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The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar: January

Lula Lounge
1585 Dundas St. W. • View on map »
416-588-0307

Electric bassist Vaughan Misener is an intense and skilful player, subtly directing a band with pulsing lines that can suddenly explode in fresh directions. For this occasion, he’s gathered an especially strong group made up of regular collaborator Kirk MacDonald on tenor saxophone and two visitors, drummer Johnathan Blake and the brilliant Adam Rogers, a guitarist capable of tremendously inventive solos, Jan. 28 and 29.

As a saxophonist, Mike Murley is at home in many settings, whether leading his own small groups or serving as sideman. But the Mike Murley Septet is a special vehicle for him as composer and arranger, allowing him to take his compositions and reshape them for an expanded ensemble with more possibilities for texture and voicings than the standard quartet or quintet. It’s still, however, a band devoted to spontaneity and rhythmic drive, with fellow saxophonist Tara Davidson, trombonist Terry Promane and trumpeter John MacLeod propelled by the rhythm section of pianist David Braid, bassist Jim Vivian and drummer Ted Warren, Jan. 30.—Stuart Broomer