Thanks to a lucky drawing (and, I suspect, lousy ticket sales, ) Dave Jensen and I got to to go to Town Hall to see “A Night of Improvised Round Robin Duets,’part of the Red Bull Music Academy Festival. What we saw were 17 gifted musicians playing a series of duets. The music was mostly jazz and 
electronica, and the musicians were, with the exception of the venerable Allen Toussaint (who was practically a classicist in this crowd), were unknown to me. The performances were, in no particular order, interesting, boring, entertaining, beautiful, 
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unstructured, impenetrable. Some of the stuff was tired–brass players speeding up and down the scales, guitarists atrangling strange, Hendrixian cries of anguish from their instruments. The bits were often best when drummers were involved and providing some structure. The greatest revelation was the singer Petra Hagen, whose voice is powerful, glistening, supple. She is someone I want to learn more about. Pictures: Top: closing jam. Middle pair: Karsh Kale, Kaki King and Jamie Lidell; Petra Haden and James Carter; Bottom four: Trumpeter Dave Douglas; Shigeto; Wadada Leo Smith and James Carter; the great Allen Toussaint.
