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Welcome to another 2 hours of jazz on Radio Mecha. This is a rebroadcast of the program first broadcast on April 10, 2007. See that thread for program notes and playlist.

This thread for today's discussion, questions, comments, etc., if any.

Last night, I got to see Diane Schurr, Regina Carter, and McCoy Tyner at the Florida Theatre, and it was a quite a day of jazz, followed by a free tram ride over to Metropolitan Park, for several $4 beers while listening to festival jazz groups like Jazz Attack. Another lovely spring night, with a few showers which moved through while we were over at the Florida Theatre.

McCoy Tyner especially was in good form with his touring Trio, featuring Gerald Cannon on bass, and Eric Kamau Gravatt on drums. They opened with a new tune by Tyner titled "Angelina," then followed up with Duke Ellington's "In a Melotone" as well as old favorites "Blue Bossa" and the John Coltrane tune "Moment's Notice" as well as "Wade in the Water" and "Hangin' On the Corner" plus several other tunes. Overall, a wonderful set, much appreciated by the audience, who laughed and clapped at every turn. Seeing this handsome, urbane man playing as well and as powerfully as ever he has, let me forget, for a little while, the passing of time, as if, just maybe, Coltrane himself might be conjured to come forth from stage left, although he never could. And yet, you couldn't tell it, from Tyner's playing, or the smooth smile on his face as he did...

Unfortunately, in order to stay for Tyner's full set, we had to choose to miss legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes over at the Ritz Theatre, which was a damn shame, and some people, unfortunately, left in the middle of Tyner's set, to make it 10 blocks over to see Haynes. It's just the nature of multi-venue festival scheduling that such headliner-to-headliner choices are thrust upon audiences, but damn! it bites when you have to make such decisions.

Later today (Sunday), we're headed back down to catch Chuck Mangione, Dianne Reeves and maybe Chris Botti. We're trying to give this "smooth jazz" thing it's due, too, being as it's pretty popular, and the attendance that such acts draw is crucial to making events like this financially successful.

I missed the jazz today, because I was (*boasts*) at the gym.