# Greet the New Year with Chris Potter Circuits Trio, Regina Carter, Carlos Henriquez and more: Videos, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/12/30/greet-the-new-year-with-chris-potter-circuits-trio-regina-carter-carlos-henriquez-and-more-videos-photos/
- Published: 2019-12-30T11:11:45+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**New Year’s Eve is always a bonanza in New York jazz clubs.**

So in this final Take Five of 2019, we’re spotlighting some of the best bookings
in town. Those engagements may be sold out by now, but it never hurts to check —
and some of these gigs stretch through the end of the week. Then there’s always 
the music itself, which you can sample here, and purchase for your enjoyment in 
2020. Happy New Year!

**Chris Potter’s Circuits Trio, The Village Vanguard**

Chris Potter, the heroic post-bop saxophonist, released two fine albums on Edition
Records in 2019. Good Hope is the debut studio album by Crosscurrents Trio, a supergroup
with bassist Dave Holland and tabla master Zakir Hussain. Circuits, released back
in February, features a different brand of all-star trio, with keyboardist James
Francies and drummer Eric Harland. It’s a turbocharged groove album, suggesting 
the next step after Potter’s Underground band. But because of Francies’ unique skill
set, it had its own identity from the jump.

**Regina Carter Quintet, Jazz Standard**

Regina Carter, the irrepressible violinist, Doris Duke awardee and MacArthur fellow,
will spend New Year’s Eve at the Jazz Standard — leading a quintet with Nat Adderley
Jr. on piano, Chris Lightcap on bass and Alvester Garnett on drums. Also in the 
lineup is Carla Cook, whose deep vocal aplomb can be heard on this version “Undecided,”
from Carter’s 2017 album Ella: Accentuate the Positive (OKeh).

**Carlos Henriquez Nonet, Dizzy’s Club**

Best known as the bassist in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Carlos Henriquez
has steadily raised his profile in recent seasons. Last year he released his debut
studio release, The Bronx Pyramid, on Blue Engine Records; it was soon followed 
by a live album, _Dizzy Con Clave: Live From Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, _on RodBros
Music. It features an octet with two powerhouse trumpeters, Michael Rodriguez and
Terell Stafford; tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana; trombonist Marshall Gilkes; drummer
Obed Calvaire; and conguero and singer Anthony Almonte. For this week’s run, they’ll
be joined by pianist Robert Rodriguez and flutist and vocalist Jeremy Bosch.

**Countdown Sextet 2020, Smoke Jazz & Supper Club**

The Countdown Festival has been a cherished tradition at Smoke, usually around the
autumnal birthday of its inspiration, John Coltrane. Countdown Sextet 2020 features
Vincent Herring on alto saxophone, Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, Eric Reed 
on piano, John Webber on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums. Dropping in from the 
Bay Area is a guest vocalist, Nicolas Bearde, who recently released an album in 
tribute to Nat King Cole (with Alexander making a few cameos). For our purposes,
it made sense to feature a track Alexander and Herring recorded at Smoke, for the
album _Friendly Fire. _The tune, “Dig Dis,” isn’t a Coltrane composition — but it’s
by his contemporary Hank Mobley. Close enough!

**Ethan Iverson Trio + Marcy Harriell, Zinc Bar**

Let’s close with a special one-off: Ethan Iverson, who logged many New Year’s Eves
at The Vanguard with The Bad Plus, will be holding down different coordinates in
Greenwich Village this year. Along with a piano trio featuring Corcoran Holt on 
bass and Vinnie Sperrazza on drums, he’ll be working with Marcy Harriell, a vocal
dynamo whose expansive Broadway credits include starring roles in _Rent _and _In
the Heights. _As Iverson explains at his blog, they’ll be seriously digging into
the songbook of Burt Bacharach and Hal David — an excellent idea that’s sure to 
be carried out with style.

There’s no available recording of this experiment, so at the risk of mildly embarrassing
Iverson, I found this version of Bacharach’s “The Look of Love,” from the Fresh 
Sound New Talent album Live at Smalls._ _It features a quartet jointly led by tenor
saxophonist Bill McHenry, with Reid Anderson on bass and Jeff Williams on drums.
The recording date is Feb. 8, 2000 — nearly two decades ago. But New Year’s Eve 
is always a good time for looking back as well as ahead.

![Chris Potter, left, formed Circuits Trio with James Francies and Eric Harland.](
https://i0.wp.com/www.wbgo.org/sites/wbgo/files/styles/medium/public/201912/circuits_trio_crop.
png?w=640&ssl=1)

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