JazzNights is a series of house concerts begun in 2002 by Mary Wisnovsky and Maitland Jones. Over the years, we have hosted some of the best jazz musicians in the world. We would be pleased to have you join us; just browse the website and contact us if you are interested. Reservations by email to: mjjr@princeton.edu. 

JazzNights (113)

SORRY! SOLD OUT

Martin Wind Trio

Sunday, December 7th, 4 pm

Martin Wind Trio – “Stars”

Martin Wind (bass), Bruce Barth (piano)

Anat Cohen (clarinet, etc.)

On Sunday, December 7th at 4 pm JazzNights, in collaboration with Newvelle Records will present this great trio. The event will be held in the Hockaday/Jones barn at 78 Moores Mill Mt. Rose Road, Hopewell, NJ 08525. Directions are posted on our website. We are asking for a contribution of $55 per person. As always, we offer about two hours of great music, good snacks, and an open bar. Please email your reservation to mjjr@princeton.edu. You can either send me a check at the address above or pay at the door. Please do not use my defunct NYU email address. If you reserve but can’t make it, PLEASE let me know by email so we can give away your reservation to someone on the wait list.

 Elan Mehler, a fine pianist and head of Newvelle Records helped curate this date. I hope he will be able to make the gig, but just in case, let me tell you a bit about Newvelle. In a world in which anything and everything can be streamed, Newvelle produces high-end vinyl. As CDs are better than streaming, vinyl is better than CDs, and Newvelle’s vinyl is the best of all – absolutely beautiful analog sound. Pricy? Yes but I have never felt anything but joy when I hear one of Newvelle’s offerings. Most recent is a five-disk set in honor of Newvelle’s tenth anniversary – and one of those disks features two members of our December trio, Martin Wind and Anat Cohen. You can browse some of Newvelle’s offering at the gig.

 Martin Wind is surely one of today’s elite bassists, unusually adept at playing arco, perhaps because of his classical chops. Martin Wind has graced JazzNights on three previous occasions and I heard him most recently last March at the Deer Head Inn leading a wonderful quartet. Those of you who heard him here with Carol Morgan or Bill Mays are well aware of his talents.

 One of my very favorite pianists, Bruce Barth is a reformed Californian, who started his study of (classical) piano at the age of five. An early move to New York introduced him to jazz. He studied at the New England Conservatory with the great pianists Jacki Byard and Fred Hersch. He's played with many wonderful groups, notably Nat Adderley, Terrence Blanchard, and the Mingus Big Band, and made his early recordings with George Russell, among the most forward-looking of all jazz composers (Cubana Be, Cubana Bop, for example, just unbelievable for its time). If you saw Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" you saw and heard Mr. Barth. He's been back in New York since 1988, and active there and all over the world in solo, trio, and small group settings. He plays in all the best places, The Village Vanguard, The Kennedy Center, The late and much lamented Jazz Standard.... on and on, including no fewer than eight appearances at JazzNights, beginning 20 years ago in 2005.

  "Pianist Barth digs deep to his true soul in the keyboard language....self-assured and full of ideas."

Downbeat

 Anat Cohen! The clarinetist of our time. Almost single handed she resurrected this instrument from undeserved obscurity. Once a leading instrument in the hands of masters – think Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, Benny Goodman, the underrated Artie Shaw, Buddy DeFranco, Tony Scott…..) its use as a primary instrument had faded until – Anat Cohen brought it back, not only into life, but prominence. Of course I am slighting some folks here, but it is true that she is the force driving its renaissance in the 21st century. She is also a stunning saxophonist – I recall hearing her on tenor some years ago (can’t find exactly when in my notes) and just loving her work.

 You can see her on the March 2025 cover of Downbeat – or, much better, you can catch her live at the barn this December.