hopefully you could see some pix here: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=336862 I'll try to keep the offtopic stuff brief :) The Standards Trio (Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette) was weak. The acoustics at Carnegie -- at least where we were sitting, which was far back in row "X" because I waited too long to order tickets :( which BTW cost $75 each!! but no drink minimum... :/ -- uh, anyway the acoustics were ATROCIOUS. the piano was washed out, the bass was inaudible and the worst thing was the drums, which were audible BUT there was this weird echo following every firm hit of the ride cymbal with a stick. it was a constant out of sync "clicking" sound. maybe that's why the "free" improv they did during "Autumn Leaves" sounded so great! it was such a relief, like a breath of fresh air, and i'm not sure if it was because of musical reasons or just that jack wasnt riding that cymbal for once. in fact, i think it's probably true that i wasnt impressed with the music itself either. this did not change until after intermission, the last tune they played before leaving the stage, a slow tune, i dont remember what, but they finally seemed to hit their stride, they finally "gelled". keith was playing very rapid but smooth righthand filigree. (nice, but my taste would be to hear more contrapuntal textures and less righthand exhibitionism.) anyway, the best thing about that piece was the way it ended. it ended soft, and was followed by utter silence. that is such a cool effect, when a very large group of people is completely silent. we went to the first yankees game after 9/11 (on 9/25?) and there was a "moment of silence" that was awesome. it's a great sound. and rarely heard, right? at least not in New York City. so it was a treat to hear silence at carnegie hall courtesy of the standards trio. but they just barely managed to do something cool there at the end, other than that the whole preceding part of the show (except maybe that free part of autumn leaves -- and my brother liked the groove on "god bless the child" but i wasnt so impressed by that, i think the version on one of the recordings is similar and better). they played three encores, which were also actually pretty good. so it took them a while to warm up. the show had its moments, esp at the very end, but it was basically a disappointment. after that i was thinking, i wonder what i missed at tonic; probably MASADA was The Show To See in the city that night... i had not really planned to go back today for more masada. i was vaguely thinking about it but hadnt got my act together with tickets etc. partly because no-one else was going. (rob and alice had some museum opening, and ellen expressed interest but didnt really want to go out yet again, wanted some downtime, so she declined.) but before the day had progressed very far i decided i had to go. it's the last masada sets, probably would be better than the first, and AFAIK it's joey baron's last appearance at the zornfest. so, basically, duh, HOW COULD I NOT GO?? got myself together and headed out, arriving at tonic for more agonizing line-standing etc. when i got inside there was a large photograph of irving stone, who recently died, and to whom there was a birthday tribute earlier in the afternoon. i never knew him but i used to see him at the knitting factory all the time... it was very sad to see the picture and think back to seeing him so much, but now won't ever see him again. he wrote program notes to the 1993 zornfest, BTW; you can find them online (google "irving stone zorn")... i'll quote his last paragraph: | The month of Zorn is a birthday celebration for a totally honest, | totally committed and totally fearless musician. It celebrates the | fact that a man can succeed on his own terms and in his own unique | fashion. If John has made an intelligent career move to I know he | didn't do it with premeditation. The Month of Zorn is not a | retrospective; John hasn't even reached mid-career yet. It is a | party and I intend to enjoy it as such. I sincerely [hope] John will | too and his past, present and future public as well. hell yeah. still true. RIP mr stone :( once inside, i was getting a drink at the bar and noticed they had leftover brownies from (i assume) the irving stone tribute. so i had one and wished him a happy birthday. [ CONTINUED IN PART 2 ]