Last February Ryan Blotnick released his debut album for a packed house at Cornelia St. Now he is back with a new project that has just recorded his second album for Songlines, featuring Belgian clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst of the Han Bennink Trio, and drum legend Jeff Williams. The audience can expect much of the "lyrical, almost nostalgic tone" of Blotnick's first project, but with a new palette of effects, vamp, drones, and Bass Clarinet.

"Guitarist Ryan Blotnick plays with a warm tone, a relaxed cadence and a smart but unassuming air. Born and reared in Maine, he is now based in Brooklyn. On his engagingly pensive debut, Music Needs You (Songlines), Mr. Blotnick presents a handful of original compositions. There's a sense of something natural unfolding as he and his band mates elaborate on his themes."
- Nate Chinen, New York Times, 3/7/08

- more info: www.ryanblotnick.com

10:30pm Michael Blake Band

Blake's new band emphasizes a passion for modern blues with soul and abstract lyricism.

"If musicians like Blake can rescue the real mainstream from the hands --and mouths -- of re-creators, they can continue to prove that there's still a lot that can be created from evolutionary, as well as revolutionary, music."
Ken Waxman, Jazz Weekly.com

- more info: www.michaelblake.net

$10 per set, or $15 for the whole evening

Fishbeyn is the mother of two Emperors in diapers, a recent graduate of the MFA program from New School University, in the throes of her first novel.
 Cover $7 (includes one house drink)   www.annafishbeyn.homestead.com/index.html

“Bass whiz”
-Casey Rea, Seven Days (VT)
 Cover $10   www.robduguay.com

- more info: http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/cas/music.nsf/pages/schedel
or: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=110849481

"While the jazz ethos is universal, Komeda's music distills the essence of Poland and pours it into the jazz bottle. Widely acclaimed as one of the prime creators of modern European jazz, Komeda's relatively short career had an enormous impact that is still being felt."
- Budd Kopmann/allaboutjazz.com

While best known for his haunting soundtracks to Roman Polanski films, the Polish pianist and composer made plenty of music that commands full engagement. This quintet explores that rich musical terrain.
- - New York Times/June2007

Among music fans, jazz people typically possess an exaggerated need for new stimuli. To hear something that has not been heard before is their endless quest. They are hereby directed to "Crazy Girl" by the Komeda Project. My admiration for the album continued to grow as I listened to it.

I think it is one of the strongest albums I have heard this year - and I get a LOT of albums in the mail! Performance: 4 Stars
- - Thomas Conrad/Stereophile Magazine/July2007

A very exciting project. The excitement, energy and the logical yet free structure of Komeda's work is readily apparent in the arrangements and playing. ... these tracks are not meant to be museum pieces, but rather a reaction in the present to the very core of Komeda's music. A wonderful introduction to the musical world of Krzysztof Komeda. Highly recommended.
- - Budd Kopman/allaboutjazz.com
 Cover $10   www.komedaproject.com

Dan moved to New York City in 2004 from his native Toronto, Canada, and has since performed with some of the best musicians the city has to offer, including Ari Hoenig, Myron Walden, Robin Eubanks, Gary Bartz, Jeremy Steig, Gerald Cleaver, Rory Stuart, and Ingrid Jensen. His debut CD, Interwords, was named one of the top 10 jazz releases in Canada in 2006 by Canadian jazz critic Geoff Chapman, and his playing has been called "ambitious", "arresting", and "showstopping" by George Harris at All About Jazz Los Angeles, who also said his playing "walks the tightrope between calm gentility and fiery abandon". Mark F. Turner at All About Jazz New York says that "Dan gives new visions of the mallet instrument".

Do not miss this premier show from what is surely one of New York's more original bands
 Cover $10   www.danmccarthy.net

"Guitarist Musillami is really on a roll lately, documenting a number of high quality sessions on his Playscape label," declared Cadence reviewer Jason Bivins. Critics called his latest, 2007's The Treatment, featuring his trio with violinist Mark Feldman, "scintillating and provocative" (Bill Milkowski, Absolute Sound), "an intensely rewarding and conceptually promising avenue for the future of jazz" (Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com) and "as convincing a statement of what’s still possible with the instrumentation as anything I’ve heard in years" (Brian Morton, PointofDeparture.org). It was also included in best-of-the-year lists in AllAboutJazz.com, Cadence, Coda, the Hartford Courant, Jazz Review and the Village Voice.

Musillami himself has been called “a superior guitarist” (John McDonough, DownBeat), "an adroit and creative musician" (Michael J. West, JazzTimes), "a fine composer of notable original music" (Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide) and "a modern-day jazz master" (Roger Levesque, Edmonton Journal). "His compositions develop in leisurely style from quiet simplicity to intricate complexity," explained Jack Massarik in Jazzwise, "and the ensemble playing is civilized, sophisticated and clean." The Boston Phoenix's Jon Garelick adds, "Musillami sounds familiar—this is swinging jazz guitar, after all—but not quite like anyone else."

In a career that spans more than 25 years, Musillami has worked extensively as a performer, bandleader/composer and educator. In addition to his flagship trio with Fonda and Schuller, which has performed in the U.S., Canada and Europe and released three CDs since 2002, he has earned critical notice as the leader of groups ranging from duo to octet featuring such prominent collaborators as Cameron Brown, Thomas Chapin, Drew Gress, Mario Pavone, Michael Sarin and Matt Wilson. He is also the longtime Director of Jazz Studies at The Hotchkiss School and founder/director of the acclaimed Playscape Recordings label, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2009.   www.michaelmusillami.com