Wednesday was another night of contrasts after the post-work sprint downtown landed me at the tail of the Kilbourn line to join Seth, Greg, and Jane again, this time to see the young trumpet phenom Christian Scott and band. Did I mention he was young? The whole sextet was young. When they first walked out onto the stage, I thought that perhaps some Eastman students had been asked to sit in or something. Still, as they broke into their first song, I had high hopes. The drummer was kicking out some nasty break-beats and Scott can certainly play, but it soon became clear that these guys need a few more years under their belts, just to add a bit more nuance and maturity to their playing and a chance to coalesce as a band rather than a set of talented individual performers. When they do get it together, watch out!

The 7:30 showing of the Nordic Now series is starting to become a habit. What will I do next week, when the Reformation Lutheran Church reverts to its status as a house of worship as opposed to the hottest new venue for jazz in Rochester? Wednesday night's offering was the Ilmiliekki Quartet from Finland. This was a more thoughtful, contemplative show with delicate interplay between the performers, a bracing contrast to the show we had just seen.

From there, we caught the last half hour or so of Bonerama, which was, again, a vivid contrast to the Finns. Whereas, with the Imiliekki Quartet we had to sometimes strain to hear the delicate touches on the piano solos and the breathy playing of the trumpet, with Bonearama, we were nearly blown out the back of the Club Pass Tent. The band was comprised of the standard drums and funky guitar and the entirely non-standard funky sousaphone, while fronting the band were four, count them, four trombones. Our ears were assaulted, but in a good way.

We scattered in different directions afterward, Jane and I heading to Max of Eastman Place to see the Cuban-influenced jazz of the Hilario Duran Trio. This band was off-the-hook amazing. Duran's fingers were flying across the piano, but every note received the most nuanced touch--a truly artistic performance.

Thursday night, I've got the Zapp String Quartet and James Moody in mind, plus something else, but I'm not sure what yet.