Show Time at the Blue Note (With Ted Curson, Pony Poindexter, Booker Ervin and More)

Everything about this concert screams the modal jazz club scene of the 1960s. For the Showtime At The Blue Note Belgian edition, Ted Curson (trumpet), Pony Poindexter (saxophone), Booker Ervin (saxophone), Nathan Davies (flute), Kenny Drew (piano), Jimmy Woode (Bass) and Edgar Bateman (drums) gather in what looks and feels like a basement club in New York (though it was filmed in Brussels). It is a rare line-up – these musicians weren’t part of some famous septet together – and they represented the cream of the crop when it came to sitting in and grinding out muscular, daring and transcendent music. 

Their repertoire is fitting, taking on three Miles Davis tracks from his modal albums, Kind of Blue and Milestones, including the seminal “Straight No Chaser” by Thelonious Monk. The camerawork adds to the mood, with intercuts, inserted still images and rapid movement embellishing the twin elements of chaos and romance that are felt in the music. Towards the end the ensemble provides some emotional respite by playing a lovely, delicate version of the classic “Yesterdays” before signing off.