Now that's art

Let me tell you, for an older gentleman Roscoe Mitchell can still bring it. Sonny Rollins is the only other jazz senior citizen I've seen who's still got as much stuff.

I caught Mitchell with the Art Ensemble of Chicago at the Jazz Cafe in London's Camden section last night. One of the best half dozen performances I've seen, ever. They did everything from an improvisational piece that sounded like it was based off an African chant to kind of a funky acid jazz-like thing with clever quotes of Miles Davis' "Jean-Pierre." This while employing an impressive array of instruments. Saying they had all the bells and whistles (and a lot of saxes, drums and flutes, too) would be literally true. The youngish trumpeter Corey Wilkes is an able replacement for the late Lester Bowie and even did a Roland Kirk thing, blowing his trumpet and flugelhorn at the same time to fine effect. The place was packed, a real contrast from when I saw, say, Henry Grimes or Joe McPhee in the States last year and the audience struggled to reach a dozen. Folks were straining to get a good look at the stage and some people even danced, not something you see at every avant-garde jazz set.

The Jazz Cafe looks to me to be the prime spot in London, better than Ronnie Scott's (closed for renovations right now anyway) or Pizza Express Jazz, although the jerk running the door opened it late and left a line of customers standing in the freezing cold. The Cafe had Dr. Lonnie Smith and Lou Donaldson last week and has several shows coming up I wish I was going to be here to see. They serve a nice meal, if a little expensive, as well and eating gets you a good seat.