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Chicago Jazz Fest


sheldonm

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I am definitely going to check out Randy Weston on Thurs. I'll probably swing by for some of the other events, but I am not feeling compelled to see anything in particular.

If Cassandra Wilson is at the Millennium Park stage I would most likely go. If she is at the Petrillo Band Shell, I would skip it. I've seen her on another cavernous stage, and it was definitely not worth it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

No disrespect to anyone involved, but I really felt bait-and-switched at this year's festival. I really expected Randy Weston to be involved in most of Thurs. night's performance. Instead, there was a group of college students, then the Chicago Jazz Ensemble with their regular pianist. And it wasn't until the end of the concert that Randy Weston came on. He played a short solo number, then he and his group and the CJE played 3 numbers -- somewhere around 30-45 minutes. It was good, but I really was expecting more. I don't even know that I would say this qualified as a Randy Weston concert, given how the focus was on big band arrangements.

Then tonight I had a number of other obligations, but I thought I would stop by and see David Sanchez with Stefon Harris. Well, this time, David started with his quartet and did a fine but not thrilling number that lasted about 15 minutes. Then he launched into Cultural Survival, but he still didn't bring out Stefon (I'm sure he could have learned the piece). I figured it would be another 10-15 minutes, and Stefon might get to sit in the last 20 minutes or so, but I simply had to leave at that point. So I was pretty disappointed, all in all.

For me this year was a huge let down, and this probably is the last time I'll even be able to go. C'est la vie, I guess.

Edit: Howard Reich certainly makes it sound like Stefon Harris was playing on Cultural Survival -- and he may have entered mid-way through, but he sure didn't start the piece. Just a little bit reminiscent of the critic phoning it in...

Edited by ejp626
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