The best jazz concert you have been 2

[realtothebone]

What is the best Jazz concert that you have ever been 2. I would like to hear from other members on who the artist was, the time and place and what made it so special.
The Best concert that I have the privilage to experience was with George Duke, Kirk Whalum and Rachell Farrel. It was in Houston at the Arena Theatre, and what made it so special was those 3 and the performance that they put on. The setting was cool with the rotating stage but they really put themselves into the show.

[lou]

lemmmee see, uh, bill evans wit philly jo and mike the big blondey bassist...no, another night, sonny rollins, both at howard rumseys concerts...no. don menza and pete christlieb wit wolfgang mertz george cables at a house party-till 4 am...nah. dons steady band wit nick cerulli, mike lang, joey di batolo, the incomparable frank rosolino-who alternated with the delightful blue mitchell...ok, sweets, followed by the pink-panther guy on tenor, backed by paul humphrey the great drummer, at the biltmore downtown la......or maybebuddy's pick-up band at ucla (his regulars mutinied in denver)...great band...ooooh, a heart breaker. bill holmans band at the museum in la, the day bob cooper left us. poignant, mournful, great big huge emotions and songs from the hearts of his mates...jack sheldon, on his own in front of the music center, blowin tunes...ok, maybe...nah. kenny burrell with andy tompkins and gerry wiggans down in compton...groove holmes in a joint on western in so la...don ellis-gerald wilson-diz-one night someplace aretha just playing jazz piano...wow.joe pass, one nightthen barry zweig with lee ritenaur, then later in the year, howard van epps and his one-hand band...comping, basslines, and tunes all on his guitar...wow...what a band
clark terry wit the french supersax, night before it was arturo sandoval...both at le petit journal...georgie garzone in copenhagen in a joint packed to the rafters...louis bellson and big band every night for two weeks at pat collins club on the strip in hollywd...well. 40+years of great sounds...
memories are wonderful, all of them are the best concert i ever heard...thanks again...to all of you

[David Lail]

There's been alot of great concerts....One was an Arthur Blythe concert in Texas.
Lets see it was Arthur, Kelvin Bell, Bobby Battle, And Howard Johnson(tuba). I though
I had died and gone to heaven when I heard Arthurs Sound on alto.
Another was a Weather Report concert with Victor Bailey on bass and Omar Hakim on drums. I could have been in Havanna the way they played that night.

Then there was Sonny Rollins at an outdoor venue in Dallas Texas (1981).
It was incredible....funny too.Sonny was opening for Stanley Turentine....Not much left for Stanley after "The Newk" got through with his set!

Oh, There was a Brecker/Steps Ahead gig in a hole in the wall club in North Carolina
.....wow. Everybody just got to hang out on a Sunday night after the gig.

RTF in Raleigh....Chick, Lenny ,Stanley, Al in 1983 ( I think that was the year).
I listened to a tired cassette boot I made of it till it decomposed back into mylar.

[Tanisha]

Wow. Detroit, November 2007 at Flood's - Greg Dokes, Gwenn Foxx, and band played. The crowd was classic Detroit, everyone was on the same groove, Dokes was killing on the keys and Duane Parham (saxophonist) sat in on a set. It was just me, the music and Patron, and I met some of D-Town's finest. It's a city of great musical history, and all of the artists there to a person spill that out on a nightly basis at places like Flood's, Bert's etc. I just happened to witness an outpouring of electric Detroit musical energy and I was feelin' good!!

[Bertha Hope]

I can't rank concerts like that-I haven't seen enough and my powers of discrimination are cloudy. But I will tell you about a concert that sends chills everytime I think of it--Airto Moreira at Avery Fisher in Lincoln Center in the '80's when his band and all the instruments were delayed at the airport.. He rented his percussion instruments and proceeded to play a one-man concert demonstrating the power of all the African instruments he had, with a running commentary on their origins. The packed house was spellbound for over two hours and I was limp with joy . An awesome feat! Does anyone else out there remember this? Bertha Hope-Booker

[patrickG]

Out here in India its difficult to get to hear the well-known names in jazz, or at least the names we know from records available here. Still, I've been lucky to see a few of the big names in concert and many of the lesser or unknown (to me!) names in venues around the country over the years. The ones that come to mind are Dizzy Gillespie sometime in the early 80s in Calcutta about to start the next tune when the muezzin from an adjacent mosque began his amplified call to prayer. Dizzy waited till the end and when the last dying notes of the call faded, he just took up from where the muezzin left off, playing a lovely impromptu piece. Amazing!
The other two were about 10-15 years later in New Delhi when the UK's Django Bates opened the Euro Jazz Festival. Had never heard of the man till that day and I wish I could get more of his music somewhere. Of course the last day of this particular jazz fest was closed by the one and only Zawinul Syndicate! Watching Joe was like a dream come true! (Yogi I know what you're saying!) I forget the other musicians (no Wayne) but I remember Victor Bailey, Badrena and the drummer trading riffs with Zakir Hussain on tabla which was probably the most climactic end to any concert I've been to.

[Stefan K]

This was definitely Herbie Hancock with his "Future2Future" in Vilnius, Lithuania, a few weeks before the official start of the tour. The program was fresh, the audience was adaptive and extremely friendly - the impact was huge. It was a really unique unforgettable event.

[Lory]

Saw Marcus Miller a couple of weeks ago in Phoenix....I was blown away! I had seen him on a Jazz Cruise a year ago, not knowing that he had written Maputo, and was impressed then. I got to the concert 1 hr before the venue opened (not knowingly), so I was in the front row. The entire band was spectacular....so far the best concert in MY LIFE!!

[Johnny Magnuson]

The best concerts that i have been to were , when i opened for Kenny G / Boney James / Chris Botti and Najee. LOL

But, actually as a person in the audience ,... the best concert that i went to was Erykah Badu ,... not really Jazz but , there is a mix in there of alot of Jazz but , more Neo Soul. I loved it !! She was awesome !! great concert ! Great players backing her up too ,....

Peace ,

JMAGSAX

p.s. But i don't think that beats your concert of duke / whalum & farrel ,... that would have been the concert of all Jazz concert's , I love all of them and I met Kirk before too.

[carole]

northsea jazz festiful in holland 2004 it was fourplay great day also maxwell george benson i go every year since 1982

[She]

There have been a number of them. An early Weather Report w/Joe Z back when that left us all speechless. Early Al Jarreau on stage with basically just himself, - we were maybe 4 rows back - and that voice doing We Got By and many others. Herbie Hancock back in Boston on the grand doing Maiden Voyage like I'd never heard it; a recent Keith Jarrett concert up in San Fran where Jack DeJohnette made those drums just whisper, sigh, and sing in a pure way that made you cry. Thinking.....

[Ray Mabalot]

Saw 11Th House and Return To Forever last week at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Maryland. Concert was awesome!!!! Jazz Fusion is still alive. Later, Ray

[Rick Parma]

Anything Dave Koz.... Cause of him I've seen David Benoit, Michael McDonald, Rick Braun, Brian Culbertson, Brenda Russell, Peter White and a few others..