At SeixalJazz, across the graceful April 25th suspension bridge from Portugal’s capital city of Lisbon, the festival must go on. The last couple of pandemic editions, in two-meters-apart format, had been muted echoes of the expansive new direction SeixalJazz had taken in 2019, when Kenny Barron, Ralph Towner, Peter Bernstein, and the John Beasley Monk’estra …
Review Categories Archives:
High Spirits at the 2022 Red Sea Jazz Festival
Three jam-packed, sold-out, and high-spirited days of great music marked the 36th Red Sea Jazz Festival, which returned to its home in the Israeli port city of Eilat on Nov. 10-12 after a two-year COVID-related absence. Expertly curated, the program was eclectic, with 18 artists hailing from Israel, Colombia, Ethiopia, the Ukraine, the U.K., and …
Continue reading “High Spirits at the 2022 Red Sea Jazz Festival”
The Earshot Jazz Festival Owns Seattle’s Early Autumn
It was the warmest October on record in Seattle. Usually, when the Earshot Jazz Festival comes to town, it provides an escape from the autumn rains. But in 2022 the music had to compete with the weather. On October 16, the ninth day of the festival, the high temperature hit 88° Fahrenheit, shattering the previous …
Continue reading “The Earshot Jazz Festival Owns Seattle’s Early Autumn”
Etienne Charles’ San Juan Hill Reopens New York’s David Geffen Hall
It was bracing to stroll into a brand-new creation for a story about destruction. Sixty years after its opening and 45 years after its last gut renovation, the acoustically troubled David Geffen Hall—once called Philharmonic Hall, then Avery Fisher Hall—reopened its doors on Oct. 8, to an audience alternately moneyed, bohemian, or some combination of …
Continue reading “Etienne Charles’ San Juan Hill Reopens New York’s David Geffen Hall”
Generations Merge at the 65th Monterey Jazz Festival
“You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone,” Bob Dylan stated profoundly in 1963. Throughout its unrivaled 65-year history, the Monterey Jazz Festival has demonstrated an uncanny ability to keep swimming (figuratively): to adapt, survive, and flourish. COVID-19 made Monterey a virtual event in 2020, highlighting concerts of the past; in 2021 the …
Continue reading “Generations Merge at the 65th Monterey Jazz Festival”
12th Annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival
For years, the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival (PIJF) took place on the street. Over one weekend in June, Downtown thoroughfares Penn Avenue or Liberty Avenue were closed off to traffic to make room for three stages. While the festival, which began in 2011, also featured some indoor ticketed concerts, the outdoor events were free to …
Continue reading “12th Annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival”
John Fedchock Marks Milestones with His New York Big Band
The mood was understandably festive as John Fedchock’s New York Big Band took to the stage at Birdland on Sunday, September 18. Not only was the lauded bandleader and trombonist celebrating his 65th birthday, but he was also commemorating the anniversary of his ensemble’s commencement. Exactly 30 years prior—to the day—Fedchock started the recording sessions …
Continue reading “John Fedchock Marks Milestones with His New York Big Band”
Jazz Trailblazers Pay Tribute to Tomasz Stańko at Brooklyn’s Roulette
Considering the lineup—stacked with talent—and the musician to whom they were paying their respects—a cult figure, rightly or wrongly—the New York City live tribute to the late Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stańko had a notable dearth of talking. Aside from brief preambles, there were zero monologues by any of the musicians. Nor were there any descriptions …
Continue reading “Jazz Trailblazers Pay Tribute to Tomasz Stańko at Brooklyn’s Roulette”
2022 San Jose Jazz Summer Fest
Like many things in Northern California’s Silicon Valley—headquarters for Apple, Facebook, Google, and Adobe—the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest has humble, community-focused origins. It began as a free two-day event, one day for fusion and the other mainstream. Over the last 32 years SJJSF has grown into a three-day affair, begun charging admission (in 2006), …
Newport Jazz Festival 2022
The 2022 Newport Jazz Festival’s three days of sunshine were bracketed, more or less, by a pair of all-star ensemble jams that included Christian McBride. The second of them celebrated the man whom McBride succeeded as the festival’s artistic director, George Wein. It was the festival’s first edition since Wein’s passing last September at 95. …