In the Vanguard

Hutcherson ranks among jazz's elite vibraphonists and composers, with several classic LPs on Blue Note (including Dialogue, Stick-Up! and Now!) and sideman appearances on masterpieces such as Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch and Andrew Hill's Judgment. The LA legend can get as intricate and "out" as any avant-gardist--and also wine and dine you with cascading soul-jazz motifs and supple, elegant melodies. Hutch's melodic sophistication and hectic-yet-controlled rhythmic mastery make you feel like a million bucks in loose change. Thirty years Hutch's junior, 36-year-old Hammond B-3 wiz DeFrancesco has played with Miles Davis and John McLaughlin, and for that alone, he deserves an open bar tab everywhere he goes till the day he dies. Considered a master of soul jazz and blues, the Philadelphia-born keyboardist makes his beloved organ purr, ripple and swell with church-of-Jimmy-Smith authority.
Dec. 21-22, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., 2007