Tain

Last night, I caught a set from Jeff “Tain” Watts at Iridium. Watts is one of my favorite jazz drummers (along with Brian Blade and Brian Jones) and his compositions are very similar to his drumming: tasteful, but complex. Playing with a solid quintet, Watts explored material from his latest album, Bar Talk and it was good. Watts will be at Iridium through Sunday.
I have mixed feelings abour Iridium. It has a student discount, excellent sound, and good sight lines, but I find its new location to be almost too nice and lacking in character. It does have good (if wildly overpriced) food and as long as they keep booking good acts, I’ll keep going there. Up next, James Carter, March 11-16.
On a scheduling note, today’s links will be up tomorrow, along with some of my thoughts about today’s trip to the UN.