Tonight I caught the much anticipated John Butcher and Gino Robair solo and duo concerts at line space line (well, 1/2 of it was much anticipated). Unfortunately the evening was somewhat marred by the awful heat wave that has descended on Los Angeles, leaving the un-air-conditioned room far to stuffy to breathe and too sweaty hot for ideal listening. However, Butcher was excellent, and Robair was somehow much more interesting than when I saw him last year in Oakland (not saying much there, I guess). Robair’s vibrating drum set, beat up, bowed cymbals and noisemakers, meshed well with Butcher’s soprano and tenor honks, plups and microphone amplified hums, scrapes and blurs during their duo performances, creating an interesting and well integrated bed of sound. Of course the highlight was Butcher’s solo set (working only with his tenor sax). It’s just his tone. He has got that unique sound that just gets to me - even when circular breathing, his playing sounds like nobody else - I coulda listened to him blow all night, even in the stifling heat. 12:10 AM >>> 0 comments

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