Recently named among the top five alto saxophonists in the world by DownBeat Magazine’s International Critics Poll, Jim Snidero begins a midwest tour at 7:30 pm tonight in the Crawlspace Theater, bringing with him two world-class players and a new album, Bird Feathers.
"It really does feel good," Snidero said about the DownBeat ranking in a conversation with Cara Lieurance. "All of that is kind of fleeting in a way. I've been doing my craft. I've been a professional musician for 45 years, and this recording that I am touring with now is celebrating the 40th year of my recording as a leader on record."
The album, and tonight's performance, feature a trio setting for saxophone, bass and drums. "There's an openness to the music without a chordal instrument that lets us get more, I guess, ethereal I would say," Snidero explains. "There's more of an atmosphere to the music, a little bit more spatial." He adds, "This is not gonna be much in the way of 'Avant Garde' music. This is gonna be swinging music. We're gonna have elements of abstraction to it. But I think that anybody that's into the tradition is definitely gonna dig the group, especially because we're doing Charlie Parker's music too."
Snidero expresses optimism about the resurgence of live music venues, particularly in the Midwest. "I do see also that there are a lot of venues in the Midwest, like the Crawlspace Theater, that have popped up," he said. "And they're all good venues."
Tonight's performance begins at 7:30 PM at the Crawlspace Theater in the KNAC Center (formerly the First Baptist Church of Kalamazoo). More information is at the Kzoo Jazz website.
