TONIGHT: Tom Moon dresses up Milkboy Philly in Jazz Casual

Moon has grown to dig the 'boy's casually convivial atmosphere as well as its inventive klatch of players. That, to an extent, is why he chose Tommy Joyner's new downtown Milkboy on Chestnut Street for his first foray into self-made jam-dom with "Jazz Casual."

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TONIGHT: Tom Moon dresses up Milkboy Philly in Jazz Casual

POSTED: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 4:44 PM

Filed Under: Music | Philly Bands Show

Tom Moon. By (Scott Weiner)

Within the last 24 months, Philly scribe and saxophonist Tom Moon has been busy releasing long form books and well thought out solo albums. Yet here he is pounding the pavements. Moon’s not looking for work. He’s been scouring the jazz jam and open mic scene, looking to play with the very best Philly has had to offer at spots such as World Café Live, Triumph, the late lamented Bookspace, Time and, most particularly, Ardmore’s Milkboy Coffee Café.

Moon has grown to dig the ’boy’s casually convivial atmosphere as well as its inventive klatch of players. That, to an extent, is why he chose Tommy Joyner’s new downtown Milkboy on Chestnut Street for his first foray into self-made jam-dom with “Jazz Casual.” This is an every-Tuesday-night affair where Moon, a warm tight house band, an occasional top-shelf guest and you — the player, the fan not just of jazz but of good music — can walk up M-Boy’s steps and for the paltry sum of $5 (yes, they charge — bravo) find yourself interacting in what promises to be an engaging evening of song.

“What they wanted to do was something a little bit away from their norm,” says Moon of the “they” being Joyner and Milkboy’s de facto booking guy Bryan Dilworth. It remains to be seen if something like this can be successful in that new live room as the space itself hasn’t proven itself as a venue quite yet. To start something as auspicious as a jazz event (not always the easiest sell to begin with) on a block still untried for live entertainment is a risk. “That’s why I spent so time, throwing out questions to people on my blog, on the phone, on email.”

As Moon had never run a night such as this, one where he’d lead a house band through his originals (lots of Braziliana) their songs (like those of educator Mike Frank who’ll play regularly with Moon on Chestnut), covers and open-ended rhythmic workouts for open mic enthusiasts to blast off upon, he wanted to find out what the pitfalls of the open jam were. “How to do this right was crucial. We’re at a time and a place where Philly has an enormous amount of talent and ways to encounter that talent — not just jazz, though that is a useful paradigm to focus on — that doesn’t get beyond its 10 most rabid fans.” And face it, says me, those 10 people aren’t always buying drinks; not in this economy. “So the question becomes can Center City develop a clientele for this type of hang. I’m at a point where I’m just crazy enough to try it.”

Moon loves the “fantastic” downtown space as much as he does the open Monday sessions at Milkboy Ardmore. There’s always an attendance of students from all the area colleges as well as a musician base who love the vibe of the room. Players there dig playing with the house band (Jordan Burger, Mike Frank, Brian McWilly), talented men in the woodwork of the scene, who don’t get the acclaim they deserve in Moon’s estimation. Moon got responses from his friends and musician associates stating that they wanted a great house rhythm section and the chance to play with a little more depth and length. “The question becomes with players who want desperately to express themselves how can they get an opportunity to best express themselves. But what can you make happen musically at any point? That’s a difficult state to achieve.” One way in that Moon will challenge these players — drop-ins, special guests — while maintaining the ethos of a jam session, is to create boundaries: maybe promote a night where all who come must play from Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain or John Coltrane’s My Favorite Things. Create themes. “Do something that says that we’re going to chase after something with a little more depth so to keep everyone on their toes. Not to be too super serious about it or have a quiz but to focus. Make something happen in that moment.”

While Moon brings name-recognizable guests such as Pete Gaudioso to bear on this evening’s proceedings as a Chet Baker-like ballad vocalist (and not his usual drummer role), ultimately it has to be Moon’s quiet charms and dynamic melodic saxophonics that draw people to the evening. Especially when you consider that a) you have to pay to get in and make certain peeps buy a few cocktails; b) the night is not open to student jazz-bos under 21s; c) the Milkboy space in a still unknown entity.

“We’re all taking a chance here. Yet it’s going to have a wider reach than the name intends. We call it ‘Jazz Casual’ because we have to very clearly distinguish it from say Milkboy’s pop programming,” says Moon. “Sometimes calling something “jazz” keeps people away even if it isn’t brain crunching abstraction. But what we want to do is play beautiful music — improvised, original, rare covers, Cuban and Brazilian songs — for average people. We want to attract everyone from the cats at the bar downstairs to the people in the apartments throughout the rest of downtown.”

Here’s hoping.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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