The Sunday Jazz Showcase at Isis music hall in West Asheville is an ongoing series. It started, appropriately, on New Year’s Day. Its first shows used the upstairs lounge at Isis, a small but elegant space with a bar, a piano and an understated suave. But Bares was thinking bigger: By early February a piano was procured for the main stage. Organizer Dr. William Bares, who teaches at UNCA, says there are “very few places where you can go and listen to it while having a fine dining and drinking experience along the lines of what you’d expect in New York or other major cities around the country.” You can read Xpress’ story about the showcase here: http://www.mountainx.com/article/48782/Golden-age.
This weekend’s showcase, “Mingus, Mingus, Mingus,” features the Hard Bop Explosion with special guest Steve Alford. From a press release: “The Hard Bop Explosion plays the music of iconoclastic bandleader and bassist extraordinaire Charles Mingus. Saxophonist Jacob Rodriguez has been hard at work transcribing nineteen Mingus originals for the occasion, ranging from barnburning classics to rarer, poignant ballads. Alto clarinetist Steve Alford will don many hats. Bassist Zack Page will get confrontational. The band as a whole will be more temperamental than usual. Don’t miss this freewheeling tribute to jazz’s ultimate nonconformist.”
The band is Mark Small (tenor saxophone); Jacob Rodriguez (saxophones); Justin Ray (trumpet); Bill Bares (piano); Zack Page (bass); Michael W. Davis (drums).
Mary Pearson, featuring Bill Bares (piano), Mike Holstein (bass), Sonny Thornton (drums) in the upstairs lounge 6-8 p.m.: “For the baby boomers who think it’s too late in the game to fulfill a passing fancy or lifelong dream at this stage in life, let Mary Pearson inspire you to reconsider. Mary’s secret to staying young is believing in herself, supporting and serving others and going for her own pot of gold. Pearson’s pot is filled with jazz standards. Singing is a passion she fed seven years ago when she took to the stage for the first time, and she hasn’t stopped since. Now she’s bringing her smoky style, sass and balladry to Asheville’s premiere jazz venue.”
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