Durium Posted July 12, 2009 Report Posted July 12, 2009 NORTH SEA JAZZ FESTIVAL - 2009 Last weekend, the 10th up to the 12th of July 2009 the 34th edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival had been scheduled at the Ahoy in Rotterdam ( The Netherlands) – hundreds of concerts - hundreds of artists and ten-thousands of visitors from all parts of the world. Friday the 10th of July 2009, when I visited the festival, 18,000 visitors made it feel comfortable – on Saturday and Sunday with almost 25,000 visitors each night, the venue was jam-packed. For me it was the seventh or eighth time I visited the festival, so I'm a youngster - but during the festival I picked up somewhere, that a lot of regular visitors don't feel comfortable anymore and long for the The Hague days. North Sea Jazz - a critical note Keep swinging Durium Quote
sidewinder Posted July 12, 2009 Report Posted July 12, 2009 (edited) Yes, the one time I've been there (2005 or 2006) I found it oppressive. Especially going between the main halls when there were headline acts featured at some of them. It was a fascinating experience, some great shows and I really liked some of the merchandise stands (Blue Note/EMI had a whole shop to itself - just about the whole Conn range at mid-price for example) but the battle up and down the halls was a real downer and worthy of a rugby scrum ! Enjoyed having a look around central Rotterdam though and checking out the vinyl haunts. Edited July 12, 2009 by sidewinder Quote
Durium Posted July 16, 2009 Author Report Posted July 16, 2009 Festival of extremes: VANGUARD JAZZ ORCHESTRA versus CECIL TAYLOR On Friday the 10th of July: Two concert being worlds apart – the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and …………. the great master of free-jazz Cecil Taylor. One of the strengths of the festival is its various number of concerts – its various styles and trends – from swing up to free jazz; from soul and world music to fusion and house. All these different styles presented, suit all tastes. North Sea Jazz: Festival of extremes: Vanguard Jazz Orchestra versus Cecil Taylor Keep swinging Durium Quote
Michael Weiss Posted July 16, 2009 Report Posted July 16, 2009 Durium, I read your review of the VJO's concert on your website. Gary Smulyan soloed on our last selection of the evening, My Centennial (Thad). Contrary to your report, we never played the tunes "Stella By Starlight," "Lady Luck," "Round Midnight" or "Blue Minor." These were selections were performed by Hank Jones' trio, who followed us on the same stage. So I guess you left in the middle of our set and then came back. As you pointed out, there is great diversity among the groups presented by North Sea. But it does little justice to either the VJO or Cecil Taylor to characterize our respective music with the word "versus" in between. Not only are there are more commonalities than you give us credit for, but there is no competition involved. Quote
Durium Posted July 16, 2009 Author Report Posted July 16, 2009 Durium, I read your review of the VJO's concert on your website. Gary Smulyan soloed on our last selection of the evening, My Centennial (Thad). Contrary to your report, we never played the tunes "Stella By Starlight," "Lady Luck," "Round Midnight" or "Blue Minor." These were selections were performed by Hank Jones' trio, who followed us on the same stage. So I guess you left in the middle of our set and then came back. As you pointed out, there is great diversity among the groups presented by North Sea. But it does little justice to either the VJO or Cecil Taylor to characterize our respective music with the word "versus" in between. Not only are there are more commonalities than you give us credit for, but there is no competition involved. Dear Michael, I read your critics and I must confess that you're right. Except my appologizes. I've changed to information in my contribuiton and added the following rectification: Michael Weis pointed me to some inaccuracies in the first edition of this blog. I've deleted the wrong information and love to make my apologizes to him and the band. When I composed the contribution I had some doubts about the info, but I didn't check it properly. I should have done that. Michael Weiss wrote about the fact that I pointed the visitors of this blog to the diversity of styles presented at the festival: As you pointed out, there is great diversity among the groups presented by North Sea. But it does little justice to either the VJO or Cecil Taylor to characterize our respective music with the word "versus" in between. Not only are there are more commonalities than you give us credit for, but there is no competition involved. You're right - I deleted the word versus in the subtitle of the blog. North Sea Jazz: Festival of Extremes Durium Quote
Michael Weiss Posted July 16, 2009 Report Posted July 16, 2009 Hi Durium, Thanks for your corrections. But while you're at it you might as well correct the spelling of my name - WEISS - with two S. I thoroughly enjoyed Cecil's performance. I was there from beginning to end as well as backstage with Cecil before the set and for the rest of the evening afterwards. It was a spectacular set and as you pointed out, Cecil maintains a high degree of concentration, totally unruffled by the comings and goings of the audience, as is typical at Northsea. I find Cecil's music very accessible - melodically, harmonically, rhythmically, dynamically, and with great variety of orchestration as well. I think the audience that stayed through the performance was equally impressed. I just wish more jazz musicians would be currently informed about his music. instead of relying on old memories of old records. Attending a concert like the one at NorthSea would really turn some heads around. Quote
Michael Weiss Posted July 17, 2009 Report Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) Someone sent me a link with a podcast of our set at NorthSea: http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/radi.../maandag-22.wma Keep in mind you have to wait for a while for it to load, but it will. Edited July 17, 2009 by Michael Weiss Quote
Durium Posted July 17, 2009 Author Report Posted July 17, 2009 Someone sent me a link with a podcast of our set at NorthSea: http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/radi.../maandag-22.wma Sorry - can't play it !1 Keep swinging Durium Quote
Durium Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) FRED HERSCH TRIO + 2 Fred Hersch introduced us during his five days tour in Europe, which brought him to Paris, Ghent, Amsterdam and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, to John Hebert on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. For the Ghent and Rotterdam concerts he had enlarged his trio with trumpet player Ralph Alessi and tenor player Tony Malaby up to his Fred Hersch Trio + 2, a group active for five years now. Fred Hersch Trio + 2 North Sea Jazz 2009 Keep swinging Durium Edited July 21, 2009 by Durium Quote
Durium Posted July 23, 2009 Author Report Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) HANK JONES TRIO Hank Jones - Georg Mraz - Willie Jones III Hank Jones - a legend on the keys Keep swinging Durium Edited July 23, 2009 by Durium Quote
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