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Saturday, Jul 04, 2009
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Celebrating 50 years of the Monterey Jazz Festival |
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| Celebrating 50 years of the Monterey Jazz Festival | ||
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by E. Joyce Glasgow -
SGN A&E Writer This year the Monterey Jazz Festival (September 21-23), celebrated 50 years in existence with a legendary lineup. I've heard so much about it from devoted Seattle fans that go down, year after year, that I decided it would be the perfect time to finally attend for my first time. I took the Amtrak to Monterey, CA - an adventure in itself at 28 hours travel time - and arrived to beautiful sunshine and a blue sky! The festival had a casual air and all the stages were close together, so one could take a leisurely stroll to get from one destination to the next and even though there were 45,000 people and the festival was completely sold out for the entire weekend, it never felt like you were fighting crowds to get around. Jazz fans present represented a diversity of races and ages. I was surprised to see so many craft booths selling jewelry, clothing and indigenous objects from different parts of the world. There was also an incredible selection of delicious food available, with dishes including; Southern style and BBQ, Ghanaian, Thai, Korean, Indian, Japanese and great desserts. There were plenty of picnic tables so people could have the comfort of sitting down while eating instead of just wandering the path, food in hand. The weather gave us some unusual rain and cold weather on Friday evening but things improved through the weekend and we finally had some of the customary sunshine on Sunday. The venues at the Monterey Fairgrounds include eight outdoor and indoor stages that vary in size from the intimate Coffee House Gallery to the large Jimmy Lyons outdoor Arena stage, where giant video screens provide the audience with up-close views of the musicians. These video transmissions are also simultaneously played on the grounds for attendees who do not have the more costly and hard to get Arena tickets. Arena tickets are so coveted that they even became an issue in one divorce settlement. The wife got to keep the annual tickets. The sound production at each of the stages was excellent and well balanced and, for the most part, performances started on time. The selection of musicians this year was historic and varied, with some of the greatest elder states people of jazz performing. Headlining icons, including NEA Jazz Masters; Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Gerald Wilson and James Moody, all were there, giving 110 percent, as usual. Brubeck and Rollins both appeared at the very first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958. Pianist/composer Brubeck, now 86 years old, played with his quartet and special guest, guitarist Jim Hall. When Brubeck broke into his iconic piece, "Take Five," I couldn't help but break into tears. Dave Brubeck has brought such a distinctive style to jazz and added so much to the rich history of the idiom. I think that everyone, everywhere, has heard "Take Five" or a number of his other compositions somewhere, whether they know about jazz or not. His music has become enmeshed as part of our culture. Saxophonist Sonny Rollins just celebrated his 80th birthday this year. He played beautifully, with incredible strength, dynamism, grandeur and a joyful Caribbean flair. He looked elegant. Saxophonist Ornette Coleman, has always been a fearless pioneer in pushing musical boundaries. His latest album, "Sound Grammar," (2006) won the Pulitzer Prize. The group from that album played at Monterey, with the unusual combination of two acoustic basses (Tony Falanga and Greg Cohen) and his son, Denardo, on drums. When Coleman played his haunting and riveting composition "Lonely Woman," I was mesmerized. This is the history of jazz! Gerald Wilson, who celebrated his 89th birthday a few weeks before this year's festival, led his impeccable L.A.-based orchestra (with guest guitarist Kenny Burrell) in premiering his new composition, "Monterey Moods." Seattle based, world-renowned vocalist Ernestine Anderson - who also performed at the first festival and is looking as young as ever - swung the blues, with her sunny attitude, to a packed, enthusiastic house. New Orleans trumpeter Terence Blanchard was artist-in-residence this year and showcased his composition, "A Tale of God's Will (Requiem for Katrina)," with the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra. Pianist/singer Diana Krall highlighted the songs of Nat King Cole with her quartet, featuring Anthony Wilson, (son of Gerald Wilson) on guitar, Jeff Hamilton on drums and John Clayton (artistic director of the Port Townsend Jazz Festival) on bass. Krall told a sweet story about taking her twin babies (with husband, Elvis Costello) on the road with her. Pianist Benny Green was the musical director for the terrific MJF 50th Anniversary All- Stars including Terence Blanchard, Nnenna Freelon (vocals), James Moody (saxes/flute), Derrick Hodge (bass) and Kendrick Scott (drums). This dynamic group is going to begin a twenty-two state tour in Bellingham, WA, in January 2008. I recommend taking in one of their concerts. They play beautifully together and it's really fun to watch the playful musical flirtation between James Moody and Nnenna Freelon. Mort Sahl, now 80 and one of the wittiest and most brilliant satirical political comedians of the 20th and 21st centuries, was incredibly entertaining in his interview with host Alan Schultz entitled "What's 50 Years When You're Having Fun." Sahl recalled, verbatim, funny and wise things that were said to him by people like late saxophonist Paul Desmond back to the 1950s. He shared amazing anecdotes about performing with jazz musicians through the years. The stories were priceless and rich and I hope the festival got a good recording of the interview for the jazz archives. Filmmakers Clint Eastwood and John Sayles were interviewed by Seattle's own Paul Debarros, jazz critic for the Seattle Times and Downbeat Magazine. In their conversation, entitled "Score One for Jazz," they talked about their choices for the use of jazz in a selection of clips from their films. In Eastwood's Bridges of Madison County, co-starring Meryl Streep, he chose to use the singing of honey-voiced baritone - the incomparable Johnny Hartman - so that a wider audience could be exposed to his beautiful singing. Hartman, one of my favorite singers, was best known for his work with John Coltrane, but tragically, never got the recognition he deserved and died in relative obscurity. I was impressed by how much Eastwood cared about honoring this terrific artist. Eastwood, who used to be mayor of neighboring Carmel, is also a jazz pianist and has been a long time member of the board of the MJF. Eastwood received an Honorary Doctorate of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music during this year's festivities. One of the highlights of the festival for me was a performance I heard by young pianist Craig Taborn with his trio at the Coffee House Gallery. His playing sounds classically influenced. His approach to the keyboard is unique and his music was original, lush and epic. I was literally entranced by his music. It was great to hear the fabulous and energetic young generation of jazz musicians, who were featured in the 2007 Clifford Brown-Stan Getz Fellows and the Berklee-Monterey Quartet 2007. English rhythm and blues, soul singer/songwriter/guitarist James Hunter was wonderfully funky and entertaining with his band. English bassist Dave Holland and his all-star quartet with Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Eric Harland performed a couple of very tight sets. The Anthony Wilson Nonet gave an impressive performance, as did organist Joey De Francesco's trio and trumpeter Christian Scott and his group. There was a series called "New Grooves in New Orleans" which highlighted three Crescent City funk bands: Dumpstaphunk, Bonerama, and Papa Grows Funk. Other fantastic artists featured this year included avant-garde drummer Rashied Ali, impressionistic pianist Jacky Terrasson, lyrical guitarist Mimi Fox, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, guitarist John McLaughlin, blues guitarist/singer Otis Taylor, Cuban singer Issac Delgado, pianist Kenny Barron, organist Atsuko Hashimoto, pianist Geoffrey Keezer, Chicano rockers Los Lobos, the Honeydripper All-Stars and many more. I highly recommend a trip to the Monterey Jazz Festival for a memorable, lively and fun-filled weekend, featuring a wide variety of great music, played by formidable performers, and to connect with the history and traditions of jazz. |
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| pictures; top - Dave Brubeck; middle - Ornette Coleman; bottom - MJF50 All-Stars | ||
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