November has become the month of film noir events, when theaters screen black and white classics such as Out of the Past, Double Indemnity, and The Maltese Falcon. Often the literary sources for these movies are eclipsed by their glamorous Hollywood offspring, but on Saturday night, November 8, 1930s-1950s detective fiction gets the spotlight. This latest concert in Col. MaCaw’s Magical Cure-All Fall Series celebrates a new CD from the jazz quartet Pocket, Hard-Boiled Music, with two sets—first, Pocket improvises to noir classics read by KVMR’s T.E. Wolfe, followed by a second set featuring the album’s suite of tunes.
David Dvorin, the guitarist and composer behind the new record, says the tunes—with titles such as “The Getaway,” “the Shiv,” and “Benny the Fink”—were inspired by books such as Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. “I tried to depict musically the shady characters, sordid scenes, and action I found in this world.” Dvorin’s jazz quartet Pocket, which includes local musicians Tim Bulkley on drums, Matt Langley on saxes, and Randy McKean filling the bass role on contralto clarinet, bring equal measures of rhythmic swagger and tight chamber music-like interplay to the music.
On their recent pre-release tour through the Pacific Northwest, one of Pocket’s hosts suggested that in the future they try performing this set of tunes with someone reading from the source novels and stories. McKean knew the perfect candidate for the job—T.E. Wolfe, the creator and host of KVMR’s A Word in Edgewise, a Sunday night radio program which Wolfe describes as “story time for grownups,” in which he mixes live spoken word presentations with musical interludes and sound effects, creating a “cinema for the ear.” McKean and Wolfe have performed live together on the air on several Edgewise shows, but this will be their first opportunity to do it live in person. Wolfe will be reading excerpts from Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep that inspired Pocket tunes like “Jade Earrings” and “Exit the Side Door.”
This is the third of four Col. MaCaw events planned for the Fall, the next being guitarist Justin Purtill on December 13. “The goal of these Col. MaCaw events is to showcase performances and create happenings that you are not going to see anywhere else,” says McKean, the series co-founder. “If we can bring a few new twists to the already burgeoning Nevada County arts scene, we have done our job.”
What: Col. MaCaw presents Hard-Boiled Music
When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 8
Where: Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains
246 South Church Street, Grass Valley
Tickets: $20 at the door
More Info: http://www.colmacaw.com/