Newport Jazz Festival 2013

I have been covering the Newport Jazz Festival for WHUS FM for the last 5 years, and the 2013 festival is one of the best I've had the pleasure to attend.

Musically, the festival covered a wide range of jazz styles; fusion, latin, avant garde, funk, modern post-bop. So many of the artists were exploring new sounds. There was a lot of experimentation with electronics and effects creating interesting sonic textures. Rhythmically the music was moving away from bop and more towards progressive rock-fusion or "free" jazz. In general I felt that most of the musicians, young and old were taking the music beyond its reliance on traditional jazz constructs from the past. 

Highlights at the festival for me were:

The Festival was themed as an 80th birthday celebration for Wayne Shorter. Herbie Hancock was his special guest. They played a duo performance before Shorter's quartet took over with a rousing somewhat avant-garde set. Wayne took a much more aggressive role in his playing than I had seen in his past performances with this group. Herbie took the stage again at the end of the set to share the piano with Danilo Perez in a 4 hands one piano accompaniment.

Terrence Blanchard with a surprise appearance by Herbie sitting in to play Footprints. Terrence's entire performance was memorable. It was a modern sound, with subtle electronic effects that provided sonic interest but did not overwhelm the music.

Chick Corea's new band was reminiscent his electric bands of the fusion era, with a bit of a latin feel, and based more on Chick's compositions and arrangements than the musicians pyrotechnics. 

Jon Batiste brought the New Orleans feel to his music with a fresh modern sound. It combined R&B with straight ahead jazz chops. His use of the melodica added an interesting twist to his great performance.

Gregory Porter is an outstanding new vocal force in jazz. You can hear the influence of R&B and Gospel with his tremendous vocal chops. He has a talented jazz band that know how to swing hard to his tunes.

Guitarist David Gilmore was the final show we saw at the Festival. He had a great All-Star band with Miguel Zenon (sax), Jeff Tain Watts (dr), Christian McBride (b), Luis Perdermo (p) and Claudia Acuna (v). They played his Numerology suite, an hour long set that was smoking.

Other notable performances we saw: Marcus Miller, Mary Halverson, Robert Glasper Experiment, Eddie Palmieri Salsa Band, Bill Charlap w/Anat Cohen & Bob Wilber, Lew Tabakin, Joshua Redman, URI Big Band, Jim Hall, Hiromi, (and more).

It was a thrill to meet the great Chick Corea backstage

Check out our picture gallery from the 2013 Jazz Festival (credit Claire Laster)

More photos from Ken's gallery

Kenny Dorham Comes To Mind

A little bit of exquisite hard bop from the golden period of exquisite hard bop: Kenny Dorham: 'Round Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia (1956).  I noticed a review of this recording in the latest incarnation of the Penguin Jazz Guide and realized with a shock that, although I bought a copy of Vol. 1 decades ago, it somehow wasn't in my iTunes library.  Well, I fixed that. 

Cafe Bohemia is one of the great Blue Note live recordings.  It has distinctly Jazz Messengers sound, what with Dorham and Bobby Timmons on piano.  I have the title cut playing on my L365 station.  It will make your day.  

Here is the lineup:

• Bass – Sam Jones
• Drums – Arthur Edgehill
• Guitar – Kenny Burrell
• Piano – Bobby Timmons
• Tenor Saxophone – J.R. Monterose
• Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

Being in a Dorham mood, I also posted the title cut from Una Mas (1963).  It's a very nice, slightly Latin bop.  Here is the lineup:

• Bass – Butch Warren
• Drums – Anthony Williams
• Piano – Herbie Hancock
• Tenor Saxophone – Joe Henderson
• Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

You can't beat that group.  Anything with Tony Williams on it is a treasure.  Dorham's playing is superb all the way through. 

Finally, I added a cut from one of those Sonny Rollins recordings that might be easily overlooked: Rollins Plays for Bird (1956), which has the subtitle: Sonny Rollins Quintet with Kenny Dorham and Max Roach.  The cut is 'Kids Know'. 

• Bass – George Morrow
• Drums – Max Roach
• Piano – Wade Legge
• Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins
• Trumpet – Kenny Dorham

Roach is Roach and Rollins is Rollins.  Dorham is luminous. 

Bobby Hutcherson on Blue Note pt. 2

Bobby Hutcherson recorded three albums as leader with Herbie Hancock on piano: Components (1965), Happenings (66), and Oblique (67).  As Hutcherson's Dialogue was, I think, deeply colored by the presence of Andrew Hill, so Hancock's presence colors the 66 and 67.  This is so in spite of the fact that Hutcherson composed all but one of the numbers on Happenings (Hancock's 'Maiden Voyage') and three of the six numbers of on Oblique.  The latter also includes a single Hancock composition.  I think that this is a strength of Hutcherson's leadership rather than a weakness and is quite intentional.  Hutcherson's composition 'Subtle Neptune' certainly invokes the oceanic theme that marked Hancock's great Blue Note recordings.  Hutcherson chose to do something very clever: record albums that fit rather neatly with the latter.  

1. Components.  Freddie Hubbard (tp); James Spaulding (as, fl); Bobby Hutcherson (vib, mar); Herbie Hancock (p, org); Ron Carter (b); Joe Chambers (d).  Four of the cuts are Hutcherson composition, and they are all lyrical, accessible, and delicious.  'Tranquility' is pensive and haunting.  'Little B's Poem' is a classic.  The rest of the compositions are by Chambers, and lean a little more toward the avant garde.  
2. Happenings.  Bobby Hutcherson (vib, mar, d); Herbie Hancock (p); Bob Cranshaw (b); Joe Chambers (d, mar),  Great album art!  All the compositions are good.  I especially like 'Head Start' with Hutcherson's superb solos going on just inches above Hancock's piano. This is very energetic and compelling hard bop.
3. Oblique.  Bobby Hutcherson (vib, d); Herbie Hancock (p); Albert Stinson (b); Joe Chambers (d, gong, timp).  What Hutcherson does with Hancock's 'Theme from "Blow Up"' is just marvelous, and you don't get better vibes than are on display in the title cut.  
4. Stick Up! (66) Joe Henderson (ts); Bobby Hutcherson (vib); McCoy Tyner (p); Herbie Lewis (b); Billy Higgins (d).  This is a nice contrast with the above recordings.  It doesn't sound like a Hancock or a Henderson album, though Joe does not go unnoticed.  Hutcherson's poetry is a conspicuous feature of all these albums, but the best expression of it is in the aptly titled 'Verse'.  Again, Hutcherson composes his solo just above the exquisite Tyner on piano and Lewis on base, followed Henderson doing the same.  I can't imagine listening to this and not being happy.  

I may do another post on Hutcherson, or maybe not.   If you have the four recordings described in these last two posts, you have a fine record of mid-sixties jazz in all of its glory. 

Cheap Vibes

I have stopped downloading from iTunes' store.  They rarely have the best deals, but that isn't the real problem.  Anything I store in their format can't be converted into MP3s.  This matters because the cd player in my RAV4 can read MP3 discs.  I like to load it with hours of music and listen to bits of that when I go for red potatoes or a bottle of Johnny Walker.  But I keep getting that message that I can't burn anything Apple has sold me or touched.  

Amazon has a lot more music, better deals, and you get honest MP3 files.  Yesterday I found another Bobby Hutcherson recording, Happenings, for about four bucks on Amazon.  I gather that this CD is no longer available in plastic.  The Penguin Guide (may it be praised!) mentions it but doesn't list it.  I have little patience for the music industry when it fails to make such recordings available for download.  Amazon has this one, with a Hutcherson/Herbie Hancock team up, with Bob Cranshaw and Joe Chambers.  It's a beautiful piece of work, and four dollars is about what I think a recording should cost.  Especially a recording that has been sitting in the vaults for decades.  

I have already mentioned Hutcherson's wonderful disc Stick-Up!  That is also available from Amazon for a handful of bucks.  Here is a sample from Happenings, one of Hancock's great compositions.

Bobby Hutcherson/Maiden Voyage/Happenings 

Enjoy.  And if you do, for goodness's sake go to Amazon and download them.  You can't get a magazine for this price, and you won't be throwing this stuff into the recycling bin.