Thursday, October 15, 2009
PDX Jazz 2010 looks Good
It seems like almost a year ago when I submitted my most outward of critical posts ever about a public institutions when I ranted about PDX Jazz. It was mild as far as Internet discourse is concerned but I did kind of get impatient with Bill Royston and his press releases. But still the festival survived. Last year's festival was pretty good but the economy gave the organizers a major lesson. Make it more managable for mortals and realize that not even Portland is hip enough to sustain a couple of weekends of concerts at the Schnitz, which cand be a sad and lonely place when it is less than half full. Give props to Bill and his new team for laying out a really focused and interesting line up for 2010.
Here it is in take on this year's lineup:
Pharoah Sanders for a Sunday afternoon at the Newmark! There will be no place finer in the greater western United States. We are so damn lucky to see folks who really made contributions to jazz in the bop and beyond. Add the Pharoah Man, directly a part of spirtual relation of the spritualism meets freedom jazz and African American awareness zone that is home to Ayler and Coltrane, Rahasahn Rolaand Kirk and as well. A zone that then impacted decades of music even more easy to take in digest folks with greatness and chops their own. Thinking Grover Washington for one. Add Pharoh to the other great saxaphone days and nights witnessed in this area. John Handy, Red Holloway, Eddie Harris, Lou Donaldson,Lee Konitz, Sonny Rollins and now Pharoah. Life is good.
I am so very looking forward to a chance to see Luciana Souza. Portland is going to fall in love with this woman because of this opening night PDX show. I have four of her albums on my IPod. Some is straight (for a Brazilian, which isn't really ever straight), there is some Patrice Rushen flavoring at times and sometimes the rhythm of her pieces really take off but with great melody too like Tania Maria the first time you see her. But the coolest stuff in her catalogs are albums the anthologies dedicated to works by Neruda and Elizabeth Bishop. Through it all the genre and culture shifting seem absolutely natural. I guess you could describe her as a kind of fusion of Elianne Elias and Cassandra Wilson.
My third choice is a tie between Mingus Big Band or the Dave Holland Quintet. I think I'm going to pass on both probably. My choice for seeing the Mingus band would be on one of their Monday night gigs in NYC. Holland is a legend and am pretty certain that his will be a good show.
Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy is not going to see my ticket dollar either. I like Davis' chamber jazz meets bold and fearless approach to music. My ears and part of my mind respond to it but I don't love this music. That's not because it isn't engaging, its just that a weekend with Pharaoh Sanders is going to have to more or lesss be all about Pharaoh Sanders.
But that doesn't mean that some of the three concert series of modern Norwegian jazz groups (no kidding) at a 80 year old, 300 seat Norse Hall on NE 11th and Couch should not be considered. In particular, the saxaphone/accordian duo of Trygve Seim & Frode Halti (is this second guy a hobbit?) is bound to be novel and intriguing by its very nature. When the heck are you likely going to see that again? If I was coming from out of town or if there was some kind of reasonable flat fee admission strucure for the entire festival, I think I would be more enthused to want to check out the piano based groups, In The Country or Christian Wallmurad Ensemble But I'm not super big on ECM-like introspection ince I was a wee college student wearing down Keith Jarret's Koln Concerts on my BIC turntable. I think the maybe the most enticing part of going to those concerts would be walking from downtown to the Norse Hall. but, hell, I can walk the Burnside Bridge any day of the week.
I think the 2010 Alaska Airlines and Horizon Airlines Portland Jazz Festival is going to a really fine event. I applaud Royston and folks for keeping it to a single long weekend where one could go to all eight concerts if they wish. Also its schedule is not all over the map with fewer venues: the Hilton, the Newmark, Crystal Ballroom, and, don't forget the Norse Hall.
The commute for a festival you live near can be kind of taxing, even if the event is about ten miles away. The Ornette Coleman-Ron Carter-Cecil Taylor weekend was a really long one a couple of years ago. Still, I am thinking just Souza and Pharoah with maybe the hobbit accordian guy thrown in there on Saturday afternoon, just because.
posted by well-executed buffet at 9:24 PM
Comments:
I caught Terence Blanchard last year, turnout was grim, show was fantastic. Im shooting for Pharoh this year...I wish they would do a several day festival instead of stuff spread all over....but glad there is a festival. Film festival about that time as well!
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