Third Thursdays is a new monthly harmolodic jazz series project featuring keyboardist and composer Dave Bryant. Dave will be joined each month by several of his many long-time collaborators hailing from the Boston area and beyond.
The series will be held in the beautiful and acoustically impressive vestry of the Harvard-Epworth Church near Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA USA.
Concerts start at 8:00 pm. Admission at the door is $10. Seating capacity will abide by whatever health and safety protocols are in place at the church on any given month.
Complimentary Third Thursdays concert parking is now available at the Everett Street Garage at 10 Everett Street in Cambridge, only a 5 minute walk away. Just mention that you are attending a “Third Thursdays” event.
See Dave’s Facebook Events page for more info or contact him via email.
Download the PDF press release for the Third Thursdays series.
“I’m really looking forward to bringing together some of my favorite musicians from the Boston area and from out of town to create some memorable musical experiences.” —Dave Bryant
Upcoming “Third Thursdays” Gig
Come out this December 19, 2024 (8PM ET), when Dave Bryant will feature Russ Johnson (trumpet), Eric Person (sax), Hill Greene (bass) and James Kamal Jones (drums) in what will surely be one of the hippest holiday performances in the Boston area. Don’t miss it!
Past Third Thursday Gigs
On November 21, 2024, Dave Bryant featured the return of Carnatic vocalist Srinivasan Raghuraman, along with Mike Rivard (bass and sintir), Upasak Mukherjee (tabla) and Shivaraj Natraj (mridangam).
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On October 17, 2024, Dave Bryant featured legendary drummer Barry Altschul (Paul Bley, Chick Corea, Anthony Braxton), saxophonist Scott Robinson (Roscoe Mitchell, Joe Lovano, Maria Schneider, David Bowie), and bassist Hill Greene (Kenny Barron, Dave Douglas, Jason Moran). It was a thrilling meeting of world-class improvisers!
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On August 15, 2024, Dave Bryant hosted a legendary meeting of music and live art improvisation featuring himself on keyboards along with friends and collaborators Jorrit Dijkstra (sax), Daniel Kurganov (violin), Matthew Brown (visual artist), Jacob William (bass), and Miki Mitsuki (drums).
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On July 18th, 2024 we featured a group of improvisers, some of whom have enjoyed long-running musical relationships, and some of whom are collaborating for the first time. A potent formulation which provides challenge and surprise, but with a built-in support system! This was a wild ride with some very personable and engaging comrades: cornetist Stephen Haynes, saxophonist Eric Barber, bassist Kit Demos, and drummer Curt Newton.
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On June 20th, 2024, Dave Bryant was joined by special guests Tsuyoshi Honjo (sax) and the legendary Ra Kalam Bob Moses (drums), along with the members of Listen to This — Jerome Dupree, Rush Gershon, Rick McLaughlin, Bryan Murphy, J Johnson, Todd Brunel and Rick Barry — for another great evening of electric era Miles Davis-inspired music.
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On May 16, 2024, Dave Bryant will host a special CD release party for his latest record, “Wire and Bone.” The performance will feature all the players on the new album, including George Garzone, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Kenny Wessel, Eric Hofbauer and Chris Bowman. Don’t miss this gig!
Bryant notes, “I’m really thrilled to bring together these wonderful musicians with whom I’ve cemented strong relationships over many years: Jamaaladeen, a mentor from my earliest days studying with Ornette Coleman in the ’80s; George, a favorite teacher and mentor at Berklee; Chris, a Berklee classmate and longtime bandmate in the Shock Exchange trio; Kenny, a close colleague in Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time; and Eric, a collaborator on several more recent projects and our Jazz Department Head at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. We have all worked together in many different configurations, and enjoyed great friendships. This should be a very special evening!”
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On April 18, 2024, “Third Thursdays” presented a “Piano Summit” featuring Dave Bryant playing with four Boston-area keyboard artists: Tatiana Castro Mejía, Pandelis Karayorgis, Steve Lantner, and Eric Zinman.
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On March 21, 2024, Dave Bryant was joined again by Calvin Weston (drums) of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band, along with J Johnson (guitar) and Rick McLaughlin (bass).
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On February 15, 2024, Dave Bryant was joined by Jeff Song (cello), Ken Field (saxophone), Jacob William (bass), and Curt Newton (drums).
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On January 18, 2024, Dave Bryant was joined by Tom Hall and Allan Chase on saxophones, Rick McLaughlin on bass and Matt Crane on drums.
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Our very special program for December 21, 2023 featured the multi-dimensional artistic conception of trumpeter/clarinetist Matt Lavelle, who is contributing visual art and poetry to the mix as well as his compositional and instrumental talents. He also invited a special guest, dancer K.J. Holmes, to add to the multimedia experience. Once again, we were joined by the very accomplished rhythm section of Fred Williams on bass, and James Kamal Jones on drums. Thanks to those who joined us as we ushered in the winter solstice with a synesthetic evening of art, dance, poetry, and music.
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On November 16, 2023, we offered a special “Harmolodic double bill”—Legendary guitarist James Blood Ulmer (often cited as the co-inventor of harmolodic theory with his collaborator and friend Ornette Coleman) in a solo performance, followed by an amazing quartet featuring Dave Bryant, Neil Leonard (saxophone), Fred Williams (bass), and James Kamal Jones (drums).
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On October 19, 2023, Dave Bryant was joined by his former colleague in Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band, guitarist Kenny Wessel, along with old friends bassist John Lockwood, saxophonist Tom Hall, and drummer Chris Bowman.
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On September 21, 2023 at 8PM, Dave Bryant had his first encounter with well-known tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, joined by two old friends, bassist John Turner and drummer Eric Rosenthal. (This was a re-scheduling of our June, 2023 line-up, which was canceled due to health reasons.)
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On August 17, 2023 at 8PM, Dave Bryant was joined by Charlie Kohlhase (alto saxophone), Gabriel Solomon (violin), Eric Hofbauer (guitar), John Turner (bass), and Miki Matsuki (drums).
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On July 20, 2023 at 8PM ET we featured the return of the Listen To This group, with an all-star cast helmed by Jerome Deupree (drums) and Russ Gershon (woodwinds and organ), and including Bryan Murphy (trumpet), Todd Brunel (bass clarinet), J Johnson (guitar), Rick McLaughlin (bass), and Rick Barry (percussion).
Listen to This originally formed to explore the electric-era music of Miles Davis, and while this remains the main focus the group’s concept has continued to blossom and take on a life of its own.
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On May 18, 2023, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with Hill Greene (bass) and Gregg Bendian (drums) as part of the “Third Thursdays” series.
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On April 20, 2023, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with Al MacDowell (electric bass), Tony Falanga (acoustic bass), and Tony Lewis (drums) as part of the “Third Thursdays” series.
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On March 16, 2023, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with Tom Hall (tenor sax), Eric Hofbauer (guitar), John Turner (bass), and Miki Matsuki (drums) as part of the “Third Thursdays” series.
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On February 16, 2023, at 8PM, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with Greg Hopkins (trumpet), Giovanni Moltoni (guitar), John Lockwood (bass), and James Kamal Jones (drums).
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On January 19, 2023, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with Bruno Råberg (bass) and Jerry Leake (percussion).
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On December 15, 2022, Dave Bryant (keyboards) hosted a reunion of his ‘80’s band Shock Exchange with John Turner (bass) and Chris Bowman (drums), joined by George Garzone (saxophones).
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On November 17, Dave Bryant (keyboards) was joined by special guests and fellow Ornette Coleman collaborators Frederick Williams (bass) and James Kamal Jones (drums), along with Matt Lavelle of The 12 Houses (trumpet and bass clarinet).
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On October 20, Dave Bryant (keyboards) was joined by Indian Carnatic vocalist Srinivasan Raghuraman (vocals), George Garzone from The Fringe (saxophones), Mike Rivard (bass), and Jerry Leake (percussion).
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On September 15, Dave Bryant (keyboards) was joined by special guest and fellow Ornette Coleman collaborator G. Calvin Weston (drums) along with Jim Hobbs (alto saxophone) from Fully Celebrated Orchestra, Dave Fiuczynski (guitar) from Screaming Headless Torsos, and Mike Rivard (bass) from Club d’Elf.
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On August 18, 2022, Dave Bryant (keyboards) switched things up with an evening of electronica featuring two Boston-area instrumentalists/composers with international resumés — Neil Leonard (saxophones) and Bruno Råberg (bass).
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On July 21, 2022, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with special guests Kenny Wessel (guitar), John Lockwood (bass) and Luther Gray (drums).
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On June 16, 2022, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with Tsuyoshi Honjo (saxophones), Gabriel Solomon (violin), John Turner (bass), and Curt Newton (drums).
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On May 19, 2022, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with Listen to This, featuring Jerome Deupree (drums), Russ Gershon (saxophones and flute), Yahuba Garcia-Torres (percussion), J. Johnson (guitar), Rick McLaughlin (bass), and Bryan Murphy (trumpet).
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On April 21st, Dave Bryant (keyboards) performed with local friends Tom Hall (tenor sax), Eric Hofbauer (guitar), Jacob William (bass), and Miki Matsuki (drums).