cannonball-addict Posted September 14, 2004 Report Share Posted September 14, 2004 (edited) I just finished listening to the live broadcast on XM satellite radio. Emcees were Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, and Billy Dee Williams. The judges were Jimmy Scott, Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Al Jarreau, and Flora Purim. Major Sponsor for the awards was General Motors. 1st place ($20,000) went to Gretchen Parlato. (her webpage) 2nd place ($10,000) went to Kelly Lee Evans. (her webpage) 3rd place ($5,000) went to Robin McKelle. (her webpage) 4th place ($2,500) went to LaShawna Renee Wade. The composition award went to Russian-American composer/pianist Misha Piatogorsky. The composers' award is given by BMI. The band behind the singers was Herbie Hancock alternating with George Duke (the artistic director) on piano and keyboards, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Carl Allen. Other featured musical guests were Jimmy Heath on tenor, Wayne Shorter (who only took out the soprano), Terrence Blanchard, Jon Faddis (for one tune at the end), T.S. Monk, Clark Terry. I'm sure I forgot someone. It will be rebroadcast at a date TBD on BETJazz. Edited September 14, 2004 by cannonball-addict Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted September 14, 2004 Report Share Posted September 14, 2004 (edited) I just got back from the competition, where I was volunteering. A couple of comments: 1. Herbie only alternated with George Duke only during the second half all-star portion of the program (one was on acoustic piano, the other electric depending on the piece). Only George backed the competitors. 2. Quincy Jones was also a judge. 3. Sadly, Clark Terry was not well enough to perform (he had a bad cough). He made it all the way to the backstage area, but was feeling just too ill to stay and went back to his hotel. I hope for a speedy recovery. 4. Wayne was fantastic on the three cuts he played on: - 'Dindi' with Flora Purim (he quoted a phrase from his solo on 'Mademoiselle Mabry') - 'Freddie Freeloader' (the Jon Hendricks version) with Blanchard, Jarreau and Elling; despite the presence of these two vocalists whom I have never cottoned to, Wayne and Terrence really pulled it off - the finale ('In Walked Bud', again with Hendricks' lyrics); here, all four finalists took turns singing the lyrics, and it was REALLY GOOD (you know how I feel about most vocalists). That's all for now. Bertrand. Edited September 14, 2004 by bertrand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted September 14, 2004 Report Share Posted September 14, 2004 (edited) Oh, forgot the political thing. General Richard Myers was there (chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and erstwhile jazz fan). He started his speech with safe patriotic generalities (including a long quote from a WWII soldier), but then foolishly started mentioning Afghanistan and Iraq. He was loudly booed (someone even shouted 'war is not the answer'), and apparently went real pale. Did he really not think he would get this kind of reaction? This administration is just clueless. It's too bad we're going to get four more years, because Kerry is running a dreadful campaign. Bertrand. Edited September 14, 2004 by bertrand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted September 14, 2004 Report Share Posted September 14, 2004 (edited) Sadly, Clark Terry was not well enough to perform (he had a bad cough). He made it all the way to the backstage area, but was feeling just too ill to stay and went back to his hotel. I hope for a speedy recovery. A little off-topic, but I saw Clark a couple weeks ago here in KC, and although he looked quite frail he sounded pretty good. I'm not sure how much longer we're going to be blessed with Clark's presence, hopefully a long time, but if you want to see him, do it as soon as you get the chance. I first started hearing Clark live in the 70s, and although it's difficult to hear him with any amount of diminishing of his considerable skills, I've come to realize that when our heroes get old, very often the main thing that keeps them going is the opportunity to PLAY. I see this in Clark, and can certainly forgive any frailties. My feelings tend more towards supportive thoughts of "You GO, Clark. Git on it! Bark like a big dog!" I've had this feeling when hearing other heroes late in their careers (like Dizzy, Dexter, Carl Fontana to name but a few). Most of these cats still sound better at 60-70% than others at 100%. Edited September 14, 2004 by Free For All Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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