I don't go all that often to the Rex Hotel to listen to jazz, though I should admit that I usually have a good time when I do. (Of course, the time before last when I was there a radiator leaked/spewed water and ruined my coat...) In any event, I find their show times pretty weird. Basically, they have it set so that there are two sets by a local band (with no cover, though they usually pass a donation box around) starting at 6:30 or so and then there is a 9:30 headliner, which often does two sets. The problem for me is that I am getting old and don't like to be out so late. I would much prefer it if the headliner came on a 8, then did a 10 o'clock show. That's much closer to how the Jazz Showcase and the Green Mill in Chicago do it (though the Green Mill often has an after hours jam as well). Very rarely does the Rex get a major US headliner anymore (not sure if they used to in the past), but even so 9:30 is really later than like planning to start an evening out.
That said, I saw that Kirk MacDonald and his generations band were having a CD release party in the main slot. This is a group where his daughter, Virginia, joins him on clarinet. On the CD, Neil Swainson is on bass and Harold Mabern on piano. Now unfortunately Mabern wasn't making these gigs, or I would have gone both nights. (I've seen him backing up Eric Alexander a few times, and he was very good live.) But Swainson was going to be at the Rex, so I decided to go. I actually have one of Swainson's very rare outings as a leader -- the excellent 49th Parallel with Joe Henderson and Woody Shaw!
My original plan was to go to the AGO with a friend and then over to the Rex. However, I stupidly left the CD at home, so I went home after the AGO. On Thurs. (with CD stashed in my bag) I went to the Toronto Reference Library directly after work, then back to Queen St. I debated grabbing something to eat at the Queen Mother Cafe, but the dinner entré prices were too steep, so I just went to a cheap Vietnamese place down the street. I got back to the Rex just as it was emptying out after the first band. The cover was only $10, but it was definitely amusing later during the night watching all the people turn up and immediately turn around and split once they knew there was a cover charge.
There was an empty table along the wall, so I grabbed that. (I find the center table gets much too crowded.) I kept my eyes peeled for Swainson and almost went up to the wrong guy, but fortunately stopped myself. I started doing some creative writing. I find that I can usually get quite a few pages of dialogue put together while listening to live jazz. I managed to get maybe 2/3 through a piece called The Visitation, very loosely inspired by some of the goings on at the funeral home a couple of weeks back. I'm sure it's not a great piece, but I'm trying to use comedy to heal.
At any rate, I felt kind of bad sitting at a table by myself. I did offer to share the table with a young Asian woman, but I guess she thought I was hitting on her. (I truly wasn't.) Little did I know that she was partnered with the much, much older drummer in the group. (God, what a cliché.) Anyway, another woman joined the table a bit later, so I didn't feel like I was completely monopolizing the table.
I tried to catch Swainson's attention right before the set, but that didn't work out. The music was quite good, and Kirk and his daughter have quite a rapport, as one might expect. At the break, I did go up to Swainson. He was pretty floored to see that I had 49th Parallel, but he was very nice about signing it. I looked to see what other CDs were on sale. I had already streamed MacDonald's Generations, so I settled on Symmetry. Unfortunately, the CD artwork is dark black, so it wasn't worth trying to get MacDonald to sign it. I found out later that many of MacDonald's CDs are on iTunes, though not Symmetry so that worked out. I don't think his Songbook CD is on iTunes either, so I may look for that at some point.
I decided that I really wasn't up for one more set (which also would be pushing closing time for the subway), so I just went home at that point. I was just a bit bummed, walking by Campbell House that I couldn't get tickets to A Christmas Carol in this very intimate setting, but that's ok -- I'll see if it returns next year.
Given that I have a few other short plays I am working on, plus a TV pilot (just for my own entertainment -- no one is paying me to write this), I probably should drop by the Rex more often. I see that Kirk MacDonald is back on Jan. 9 with Jacek Kochan. I had hoped that Swainson was in town, but I don't think so. MacDonald and Swainson are playing a concert with pianist Kenny Baron, and I though seriously about going but 1) it is out at Niagara-on-the-Lake and 2) the tickets cost $65, which is just more than I want to pay. In terms of the more local artists coming to the Rex in Jan., I might check out Richard Whiteman and perhaps Kevin Quain, though Quain is a singer in the style of Tom Waits, which would probably just be too distracting for me to get any writing done. Richard Whiteman is probably the better bet. In any case, while I certainly wish there were more jazz clubs (and clubs that could bring in the bigger names), the Rex will do for now.
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