SAT 8 & 9:30 - Michael Blake Halloween Tales w/Gary Versace, Ben Allison, Michael Sarin
About This Event
Michael Blake presents Halloween Tales at Bar Bayeux, fronted by a quartet with American jazz musician Ben Allison alongside Gary Versace and drummer Michael Sarin. Versace, a New York–based musician who moves between straight‑ahead settings and freer improvisation, and Sarin, a drummer associated with the city's avant‑garde scene, point to a balance of composed structures and open improvisation.
About Halloween Tales
“Halloween Tales” at Bar Bayeux frames the holiday as a set of jazz narratives, told in real time by Michael Blake on reeds with Gary Versace, Ben Allison, and Michael Sarin. The group draws on straight-ahead language but keeps the form open, letting episodes slip into freer improvisation and back again. In New York, where seasonal programs often default to repertoire, this kind of original, musician-led suite has a local lineage from downtown loft scenes to today’s neighborhood rooms. One clear virtue is the band’s balance of structure and risk.
About the Artists
Gary Versace
Gary Versace is a New York–based jazz musician known for work that moves easily between straight-ahead settings and freer improvisation. He appears at NYC rooms such as Bar Bayeux, where he joins drummer Rob Garcia’s Sizzle Ensemble alongside saxophonist Noah Preminger and bassist Kim Cass.
Ben Allison
Ben Allison may refer to:Ben Allison (musician), American jazz musician Ben Allison (cricketer), English cricketer
Michael Sarin
Michael Towne Sarin is an American jazz drummer noted for his work in New York City's avant-garde jazz scene.