Hello There and Happy Friday,

I hope your week’s been going well. If you missed my extra update on Monday, I’ll be singing my new originals (to be recorded in May) and songs of Spring as your soundtrack for a special rosé tasting dinner in the West Village at Market Table restaurant on April 6th, I’ll be joined by Adam Birnbaum on piano, Luques Curtis on bass, and Lisa Komara on wine.

It’s going to be an extravaganza of singing, feasting and somming – so if you’re free and able, please indulge and join me.

Tickets can be found here.

On with the pairing!

Juice

A wine can be refreshing for a lot of reasons – because it's made with an offbeat technique, features a fringe grape, or is from an unheralded region. However, wine that is made beautifully, of a known grape in classic style, sometimes offers a more subtle kind of invigoration.

Montsecano Pinot Noir 2020 from the Casablanca Valley in Chile is such a wine. Though intentional effort and attention has gone into its making (horse plowed vineyards, biodynamic farming) the result is refreshingly effortless elegance.

Sweet red cherry and minty herbs are on the nose, while the palate has fruit that feels round yet buoyant; tannins splash the finish like a lightly brushed cymbal.

This pinot is young yet sophisticated, made by a fusion of talents from France and Chile (the winemakers hail from both Alsace and Casablanca.) It’s my new benchmark for what this grape from the region can do.

You can find the wine here. (Don’t forget to choose your state to find out if its near you!)

Jazz

At a recent dinner with some fellow wine and jazz lovers, we were talking about artistic movements and how eras of time are delineated in art and in music. We debated what the difference might be between modern and contemporary jazz when my friend dropped the mic by saying “Contemporary jazz is whatever the last jazz is that I listened to.” His words encapsulate how, in jazz, yesterday and today combine in the musical moment of improvisation to become music’s now.

So, that brings us to trumpeter Anthony Hervey’s track, “The Rust From Yesterday’s Blues” from his debut album Words From My Horn (Outside In, 2023) which is full of history and tradition, yet very much in its own time. Hervey’s tune, and singing trumpet, weave in and out of references from the blues to 70’s jazz with zest and contagious energy.

I caught him and his band a few weeks ago downtown, and reveled in his young ensemble alloying their fresh talent with elements of tradition. Totally contemporary.