Many jazz greats and their instruments grace the walls.

The set was incredible. Motian is 77 years old and played like it was nothing to him, switching rapidly back and forth in tempos, beat structures and using a small kit with sticks, brushes and his hands. Amazing. He suggests or implies the meter rather than tapping it out. The piano player Kikuchi, who is 68 years old, was out there, singing wildly out of key with his compositions as he played. It was great. He banged out clusters and knots of notes along with his drunk singing that was such a revelation. At one point, both horns had sat down for a bit and the piano was on just a wonderful soaring rant that went on for 10 minutes or more, with fits and jerks of chords and sounds to Motian's scraping brushes. The bass player merrily went along for the ride, saving his energy then bursting forth with intense glissandos and quick restatements of his solo theme, After a while, Motian called to the horns "hey play the melody a couple times to get this guy (Kikuchi) back on track" so one stood up and quickly blew through the melody twice. The pianist tuned in from his reverie and the song concluded with a focused ending. Bliss. I sat through both sets.

Photo album created with Web Album Generator