I've been a bit tardy in posting about the second half of festival week, so here it all is in one blast:

Wednesday I met Greg for the David Murray and his Black Saint Quartet. As John Nugent noted in his introduction, Murray is a true student of jazz, and you could hear it in his performance. His music drew from a variety of influences, yet was grounded in solid jazz.

While Greg took in the All-Star Jam Session at the Eastman Theater, I trekked over to the Harro East Ballroom to catch up with Seth and see the Wild Magnolias. They did their best to rev up the crowd with their NOLA party attitude and feather costumes, but as the show went on, the crowd thinned out.

Knowing that we wanted to head over to the Plaza Hotel Jam Session early enough to get a good seat, but not wanting to get there too early, we decided to grab a drink at the recently opened Abilene Bar and Lounge. As such things go, we were having too much fun to make it over to State Street in a timely fashion so we ended up standing next to Greg and Jane as a steady stream of jazz all stars (including many of the All Stars that played at Eastman earlier.) Clearly this was the night to stay out late at the after hours as Jeremy Pelt, Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, Kenny Washington, Steve Wilson, and crowd favorite Jake Shimabukuro all sat in. If you had to pick one night to stay out late for the jam session, this would have been the night (but, really, why limit yourself?).

Thursday night was a quick one for me. Local legend Joe Locke at the Kilbourn, where the crowd (deservedly) gave him all the love he could stand. Then it was more Nordic jazz with Beady Belle. Actually, it was more of a soul/r&b/funk/jazz kind of thing, akin to the Stephanie McKay show I saw earlier in the week. Beady Belle definitely wasn't as hard-edged as McKay and not quite as engaging, but there was a darkness underlying the soulful melodies that, even while they got your head bobbing and foot tapping, was still a bit unsettling. A bit like Portishead, maybe, only not quite so much. Anyway, I headed home for bed shortly afterward, to recuperate for the final two nights.

Friday night began a little late for me, but I still was able to meet up with Greg on jazz street. Our indecision coupled with a desire for food that was not served from an outdoor stall prompted us to grab a couple of sandwiches from Java's and snag a table on the sidewalk, where we were able to ear some of the local acts on the Jazz St. stage.

Finally, we stretched our legs and headed toward Alexander to catch some of the Skatelites before heading back to join Jane in line at the Montage. Jane, trooper that she is, had been waiting first in line for hours. Thankfully, we got prime seating up close to see Billy's Band, who was more or less a Russian Tom Waits cover band. Not that this is a bad thing. The show was a blast, easily one of the festival highlights. We wound up the night at Abilene listening to reggae in the peaceful back patio area.

Saturday I got another late start, but I only ad two items on my agenda: Medeski Martin and Wood and the Bob Sneider jam session. MMW was fun, but unfortunately not as fun as they were when I had seen them earlier in the year; however, the after hours jam session made up for it as Bob, Mike Melito, and Phil Flanigan brought the festival to a close in style, complete with the traditional Mordecai Lipshutz swan song.

Another great festival. Final thoughts to come in the next few days. Meanwhile, check out Greg's wrapup and his plenitude of links to other jazz commentators and fans.

Posted by ksmoker at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I went into Sunday with no clear agenda in mind, so decided to join the gang at the Montage for Howard Alden (if you're just catching up the “gang” = Greg, Seth, and Jane). Alden impressed with his guitar virtuosity; perhaps my favorite piece was his opener, Cole Porter's “It's All Right With Me.”

After that, we sprinted over to the Reformation Lutheran Church for some solo piano by Jacob Anderskov. This was definitely the most cerebral music I've heard so far. In part, it reminded me of some of Keith Jarrett's solo work, “The Köln Concert,” for example. I really liked about a third of his music, especially the passages where his right hand worked melodies over the almost Steve-Reich-like ostinatos from his left. Unfortunately, the third day of the festival was catching up with me and I mostly drifted away with the other two-thirds of his music (although not a bad experience in itself). Check out Seth's musings on the under-appreciated genius of Anderskov.

For something completely different, we the caught the beginning of an energetic JazzKamikaze, before the sprinkles of rain chased us away. These guys let it all hang out, and maybe it was the contrast to Anderskov, or maybe it was just me, but I felt they let it hang out a bit too far. They definitely had the crowd going, but with the sky about to open up, we timed our exit well and headed over to the after hours jam session for a couple of sets with the Bob Sneider Trio. Lucky for us, we got to see Howard Alden sit in for a couple of tunes. He was magical at the Montage earlier in the night, but his interplay with Sneider was at times breathtaking.

Day 4 was a early night for me as I had a work project that I needed to finish up for the next morning. Still, I was glad I made the effort to get out and catch Cindy Blackman. She wasn't quite what I expected after hearing of her work with Lenny Kravitz--maybe if more people hadn't had similar expectations, she might have drawn a bigger crowd for her first set. But what a set. She's a definite monster on the drums, but she also has a subtlety and intelligence wen playing in support of her other talented band mates.

We decided that food would be our next priority and our discussion of the various options intermingled with more high-minded philosophical topics as we meandered back to Jazz St and eventually to a table at The Golden Port. Mmmmm, edamame...

I wrapped up my early night with just a couple of tunes by the Todd Londagin Band. Mr. Londagin aims to please: he'll sing, play trombone, tap dance, swallow swords, and do your taxes. I frankly would have liked to hear more trombone myself, but I didn't stay long enough to form a fair opinion before running home to tuck the kids into bed.

Day 5...Well, Day 5 was a day off from the festival. I'll be back for Day 6.

Posted by ksmoker at 10:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I arrived downtown just in time to join Greg in line at High Fidelity to see Stephanie McKay. This was a last minute choice as I arrived too late for the Bad Plus' early show and the Robin McKell show was already SRO by that time. But what a fortuitous choice it turned out to be as McKay brought the house down with her soulful and funk-fueled vocals, backed by a mad rhythm section. I'm not a student of the genre, so I don't have any apt comparison at my fingertips, but I would say that in both the message and tone of her more melodic ballads, I could hear traces of Ani DiFranco. On the other end of the spectrum, she laid down the funk as thick and heavy as anything James Brown has done. Somewhere along that continuum lies the talent that is Stephanie McKay.

Perhaps it's a bad sign that on day 2 my music listening habits were being driven by the desire to find a place to sit down, but after the High Fidelity show, I found a quiet spot in the garden outside Max and enjoyed the weather, a beer, and a delicious chicken-cabbage wrap served up by the Aja Noodle Company booth. The sounds of The Buddhahood drifted down the street, sounding like a Rochester version of Ozomatli, which translates into: I'd like to hear more from them.

I wandered in and out of the big tent, catching only a couple of tunes by Saturday Night Fish Fry, an entertaining jump blues band. However, having bigger fish to fry myself, I soon joined Jane in line to see the Bad Plus. This one of my most highly anticipated shows, and I was not disappointed. Dave King was as crazy as ever at the drum kit (didn't see any cookware employed this time around, though), Reid Anderson was as solid and inventive as ever on bass, and Ethan Iverson played his piano with the same inscrutable virtuosity as ever.

The set started out with a series of BP originals, including “Let Our Garden Grow,” “The Empire Strikes Backward,” and “1980 World Champion.” I was a little distracted by the WXXI cameramen who were scrambling to get into position, so I didn't take as much notice as I should have of the mic stand that was being set up center stage mid-way through the set. So but then Ethan Iverson explained that a newly-cut, but not-to-be-released-for-another-year album by the band represents their first recorded collaboration. With that, vocalist Wendy Lewis joined the band on stage to complete the set. I was a bit perplexed and skeptical, but Lewis' warped and wicked rendition of Nirvana's “Lithium” showed that she fit in just fine. A Google search for “Wendy Lewis Bad Plus” reveals Jeff Spevak's take, (a required link since he includes a Bad Plus haiku).

Afterward, and i contradiction to the signals my stomach was trying to relay (I should have waited for that delicious chicken wrap until later in the week after my wonky tummy settled down), I headed to State St. for the after hours Jam Session with the Bob Sneider Trio, but unfortunately only made it through a half a set or so. But now it's time to head out for tonight's fun!

Posted by ksmoker at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I know I've been beyond lax in my posting, but get ready for flurry.

Tonight was the first night of the seventh annual Rochester International Jazz Festival and, man, it was a great start.

After work, I met up with Greg, Seth, and Jane as per usual. Not quite so usual was the addition of Christine to our roving gang, and nearly unprecedented was skipping out on the first Kilbourn Hall performance. Instead, we headed to the Harro East ballroom to hear Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet. There, we were treated to the smooth and polished sound of this ensemble of jazz veterans. It was a strong beginning.

The highlight of the night came at the next venue, the Reformation Lutheran Church, which is again hosting the Nordic Jazz Now series. Last year, the Five Corners Quintet drew rave reviews and this year, one of that quintet's member, saxophonist Timo Lassy returned with his own quintet, an African and Latin flavored group, and simply blew us away with tunes like “African Rumble” and “Sweet Spot.” The whole band was amazing, but in addition to Lassy, pianist Georgios Kontrafouris definitely stood out.

The Big Tent was the next stop to hear mad jazz alchemists, DJ Le Spam & the Spam All-stars. They were an interesting change of pace, with their hip-hop- and house-influenced jazz. Those who felt the urge mostly migrated to one corner of the tent to form what must be the closest thing to a mosh pit as you are likely to see at a jazz festival.

Dodging the raindrops, we headed to Montage to hear Rachel Z. I was skeptical at first when, in her introduction, she said the group would be exploring some “deep jazz” interpretations of popular rock songs. It sounded like a ripoff of the Bad Plus to me, but the group soon won me over. While the Bad Plus have a tendency to noodle around, the three players intertwining with each other, Rachel Z's cascading piano lines were the focus with the bass and drums acting more as a catalyst, driving her on. And they were relentless, too. The crowd showed their appreciation and Rachel Z threatened to take us all to Brazil with her for her next gig.

I wimped out on the after hours fun, hoping to save my energy for Day 2. One day down, eight to go!

Posted by ksmoker at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My long-suffering family is glad to have my attention again after ten days of jazz-festing with only one brief break, so I'll make this a quick post, the last one about the 6th Edition of the Rochester International Jazz Festival. The theme today is: awesome.

1. The artists. They were awesome.
2. The weather. It was awesomely awesome.
3. The fans. Awesome.
4. New venues. Awesome.
5. Meeting new friends. Awesome.

OK, so here are the specifics:

• Hanging out all week with Seth, Greg, and Jane was a blast. We fed off of each other's energy and enthusiasm--not only in the appreciation of the music, but in our desire to share our experiences with others through blogging. Meeting Jason Crane at the end of the festival was also a highlight. I've almost finished going through all of Jason's podcasts and interviews from the festival. If you haven't checked them out yet, you owe it to yourself to check them out. It's a great way to savor the RIJF experience a little longer.


• If there were any disappointments for me this year, it had only to do with the artists that I didn't see: Matt Wilson, 5 Corners, Bill Frisell, Andy Milne, and particularly Wynton Marsalis, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and Odadda! performing Congo Square.


• I know that the RIJF blesses us with a great diversity of acts every year, but the 6th edition seemed to have an especially broad variety of acts. Or maybe it's just that the acts I enjoyed most were varied. Midaircondo, Zapp String Quartet, Jason Moran Trio, Zanussi 5, Mamadou Diabate, Soul Rebels, Omar Sosa, and Avishai Cohen were all standout acts and performances. Choosing among them or even choosing a top three, is like an exercise in absurdity. The variety of the shows and the size of the audiences also provides a stiff rebuke to the self-appointed defenders of jazz purity.


• Hooray for the Club Pass! Mine had paid for itself in the first weekend. I'd heard some complaints that Club Pass holders were unable to get into some venues. Honestly, I don't have a lot of sympathy for this line of thinking. The shows were clearly advertised as fist-come-first-served for all listeners. The sad/happy truth is the festival has become so popular that, if there is a show you are absolutely set on seeing, you need to arrive at the venue at least 30 minutes before showtime. Some highly anticipated acts (Lalo, Eldar, Frisell, etc.) required more lead-time, a lesson even we ‘old-timers’ were reminded of when we arrived 40 minutes early to see Avashai Cohen and were stuck standing against the wall.


• On the other hand, venue directors could have done a better job of alerting hopeful fans that their spot in line was in jeopardy of missing the cut. Doing a quick count on the excessively long lines and passing the word that, “Yes, you people wrapped around the corner onto Main St., you might not find a chair waiting for you by the time you get to the door,” would have gone a long way toward easing the despair of many who found themselves locked out too late to make it into an alternative venue.


• Speaking of alternative venues: Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mssrs. Iacona and Nugent, for adding another ‘mid-zone’ venue--and a spectacular one at that: the Nordic Jazz Now series at the Reformation Lutheran Church. You only have to read my posts from the past couple of weeks to see how much I personally appreciated the acts and the space.


• Contrary to what we said in the Jazz Session RIJF podcast #9, I have pang of regret at missing out on the final jam session at the Crowne Plaza. Yes, Avashai Cohen was a fitting and proper way to end the festival, but I can't help it. There must have been more. And yes, I do regret missing Mordecai Lipschutz' traditional swan song, which every year always brings the crowd to its feet at the Crowne Plaza in one final, cathartic, communal celebration of the wonder of jazz in Rochester.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Saturday night, I eschewed the line for Bill Frisell in favor of spending the early evening hanging out on Gibbs street to catch some live music. Much of the fun of the Gibbs St. stage lies in the chance encounters with friends and the chance to mingle and meet new people--there's also the food. While we stood in line for ice cream cones, we caught up ran into Mark, Barb, and son Brendan and hung out with them for a while, enjoying their company and listening to the free music on offer, particularly the intriguing singer-songwriter Layah Jane. It was great fun, Ben made friends with almost all of the street vendors (picking up swag along the way), but he was starting to tire after a long day of picnics and birthday parties so Kari and Ben called it a day, after which I met up again with the gang for the last of the Nordic Jazz Now shows at the Reformation Lutheran Church.

Seth and Greg hiked over with me and we joined Jane who had been saving us some seats. The air in the church was hot, but the music coming from the stage was even hotter as the Jens Winther European Quintet closed out in fine style the parade of Nordic jazz that we had enjoyed all week. Thank you, John Nugent and Marc Iacona for adding this excellent new venue and time slot to this year's festival.

On to the big tent were we caught what was probably the best of the acts for that venue all week, the New Orleans based Soul Rebels, who brought a little bit of Mardis Gras to the festival tent, the rhythms (sousaphone again, yeah!) compelling the crowd to get up and dance.

Jane was definitely feeling it, so we left her in the tent and headed over to the Montage for the Avishai Cohen Trio. Unfortunately, we couldn't return the favor of saving a seat for jane, because it was standing-room-only at the Montage with 45 minutes to go before showtime. We grabbed some wall to lean against and contemplated our chances of grabbing a table later in the show. Once the show began, it was immediately apparent that there was no hope of anyone leaving early, which was fine as we gladly suffered sore feet and knees to see this performance.

After a week of superlative-inflation, I'm not sure what I can say to convey just how amazing this show was. Jason Crane whipped up the crowd with his introduction and the band took it from there. Bass-player and leader Cohen, after an amazing opening number, clued the crowd in that this was the last show on a long tour and they were definitely “feeling it”. They most definitely were. The crowd gave them a standing ovation after just the second tune, “you guys are sick!” shouted one amazed listener. The band kept up the momentum, climaxing in a drum solo that left me in fear for the safety of the drummer and first few rows of the audience. They performed an encore that brought the crowd to their feet clapping, dancing, and singing along to the chorus.

We were more or less dumb-struck as we stumbled out of the club and sat on a railing across the street. Jane and then Jason Crane caught up with us as we struggled to articulate what we had just seen. Jason got the bright idea to pull his microphone out and begin recording our conversation. The results were compiled into the final episode of Jason's excellent series of special reports from the RIJF.

It was an excellent show to end an excellent night ending an excellent week of music.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday night was more of the same: incredibly beautiful music of various flavors. We started out enjoying Don Byron’s Ivey Dyvey, including Jason Moran on piano and Billy Hart on drums. Moran was a little less explosive, but no less impressive than he was on the previous night, while Billy Hart anchored things on the drums like he has for years and Don Byron fronted the group with with gorgeous melodies emanating from his tenor saxophone and clarinet. Seth and Greg and I arrived early enough to get good seats while Jane caught up with us afterward.

Once again, we hurried to get to the church on time to see another Nordic act, the Andres Pettersson Quartet. This was a very interesting set of music. Pettersson, on guitar led his band in arrangements of several Gershwin tunes, giving them a jazz twist. This band really knew how to swing and they let it all hang out for the capacity crowd in the Reformation Lutheran Church.

We skipped the festival tent in favor of reggae legend Toots & the Maytals on the East Ave & Alexander Street stage, another of the new venues at this year's jazz fest. Greg, Jane, and I hung out within striking distance of the beer truck while Seth waded into the thick of things. After a few songs, we abandoned Seth to the reggae groove and headed to Max of Eastman Place to grab some seats for the next show.

And we're glad we left when we did, because the place was filling up in eager anticipation of Omar Sosa. Seth joined us just in time to see the set begin as the musicians walk through the crowd chanting and beating a rhythm on some tamborine-like insrument. After settling in, they launched into music that was a dizzingly complex melange of Middle Eastern and African and other influences that would morph and shift around a solid Cuban base. I was alternately leaning forward in my chair in fascination and leaning back, eye-closed, wobbling to the rhythm. I could see that the crowd was similarly captivated.

Still going strong, we made our way to the jam-packed jam session at the Crowne Plaza Grill, led by Bob Sneider and his trio (including Mike Melito on drums and Phil Flanagan on bass). Seth, Greg, and I were able to record the fourth “Da Jazz” podcast on the outside deck (actually it was our fifth, but the epic podcast we had recorded the previous night was sacrificed to the gods of technology). One by one, we cut out of the jam session a little early to prepare for the final push through the last day of the festival.

Posted by ksmoker at 1:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So Thursday night, I got in line with Seth and Jane outside of Max of Eastman Place just in time to watch Greg, in the Kilbourn Hall line, filing in with the crowd to see James Moody. We were waiting to see the Zapp String Quartet, a group from Amsterdam that I had been really looking forward to after hearing some of their music clips online. The plan was to make sure that I caught the early show rather than risk nodding off during the late show. After hearing them, I don't think there would have been much danger of that. Based on what I remembered of their sound clips, I expected them to sound kind of Steve-Reich-y, but they were more John-Adams-y, or rather, Zapp-Quartet-y. Their incredibly engaging performance was truly breaking new ground as they played an entire set of original music, some written by the group's members and some recently commissioned works that were receiving premier performances that night--one of the composers was even in attendance (Seth's got those details).

With brains still buzzing, we headed over once again to the Lutheran Church and some Nordic jazz, this time courtesy of Norway's In the Country. I'm having a hard time describing this group. If Wednesday night's Ilmiliekki Quartet was thoughtful and introverted, this group was thoughtful and extroverted. The music would build into a crescendo and subside like rolling waves of sound carrying the listener along for a beautiful ride.

We continued in typical fashion from the church to the party tent to hear a few tunes by innovative blues guitarist Corey Harris before continuing on to a 10PM show, this time landing at the Montage for the Jason Moran & the Bandwagon. This was one of the surprise performances for me as this group blew my socks off. To work off my previous metaphor: if the music of In the Country was like rolling waves, Moran's group was like an unpredictable tempest. They would shift from intricate, delicate interplay to an explosion of rollicking jams and then back again. This was heady music that concluded one of my favorite nights of the festival so far.

Posted by ksmoker at 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday was another night of contrasts after the post-work sprint downtown landed me at the tail of the Kilbourn line to join Seth, Greg, and Jane again, this time to see the young trumpet phenom Christian Scott and band. Did I mention he was young? The whole sextet was young. When they first walked out onto the stage, I thought that perhaps some Eastman students had been asked to sit in or something. Still, as they broke into their first song, I had high hopes. The drummer was kicking out some nasty break-beats and Scott can certainly play, but it soon became clear that these guys need a few more years under their belts, just to add a bit more nuance and maturity to their playing and a chance to coalesce as a band rather than a set of talented individual performers. When they do get it together, watch out!

The 7:30 showing of the Nordic Now series is starting to become a habit. What will I do next week, when the Reformation Lutheran Church reverts to its status as a house of worship as opposed to the hottest new venue for jazz in Rochester? Wednesday night's offering was the Ilmiliekki Quartet from Finland. This was a more thoughtful, contemplative show with delicate interplay between the performers, a bracing contrast to the show we had just seen.

From there, we caught the last half hour or so of Bonerama, which was, again, a vivid contrast to the Finns. Whereas, with the Imiliekki Quartet we had to sometimes strain to hear the delicate touches on the piano solos and the breathy playing of the trumpet, with Bonearama, we were nearly blown out the back of the Club Pass Tent. The band was comprised of the standard drums and funky guitar and the entirely non-standard funky sousaphone, while fronting the band were four, count them, four trombones. Our ears were assaulted, but in a good way.

We scattered in different directions afterward, Jane and I heading to Max of Eastman Place to see the Cuban-influenced jazz of the Hilario Duran Trio. This band was off-the-hook amazing. Duran's fingers were flying across the piano, but every note received the most nuanced touch--a truly artistic performance.

Thursday night, I've got the Zapp String Quartet and James Moody in mind, plus something else, but I'm not sure what yet.

Posted by ksmoker at 6:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Took the night off for some much-needed sleep and time with the family. Wednesday night's plans will include Bonearama and possibly Hilario Duran.

Posted by ksmoker at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those who are interested in hearing about the Rochester international Jazz Festival, there are the traditional media outlets, of course, and the official site's coverage. There's also the small herd of bloggers that I've been hanging around with at the festival, who have been faithfully blogging and podcasting the festival, but there are plenty of other voices and opinions out there as well.

First, there is the excellent podcasting that Jason Crane has been doing over at The Jazz Session. I've been listening to the Jazz Session podcast for a few months now, including its previous incarnation, the Jason Crane Show. It's great to have such an advocate for the RIJF, for Rochester, and for jazz getting the message out with such professionalism and poise.

Other sites of interest:

• Tracy Kroft, over at Rochester Music Scene (And Heard).
• The always interesting and intriguing Refrigerator has some cool pictures and comments about this festival as well as each of the past five.
• The City Newspaper has a blog.
• Not to be outdone, the D&C has a blog too. They seem more fun there than they do in print.
• Will Yurman's slideshow is still the best thing that the local “big media” produce.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Monday was a night of "and now, for something completely different." I rushed downtown after work and was able to jump on to the end of the line that was filing in to Kilbourn Hall for the six-o'-clock performance of the Mamadou Diabate Ensemble. I'd heard rave reviews of his previous visit to the jazz fest two years ago and didn't want to miss him this time through. Diabate is a master of the kora, a twenty-one stringed instrument from Western Africa (Diabate is from Mali) and this time through, he was backed by a bass guitar, traditional African percussion including the talking drum, and a balafon. To the oft-repeated question, &lduqo;is this jazz?” directed at certain jazz fest acts, I answer, “Who cares?” The music was complex, but engaging. Actually, “engaging” is something of an understatement as Diabate's group had the entire capacity crowd on their feet and dancing by the end of the show.

I met up with Greg who was sitting a dozen or so seats away from me in Kilbourn Hall and we headed over to to meet Seth and Jane for the next of, what was for me, an unbroken streak of Nordic jazz so far in the festival. Monday's entry was midaircondo, Lisa Nordström on bass flute, Lisen Rylander on tenor sax, and both performers on a variety of electronically enhanced sound-making devices and kitchen implements. Outside of Lotte Anker, this was the most “out-there” music of the festival. Unlike Anker, whom I found merely interesting, this show was entrancing. Jeff Spevak called it “music under construction” which perfectly describes this duo's approach as they layered sound upon sound using samplers and sequencers to create a soundscape against which they would occasionally sing or play their instruments.¹ All this technology comes at a price: the show had a late start as some electrical issues needed to be ironed out, but delay was a small price to pay for such captivating entertainment.

After the West African rhythms and the Nordic electronica, the gang headed to the Montage to round out the night with a grooving trombone trio headed by Robin Eubanks. We had some extra time before the show, so Seth, Greg, and I spit out the next episode of our Da Jazz podcast in which I struggle to pronounce “Mamadou”, Greg impresses with his knowledge of the griot tradition, and Seth describes how Walt Whitman helps him appreciate jazz.

After wrapping that up, we settled in to enjoy Eubanks' electronically enhanced trombone and rock solid rhythm section. The music was hot and the grooves were solid. I was fading fast, but was able to hang in for all but the encore. The last tune Eubanks played was a blues tribute to Jimmy Hendrix, the perfect ending for such an eclectic night.

Posted by ksmoker at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm only just a little bit sleep-deprived, so I was able to make it almost all the way through another full night of jazz. I'll be keeping my comments brief tonight in the hope of heading off to bed shortly. You should keep an eye out for more detail to come from Seth, Greg, and (now that she has had her internet access restored) maybe even Jane.

I met the gang in line to see the Fred Hersch Trio at Kilbourn Hall and the show was quite a treat. I thought my night was in jeopardy, when after downing a beer and a chicken sandwich prior to the show, I struggled to keep my eyes open through the first couple of tunes. I woke right up when Hersch shifted gears and the group blazed through an Ornette Coleman tune followed by a Thelonious Monk tune that started off sounding as if Hersch was channeling Webern or Berg. Through the rest of the set, I was enthralled by the complexity of the music and the interplay between Hersch and bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Reformation Lutheran Church once again, this time to see the more avante-garde music of Lotte Anker. I was totally impressed by the size of the crowd that filled the church for what I expected to be some rather challenging free jazz. And I was certainly challenged. After 45 minutes, we had heard two long and completely improvised pieces of music which had me alternately enthralled and confused. There was enough there that spoke to me that I could have stayed to the end, but we ended up joining an (unfortunately large) exodus of listeners and parted ways with Greg as we split up to hear different acts.

Mr Something Something was next on the bill and they were, ummm, something. This African-influnced party band couldn't have been much more of a departure from the free, idiosyncratic jazz of Anker. It took me a few minutes to get into the new groove, but once I was there I stayed with them to the end, when we promptly split to secure a seat to see the vibraphonist Lalo.

Unfortunately, tables we already in short supply when we arrived, and we had to make do with seats near the door. Despite the noise from the street whenever someone entered or left, and despite the people milling around or standing directly in front of where we were sitting, I could certainly appreciate the music. The vibraphone is one of those instruments that I don't quite “get”. It baffles me how someone can hold two mallets in each hand and still control them well enough to hit perfect notes and chords every time. I was astonished when I watched Lalo do this with impeccable timing and creativity. Paired with slide guitarist Jack West, the duo produced music that juxtaposed driving grooves with airy soundscapes to devastating effect.

The long night on Saturday had taken its toll, though and I had to head home before the end of the set. So no podcast for Sunday, but check out the Saturday night podcast in which Greg tells of doing battle with the Los Lonely Boys horde and surviving to tell the tale, Seth tries out a couple of different ways to pronounce “Goudie”, and I struggle to find the words to describe the Stephane Wrembel Trio.

Tomorrow night's must see: Midaircondo. Possibly also Mamadou Diabate and/or Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks

Posted by ksmoker at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The beautiful weather led me to spend much of Saturday browsing the outdoor free venues. Ben and Kari joined in on the fun as we started off with the Newark High School Jazz Band, followed by blues guitar of Scott Goudie on the Jazz St. stage. We took our time hanging out on Jazz St. chatting with Jane and Seth as well as Seth's converts to the jazz scene: Christine, Will, and Sally.

Ben unfortunately ran out of steam before the Shuffle Demons took the stage, so he and Kari went out for ice cream, while I caught up with Jane in the Robert Mondavi Festival Tent to catch the last third of the gypsy-jazz guitar of the Stephane Wrembel Trio. Both Wrembel on guitar and Rochester native Jared Engel on bass were blisteringly creative, but I was particularly impressed with percussionist David Langlois and his washboard kit. Every year, the big tent seems to host some lesser-known yet heavy-duty talent that brings the crowd to its feet. Wrembel was the first instance of this that I've witnessed this year.

After Wrembel, we caught back up with Seth and wandered over to catch the tail end of the homegrown-and-poised-for-national-breakout Afro-Cuban jazz of The Mambo Kings on the East Ave/Chesnut St. stage. We joined a sizable crowd who clearly appreciated what they were hearing and we decided to hang out for the Los Lonely Boys show that would open at 9:00. We only caught the first few songs of this hot, up-and-coming and clearly talented “Texican” rock band, but the lasting impression I'm left with is the crowd, which Seth described as Mardis-Gars-in-New-Orleans dense. It was nearly impossible for us to exit the crowd in time to make the next show on our list.

Thankfully, our efforts were well-rewarded as we arrived just in time for the Zanussi 5, Saturday's edition of the Nordic Now Jazz series at The Reformation Lutheran Church. While Peter Asplund's quartet on Friday night was mind-blowingly talented and entertaining, the Zanussi 5 were mind-blowingly mind-blowing.

I won't say it was a religious experience, but I left the church not fully comprehending what it was that I had just heard. There was the music itself, in which a near cacophony of atmoshperic sounds would suddenly gel into a tight and satisfying groove (reminding me a bit of one of the 2006 festival's big Nordic acts, e.s.t.), and then there were the sounds that were actually being emitted from the instruments. The bass player and drummer made more or less the sounds you would typically expect, but the remaining band members provoked moments of confusion. First, there was the baritone saxophone that would occasionally sound like an alto sax (while I stared at the alto sax player, wondering why his fingers weren't moving). Meanwhile, the alto sax player (who sometimes used his left knee as a mute) was making popping noises that sounded like some kind of musical bubble wrap. Last, but not least, were the inhuman banshee noises coming from the bell of the tenor sax. After a full set of this kind of wonderment, they to wowed the crowd further with an encore that included a sweetly-rendered old Cuban-style jazz tune (one that I should have been able to identify) and was topped off by a driving, insanely-paced klezmer piece that echoed in my head for hours afterward.

We topped the night off with a trip to the after-hours jam session, where Seth and I hooked up with Greg to record our second podcast in two nights. The first of our thoroughly unprofessional, three-guys-in-a-bar-talking series of podcasts is already available at Jazz@Rochester for your listening pleasure. Be sure to also check out Greg's moblogging podcasts as well as the expanding repertoire of reportage over at Jason Crane's podcasting blog.

Day Three's expected highlights: totally up in the air. Tonight the whim will guide me as there are a variety of acts for which I hold roughly equivalent levels of interest.

Posted by ksmoker at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was a great first night for the sixth annual Rochester International Jazz Festival, despite a brief torrential thunderstorm which shut down the outdoor venues temporarily. I arrived downtown at about 5:30 to meet Seth and, somewhat daunted by the line for Esperanza Spalding, we headed over to see Madagascar Slim at the Montage.

Unfortunately, Madagascar Slim was not to be found. Due to a death in the family, he had to pull out of the festival at the last minute. Instead, we were treated to the Jon Ballantyne piano trio who gamely filled in.¹ Ballantyne reminded me of Brad Mehldau: quiet, introspective and exploratory. Unfortunately, this is quite a different kind of jazz from what was expected. Except for Jane, who joined us for the third tune, the crowd slowly faded away until the band was playing to mostly empty tables. Those who remained were enthusiastic, but the overall mood was a little dispiriting.

Despite this, I left feeling that we had seen some good music and I was eager for more. We hoofed it the few blocks to one of the new venues for the RIJF, the Reformation Lutheran Church and the first of the Nordic Jazz Now series of acts, The Peter Asplund Quartet. Well. Now these guys are the real deal. They totally wowed the crowd with their technical virtuosity and incredibly tight interaction. The new venue gets a big thumbs-up as well. A sharp contrast to the muddy acoustics of the Montage, the sound here was top notch.

As we left to meet up with local New Media star, Greg, we were treated to the sight of a rainbow stretching over the Club Pass Tent. This was the good omen we were looking for. We caught a couple of songs by the Shuffle Demons in the big (and getting bigger every year) Tent, then headed over to get a good table at Max of Eastman Place to see 21-year-old vocalist and bassist, Esperanza Spalding.

Honestly, I had my doubts in the first few minutes with her scatty rendition of Autumn Leaves, but about 3/4 of the way through the the tune, either in my head or on the stage, something clicked. All of the pieces came together. Spalding's light Brazilian-style scat singing contrasted nicely with her bass while Leo Genovese on piano and Francisco Mela on drums locked into a groove around her and stayed there throughout the set.

After the show, Greg, Seth, and I put together a brief podcast recap, which I'll post here as soon as Greg makes a link available. I'm totally looking forward to the week ahead.

Tomorrow night's picks:

• Paul Tillotson Love Trio
• Zanussi 5
• free shows in between: Mambo Kings, Shuffle Demons, Los Lonely Boys
• Bob Sneider Trio Jam Session

Posted by ksmoker at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've finally made it through all of the artist listings on the RIJF site and I can't tell you how excited I am about the upcoming lineup. Some of the acts I'm most interested in are the ones that blend influences and tread on the borders of jazz. It can be tricky, dangerous even, to attempt to define what jazz is. The definition that the festival organizers have used when deciding which acts to book is a little bit broader than even my definition would be, but unlike some I'm totally cool with that.

One thing I've noticed about the crowds at previous jazz festivals is the level of interest and curiosity. People from all kinds of backgrounds coming out to hear good music no matter how well it can be defined. The yearly increase in attendance seems to prove that people are liking what they are hearing and are coming back for more. So if Rusted Root or Toots & the Maytals bring a few extra thousand listeners downtown where some percentage will perhaps get drawn into the jazz scene, what could be better?

So cheer up jazz snobs, there's plenty of jazz to go around. John Nugent and Marc Iacona have expanded the number of venues, staggered the start times, and brought in a wide variety of acts. The only complaint I have is that it is impossible to see every act that I might want to.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Actually, there's always high-quality jazz going on here, but we're getting an injection at near lethal dosages this June with the 2007 RIJF. There are more bands, more venues, and probably a bigger crowd. I plan to spend some of the holiday weekend perusing the artist lineup, but in the meantime, make sure to go check out the Jazz@Rochester blog for the inside scoop.

Posted by ksmoker at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I met up Friday night with jazz buddies Seth and Greg and George and Denny to see the California Guitar Trio play at Water Street. As I've said before¹, if they are ever in your area, you've got to check them out.

They played a couple of Bach pieces, a surf-guitar version of Beethoven's Fifth, a more straight-up version of LvB's Pastorale Sonata,'Classical Gas,' 'Sleepwalk' (a maddeningly familiar slide guitar tune that took me an hour or so to discover the name of), 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' a blending of 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' and 'Riders on the Storm', and several originals. One of those original tunes, 'Andromeda,' blew my socks off. It started off with a thick wash of complex texture punctuated with rock guitar-like flourishes, moved into an almost Steve-Reich-ish space with two of the guitars phasing with each other (at least that's what I think I heard), and finished off with a a more placid and melodic prog-rockish solo backed by a Fripp-like wall of sound. I sounds kind of hokey now that I've written it all down, and I don't think I've done it any kind of justice, but the effect was mesmerizing.

But you don't have to take my word for it. You can hear a brief concert recorded for Philadelphia public radio that includes many of these songs; 'Andromeda' starts at about the 24:45 minute mark.

Afterwards, Seth, Greg, and I, not willing yet to call it a night, headed over to the Strathallan to catch Bob Sneider's second set. Bob's jazz guitar was a perfect nightcap to the varied and free-ranging guitars of the california Guitar Trio.

UPDATE: Holy crap, I forgot about Freebird! The final encore and show closer was Freebird! Only one cigarette lighter was lit, as far a I could tell.

Posted by ksmoker at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This year I'm getting a jump on planning for the RIJF by sifting through most of the acts on the RIJF website and entering them into my calendar. This has thrown a major prioritization problem into sharp relief. Not only do I have a couple of major milestones for a work project landing during jazz fest week, but the 2006 World Cup happens to open on the same day as the festival.

I had planned on recording the World Cup games anyway, but the problem is going to be finding viewing time. Not that I care all that much about Poland vs. Ecuador, but still, I'm in a bit of a panic. And then what if the Sabres advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals?

Oh yeah, plus, I have my family to think about.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)