I’ll never forget a drum workshop I went to, oh sometime in the early 1990s, by Chester Thompson, the versatile session player and mostly rock drummer who had started off with the Mothers of Invention reading complex drum charts written by Frank Zappa.

Although Thompson had grown up in Baltimore with mostly jazz influences — from the stratospheric talents of Max Roach, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, and Tony Williams — he left Zappa to join rock band Genesis. He said he remembered Phil Collins trying to teach him a rock beat. Phil said, “It’s steady. 1-2-3-4. Like walking.” Thompson said “Where I grew up in Baltimore, we didn’t walk like that.”

Cyrus Chestnut, one of current jazz’s most talented pianists, is also from Baltimore, and he doesn’t walk like that, either.

One of a strong crop of young lions that came out of Berklee School of Music (Boston) in the mid-1980s, Chestnut is a gentle, soft-spoken bear of a man with hands so fast they literally ran off the end of the piano tonight, chops worthy of the “Rach III” (he was studying classical music at Peabody Institute by age 9), and independent rhythms in each hand that boggled the mind. Not for nothin’ is his nickname “Nut.”

Mostly though, what struck me in his outing of “Sanctified Swing” (jazz meets church) at Gaillard Auditorium tonight with a sextet was his pure lyrical grace on the keyboard — in his arrangement of “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” (which also had great wall-destroying trumpet blasts), solo piano rendition of “How Great Thou Art,” and original tunes. I’d go into each tune but you can get the CDs (as he urged the audience to do). Chestnut is a formidable solo pianist. He is player of choice with the Lincoln Center Jazz Band, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, etc.

To his regular trio of Dezron Douglas (bass) and Neal Smith (drums), he added soprano and tenor sax whiz James Carter and trumpetmeister Curtis Taylor for death-defying stretches of the ranges of their instruments — squawks, blats and the thinnest, breathiest high notes — and fine muscial conversation. And he brought out singer Carla Cook, who was lovely on one of Duke Ellington’s sacred songs.

He asked the appreciative audience to abandon “concert etiquette” and stomp, clap and sing. “We want you to leave happier than when you came in.” They did, although Gaillard being Gaillard, sound in the mezzanine cheap seats (where I was) was great, and sound downstairs was, in places, a muddled mess. I could talk about Smith (I love good drummers) but let’s just say he was cooking with the lid on and doing a mighty fine job of it.

Holy cow! Janet does her first solo podcast with Robert Behre … wait, we mean solo in the sense that she was all alone at the controls. Robert, the architectural columnist for The Post and Courier and newbie SpoJo talks about the renovations at Memminger Auditorium and the Dock Street Theatre. Technically it might not be quite up to the Geoff standards, but it’s saved by the knowledgeable and articulate Robert

Hear today’s podcast direct by following this link, or why not subscribe permanently here throughout the duration of the festival and get it fed to your MP3 player automatically. There’s also our guide to podcasting here.

PURE Theatre: Episode 2. The Move-in. from Dan Conover on Vimeo.

The crew — including family members drafted for the effort — assembles at Circular Church downtown, and the unloading and construction of the new theater space begins.

No matter what their roles on stage, everyone becomes a laborer when PURE is between productions, from respected actor (and PURE company manager) R.W. Smith to the young cast and crew of “Eurydice,” which staged its final performance the night before.

Rodney Lee Rogers and Sharon Graci juggle the physical labor, the direction of the set-up and the parenting of two young daughters. But the overworked crew’s most daunting task might just be doing math in their heads in front of a rolling camcorder.

Still ahead: Sharon’s first turn behind the wheel of the “big rig” Penske rental truck…

Last night, I caught Newman/Brahms featuring The Spoleto Festival Orchestra and the Grammy nominated Imani Winds (pictured right) at the Gaillard Auditorium.

The first work, David Newman’s Concerto for Winds was a modern and interesting showcase for the talented quintet.  I especially enjoyed the jazzy/cool clarinet movement.  Newman himself was on hand to witness the performance.

The group will perform today at 5 pm at the College of Charleston, and they are worth watching.

Next was the Brahms first Symphony, beautifully played by the orchestra under the direction of Spoleto Festival USA Music Director Emmanuel Villaume to rousing applause.

It was another wonderful night of music.

The 11th anniversary of A World of Jewish Culture at Piccolo Spoleto celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Jewish homeland. The annual program …

“is especially appropriate for Charleston, with its long and happy three-hundred year Jewish history here,” Martin Perlmutter, professor of philosophy and director of the Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program at the College of Charleston, told SpoletoToday.com.

“Lots of Jewish culture happened here; after all, it was for decades, the largest Jewish city in the United States.”

‘When we began A World of Jewish Culture 11 Years ago, the goal was to highlight Israel’s 50th birthday,” Perlmutter said. ” We had no idea that it would be so well received. Now, 11 years later, we are celebrating Israel’s 60th birthday.”

Programs remaining in the series are:

SATURDAY, MAY 31

Ayala Asherov Kalus: A Coffee House Performance

Israeli singer/songwriter Ayala Asherov Kalus performs in a coffee house setting in Arnold Hall at the Sylvia Vlosky Yaschik Jewish Studies Center. In this intimate room, she sings her original music and lyrics and relates personal stories that led to the writing of each song. Coffee and dessert are included in the admission price. Sponsored by Starbucks. Arnold Hall, Jewish Studies Center96 Wentworth St. Saturday, May 31, 9:30 p.m.-11 p.m. AND Sunday, June 1, 8:30 p.m.-10 p.m. General Admission, $10

SUNDAY, JUNE 1:

9 a.m. “Exodus.” American Theater, 446 King St. FREE. Running time: 3 1/2 hours. Produced and directed in 1960 by Otto Preminger, and based on Leon Uris’ sweeping novel, Exodus is the epic saga of the founding of Israel in the days following World War II. Paul Newman stars as an Israeli resistance fighter, a member of the Hagannah, involved in the effort to bring a group of 600 European Jews from British-blockaded Cyprus into newly-partitioned Palestine, right before the United Nations is to vote on making it a Jewish homeland.

1 p.m. Poetry reading and reception for Ambassador Reda Mansour, Consul General of Israel in Atlanta. City Gallery at Waterfront Park, 34 Prioleau St. FREE. Reda Mansour is an Israeli poet, historian and diplomat. Before coming to Atlanta as consul general, he served as Ambassador of Israel to Ecuador. He is perhaps the youngest ambassador in Israel’s history. A Druze, he speaks five languages and is a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Mansour has published three books of poetry in Hebrew and will read in English. A reception celebrating Israel’s 6th anniversary will follow the reading.

3 p.m. The Musical Trio from Jerusalem, Koleinu, and the Jewish Choral Society. Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, 90 Hasell St. $10. The Musical Trio from Jerusalem will perform a concert of Israeli folk music and Klezmer to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel. The program will begin with a medley by College of Charleston’s own Jewish Choral Society, a regular tradition of A World of Jewish Culture. Koleinu will also perform a very special segment of this concert.

6 p.m. Yuriy Bekker in Recital: Israel at 60, a Piccolo Spoleto Spotlight Series Concert. Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, 90 Hasell St. $10. Violinist, and concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Yuriy Bekker, and pianist Andrew Armstrong, perform music by Jewish composers in a tribute to the anniversary of Israel becoming a state 60 years ago. This event is co-presented by the Yaschik Arnold Jewish Studies Program.

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As a live music fan in general - and Blues in particular - I am looking forward to the Piccolo Early Bird Blues show starring OLD CROW downtown today 4-7pm. The venue is the Mad River Bar & Grille at 32 N. Market.

This former church building - just off East Bay - is known as a High Energy Sports Pub/Tavern with 23 hi-def tvs but it also has become a mecca for Blues music since Cumberland’s closed, according to Gary Erwin, producer of our annual 10-day Blues Bash. Hey, Gary knows his music venues.

OLD CROW, a trio from North Carolina, presents spirited Delta Blues, Ragtime and Old Timey Bluegrass. If you’ve enjoyed The Wiyos or our local musicmakers The V-Tones, you should have a rollicking good time today at Mad River.

Blues when the sun is shining. Yikes.

More Chucker on Spoleto at Chuckography.

I’ve run a weekly caption contest over at my Fun & Games blog now for more than a year now, and this week’s version (which will appear in Friday’s print edition) is Spoleto-related. Since I blog at both places, I figured I’d cross-post it here to give a slightly different audience a chance to jump in.

The rules are simple: You write as many captions as you wish, you send them to me (conover@postandcourier.com) with the subject line “CAPTION CONTEST.” I publish your entries as comments on the blog, and then pick five finalists at 5 p.m. on Monday. I tally the votes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, and then write up the winners for next Friday’s Fun & Games section.

So that’s it. Have at it, Spoletians!