Roy Haynes and the Fountain of Youth Quartet

Yesterday evening Felipe and I joined our friend Anna and some visitors from Barcelona for an evening of wonderful jazz with Roy Haynes and the Fountain of Youth Quartet. Dizzy's club is one of my favorite venues in the city - not only is it close to our apartment (a definite bonus for me), but it has amazing views of Central Park south and Columbus Circle.

I was quite excited to hear that Roy Haynes was playing in New York City. Felipe and I saw Roy Haynes perform at the Duc des Lombards in Paris when we were there last, and swore that we would see him if he ever came to NYC.

Mr. Haynes (aged 84!) has had a very prolific career - playing with such jazz greats as Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughn, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny, Thelonius Monk, and many many others. He's had a very successful career on his own, including touring with the Fountain of Youth Quartet. He even has a set of Zildjian Drumsticks styled after him.


He gave a great performance as expected with his quartet, including: Jaleel Shaw on the alto/soprano saxophones, Martin Bejerano on piano, and David Wong on the bass. They were all fantastic - complimenting each other perfectly. I think my favorite was Jaleel Shaw's performance on Roy Haynes song "James" - I just loved it!

Here's a short video of "James", it starts with a drum solo from Mr. Haynes and then around the three minute mark gets back into the main part of the song - it's about a five minute clip, but I suggest you watch it through (it starts out a bit slow).


He's so cool - after his set he was spending some time walking around the club talking with people. Felipe and I were able to greet Mr. Haynes and congratulate him on a wonderful performance. It was such a fantastic evening, nights like these make me so grateful that I live in a city like New York City.