MUSIC

Ralph Alessi: Baida Quartet

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2023
7:30 & 9:30 PM

The Jazz Gallery In Person & Live Stream
1158 Broadway (entrance on West 27th Street), NoMad, Manhattan

$22.50-$33 in person; $22 live stream
TICKETS + INFORMATION

Ralph Alessi is one of the better trumpeters in current jazz, and his Baida Quartet one of the better ensembles. I mean, Craig Taborn taking a piano seat that has also been occupied by Jason Moran and Kris Davis, Drew Gress on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums. Music to think to, that still gets to you viscerally — if quietly (if you’re thinking of Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet, you’re not thinking wrong). (And Alessi’s brother Joe is one of the two or three best orchestral trombonists now playing: that’s a family with a lot of brass!)

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In person, fancy Austrian at Koloman. Streaming at home, have a San Francisco: pour 1 oz. each of Sloe Gin, dry Vermouth, and sweet Vermouth, with 1 dash each of Peychaud’s bitters and orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into an ice-filled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.