Festival Network rolled out a dynamic program for JVC Jazz Festival New York, playing at Carnegie Hall and all around town for 14 days June 15-28. It's the first full festival produced under the new management, which bought out producer George Wein last year, and a quick review of the program shows the same combination of big jazz names, interesting pairings and all-star tributes that we've seen in recent years.
Some of the highlights: Herbie Hancock's River of Possibilities Tour; a Bossa Nova celebration starring João Gilberto; a JVC exclusive with Bad Plus 1 featuring Kurt Rosenwinkel; festival debuts by Jill Scott, Mos Def Big Band with special guest Gil Scott-Heron, Charlie Haden Quartet West and Bill Frisell Trio; tributes to pianist Hank Jones and to producers Art D’Lugoff and Jack Kleinsinger; and standout performers Chris Botti, Al Green, Cecil Taylor, George Cables, Sergio Mendes, Soulive with special guest Joshua Redman, and Charles Lloyd.
Major venues for the festival include seven headline shows at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium; 10 concerts at the New York Society for Ethical Culture; and six shows at the old Village Gate, now called Le Poisson Rouge. Other venues are the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, uptown at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn.
The festival also presents free events in city parks. June 19 at the Prospect Park Bandshell looks like a great night with Medeski, Martin & Wood, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Taylor McFerrin. Besides the scheduled events, many of the clubs in town will be running late night shows with two-for-one discounts for festival ticketholders. Check out The Blue Note, Birdland, Cachaca, Iridium, Smoke and Zinc.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Vibrant program for JVC NY 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
51st Monterey Lineup Released
It's not as if you've never seen these names in Monterey lineups, but that's not really the point. What is the point is the second-half century of an annual festival that has adapted to the times but never lost its focus-- bringing the best from all styles en masse for a (relatively) affordable price. The Derek Trucks, on the Arena stage on Saturday, is probably the biggest outlier this year.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Brian Bromberg
Photo Credit: No photo credit available
Brian Bromberg
Bromberg started a full-time career as a session musician immediately upon dropping out of high school. Since then, he's performed with a who's-who of jazz (Bill Evans, Lee Ritenour, Dizzy Gillespie, ad infinitum) and then some (Josh Groban, Lalo Schiffren, Robben Ford). So he must have the chops. But even on his own recordings, he hasn't flaunted them to the point of exhaustian like other session guys who finally lead the band. Instead he's opted for pushing the foundational boundaries of fusion. From funk to rock, he puts down the type of grooves that both rocket scientists and the rest of humanity can enjoy.
Personnel: Brian Bromberg (bass, programming)
Upcoming: Berks Jazz Festival March 28-April 6
Bromberg Performing Some Nice Lead Lines on "Bassface"
Video by Brian Bromberg.
Berks Jazz Festival
Photo Credit: Berks Arts Council
Berks Jazz Festival
While Berks's lineup doesn't quite match up with those of the last two featureds-- SFJAZZ and Mellon Jazz in Philly's spring seasons, respectively-- it only has 10 days to show its stuff. Within this span of time however, the festival manages to do pretty well for itself. There's enough variety (funk, blues and hip-hop) to keep casual fans entertained, as well as the right new-and-old mix (Regina Carter and Pat Martino, for example) when it comes to the event's advertised genre. Prices for the festival's various shows range from $0 to $49, depending on performance and seating location.
Headliners: Nancy Wilson, Buddy Guy, Chris Botti, Regina Carter, Rick Braun and Richard Elliot, Pat Martino, Jason Miles and DJ Logic, Euge Grooe and Alex Bugnon
Pat Martino Performing at Berks 2007
Video by DWillygtr.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Los Angeles Latin Jazz Festival 2008 Announced
Photo Credit: Arts Link (Word Press)
This year's Los Angeles Latin Jazz Festival, located at the L.A. Greek Theater, goes down on Saturday May 10th and features Eddie Palmieri plus the Latin Giants of Jazz, which is just a tad confusing-- isn't Eddie Palmieri a "Latin Giant of Jazz"? Anyway, that name, in short, refers to legendary former members of the Tito Puente Orchestra, as elaborated directly below:
The Los Angeles Latin Jazz Festival will play the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for an incredible night of music on Saturday, May 10th.
The date has been set and all the artists have been booked for the “Salsa meets Jazz” night, which will open the world famous Greek Theater’s season on May 10, featuring the Los Angeles Latin Jazz Festival 2008. The headliner for this year’s event is Pianist, Composer, arranger, nine (9) time Grammy Winner Eddie Palmieri. Mr. Palmieri will be performing his big band arrangements of his famous original compositions that have made him one of the most beloved Latin Jazz and Classic Salsa artists throughout the world for over fifty (50) years. Palmieri will perform his classic West Coast favorites (for listening and dancing) compositions like Vamonos pal Monte, Azucar pa Ti, Puerto Rico and Pa la Ocha Tambor among others.
The reunion of former members of the Tito Puente Orchestra “The Latin Giants of Jazz” for the first time in Los Angeles since the untimely passing of ‘El Rey” eight years ago is another highlight of this year’s show. Under the leadership of percussionist Johnny ‘Dandy” Rodriguez and musical direction of arranger, percussionist Jose Madera the other 15 plus year veterans of the Tito Puente Orchestra ( Mitch Froman, Lewis Kahn, Reynaldo Jorge, Pete Miranda and John Walsh among others) will perform music of ‘The King”. During the set The Latin Giants of Jazz will be joined by flautist Dave Valentin, timbale player Oreste Vilato and violinist Alfredo De La Fe who will appear as special invited guests.
Los Angeles local favorites The Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars (who are keeping our big band Latin Music tradition alive) will perform the music that has made them a contender in global Jazz and Latin scene. Jose Rizo’s concept of uniting the best musicians in town to perform “Nuestra Musica” has turned out to be a hit in cities outside of Los Angeles. TJL All-Stars will pay a special salute to Master Congero Francisco Aguabella. Other artists will be confirmed for this special salute to el maestro.
The night will end with a jam session of all mother jam sessions.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Monterey Jazz artist in residence to open season April 3 at Next Generation Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival's 51st year gets underway next month with a special concert by the festival's 2008 artist in residence as part of its fourth Next Generation Festival featuring top youth jazz bands from around the world. Renowned bassist and composer Christian McBride will give his first performance as part of his official role with the festival, performing with the Christian McBride Situation, a combo with keyboard, saxophone, bass and DJ.
The concert takes place April 3 at the historic Golden State Theater in downtown Monterey CA. Details and ticket information is available at the MJF website. The Next Generation Festival runs April 3-6 at the Monterey Conference Center. The festival includes the annual National High School Jazz Competition, which was described by one-time winner Joshua Redmond as "the Super Bowl of California high school jazz competitions."
Sunday, February 10, 2008
5th Annual Portland Jazz Festival Lineup
Photo Credit: Portland Jazz Festival
This is an excerpt from the press release introducing the program for the Portland (OR) Jazz Festival, running from Feb. 15-24:
A great deal of contemporary mainstream jazz, generally speaking, is risk free. Most jazz festivals in America play it safe, sticking with a successful and predictable stable of artists who rarely take the music beyond its resting place in history.
The fifth annual Portland Jazz Festival, presented by Qwest & The Oregonian A&E, set for February 15-24, dares to go where few jazz festivals in North America have ever been -- moving ever forward. Indeed, any jazz event which opens with free jazz innovator Ornette Coleman and later closes with avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor, is admittedly ‘out there.' But, along with the likes of Parker, Coltrane, Rollins, Monk, Mingus and Miles, these were the players who kept pushing jazz foward; more afraid of standing still perhaps than spinning off the road out of control.
Yet even with the emphasis on the cutting edge art, the 2008 Portland Jazz Festival remains an diverse experience -- a kaleidoscope of sounds and colors going every which way.
When one adds during this 10-day event the names of Joshua Redman, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Maceo Parker, Tord Gustavsen, Nik Bartsch’s Ronin, Jillian Lebeck, Avishai Cohen, Rob Scheps, Glen Moore, Myra Melford, Tim Berne, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Stefon Harris, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Bill Charlap, Nancy King, Fred Hersch, The Bad Plus, Portland Jazz Orchestra, Miguel Zenon, Renee Rosnes, Eric Harland, and the Oregon Symphony,
you’ve got the ingredients for a spicy, yet delicious jazz stew that should please the tastes of just about everybody who claims to be a jazz aficianado.
The rest of the release, which elaborates on the festival's lineup as well as jazz education and outreach programs, can be found here.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Tune Up for New Orleans Jazz Fest
Tune up for the festival with our playlist of two songs likely to be played by each major artist at the upcoming New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which takes place April 21-May 4 at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. The playlist is organizaed by festival day and covers headline artists playing the first weekend of the festival. Another playlist covering the second weekend will be posted soon.
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Thursday, January 24, 2008
Jazz Fest lineup covers every genre
New Orleans Jazz Fest rolled out its massive seven-day lineup, covering every major popular music genre with marquee names, standout first timers and long-time festival favorites.
The festival claims it's "deepest overall mix of rhythm & blues, rock, jazz, country, blues, gospel, world beat, and more in the 39-year history of the event." Looking over the names it is hard to argue.
First time performers include Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, and Keyshia Cole.
Among returning festival favorites, look for The Neville Brothers, Jimmy Buffett, Santana, Widespread Panic, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, and Diana Krall.
Notable collaborations include Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; Elvis Costello and Alain Toussaint; Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea.
Besides the Nevilles, who are returning to the festival for the first time since Katrina, other New Orleans acts include Dr. John, The Radiators, Beausoleil, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and many more.
Despite the festival's name, it has always been strongest in the R&B category. In addition to names already mentioned, R&B performers include Al Green, Keb' Mo', Dianne Reeves. Delbert McClinton, James Cotton, Henry Butler, Irma Thomas and many more.
More names in rock include The Raconteurs, Cupid, Richard Thompson, Derek Trucks and Michael Franti; in roots, John Prine, Del McCoury, The Sparrow Quartet and Carolina Chocolate Drops; and in jazz, Cassandra Wilson, Terence Blanchard, the Count Basie Orchestra featuring Patti Austin, and Randy Newman (since I don't know where else to include him).
The festival runs seven days, April 25-27 and May 1-4, at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. Performances take place on 11 stages running from 11 am to 7 pm each day.
A full list of performers by festival day is here at the festival web site. The precise stage schedule will be released later.
Monday, November 19, 2007
San Diego Thanksgiving Dixieland Jazz Festival
This annual Thanksgiving festival has served as the flagship event for the America's Finest Dixieland Jazz Society since 1980, giving birth to monthly concerts, workshops, and an adult jazz camp, among other programs. This year, there are over 30 bands, which won't just be playing traditional jazz, but rockabilly and blues, among other styles. Tickets for this collection of nationwide talent range from $75 for a three-day badge to $85 for a five-day badge.
Video by tdub1941
