The Bobby Floyd Showcase every Sunday night at Notes presents a delightful combination of great food prepared by the Copious kitchen, featured Columbus and touring guests playing with the talented Bobby Floyd Trio, and a jam session with more great jazz musicians to end the night most weeks. This Sunday, March 5th, at 6pm will be a special installment, as celebrated vocalist Freddy Cole will perform with his quartet. A man who the New York Times once recognized for his “impeccable sense of swing” and described as “overall, the most maturely expressive male jazz singer of his generation, if not the best alive,” the 85 year-old Cole is the brother of Nat King Cole. Freddy’s recording career as a jazz singer and pianist has spanned over sixty years, including 2016’s He Was The King, a loving tribute to his brother. Get your tickets now for this chance to hear jazz royalty up close and personal – click here for tickets and more info.
Shows To See This Week
Saturday, March 4th (9pm – midnight): Alex Schrock Trio at Rambling House, 310 E. Hudson. The successful local soda manufacturer continues to operate a lively music venue – the schedule is often focused on Americana/Roots bands, but great live jazz is also part of the rotation. Guitarist Schrock will be joined by drummer Ryan Jewell and bassist John Allen, a lineup that will be recording some music video next week (stay tuned). Schrock told me that after a winter of writing, practicing, and relaxing, this show is kicking off his spring and summer concert schedule, which was just updated here, including his May residency at Dick’s Den that will be previewed on this site as it approaches. Cover is $5 for this intimate performance, mixing traditional guitar trio styles with a “power” trio sound inspired by Sonny Sharrock.
Tuesday, March 7th (8 – 9:30pm): Holler (7): Liquid Crystal Project at New Harvest Cafe & Urban Arts Center, 1675 Arlington Avenue, Linden. “Holler: 31 Days of Columbus Black Art” is a series of performances in venues around the area showcasing the work of Columbus-based black artists throughout the month of March. This series is curated by longtime Columbus writer and organizer Scott Woods, who gave a great interview about the entire program with JazzColumbus contributor Richard Sanford at Columbus Underground. Among great nights of visual art, poetry, dance, and many styles of music, there is a strong live jazz contingent to the schedule. Veteran jazz-hop outfit Liquid Crystal Project plays the New Harvest Cafe Tuesday, with a resume of collaborations with luminaries of jazz, hip-hop, and soul as well as a collection of three well-received releases, with a fourth on the way. Admission is $5.
Thursday, March 9th (9 – 11pm): Laelûme and knots at The Shrunken Head. A rare jazz show on the evolving live music schedule at this Victorian Village bar and venue brings an appealing double bill. Keyboardist Caleb Miller and percussionist Eli Chambers will bring knots to the stage – as Miller says, “This will be our last show as ‘knots’ before the project will start a-new (new name/music/everything),” so this will be a great time to say goodbye to an exciting band in our local scene before the next iteration comes along. Led by keyboardist/vocalist Ashlae Blume, New Orleans’ Laelûme comes to town on tour, with a style they describe as “Music of the world, for the world, jazz, transcendence, and original composition to take you traveling into unexplored places.” The tunes on their Soundcloud are intriguing and should be great live. Doors open at 8pm.
Have a great week! Here are some videos to get you ready for these shows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNLcUK5RzqE