Hi Efrén, Friday, January 16, 2004, 8:31:08 AM, you wrote: EdV> Did any of you New Yorkers ever catch this quartet EdV> live?: EdV> MARC RIBOT/ROY CAMPBELL/HENRY GRIMES/CHAD TAYLOR As far as I understand, this group just started and played only once so far. I had a chance to see the second set at Tonic last month. It was interesting, though I had a feeling that the music is still very raw. When I first checked the line-up, I thought that they are going to improvise, but that was not the case. In fact the band played composed music. Henry Grimes is an often guest of Ribot's these days. I didn't decide yet if I like it or not. But one thing is clear: Ribot is stepping to the new ground of New York improv scene concentrated around William Parker, rather than John Zorn. Soon we'll see how it works. So far seeing Ribot with Grimes twice (once with Spiritual Unity and once with Django Reinhardt's project co-led by Jenny Scheinman with Bruce Cox on drums), I can say that this direction is interesting. However, the Reinhardt's thing sounded more stabilized, even though it was hard to recognize the original tunes. Having the group as strong as Spiritual Unity, it is hard to predict the results. Obviously Campbell and Ribot supposed to be the leaders of the group. But during the show I felt like it was Campbell's trio with the special guest who played great, but didn't fit so well. All in all it was not bad at all, but rather intriguing. It also seemed to me that musicians are still trying to adjust to Grimes. Great drummer Chad Taylor (who I had a pleasant opportunity to hear again last night) was not that noticeable, partly, I think, because of his role as a partner of Grimes. As of the Henry himself, after that show my wife said: "Is it me, or Grimes's solos are all the same?" I understand her feelings: they are probably not the same, but the man is almost always brings the aura that he is somewhere else in his own world. Anyway, I'll try to catch them again at the end of the month and compare these shows. -- All the best, Peter Gannushkin URL: http://downtownmusic.net/