For those of you who are still reeling from that great Coltrane orgy, here are a few tidbits to hold you over until Sonny Rollins comes to town (March 2-6, Paul's Mall). The Jazz Workshop has that great Chick Corea sideman Joe Farrell, in until Sunday. Farell plays a funky saxophone and flute and is best remembered on Corea's terrific Inner Space album. Funny thing about Farrell, he is the headliner and Corea is the second banana on their latest release.
Bobbi Humphrey, a jazz flautist and soloist who made her name playing with Byrd (imagine--now he's the bird) is playing with the ubiquitous Webster Lewis at the Berklee Performance Center this Sunday. Shows are at 7 and 10 p.m. I managed to miss Webster Lewis at both the Western Front and Symphony Hall. Looks like I'll dodge him successfully for a third time.
Clarice Taylor, who has been singing for a little while in Boston moves into Cambridge's greatest jazz showcase, the Rise Club, in the heart of Central Square, this weekend. Concerts are a pleasure at the Rise, where the cover is cheap and the shows only cost you a drink.
February 23 is a good date to remember. That's when Maynard Ferguson and Ramsey Lewis (of Hang on Sloopy and In-Crowd fame, although he might deny it nowadays) move into the Music Hall for an 8 p.m. concert. I caught Ferguson at Brandy's Wharf a few years ago, and, sorry to say, he has lost a step or two since his days with Max Roach. The 50s were Fergie's hey-days. But his trumpet still has an inordinate amount of funk and the combination of Lewis and Ferguson make a viable Wednesday evening.
The 1369 jazz club in Inman Square has the Bill Brinkley Quartet (no relation) through the weekend. Happy Hour lasts until nine.
On the horizon. For those of you planning your itineraries after the Washington's Birthday break, you may be interested to know that John Handy, the man I am predicting will take disco and fuse it successfully with jazz--something he has done a bit already with Hard Work--will come into the Jazz Workshop, February 28 to March 6.
While I am on the subject of Handy, let me once and for all pronounce disco music as a past tense art. Ever since Harold Melvin had a parting of the ways with the Blue Notes, and Gato Barbieri's "I Want You" took the nation by storm (count the cliches) disco's tide has been ebbing. So, what are we going to dance to? Just as the jazz musicians crossed over into rock, I've been wondering when they were going to move into the dance market. Don't be surprised if some young group leader decides to turn up the mike on the bass and let the guy bang out the same beat a thousand times in a row. It is only a matter of time.
