Chicago Jazz Fest 2018

[Larry Kart]

Some highlights IMO:

Friday afternoon:

Greg Ward and 10 Tongues: Mingus-related ("Black Saint and the Sinner Lady") ensemble's six-part piece for dancers (here minus the dancers). Beautiful writing, albeit Mingus-related, played with tremendous precision and zest. Fine solo work by Ward, tenorman Tim Haldemann, trombonist Norman Palm, bass trombonist Christopher Davis, and trumpeter Russ Johnson. There's a CD.

Friday evening:

Muhal Richard Abrams Tribute: Myra Melford was galvanic, Amina Cluadine NMNyers was soulful, all the horn soloists were in fine form (reedman Mwata Bowden, trumpeter Leon Q. Allen, tenorman Ari Brown) and bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Reggie Nicholson swung their behinds off.

Left before the Louis Hayes Quintet because the previous set was a bore. Then a huge rainstorm chaotically wiped out  the rest of  the evening. Futunately no one was hurt.

Saturday afternoon:

Black Diamond: Young tenormen Artie Black and Hunter Diamond, both Indian University grads, were a real highlight for me. Individual offshoots of Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz, they are, as I said, quite individual,  serious/thoughtful as all get out. There's a CD.

Matthew Shipp/Ivo Perelman: A difference of opinion here. I warmed to them a good deal after a while; a friend whom I respect winced in dismay.

Saturday evening: 

Tribute to Willie Pickens: Pianist daughter Bethany Pickens is a real player, horn soloists Eric Schneider (alto), Pat Mallinger, (tenor), Ed Peterson (tenor), and Donald Harrison (alto) were in fine form (nice how they listened approvingly to each other)  as were vibraharpist Stu Katz, Bassist Larry Gray, and drummer Robert Shy.

Kenny Barron Quintet: Very professional set all the way, not a hair out of place,  from Barron, tenorman Dayna Stephens, trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa, and drummer Jonathan Blake. I was particularly impressed with the warmth and strength of Stephens, but a hair or two out of place would have been welcome.

Big raindrops beginning to fall, I was fearful of another downpour and  to my regret missed Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, excellent by all reports, and Ramsey Lewis (reports said "meh.")

Sunday afternoon:

Jamie Branch's Fly or Die: Back in her hometown, Branch was nervous at first, but the gaalvanic drumming of Chad Taylor got her going soon enough.

Jason Stein Quartet: Bass clarinetist Stein and Keefe Jackson on contrabass clarainet conjured up a truly deep, dark sound yet were as agile as can be. Several Tristano-school lines ("Wow," for one) picked on the vibe of Black Diamond from Saturday.

Sunday evening:

Arturo O'Farrill Sextet: Kick-ass Latin jazz, O' Farrill himself quite strong on piano.

 

 

[jlhoots]

Sounds great!!

[AllenLowe]

interesting, because "galvanic" is not a term I would use to describe Myra in the few times I've seen her. At those times (maybe three occasions) there was always a point at which she attempted to be 'bluesy' and, to my ears, was as funky as Wonder bread. On the other hand, when she just plays she does OK.

[Larry Kart]

A sample of Black Diamond. They were a good deal more "galvanic" at the fest than on this video from two years before, but this will give you flavor. I like the grain of their sounds.

As for Melford, she did get a bit bluesy at one point but otherwise was smashing and crashing to a fare thee well and quite coherently too.

 

Forgot to mention among the Fest highlights Chicago-based  tenorman Dustin Laurenzi. He's a friend of the Black Diamond players, and while you can hear the kinship -- the grain in the sound for example -- he's his own man. There's a CD. A sample from a live gig:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hepvd8p-S8E


 

[Steve Reynolds]

1 hour ago, AllenLowe said:

interesting, because "galvanic" is not a term I would use to describe Myra in the few times I've seen her. At those times (maybe three occasions) there was always a point at which she attempted to be 'bluesy' and, to my ears, was as funky as Wonder bread. On the other hand, when she just plays she does OK.

I wonder if you’ve ever heard either “Alive in the House or Saints” or “Even the Sounds Shine”. Both are galvanic & both on my all-time list. Brilliant pianist - much more than OK in my view.

[jlhoots]

I agree with Steve.

[clifford_thornton]

13 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

interesting, because "galvanic" is not a term I would use to describe Myra in the few times I've seen her. At those times (maybe three occasions) there was always a point at which she attempted to be 'bluesy' and, to my ears, was as funky as Wonder bread. On the other hand, when she just plays she does OK.

never really delved into her discography too deeply but the few times I've seen her live have all been superb.

[AllenLowe]

12 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

I wonder if you’ve ever heard either “Alive in the House or Saints” or “Even the Sounds Shine”. Both are galvanic & both on my all-time list. Brilliant pianist - much more than OK in my view.

I know that album, yes, and to me a cut like this is part of the problem and tells us what is right and wrong about her playing; at the risk of pissing people off, to me it has all that fake bluesy-ness that makes more 'out' players feel like they've got a grip on musical roots; in a weird way some of it reminds me of Oscar Peterson, full of gesture and mannerism but with little sense of the deeper resonance of the blues through touch and phrasing; kinda drives me up the wall, but more importantly, it drives me to seek out the real thing; in this cut, when she just plays, she's great, but there's too much of those false-blues-cadences; they seem to be planted there to reassure her audience that she knows the 'history" - 

 

Edited September 5, 2018 by AllenLowe

[BFrank]

I was only able to catch the Louis Hayes show which was very good, but too short (not their fault, I'm sure). Abraham Burton's tenor was on fire, as was Steve Nelson's vibes work.

Edited September 5, 2018 by BFrank