Evan Cobb Jazz » Nashville

Bob Marley Tribute This Friday

evan — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:52:18 +0000

Local production group Kid Electric Concerts puts on a couple of stellar tribute concerts each year, augmented only by the fact that they put them together for charity. Their mission is “to raise funds and awareness for local non-profit and community based organizations who aim to change not only our great city but the world. We celebrate these organizations by putting on creatively themed benefit concerts that showcase Nashville’s best artists and pay tribute to great and timeless music. It is our hope and passion that these concerts motivate our community to get out there and get involved.”

This Friday night it’s a Bob Marley tribute act raising money for HESP, benefitting children in Haiti. It’s going be to a really fun night for a great cause, so I hope you can make it down to 2nd Avenue Live for the show!

- evan

Successful First Jazz Jam Night

evan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:53:00 +0000

The jam session this past Wednesday night at Edgehill Studios Cafe was a rousing success. We had a good turnout, many original works played, and plenty of learning experiences all around.

JC, JW, & EC wail on a new tune

Happily, the jam session is forging ahead! So mark your calendars for the next installment on Monday, March 1st again at 7pm at Edgehill. We’ll be keeping the same format, so be sure to put your name down on the sign-up sheet along with what you want to play. Original tunes and arrangements will continue to get preference.

-evan

Nashville Jazz Jam Sessions Return

evan — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:09:15 +0000

Our favorite musical art form, jazz, has a great history of jam sessions. Traditionally, the language of jazz has been developed and passed down through generations of musicians aurally. Jam sessions provide a chance for musicians of all ability levels to learn – musically, personally, and professionally.

Recently Nashville has lost many of the regular learning opportunities provided by jam sessions. Despite having a large pool of fantastic jazz musicians, there are currently no regular jam sessions for them to listen, play, and network together. In a city where the majority of professional musicians have their hands involved with dozens of recording and touring projects ranging the entire musical gamete, how can we ensure that the Nashville jazz scene receives the local and national attention that it deserves? Where can students of one of Nashville’s many university music departments go to cut their teeth on a bandstand?

I would like to reintroduce you to two new regularly occurring jazz jam sessions in the heart of Nashville. Beginning Wednesday February 10^th, Edgehill Studios Café will be hosting a monthly jazz jam session, and on Sunday March 21^st the Nashville Jazz Workshop will begin hosting a separate monthly jazz jam session. A bit of information about each of the jam session’s goals:

The Edgehill Studios Café Jazz Jam Session, from 7 – 9:30, is designed for professionals and semi-professionals who need an outlet to play and try new tunes. Musicians are both encouraged and expected to bring original music, arrangements, and transcriptions to try with the host band. Just be sure to bring charts for each band member: tenor sax (or alto sax or flute), keys, bass, and drums. Also make sure to put your name down on the sign-up sheet so that the band knows to call you up. Again, the emphasis here will be on original music, arrangements, and underutilized jazz standards.

The Nashville Jazz Workshop Jazz Jam Session will take place from 4 – 6 on Sunday afternoons, and participation is designed for musicians of all ability levels. Each month the Workshop will have a featured guest at the jazz jam session. I’ll provide you with more details about this jam as the date approaches, but for now the focus of the workshop jazz jam will be to learn about playing, listening critically, and the process of jam sessions altogether.

There is one key rule for the Nashville Jazz Jam Sessions – “If you don’t KNOW the tune, don’t PLAY the tune.” People participating are highly discouraged from using Real Books or other charts for standards they play with the host quartet (charts will be allowed for original tunes and arrangements). Requesting to play a tune that usually swings in a “samba-fusion-country groove” is not considered an original arrangement. All tunes chosen by participants must be learned by heart. Please don’t be put off by this rule, it’s for the good of YOU the musician, as well as the host band and the listeners.

So, for those of you ever wondering any of the following…

- How will I ever get a band together to rehearse this new song of mine?

- When am I going to get a chance to try this Clifford Jordan tune?

- Where can I play a rhythm changes without first hearing Jamey Aebersold’s voice?

- Can I hold my own with professional players?

- How does a jazz jam session work?

- How can I invest in the success of jazz and in particular, new music in Nashville?

…Come out and attend one of Nashville’s regular jazz jam sessions!

Cobb’s Mob! Coming Right Up

evan — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:35:24 +0000

Friends,

I hope that you’ll be able to join me for great fun this Thursday night at the 12 South Taproom. Cobb’s Mob! will be performing an array of my material and a couple of standards. I’ve also got a special surprise arrangement for those of you who watched cartoons in the late 1980′s.

So please come support – great music and it’s FREE!

Cobb’s Mob! 9 pm at the 12 South Taproom featuring:

Matthew White, trumpet

Adam Agati, guitar

Michael Rinne, bass

Bob Mater, drums

Hope to see you there.

-evan

Jazz Jam Sessions in Nashville

evan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:50:01 +0000

So unfortunately Cafe CoCo’s cancellation of live music on their stage has left Nashville’s only weekly jazz jam session homeless for the time being. I would very much like to continue the weekly session, but obviously need to find a new venue. I’ll keep you updated on the status as I try to figure it out. Please let me know if you have any thoughts about the jazz jam’s continuation (or discontinuation) and if you have any ideas about a new location.

- evan

Nashville Jazz Jam Session

evan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:53:00 +0000

Friends,

I’ve got a great band lined up for the jazz jam session at Cafe CoCo tomorrow. Please come out and support, and bring your instrument if you’d like to play with some killin’ players – Adam Agati, Mike Rinne, and Chris Brown. Look forward to seeing you there.

-evan

Download the Cobb’s Mob! Show of 8.30.09

evan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:52:23 +0000

Good times were had at Cafe CoCo this past Sunday night. The band played well and had a ball, as did the audience. If you didn’t make it out and would like to hear some of it, I’ve put most of the show up for a free download . The password is ‘coco’, but act fast as the mp3s will only be available for one week. I’ve also posted a solo clip in the setlist below, as well as links to the fine players’ personal projects.

Setlist:

1. Skeeter ‘Da - EC

2. Red Cross – Charlie Parker, arr by EC

Download audio file (red-cross-solo-edit-83009.mp3)

3. A Love That Lasts – EC

4. Marie Antoinette – Wayne Shorter

5. Crescent City Ditty – EC

6. Autumn Leaves w/ Denis Solee – Joseph Kosma, Johnny Mercer

7. Triste w/ Denis Solee – Antonio Carlos Jobim

8. Catch 22.5 – Jonathan Epley

9. Caravan – Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol arr. by Freddie Hubbard

Next show for the band is Thursday September 10th at the Vanderbilt Commons, also for free! Be sure to come say hello.

- evan

Gigs the Weekend of June 6 and 7

evan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:05:58 +0000

I’ve got a couple of gigs going on this weekend that I want to tell you about. Saturday night I’ll be playing with the Justin Conn Band down at The Pond in Franklin. If the show is anything like last night’s rehearsal, it will groove hard and be a fun time. Starts at 9pm, only $5.

If you’re looking for a place to rid yourself of a Sunday morning hangover, come out to the Green Hills Whole Foods where I’ll be playing duets with Jonathan Epley from 11 – 1.

And last but not least, my quintet Cobb’s Mob! will be performing at Cafe CoCo once again at 8pm this Sunday night. I’m excited about the lineup and the tunes we’ve got prepared. As always, it’s completely free, so I hope that you can come out and support jazz in Nashville. The quintet will feature:

Oscar Utterstrom, trombone

Jonathan Epley, guitar

Mike Rinne, bass

John Alvey, drums

see ya at the gig

- evan

End of April Update

evan — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:13:15 +0000

Summer seemed to arrive here in Nashville in full force this past Thursday, and upon looking at my calendar I realized we’re already 4 months into the year 2009. Things have been going well for me here in Tennessee – I’ve become quite busy with teaching and gigging.

I got to play two more concerts with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra: one downtown at the Nashville Convention Center where I covered alto saxophone and flute, and then tenor saxophone and clarinet at this past Thursday night’s “Writer’s Night” at the Blair School of Music. The saxophone section had some serious shredding to do in Bruce Dudley’s arrangement of Parisian Thoroughfare.

Sax soli

…and I got a chance to wail on the debut of a Jim Williamson tune.

Cutting changes

Spent a little time doing studio work. I laid down some oboe and clarinet tracks for the hip local band The New Whole Usuals. I also recorded a couple of tunes with a jazz quartet for the Generations Jazz Competition. We didn’t make it to the finals, but an ensemble of my friends Ken Fowser, Behn Gillece, and Adam Cote did. I was proud of the work my quartet did though – below I posted our version of an original tune of mine.

Don’t Hold Your Breath

Download audio file (dont-hold-your-breath-take-3.mp3)

Jonathan Epley, guitar; Mike Rinne, bass; John Alvey, drums

This past month also provided me with a couple surprise last-minute gigs: at Sambuca in the quartet of Ralph Pace Jr, as well as provide horn support to local heart throbs Pico versus the Island Trees at the Mercy Lounge.

I have an array of events coming up in May as well. On Thursday the 7th I’ll be joining a slew of Nashville’s most talented players in a group titled the Nashville Writers Ensemble at Nashville’s Community Music School: W.O. Smith. The ensemble will feature one of my original tunes and includes Bob Mater, Joe Davidian, and Oscar Utterstrom, among others.

On Sunday May 10th I’ll be leading the Cafe CoCo Jazz Jam Session at 4:30. If you’re around be sure to stop by and bring an instrument. I’ve also got some dates coming up with blues man Justin Conn, and even a performance with an ABBA tribute band.

Did I mention that it’s wedding season? I’ve been playing some events with the Pat Patrick Bands this month, and next month I will be attending the weddings of two old friends.

Hope to see you at the gig/ceremony

-evan

Media From 3.29.09

evan — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:33:56 +0000

Last Sunday was an exciting day for me as I got a chance to play with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra in the afternoon and lead Cobb’s Mob! at night. NJO played an afternoon set at the Limelight, and I got a chance to wail on a Mike Crotty arrangement of Dolphin Dance and Christina Watson’s tune Free. I’ll be playing with the NJO two more times this month as well, on the 15th and the 23rd.

EC behind Jim Williamson, next to Denis Solee

At Cafe CoCo I debuted a couple new tunes and arrangements. I’m not going to spoil those for you by posting them on here, but I have included some playing highlights below.

Straight, No Chaser arranged by EC.

Download audio file (straight-no-chaser-solo-edit-32909.mp3)

EC and Russell Wright

Rhythm-a-ning by Thelonious Monk

Download audio file (rhythm-a-ning-solo-edit-32909.mp3)

Joe Gross shreds on the Flugel horn

There should be another Cobb’s Mob! show coming soon as well as a bunch of other performances. Keep checking back here for details.

- evan