A 17-day family wedding road trip brought me back to Rhode Island for the second time in a month, returning in September, not long after my August visit to cover the Newport Jazz Festival. The scheduling gods worked their magic for this September journey.
In other words, I got to hear the splendid John Allmark Jazz Orchestra on Monday, September 9 at The Met Cafe, a premiere RI music emporium that is located in a former mill building in Pawtucket. The band plays there on Mondays once or twice a month.
You can never be sure which charts the British-born trumpeter will pull from his huge band book on any given Monday. But the music is always swinging -- and delivered impeccably by his crew of southern New England musicians, most of whom are Boston or Providence jazz mainstays.
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| John Allmark |
Bovi'sTavern is Rhode Island's home for big band jazz on Monday nights. Well, on most Monday nights. This past Monday, the bandleader threw us a pleasant curve.
Rather than bring his full jazz orchestra, John Allmark presented his octet - a brass-rich unit reminiscent of Phil Woods' Little Big Band.
In other words, I got to hear the splendid John Allmark Jazz Orchestra on Monday, September 9 at The Met Cafe, a premiere RI music emporium that is located in a former mill building in Pawtucket. The band plays there on Mondays once or twice a month. 
