Chicago Jazz Fest!

[sheldonm]

Any board members going to the chicago jazz fest this year?

I'm sure Sal, Rob, Ejp626, Danimal, Larry K and possibly Chuck will be there....how about the rest of you? Kind of a "home grown" line up this year which is a good thing. Lots of after-sets at the Velvet, Green Mill, Showcase, Hungry Brain and I'm sure other places.

Tribute to Benny Goodman at Millennium Park the night before the fest kicks off...featuring Jon Faddis and Buddy DeFranco.

pm me if you're going!

m

[BeBop]

I'm trying like h*lll to get there. Definitely want to catch Archie Shepp, Von Freeman and The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell. Interested in William Parker, Fred Anderson and Buddy DeFranco too.

But realistically? Ain't a snowball's chance I can get even an hour off work.

(They already took away all my '08 and '09 vacation time.)

Sorry to piss and moan.

Edited August 18, 2009 by BeBop

[sheldonm]

I'm trying like h*lll to get there. Definitely want to catch Archie Shepp, Von Freeman and The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell. Interested in William Parker, Fred Anderson and Buddy DeFranco too.

But realistically? Ain't a snowball's chance I can get even an hour off work.

(They already took away all my '08 and '09 vacation time.)

Sorry to piss and moan.

I'll look for the pissin' and moanin' guy! Hope you can make it!

m

[sonnymax]

I'm trying like h*lll to get there. Definitely want to catch Archie Shepp, Von Freeman and The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell. Interested in William Parker, Fred Anderson and Buddy DeFranco too. But realistically? Ain't a snowball's chance I can get even an hour off work. (They already took away all my '08 and '09 vacation time.) Sorry to piss and moan.

You say "piss and moan," I say "catharsis." So go ahead and vent. Smashing a smooth jazz CD might help too.

[thedwork]

i wish i could hang. for anyone who's going, i'd like to suggest trying to see Rolldown and Klang. both groups have Frank Rosaly in the drum chair. he's an amazing drummer.

[sal]

I'll be there! Looking forward to seeing you Mark, and any other board members who may be going (Rob, Eric, Jeff, etc..). I'll most likely be skipping the aftersets this year, as money is tight. But I'll be attending as many of the free shows as I possibly can.

[Chuck Nessa]

Really looking forward to the Muhal big band with George and Roscoe.

[Bright Moments]

i may be in the minority here but i really enjoy hearing faddis - wish i could make the trip!

[BFrank]

I'll be in Chicago, but leaving on Saturday unfortunately, so I hope to catch something on Friday night.

Maybe these 2:

• 5:00-5:50 pm – Jeff Parker Quartet

• 6:00-6:55 pm – The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell

[jimi089]

I will be there.

Looking forward the music. Also not to be missed will be the Muhal solo set at the Cultural Center at 3 PM on Friday. If you really want to see it I'd recommend getting there early. It's a small room.

[sheldonm]

I will be there.

Looking forward the music. Also not to be missed will be the Muhal solo set at the Cultural Center at 3 PM on Friday. If you really want to see it I'd recommend getting there early. It's a small room.

....too many things to see...several of them overlapping. Got to catch a little of this...little of that!

See you there Dan!

[sal]

Starts tomorrow! And the weather looks to be beautiful all weekend. Nice.

[BeBop]

I'm trying like h*lll to get there. Definitely want to catch Archie Shepp, Von Freeman and The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell. Interested in William Parker, Fred Anderson and Buddy DeFranco too.

But realistically? Ain't a snowball's chance I can get even an hour off work.

(They already took away all my '08 and '09 vacation time.)

Sorry to piss and moan.

I'm going to miss it. Drat. Couldn't get time off or work in the US. But to those who do make it, ENJOY!

[Larry Kart]

Should be there day and night throughout, though on Friday night I'll leave after the Muhal-Roscoe-George trio set to catch the debut of an 8 p.m. multi-media show at Links Hall for which my son is doing some apparently elaborate audio work. Girls in leotards too, though I've been warned that the vibe is sternly feminist.

[Dan Gould]

So don't be a Leering Larry.

I notice there is a DB Blindfold test with Charles McPherson, I wonder if he'll be as tough as LD was (and I presume it will get published at some point, just as the JT Before & After took place at a festival and was subsequently published).

If I were going, I think I'd be most interested in that Soul Jazz for the 21st Century group.

[sal]

The Trio was amazing last night! One of my favorite sets of music that I've seen in a long time!

[NavSJ]

I thought it was funny that there was a person up there giving live sign language interpretations of the music, not just lyrics (there weren't any!), not just music, but free/atonal jazz. At times, she was feigning playing a piano, the other times, trombone and sax. What did she do when they started playing loops off the Apple Mac Book Pro? Bizarre!

As my friend joked next to me, "This is the A.D.A. run amok and unchecked!"

[Chuck Nessa]

Yeah, we were all making jokes about that. WTF!

[Larry Kart]

Fred Anderson played a fine set tonight. Very inventive and soulful.

[Chuck Nessa]

Just returned from an amazing set at the Velvet - Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Harrison Bankhead, Henry Grimes and Muhal Richard Abrams. They played an hour set and took a break. We had to leave then but ran into Oliver Lake on the street heading in with his alto. The place was jammed.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Just returned from an amazing set at the Velvet - Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Harrison Bankhead, Henry Grimes and Muhal Richard Abrams. They played an hour set and took a break. We had to leave then but ran into Oliver Lake on the street heading in with his alto. The place was jammed.

Wow! One day, we'll get a promoter with the vision/finances/whatever it takes to bring guys like this to the UK (in fairness, Lake and Grimes have both been recently - but have the others ever played over here???).

Sounds like a wonderful set.

[NavSJ]

Going to check out Mike Allemana (my favorite local guitarist) and his group Come Sunday at noon, then Mike with Von a little later on. Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, can't stay for the night events.

[BFrank]

I missed everthing. Our plans changed. Maybe next year.

That Velvet set sounds OUTstanding!

[Larry Kart]

Ben Paterson, Von's pianist, did an outstanding solo set on Sunday at 1 p.m. Very Tatumesque at times, in a natural, non-imitative manner. There also was a very witty (as is appropriate) tribute to Garner, and a superb version of "Dat Dere."

Highlight of Von's set later on was a very intense, slow version of "Blame It On My Youth." Kind of ripped my heart out.

Buddy DeFranco's salute to the album he and Tatum did together really kicked into gear after a while. At age 86, Buddy on a good night is as fine as ever. Later on I ran into bassist-composer Stafford James, who volunteered that Buddy's reading of "Memories of You" was the best he'd ever heard, adding that it was song that meant a great deal to him.

Muhal's big orchestra piece, which wound up the night, is too big for me to get my head around at this point -- I'd like to hear it again and prrobably think about it some. Of the featured soloists, Roscoe was on fire/austere/noble, George Lewis was agile/intense, but the duo of bassist Harrison Bankhead and tenorman Ari Brown didn't do much for me -- the tempo for their part was so fast that what they played seemed just a blur.

[Larry Kart]

P.S. I thought Archie Shepp's set was pretty bad, but I was reminded afterwards that he had had cancer of the mouth (or something of the sort) and thus it's remarkable that he can play at all.