sheldonm Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 (edited) I'll be at the festival on both Friday and Saturday before returning home sometime Sunday. Anyone else going that may want to get together??? I'll be staying at a hotel on Michigan Avenue which is close to the festival. If you're going, send me a PM!!! Mark Edited September 7, 2004 by sheldonm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randissimo Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 I'll be at the festival on both Friday and Saturday before returning home sometime Sunday. Anyone else going that may want to get together??? I'll be staying at a hotel on Michigan Avenue which is close to the festival. If you're going, send me a PM!!! Mark What are the dates and who's all playing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 What are the dates and who's all playing? http://www.jazzinstituteofchicago.org/jazzfest/26thfest.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 I'll be trying to make the 7 and 8 o'clock shows on Friday, Sat. and Sun. I am also trying to pack up and move, so I'm not sure I will make all these dates, especially on Sat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 I'll be in Chicago for the long weekend, and am trying to convince our friends to go with us on Sunday night. I really want to see the 5:05 – 5:55 Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake and 7:10 – 8:10 The Monksieland Band with Don Byron, Roswell Rudd, Dave Douglas, Jean-Jacques Avenel, and John Betsch shows. I wouldn't mind staying for Toshiko Akiyoshi at 8:30, but don't want to miss out on those two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Mumbles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Buddy DeFranco! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Winard Harper....or as the announcer called him.....Winnerd Harper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Toshiko! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 and James Moody/Von Freeman.......many other performers but no time now to post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolff Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Thanks, Mark!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Looks like fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue lake Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Thanks for those! How was the music? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Thanks for posting the photos, Mark! Wow, Moody & Vonski! How where they? A pairing that worked out well? ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Thanks for those! How was the music? I didn't see any of the performers pictured above, but the sets I saw were fantastic! I was most impressed by the Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake set. I had never seen any of these guys live before and I was blown away. My friends and wife were in no rush to get to the event, so I left them behind, planning to meet back up on the lawn, and I found a seat three rows back from the stage just to the side of Hamid. He was awe-inspiring. I've been a huge fan of his for quite a while, but seeing him perform live takes the music to a whole other level. Fred Anderson and Kidd Jordan were on fire. They were playing quite freely, yet still were very lyrical and definitely, to my mind, swung. Hamiet Bluiett was fairly restrained for most of the set, letting Kidd and Fred blaze the trail, dropping in now and again to add color from the baritone. I couldn't really hear Harrison Bankhead from where I was, so I have no opinion on him. I'm not sure if it was the acoustics where I was sitting but I had a difficult time figuring out what Jeff Parker contributed to the set. For the most part he was drowned out by Fred and Kidd and seemed to be lazily strumming chords in the background. All in all, this was my favorite set of the night. Butch Thompson's “Tribute to Fats Waller at 100” was enjoyable. I wasn't familiar with Butch prior to his set and I'm not familar with Fats Waller, so I really had a good time during his performance. I was highly anticipating the Monksieland Band with Don Byron, Roswell Rudd, Dave Douglas, Jean-Jacques Avenel, and John Betsch, and they did not diappoint. We had to leave during their set, which was unfortunate, but I was glad to have had a chance to see them. As much as I enjoyed their music, I kept thinking that something seemed slightly "off" during their set. It might just have been my imagination, but I felt thatthere was a sadness mixed in with the joy of the music and that the band, who had decided to continue on after Steve Lacy's passing, were lacking a focus or "center" that Steve would have brought to the set. That said, we really enjoyed their performance. Unfortunately we also had to miss Toshiko Akiyoshi with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. I'm looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts on the festival. This was my first time visiting Chicago, and I would love to go back next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 I saw the same sets as John, getting there about 5 minutes into the Anderson & Friends set and staying to the end of the Monksieland Band. Someone near me did make the comment that the programming was pretty poor, in the sense that people who weren't driven off by Anderson would be bored by the Waller Tribute, and people who liked the Waller would be put off by the freer Monksieland Band. I didn't enjoy the Anderson as much as hoped. One of the saxophonists (Blueit I think) did the circular breathing bit (described elsewhere as a parlor trick) and indeed it was boring. To me, having the third saxophone just didn't add anything special, and a different horn would have been better. It was just not thrilling to me. While I did enjoy the Waller Tribute, someone on the board said that the problem with many tributes is that they try to sound like something frozen in amber, as if nothing more recent had been played. Butch Thompson kept all the pieces under 3 minutes, and I swear that if he could have pulled it off, he would have added a sampling machine to add crackle to their performance to make it sound like a 78 (like the beginning of Moran's recent CD). Still, they did a nice job on replicating the various pieces. I thought Monksieland Band was by far the best. They started with Epistrophy, and here the three horns were sort of playing on top of each other, making a bit of dissonance. This effect was less noticable in later tunes. They also did Monk's Dream (where the drummer let things off), Crepusule with Nellie (Byron's feature), I Mean You (Douglas's feature). Hunger got the best of me, so I wandered off to get ice cream and missed the title of the next tune. Yes, it probably would have been better with Lacy there, but still very fine music. And a much more fitting tribute, taking Monk's work but not being bound to it, the way that Butch Thompson was. I think this group will tour, so be on the lookout for them. I came very close to going to Hothouse to see Malachi Thompson's Africa Brass Band, but I still had a ton of unpacking to do, so I just went home. (I missed Sat. because of my move, which definitely bummed me out.) Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Butch Thompson's “Tribute to Fats Waller at 100” was enjoyable. I wasn't familiar with Butch prior to his set and I'm not familar with Fats Waller, so I really had a good time during his performance. Butch Thompson is fantastic. I saw him live once presenting his Scott Joplin interpretations. Wonderful stuff. He really breathed some life into those timeless classics. Thanks for reminding me of him. I'll check what's available at reasonable prices. I think he actually recorded the Joplin material to some very favourable reviews (end 90's, if memory doesn't fail me). Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue lake Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 (edited) I saw the same sets as John, getting there about 5 minutes into the Anderson & Friends set and staying to the end of the Monksieland Band. Someone near me did make the comment that the programming was pretty poor, in the sense that people who weren't driven off by Anderson would be bored by the Waller Tribute, and people who liked the Waller would be put off by the freer Monksieland Band. Eric That the Chicago Jazz Fest does not keep it to one style is to their credit, makes people stay in their seats to hear something because of what's coming next and thereby exposes them to more music. Because in the end the music on stage is of a high caliber regardless of taste in style. They've pretty much always done that and it is to their credit that they haven't tried to second guess the audience's reaction and just programmed the music. In that way I heard Bud Freeman in the same evening as Anthony Braxton and it set the music historically better than any lecture, book or record could ever do. Edited September 8, 2004 by blue lake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 sheldon - you didn't happen to get any photos of the Fred Anderson / Kidd Jordan / Hamid Drake set, did you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 sheldon - you didn't happen to get any photos of the Fred Anderson / Kidd Jordan / Hamid Drake set, did you? John, I actually didn't shoot this set but did photograph Fred on Sunday morning during a great jam session with Ari Brown at the Jazz Record Mart in their little 15x15 room in the back of the store. Keep in mind, there were also bass, drums, trombone, a guitar at time and two sax players. I sat at Fred's feet shooting away, smokin' (not me, the music)!!! I'll try to post something tonight! Others included Ernest Dawkins and Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls! One funny note, when Ted Sirota's band finished playing, they announced that they would be playing in Ann Arbor, NY and Philly and asked that everyone tell their friends. A guy sitting behind me said "who are you, if you want us to tell our friends, it would be nice to know who you are (they had said who they were about 5 times). Ted looked at the guy and said "excuse me sir, I'm Max Roach"! The guy just kinda stared at him for a minute or two before Ted told him he was joking. Everyone got a big laugh except the inquiring man! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 ...and an image of Max Roach from the above show......er, I mean Ted Sirota! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 (edited) Thanks for the photos! BTW, why is your post of DeFranco so reddish? Edited September 9, 2004 by Christiern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Thanks for the photos! BTW, why is your post of DeFranco so reddish? Chris, It looks pretty nice if you ask me ! Actually I downloaded it quickly off my small digital camera (not my primary camera) and made no corrections to it (I was in a hurry). Lighting on the stage was constantly changing and many times was kind of magenta looking and then cyan looking (if you're alive, you don't want to look cyan!). I have attached another photograph taken a few minutes later as he stood to solo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makpjazz57 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Hi, GREAT photos! Did you happen to take any of drummer Harold Jones, who, I believe, was with the Basie Alumni band? Thanks, Marla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Hi, GREAT photos! Did you happen to take any of drummer Harold Jones, who, I believe, was with the Basie Alumni band? Thanks, Marla You can kinda see him on this shot, I have a couple others also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.