dirty dub bass bombs and Antibalas' high energy late night set to a nearly empty venue.

Various ensembles throughout the evening featured permutations of NYC luminaries like MMW, Soulive, Sex Mob and the Benevento/Russo Duo.

Jazz licks by John Scofield and Vijay Iyer punctuated the jams.

There was even a bit of indie thrown in the mix.

All in all, it was a stirring testament to the cameraderie, vitality, and abundant talent of NYC's always stellar music scene.

12/31/07 The Join w/Marco Benevento & Joe Russo @ Highline Ballroom, New York, NY

I almost skipped this show and I wish I had.

With the combination of the Benevento/Russo Duo and two thirds of The New Deal, this should have been a great show, but it had so many factors going against it. This incarnation of The Join was unfortuantely lesser than the sum of its parts. I guess their styles just did not mesh.

To add insult to inury, tickets were pretty expensive, which is to be expected on New Year's Eve in New York City, but still a con. We arrived late and missed the first set, which was our fault, but still on the list. Finally, the show ended at 12:30 on the dot, way too early for a New Year's Eve show. At least there was a nice balloon drop at midnight.

Despite all that, the night managed to be one for the books, thanks almost entirely to the events that transpired after this debacle of a show.

03/09/07 Marco Benevento, Reed Mathis & Mike Dillon @ Knitting Factory Tap Bar, New York, NY

Just a bunch of talented musicians kicking out slightly punky, mostly improv jams.

08/28/06 Bustle In Your Hedgerow @ Temptress ROCC, New York, NY

One of my best friends from back in Rockland got married, so I took her and her husband on a Rocks Off cruise. They just made it before the boat left the dock.

BIYH is a Led Zeppelin cover band consisting of the Benevento/Russo Duo, Scott Metzger of Rana and Dave Dreiwetz of Ween.

My friends enjoyed the cruise, but wished there were vocals.

07/01/06 Phil Lesh & Friends/GRAB @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Homdel, NJ

Phil Lesh & Friends
Set 1: Jam> Truckin'> Cumberland Blues1 > Big River1 > Stagger Lee, Sugaree2
Set 2 : Playing In The Band> Eyes Of The World> Magnolia Mountain > Turn On Your Lovelight, Help On The Way> Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower3
Encore: Donor Rap/Intros, Going Down The Road Feeling Bad3
1with Mike Gordon (electric banjo)
2no Osby
3with Trey Anastasio (guitar, vocals)
Band: Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), John Molo (drums), Rob Barraco (keys), Greg Osby (sax), Joan Osborne (vocals), Barry Sless (pedal steel), Larry Campbell (guitar, fiddle, mando+)

GRAB
Set 1: Plasma, Drifting, Mud City, Trouble, Goodbye Head > Sleep Again, Get Back (The Beatles), Shine, Suskind Hotel, Coming Up Roses (Elliot Smith), Host Across The Potomac > Mr. Completely > Dragonfly, Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin)
Encore: Tuesday

This was a rare occasion when I was able to convince my friend to drive out to Jersey for a show.

Sadly, I remember very little of what went down due to another friend providing some Klonopin. If you ever want to not remember a show, take benzos.

From what I can recall, Trey and Mike with the Benevento Russo Duo was decidedly lesser than the sum of its parts. No Phish. Very little Duo. Mike and the Duo would've been much better. Later we would learn that Trey was on quite a bit of pills himself during this interstitial period.

I vaguely recall falling asleep on the lawn during Help>Slip>Frank and I have no recollection of any sit-ins.

10/23/05 Brian Haas & Friends @ Blue Note, New York, NY

10/23/05, The Blue Note, New York, NY
Brian Haas, Jason Fratecelli & Mark Southerland
Davey's Purple Power Line1, The Spark that Bled1, I Mean You1, Monks Mood2, Peace, Epistrophy3, Dino Perucci Birthday Improv3, Rhythm-a-Ning34
1 Haas solo
2 w/Southerland
3 w/M.Benevento, J.Russo, J.Tomsovic
4 w/Becky tease

This was one in series of Blue Note Late Night Groove Series shows I hit up in late 2005. I guess the post-jam scene of the day was intersecting squarely with the illegitimate stepchildren of the early 1990s NYC downtown jazz scene or something.

The groove ruled early on in the late night show with smooth piano jazz licks, but the Benevento Russo Duo came in halfway and stepped it up a notch, certainly not the first or last time those two have taken an already enjoyable musical affair to the next level.

I think it may have been my first time at this legendary jazz haunt, and I snagged a seat right in front of the stage.

WATCH VIDEO HERE!