Behind the red door

Six nights - Ethan Iverson Sextet at the VV - be there! @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social

Russ Musto has done invaluable work for jazz, and I always enjoy talking with Russ as well. I just donated: gofund.me/bbdde1795

sadly expected news iverson.substack.com/p/jim-mcneely

Next week. September 30—October 5, Tuesday through Sunday, sets at 8 and 10 each night. Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet Sam Newsome, soprano sax Jacob Garchik, trombone Peter Washington, bass Kush Abadey, drums

When John Coltrane recorded A Love Supreme, "it was on each member of the band to deliver immediate versions of their ongoing private compositions on a moment’s notice in Van Gelder’s studio"—love this new @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social piece www.tabletmag.com/sections/art... #jazz

NEW TT: mini-reviews of George Burton, Paul Cornish, Jon Elbaz, Lex Korten, Chris McCarthy, Yvonne Rogers, and Micah Thomas iverson.substack.com/p/tt-551-you...

[Boston alert]

NEW: Overview of the late great Thomas Perry iverson.substack.com/p/tt-550-tho...

new TT, another educational missive promoting exploring the past iverson.substack.com/p/tt-458-ori...

tonight

Wow! #jazzsky

Part 2 of "back to school" iverson.substack.com/p/tt-457-cor...

Headed up to Boston right now, it's my first day back at New England Conservatory of Music. New TT explains some of of my teaching philosophy: iverson.substack.com/p/tt-546-cor...

I’m predicting that the word “praxis” is going to become commonplace in the next few years

Giovanni Russonello: “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Mal Waldron.” Includes Lafayette Gilchrist, Ran Blake, Matthew Shipp, Angelica Sanchez, Robin D.G. Kelley, Fay Victor, Andrew Cyrille, Ben Ratliff, John Szwed, Russonello, and myself. [Gift link.] www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/a...

For Labor Day, we watched the film of THE PAJAMA GAME (1957). Both John Raitt and Doris Day sing the big hit “Hey There,” and it is striking how much more of a jazz singer Day is than Raitt. She’s a great artist.

An evening with tea and @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social

new TT iverson.substack.com/p/housekeeping

New TT: on "Red Top" with Gene Ammons and King Pleasure iverson.substack.com/p/tt-545-red...

Bad Henry In the latest posting to the YouTube channel for The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit, the great Detroit-born pianist Johnny O'Neal talks about the time he and Mulgrew Miller got schooled by Hank Jones, the Patron Saint of all Detroit pianists. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d3U...

"I never thought leopards would eat MY face," sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

I know you love him madly so let’s journey far in to yesternow and help me decide which ten releases - live, studio and archive - should be included in @mojomagazine.bsky.social’s How To Buy Electric (era) Miles (Davis). Best comments, as ever, will be included in the mag.

Wayne Shorter, #BOTD iverson.substack.com/p/tt-544-int...

Brad Mehldau, #botd. Happy birthday, Brad! Michael Lucke has transcribed Mehldau on "The Way You Look Tonight" at the Vanguard with Jorge Rossy and Larry Grenadier in 1997. Supersonic! youtu.be/FJ0s1IV_hp4?...

NEW TT: Interview with Jim McNeely (repost of 2011 interview, looking forward to major concert on September 10) iverson.substack.com/p/tt-543-int...

Poques coses tan gratificants com un músic explicant amb entusiasme l'obra d'un músic a qui adora. Sobretot si el que escriu s'explica tan bé com Ethan Iverson, i si el músic de qui parla és tan especial com Mal Waldron. @xaviercervantes.bsky.social, no hi surten bicicletes però això t'agradarà.

Love this. Great Waldron primer. Thank you. Also love the comment at end. And from a "civilian" no less. Was curious what names we non-musician jazz fans might be called by jazz musicians. Civilians. That works. Indeed I like it. 😎

love this writeup of mal waldron. you spend years listening to someones piano alone, develop a kind of personality and image in your head, and its so cool to get an insiders perspective of what they hear and love about them

NEW TT: Mal Waldron, #BOTD 100 years ago. iverson.substack.com/p/tt-542-mal...

NEW TT: Oscar Peterson, #BOTD 100 years ago iverson.substack.com/p/tt-541-osc...

New for TT: iverson.substack.com/p/tt-540-int...

This late 80s Mal Waldron Quintet with Woody Shaw, Ed Blackwell, Charlie Rouse & Reggie Workman is pure fire. Mal Waldron Quintet – The Git Go - Live At The Village Vanguard (1987)

NEW: on DARK (Netflix) and THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM (the novel) iverson.substack.com/p/tt-539-sen...

Next Wednesday, August 13 Ethan Iverson trio w. Anthony Cox & Kevin Washington The Dunsmore Room at Crooners

“This is how River Cartwright slipped off the fast track and joined the slow horses.” — opening of SLOW HORSES by Mick Herron, 2010

Boogie Woogie listening guide 🤩

NEW iverson.substack.com/p/tt-538-boo...

The McNeely sounds wonderful! Thanks for posting.

NEW: reviews of six new records: Jim McNeely, James Newton, Teddy Abrams & Yuja Wang, The Hemphill Stringtet, Sophie Dunér & Steven Beck play Stockhausen, sinonó iverson.substack.com/p/tt-537-jim...

I swear Google keeps adding more and more AI nonsense whenever I open a document. I know how to write! Fuck you!

I have been thinking about Gabriel Kahane's essay in The Atlantic on the necessity of arts listings all weekend. Huge thanks to @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social for the link. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I adored the music of Tom Lehrer, who died yesterday at the ripe old age of 97. I wrote an appreciation of him here, with links to some of his best work. There is also a shout-out to Dr. Demento. www.rogerebert.com/tributes/lif...

NEW iverson.substack.com/p/tt-537-sun...

This week's reading: drummer Billy Hart's autobiography, as told to @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social I've loved it, and part of the fun has been stopping regularly to listen to some of the tracks he mentions.

RIP composer Daniel Lentz. In "Point Conception," nine pianos (overdubbed by virtuoso Arlene Dunlap) go slowly in and out of sync with each other. Lentz's control of harmonic tension and release is impressive: A unique listen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oww...

When practicing new hard music very slowly with a click (trying to program the notes), my metronome keeps dragging. Maybe I need a new battery?? But it's plugged in????

I was never a big #BlackSabbath fan, but loved “Iron Man.” AND I really loved the #EthanIverson era #BadPlus cover. Or as Ethan sez: “While heavy metal is not a genre I know much about, a good riff is a good riff.” So when it came to picking song covers, Iron Man was an ”obvious choice.” #ripOzzy