Avant-garde concerts highlight Earshot Jazz Festival's second week |
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| Avant-garde concerts highlight Earshot Jazz Festival's second week | |
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by E. Joyce Glasgow -
SGN A&E Writer Earshot Jazz Festival Various Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland and Bothell locations Through November 9 The absolute highlight so far of the ongoing 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival was the October 26 Town Hall solo piano performance by jazz icon and NEA Jazz Master Cecil Taylor. Now 79, Taylor has been marching to his own drummer musically his whole career and has been an unwavering, avant-garde pioneer in jazz. In my opinion, he is the modern-day equivalent of the Impressionist composers of a century ago, with 21st century sensibilities. His stream-of-consciousness playing is immediate, abstract, and accessible on a rare, intuitive level. This was my favorite performance of his that I've heard live. I sat back, relaxed, opened my mind, and allowed Taylor to take me on an hour-and-a-half adventure into his unique, revolutionary, personal inner and outer universe, and the experience was transformative. Taylor is a musical shaman. When I left the hall afterwards, I found that my perceptions were altered. My senses were heightened. The geraniums outside Town Hall were a brighter, more remarkable red, and everything I looked at was clearer and more defined and I felt as if my mind had been refreshed and rejuvenated. Now that's a great musical experience! Another favorite was, again, in the avant-garde realm. Seattle duo Gust Burns (piano) and Greg Campbell (percussion, French horn) shared a bill with German pianist Georg Graewe at the Chapel Performance Space on October 27. Burns and Campbell improvised beautifully together, with equal give and take, sensitively and seamlessly creating colors and moods, taking the audience on a painterly, abstract musical journey. Georg Graewe, in his solo performance, explored the edges and outer realms of musical expression and possibilities on the piano. He has been a respected force on the international, avant-garde jazz scene for many years. His improvised music is immediate, evocative, and sparks one's imagination. Blues guitarist Johnny A was a nice surprise on the bill at the Triple Door on October 22. I had never heard him before and was impressed by his virtuosity and musical playfulness. He's laid-back and comfortable in his skin, and this transfers in his guitar playing to great fluidity, ease and variety of musical statements and accents. He and his bass player and drummer played what I would call "good time" music, fun to listen to and audience engaging, combining rock, country twang and jazz influences into an upbeat, predominantly blues style. Johnny A played original pieces as well as compositions by other artists, including Jimi Hendrix. He was playing an electric guitar, which he designed himself for world-renowned Gibson Guitars. His guitar sounded beautiful, and his set was really enjoyable. Legendary trombonist/composer/educator Wycliffe Gordon was the special guest with the award-winning Garfield High School Jazz Band and their bandleader and teacher Clarence Acox at the Triple Door on October 24. The big band has over 20 members. It's exciting to hear young teens playing jazz with such enthusiasm and proficiency and for them to have opportunities to play in professional settings like the Triple Door and at a number of musical festivals. The students' individual solos were thoughtful, creative and fluid. After performing some band arrangements on their own, including the standard, "I Could Write a Book" from Pal Joey and Benny Golson's tribute to Clifford Brown, "I Remember Clifford," Gordon joined them for a handful of tunes. They played a classic ballad by J.J. Johnson, "Lament," a piece by Quincy Jones, "I Need to Be Be'd With," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and closed out with Count Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside." Gordon varied his smooth trombone with good humor, playing with contrasting and crowd-pleasing funky, growly and bluesy touches utilizing his trombone plunger. He sang "On the Sunny Side of the Street" in a sweet, soft and slightly gravely voice, charming the crowd. The Garfield Jazz Band will be celebrating the opening of the new Quincy Jones Performance Center at the school, with a concert there on November 16. The Eldar Trio played original music at the Triple Door on October 26. I found this ensemble of piano/keyboard, electric bass and drums entirely too frantic and over-anxious for my tastes during most of their set, with loud, bombastic drumming and lots of notes played really fast, but seeming to go no place in particular. It felt like the music was being played at me rather than to me. This frenetic intensity was relentless throughout the set, like a runaway train, with the exception of one lovely, slow piece, begun by Eldar on solo piano and then joined by his bandmates. These three musicians are talented and have much to offer and I wished they would take the time to get still inside, connect to the music and get grounded with an umbilical thread to a deeper, more core level, instead of seemingly riding on a more superficial, disconnected wave. Look for further coverage of performances during the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival in next week's SGN. The festival is entering its third and final week. Here are some of the many highlights to come: Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, with special guest, NEA Jazz Master, James Moody on November 1 and 2, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory, (accompanying three Laurel and Hardy silent film classics) on November 5, Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits on November 7 and Malian kora master Toumani Diabate on November 9. For complete information on upcoming performances and schedule up dates for the rest of the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival visit www.earshot.org |
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