Blue Monk - AJAM

I'll start off by saying that I do not like Ornette Coleman - too strange for my layman's palette.  Saw him do some sort of 3 bass ensemble at Monterey several years ago.  It was the musical equivalent of my reading a Chinese newspaper.

SO upon arriving for my first visit to the Blue Monk; I was greeted with, "we are about to present a set of Ornette Coleman tunes".  Great...  Not only that, I was hungry and was presented with a menu of mostly Italian dishes.  Remember that I'm from North Jersey, that makes me an Italian food snob.  The planets were clearly out of alignment; Ornette Coleman and Portland Italian bar food - sigh!

Well, my fears were unfounded.  The Alan Jones Academy of Music (AJAM) students kicked more than a little tail with their Ornette Coleman tunes.  They call themselves "Johnsemble" as three of the members are named John (bass, trombone, drums) and joined by Nicole on tenor and Adam on guitar (who played some very mean stuff!).  I may have to give Ornette a try again, I really enjoyed what was presented on stage, particularly the tune "When will the Blues End?".  (The answer - never!)

I also enjoyed the baked Ziti I had for dinner; not bad even by North Jersey standards.

The only thing I did not enjoy was the noisy trio of dimwits sitting next to me; I swear they were louder than a drum solo.  Why the hell would you go to a music place to talk?  Don't get it!  By the way, this was JSO members night, right?  Where were you?  Ok; rant concluded.

The Blue Monk Thursday jam - check it out!

Sorry about the dark photos; Patti was not there to help me!