music

i find it quite difficult to want to write now that i’ve removed the possibility of writing about the election/politics – but hey, went to the monterey jazz festival this weekend and it has given me a little inspiration. 

great listens – NY band Rudder, Christian McBride, wherever he played, whoever he played with, Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, with a bonus blindfold test appearance that was quite wonderful.

the vibe at the festival is always equal to or greater than the music, and whether you arrive thinking the line-up is thin or fat, you’re going to hear something that turns your head. 

a great moment was Herbie showing up to hear Blanchard’s entire set. he sat in for the last tune. it’s something you don’t see much with the established stars, and it would be nice to see more of it, but it’s things like that that make people like Herbie who they are. He’s one of the greats of the second half of twentieth century jazz history, and it looks like he’d like to also be around for a good part of the twenty-first. 

the last piece of the festival was an encore for Herbie and when he finished the first part of Chameleon the “crowd went wild” – fortunately he had the grace to pick up the lesser-known second part, which i’ve had floating around in my body, heart and soul for the better part of the last three days.

the nice surprises – Herbie choosing Nathan East, Vinny Colaiuta, Lionel Loueke and Amy Keys as his band. They just plain blew it out. Keith Carlock, Brian Blade, Carl Allen, Herlin Riley and of course Colaiuta provided superlative drumming all weekend long. My Name Is Albert Ayler, documentary on the tortured “prophet” of jazz was interesting. Cassandra Wilson’s musical performance was great, and her blindfold test even better.?Whether she knew who the artist was from the first note, or struggled for ten unsuccessful minutes trying to figure out who the hell it was she was enlightening and fully engaging.   – Monk once said something to the effect that “talking about music is like dancing about architecture” and DownBeat questioner Dan Oullete commented several times on her gift for articulating musical thoughts and concepts. He found some gems for her to battle through, the coolest being Dee Dee Bridgewater’s “Red Earth.” Which I am on the way to procure right now…