2006
Duke Ellington Jazz Festival Overview
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| Following up on the
great success of the well-received, maiden voyage
of the first Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in
September of 2005 in Washington, DC, the 2006
edition of the DEJF turned the heat up a few
notches, pulling in some of the greatest and most
renowned living performers on the modern jazz
scene. The 2006 DEJF expanded and improved the
lineup from the 2005 edition by pulling in NEA
jazz masters Paquito D'Rivera, Roy Hanes, and Roy
Hargrove into the lineup. Additionally, widely
popular jazz guitar greats John Scofield and Mike
Stern augmented the agenda, bringing a wider
diversity of jazz style to the program that
helped to appeal to a more diverse audience. |
| Executive producer of
the DEJF, Charles Fishman, drew upon his
experience as a pioneer in Latin and Afro-Cuban
jazz as manager of Dizzy Gillespie and producer
of the United Nation Orchestra productions by
identifying and assembling a widely diverse
program that pulled world music influences from
the far corners of the globe. A number of Latin
jazz performers and ensembles were incorporated
into the festival headlined by NEA recognized
jazz master and the premiere Latin jazz musician,
Paquito D'Rivera, who led the United Nation
Orchestra. Other Latin jazz acts performing at
the festival included the ever popular, Latin
jazz favorite, Poncho Sanchez, the Diego Urcola
Quintet haling from Argentina, the Eugenio
Toussaint Trio and Na’Rimbo both of Mexico,
Edmar Castaneda from Colombia, and the Luciana
Souza Quartet featuring Romero Lubambo. |
| Other interesting acts
performing in the festival traveled from other,
more unusual places not typically associated with
jazz, though dispelling that notion and proving
that jazz has now reached a point of maturity
where there is no place on Earth that is out of
jazz's reach. These acts included the Eli Degibri
Quartet of Israel, Gino Sitson & Vocal
Deliria of Cameroon, Thembi Mtshali-Jones of
South Africa, and Victor Masondo & Lalela
also of South Africa. Rounding out the program
were other popular jazz icons including Wallace
Roney, Dr. John, Randy Weston, Antonio Hart, Geri
Allen and the Geri Allen Trio, Jason Marshall,
Nasar Abadey & Supernova, Janis Siegel, Mavis
Staples, Chris McSwain Trio, Davey Yarborough
& The New Washingtonians, and the The W.E.S.
Group, among even others. |
| The 2006 DEJF offered
literally so many high quality acts that it made
it difficult to choose which ones to see. Despite
uncooperative weather for the main concert
scheduled for the National Mall on Saturday, the
2006 DEJF was a huge success with its incredible
program and high energy performances. If nothing
else, the uncooperative weather on Saturday, left
some potential for an even better festival to
look forward to in 2007. |
| The following reviews
are for several of the more significant
performances that I attended at the 2006 DEJF. I
was not able to attend as many performances on
the program as I would have liked, though I was
able to catch some of the great acts on the
program. |
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Mike
Stern Group featuring Dennis Chambers and Richard
Bona
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| Mike Stern performs at
Blues Alley located in the heart of Georgetown
just off of M Street and Wisconsin Ave, typically
once or twice a year. For those that are not
familiar with Mike Stern, he is a favorite and
icon among progressive and fusion jazz guitarists.
Mike Stern has invented a niche for himself with
an unusual fusion of jazz that integrates many
other styles and influences, as well as a unique
blend of world music flavorings spurred on by his
bandmate from Cameroon, Richard Bona. The Stern
sound is unique and generally strives for cleaner
tones that convey the harmonization clearly,
thereby promoting musical integrity of his
concepts. The sound is sometimes artfully
minimalists and other times inspiringly grand.
Many guitarists marvel at Stern's advanced
harmonization and others are amazed at his sense
of melody and the seemingly unending stream of
lyricism that flows freely and seemingly
effortlessly from his guitar. Stern is the genius
balance of advanced yet accessible harmonization
and Mozart-like melodic inventiveness. Stern is
one of a kind, often immitated but never
duplicated. Add to the mix, the powerhouse
drumming of Dennis Chambers, considered by many
to be the greatest fusion drummer alive, and what
you have is perhaps, the greatest trio available
today in jazz fusion. Stern's fans are devout and
I am counted enthusiastically among them. |
| The Mike Stern Group
kicked off the 2006 DEJF with back to back
performances on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at
Blues Alley. Trying to get a jump on the festival
I attended the Tuesday night show. It was so
good, I returned for the encore performance on
Wednesday night to take it all in again. Happily,
Stern mixed it up on the consecutive performances
such that the lineup of arrangements was not the
same and the variations in improvisation on the
repeated songs made up for any duplication in the
pieces covered. |
| Stern performed old
favorites from some of his earlier CDs, though he
was on tour at the time promoting his latest CD,
Who Let the Cats Out. The group performed several
new arrangements from his latest effort that were
fashioned finely in the great Stern traditions.
The trio's performance was amazingly on par with
the recorded versions of the arrangements they
covered, and was even better in some regards due
to improvisation and variations. Considering the
complexity of Stern's arrangements, the apparent
ease with which the trio did this was impressive
and a credit to the towering talents of the
trio's members. Watching Bona happily voice the
soulful vocals of tracks from the landmark albums
Voices and Is What It Is, somehow crystallized
the concepts that drove the world music
flavorings within these albums. It also clarified
the open-mindedness and creative genius posessed
by both Stern and Bona in integrating these
unusual world music influences into a jazz fusion
format. It is what it is what makes the sound
what it is! And, Chambers the entire while,
constantly mixing up rhythms in his usual subtle
manner, creating movement and contrast to Stern
and Bona. When it came time for Chambers' drum
solo, it was a thunderous onslaught of the
flamboyant showmanship that has made Chambers a
favorite among fusion fans. Never mind who let
the cats out, all the dogs in Georgetown were
running for cover and cowering under their
owners' beds when Chambers unleashed his thunder
into those solos... |
| All things considered,
the performances by the Mike Stern Group lived up
to and even beyond all expectations. This was a
superb start to the DEJF and would have been a
contented experience in its own right. Fans of
the Mike Stern CDs should make a point to see him
live. It will change and broaden your
perspectives on his music and playing in ways
that you will not expect. I don't think as a
listener you will get it on the same level as
when you see Stern & company play live. |
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Friday
Night Extravaganza
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NEA
Jazz Masters featuring Roy Hanes, Roy Hargrove,
Paquito D'Rivera, and the United Nation Orchestra
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| The headlined
extravaganza for the 2006 DEJF was the concert on
the National Mall that never happened on Saturday
due to inclimate weather. Notwithstanding the
promotion for that great event, the real
extravaganza for the festival, occurred on Friday
night at the Lincoln Theatre where three living
legends of jazz, all NEA recognized jazz masters,
appeared on the same stage and with the world-reknown
United Nation Orchestra, a favorite among Latin
jazz afficionados. |
| Prodigal drummer, Roy
Hanes kick started the evening with a stunning
exhibition of rhythmic dialog that left jaws
agape and the audience in a standing ovation when
he was finished. Never before had I seen a
drummer run roughshod over such a talented
ensemble with such authority of talent. Hanes is
a living legend and a living link to jazz history
that has gained a reputation for excellence,
especially among his legions of loyal followers,
mostly comprised of aspiring and even
professional drummers, many of high caliber
themselves, with rightful claim to all titles
held and proved it beyond any shadow of a doubt
that evening. I was surprised at first to see
some members of the audience leave after Hanes'
performance, especially considering the rhythmic
connections that are associated with D'Rivera's
Afro-Cuban stylings of Latin jazz. But, leave
they did and it made some statement about Hanes'
following. |
| Ratching up the intensity a notch,
Roy Hargrove took the spotlight at center stage for an appearance with Roy
Hanes' ensemble. Hargrove took the program in a new direction
for a few captivating arrangements with his lyrical style and
charismatic harmonization.
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| Finally, the United
Nation Orchestra took the stage, led by Dizzy
Gillespie's Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz legacy, the
incomparable Paquito D'Rivera. The UNO played a
number of old favorites from their earlier
albums, including a riveting tribute to Dizzy
Gillespie with his signature composition, A Night
in Tunisia. Notable soloing performances were
made by UNO members in the course of the show,
including Anat Cohen on sax, Fareed Haque on
electric guitar, Diego Urcola on trumpet, Dario Eskanazi on the grand piano,
and, of course, Paquito on clarinet and alto sax. The
entire highly-charged set lived up to and beyond
all expectations for this performance of the UNO
that had been assembled specifically for this
occasion. The UNO delivered a lively performance
that brought the house down with the finale,
Tanga. This finale featuring one of the UNO's
best and most swingin' hits, Tanga, might have
been the climax of the entire festival, had it
not been for what happened the following evening
across the street from the Lincoln Theatre... |
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Saturday
Night Hidden Special
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Diego
Urcola Quintet and the Core Brass Ensemble from
the United Nation Orchestra
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In
an Up-Close and Intimate Setting at Club Nema
featuring Paquito D'Rivera
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Diego
Urcola on Trumpet & Trombone, Oscar Stagnaro
on Bass
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| The sleeper of the
entire jazz festival was an unpublicized
appearance that Paquito D'Rivera made with the
core brass of the UNO that were advertised as the
Diego Urcola Quintet. Having been privvy to a
rumour of this unpublicized appearance, I made my
way to the stairs at Cafe Nema for the second
showing of the quintet for the evening. Ascending
the staircase, I was answered by "yep,
Paquito's in there alright, but wait until you
hear the sax player that's playing with them."
And again, while waiting in line for the second
showing, another couple chatting while walking
out... "that sax player was just incredible..."
About this point, it was starting to register
that this was probably going to be a once in a
lifetime opportunity to see a true jazz master,
not to mention personal favorite, in an intimate,
close up setting with suitable talent to back him
up. The actual experience proved my premonitions
to be correct on all but possibly one account...
and, I am still not sure that that sax player was
backing up Paquito! |
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Paul
Eskanazi on Keyboard, Mark Walker on Drums
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| Upon entering the
relatively small Club Nema, I was lucky enough to
find a front row table vacating just as my friend
and I made our way in. Sure enough, there was
Paquito sitting about four seats away from us
with some of the other members of the ensemble.
This experience was starting to remind me of days
of old when jazz was front and center in the
music world and stories harrowed of famous
players unexpectedly showing up to jam with other
great acts. |
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NEA
Jazz Master, Paquito D'Rivera on Clarinet
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| Soon enough the quintet
started to play some energetic Latin jazz pieces
as the brass started exchanging solos. First
Diego himself on trumpet, leader of the quintet,
then Dario Eskanazi on the keyboard, and finally
the passing comments on the staircase were proven
true. Whoa! Anat Cohen is her name. Though, the
band contained all talented members each in their
own right, Cohen left no doubts about her prowess
on the sax. Anat did not mearly play the sax, she
mauled it producing every conceivable sound,
emotion, and musical gyration possibly gotten out
of a saxophone. Her name was immediately and
indellibly etched in my psyche from that moment.
At about this time, my mind started traversing
Paquito's works and I was wondering just how much
of the sax playing on the UNO albums was actually
Anat's handywork and not Paquito's, as I had
originally assumed when listening to these albums.
When Paquito finally joined the fray, it was
overwhelming to see them trading off, approaching
their solos from different persepectives each
time. Paquito demonstrated his keen intellect for
spanning broad musical territories and balanced
this with his own capabilities with emotional
projection. And, as I alluded earlier, Cohen was
not intimidated to be on stage going head to head
with a true master, vociferously blaring out her
uncontainable torrent of siren jazz. It was a
stunning performance that left the true jazz
afficionados among the audience with jaws agape
when it was finally finished. And, when it was
over there was no more music that could be played
and no words that could be said about it, just
people in the audience looking around with wide
eyed disbelief. |
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Anat
Cohen on Saxophone
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| For me, this evening
embraced everything that jazz is supposed to be.
It was spontaneous. It had unanticipated talent.
It had a living legend stopping in unanounced on
a live act. Most of the audience happened upon
this program by chance. Some were aspiring young
musicians that scaled the staircase and stood in
the doorway because they had caught an earful
passing by on U Street and by the sound knew
something phenomenal was happening inside. Others
just happened to be in the bar by chance, some of
which didn't even know who Paquito D'Rivera was
or that they were to be witness to such an
incredible event. Because of these things, this
evening at Cafe Nema was the pinnacle of the DEJF.
It reinforced what a great event the DEJF is,
because only by bringing world class talent into
the program could an evening like this have ever
occurred at such a place in DC along U Street in
2006. So, I hope that others that might read this
will understand what happened that evening, what
is possible from a jazz festival such as the
DEJF, and what the DEJF brings to DC. An event
such as the DEJF makes it possible for anybody to
meet their favorite musicians face to face and to
chat with them, person to living legend, if only
for a few minutes. |
| This performance closed
the 2006 DEJF for me. There was to be no jazz for
me the ensuing Sunday. Saturday evening could not
be outdone and I was in need of decompression and
in danger of Cohen overload... |
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| I would like to extend my thanks to
Charles Fishman for producing the DEJF and making
it accessible. |
| I would also like to extend special
thanks to the many musicians that participated in
the DEJF, and especially those that were gracious
enough to take the time sign autographs and to
talk to me and other fans from the audience after
their performances, including Mike Stern, Richard
Bona, Dennis Chambers, Paquito D'Rivera, Anat
Cohen, Diego Urcola, and Fareed Haque. |
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Executive
Producer Charles Fishman with Paquito D'Rivera
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