Your order is ready. Some Buckshot LeFonque cooked up by Master Chef Premo. Enjoy your meal. Peace.

Amsterdam winds is een uniek ambachtelijk saxofoon reparatie atelier in het hartje van in Amsterdam. Een prachtig voorbeeld van een zeer uniek en vooral ook authentiek bedrijf dat toch krachtig opereert in de moderne markt van vandaag. We zijn trots dat AW één van onze business partners is. We ondersteunden AW onder andere in het optimaliseren van hun website. Deze week organiseert AW een unieke event die eigenlijk geen enkele serieuze Jazz muzikant zou mogen missen!

“…….Met trots organiseren wij een masterclass met één der allergrootste saxofonisten van dit moment. Branford Marsalis, Marsalis begon zijn professionele carrière in het begin van de jaren ‘80, en speelde in die jaren bij de bigband van Art Blakey, bij Clark Terry, en bij Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.
Vanaf 1982 tot en met 1985 speelde hij in de groep van zijn jongere broer Wynton, om daarna in de begeleidingsband van Sting te gaan spelen. In 1986 stichtte hij zijn eigen band. Van 1992 tot 1995 was hij muzikaal directeur van de Tonight Show Band. Daarna startte hij het Buckshot LeFonque project dat als doel had om jazz te combineren met rhythm and blues, hip hop, en rock and roll. Hij tourde ook samen met Miles Davis in een van diens laatste bands. Nu toert hij met zijn bekende Branford Marsalis kwartet over de hele wereld.

Deze masterclass biedt u een unieke gelegenheid om Marsalis van dichtbij mee te maken en met hem te kunnen discussieren over materiaal, improvisatie en techniek. Ook zal hij samen spelen met enkele jonge getalenteerde nederlandse saxofonisten…..”

Love Business vindt het fantastisch om dit initiatief te ondersteunen. Oog voor de passies van je klanten is erg belangrijk in deze tijden. AW is definitely making some LOVE deze week . Wij wensen ze daarom heel veel plezier tijdens het bezoek van Branford.

Voor meer info kijk even op: www.amsterdamwinds.nl

Florian is zelf uiteraard ook bij masterclass aanwezig en zal verslag doen via twitter,

Contact informatie: www.lovebusiness.nl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Love_Business
Email: Info@lovebusiness.nl

By Don Heckman

Los Angeles

- June 2. (Tues.) Drummer Willie Jones III’s band, with special guest pianist Eric Reed. A summit encounter between a pair of the Southland’s finest home-grown jazz artists. Catalina Bar & Grill. (323) 466-2210.

Sheryl Bailey

- June 2. (Tues.) John Pisano’s Guitar Night. Pisano trades licks with the fast-fingered, but ever-lyrical guitarist Sheryl Bailey. Bassist John Belzaguy and drummer Kendall Kay provide empathetic backing. Spazio.

- June 3. (Wed.) Gaea Schell. And here’s another blonde jazz singer/pianist from Canada, with a brisk sense of swing and an appealing way with a phrase. Must be something in the water up there. Vibrato Grill Jazz… etc. (310) 474-9400

- June. 5. (Fri.) Joe Cocker. He’s been one of the most recognizable voices in pop music since the ‘60s. And he’s still going strong, touring in support of his latest CD, “Hymn To My Soul.” The.Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. (213) 763-6030

Julia Fordham

- June 5 & 6. (Fri. & Sat.) Julia Fordham. The English singer/songwriter has always displayed jazz qualities in her vocals and her songs. Her new CD (her 10th), “China Blue,” brings her moonlit sound and imaginative phrasing even closer to the heart of jazz. Catalina Bar & Grill. (323) 466-2210.

- June 6. (Sat.) Music & Conversations. These events, held at a custom performance space in Mt. Washington, provide a civilized way to experience first rate classical and jazz performances. The program, the final of M & C’s 4th season, includes music by Schubert, Ravel and the series’ producer, Jane Brockman, performed by violinist Alyssa Park, cellist Tim Loo, flutist Susan Greenberg and pianist Delores Stevens. Pianist Bryan Pezzone and percussionist M.B. Gordy add jazz improvisation segments. Admission of $35 ($20 for students) includes hors d’oeuvres and fine wines from Casa Torelli (try the Toscano Rosso). R.S.V.P. by email for directions. Music & Conversations. .

Chita Rivera

- June 6. (Sat.) Chita Rivera: “The Secret of Life.” A cabaret style evening celebrating the Tony Award-winning actress-dancer’s performances in “West Side Story,” “Sweet Charity,” “Chicago” and more. Disney Concert Hall. (323) 850-2000.

- June 6. (Sat.) Donovan Leitch: “The Dark Root of the Dream.” A new rock musical, co-written by Leitch (the son of ’60s pop icon Donovan) and guitarist/songwriter Lenny Cordola, has its world premiere. The story follows the “wanderings of an enigmatic rock star, Mr.E, the fictional son of poet Virgina Woolf, as he believes himself to be Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe and Friedrich Nietzsche, among others.” Largo at the Coronet. (310) 855-0350.

- June 6 & 7. (Sat. & Sun.) The L.A. Acoustic Music Festival. A week-end of ear-caressing sounds in the delightful environment of the Santa Monica Pier. With Nanci Griffith, Bruce Cockburn, Richard Thompson, David Lindley, the Kingston Trio, Natalie MacMaster, David Bromberg, the Refugees, Eliza Gilkyson and others. The L.A. Acoustic Music Festival. Santa Monica Pier. (818) 621-8309.

Terry Gibbs

- June 7. (Sun.) Vibe Summit XVI, honoring Joe Locatelli. A non-stop parade of men with mallets. Featuring Terry Gibbs, Nick Mancini, Emil Richards, Jay Garrett, Frank Marsico, Ander Earles and others. James Janisse hosts. First Lutheran Church, Glendale. 2 – p.m. (818) 994-JAZZ.

- June 7. (Sun.) “Open Hands” — jazz with a Latin tinge, played by a band that knows how to do it. Abraham Laboriel, Sr., bass, Justo Almario, saxophones, Gregg Mathieson, keyboards, Bill Maxwell, drums. The Baked Potato. (818) 980-1615.

San Francisco

- June 2 (Tues.) Julian Lage. He was a young jazz prodigy at eight. His new album, :”Sounding Point,” reveals a 21 year old artist with a mature and adventurous musical vision. Yoshi’s Oakland. (510) 238-9200.

- June 4 – 6. (Thurs. – Sat.) Nancy Wilson. The inimitable Wilson, one of the true iconic figures in vocal jazz history, makes a rare club appearance. Yoshi’s Oakland. (510) 238-9200.

Abdullah Ibrahim

- June 5 – 7. (Fri. – Sun.) Abdullah Ibrahim. The veteran South African pianist, once known as Dollar Brand, was introduced to American audiences by Duke Ellington in the ‘60s. At 74, his playing continues to thrive, in trios, quartets and big band settings. But he’s best heard, as he will be here, in a solo presentation that allows his musical imagination to rove freely. Yoshi’s San Francisco. (415) 655-5600.

- June. 6. (Sat.) Kim Nalley sings the songs of Nina Simone. Nalley’s strong vocal chops and assertive style would seem to make an unlikely connection with the dark, sardonic qualities of Simone. It’ll be interesting to see how well the combination fits together. SFJAZZ. (415) 398-5655.

Chicago

- June 5. (Fri.) The Chicago Jazz Ensemble closes the 10th American Heritage Jazz Series in a performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra of Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown and Beige” and the “New Orleans Suite.” Jazz violinist Regina Carter guest stars. Symphony Hall. Chicago. (312) 294-3000.

Telluride, Colorado

- June 5 – 7. (Fri. – Sun.) The Telluride Jazz Festival. Fresh Colorado air, a gorgeous setting and a world class jazz program – who could ask for a better way to spend a June weekend. On the bill: The Bill Frisell Trio, Ozomatli, Lizz Wright, Donald Harrison, Christian Scott, Rebirth Brass Band, and more. (970) 728-7009.

Washington, D.C.

- June 5 – 15. (Fri. – Sun.) The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival Celebrating New Orleans. The fifth anniversary of this far-reaching jazz celebration includes over 100 performances in nearly 50 venues. A pair of free all-day concerts – June 13 & 14 at the Sylvan Amphitheatre – feature Terence Blanchard, the Rebirth Brass Band, Buckwheat Zydeco, Nicholas Payton, Irma Thomas and others. And a climactic June 15 concert honors pianist Ellis Marsalis with a rare joint performance by the Marsalis sons – Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason – with Harry Connick, Jr. and Dr. Billy Taylor. At the Kennedy Center and locations around Washington, D.C. (202) 232-1313.

New York City

- June 1 – 4. (Mon. – Thurs.) Fourplay. Bob James, Larry Carlton, Nathan East and Harvey Mason continue to prove that contemporary jazz fusion can move beyond the commercial environment into areas of impressive, creative jazz making. The Blue Note (212) 475-8592.

- June 1, 8 & 15. (Mondays) Daryl Sherman. Cabaret jazz singer Sherman brings her affecting interpretive skills to “Johnny Mercer: A Centennial Tribute” The Algonquin Oak Room. (212) 840-6800.

Kat Edmonson

- June 2. (Tues.) Kat Edmonson. She’s barely arrived on the scene, but Edmonson is already drawing rave reviews. At its best, her coy and sassy style is reminiscent of the little girl sound of Blossom Dearie, with an occasional trace of Peggy Lee brass. Singer-songwriter Kate Schutt is her special guest. Jazz Standard (212) 576-2252.

- June 5 – 7. (Fri. – Sun.) Gato Barbieri. Fifty albums over nearly five decades have thoroughly established Barbieri as one of the rare tenor saxophonists whose sound and style are both utterly unique and instantly recognizable. The Blue Note (212) 475-8592.

Branford Marsalis Quartet
Town Hall, Birmingham
26-05-09

The saxophonist has always been one to confound expectations. A North Sea Jazz Festival appearance had been billed as Branford and his dad playing the gentle ballads from their Loved Ones disc, but he arrived instead with his Dark Keys band and proceeded to take the roof off with aggressive sax trio material. And who would have had the nerve to that holy piece of Coltraneism, A Love Supreme, before Branford led the way?

So, when this exemplary example of a modern jazz quartet took the Town Hall stage, we might have expected the unexpected. A hoary standard, Just One Of Those Things, was what we got, initially at a measured pace, but at double time and with the temperature raised towards the end.

As Marsalis indicated, it had been a spur of the moment thing, and with a pianist, Joey Calderazzo, and bassist, Eric Revis, who have been with him for ages, plus a knife-sharp young drummer, Justin Faulkner, he can afford to be spontaneous.

From then on we heard tunes familiar to those who have the band’s recordings: Marsalis’s spiky Jabberwocky, Revis’s Monk tribute Sphere and the man himself’s Rhythm-a-ning from the latest disc, Calderazzo’s sublime Hope, and Henry Purcell’s peerless O Solitude from previous ones. The black American classical music of the 20th century and the English classical music of the 17th century might not strike one as having a lot in common, but this band sits them effortlessly side-by-side.

All four players – yes, even Faulkner – manage to provide for the listener a strong melodic line going through all they do, no matter how complex the harmonies get or how exuberant their improvisations. The Ruby And The Pearl was a particular joy with its changing moods; the Monk was a tour de force of time changes, each bar seemingly changing the groove from bebop to hip-hop, from lumpy to swing.

Four absolute masters of the music, then, led by a man now mature enough to know just how to adapt a set to a building and an audience. The Purcell made the most of what he called the “marbly” sound of the hall; the encore was a witty St Louis Blues, perhaps, like the initial standard, to acknowledge that a provincial city audience has a wide range of ages and jazz tastes, but also to show that this band can do absolutely anything, and to as near perfection as jazz can get.

(Above: Ornette Coleman jams with the Roots. Improbably, people respond positively to the non-traditional collaboration.)

By Joel Francis

In 1958, Danny and the Juniors sang “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay.” Although the genre was only seven years removed from the its birth on the “Rocket 88” single and three years from its explosion into the mainstream with Elvis Presley, Danny White was right. Sixty years later, it is hard to imagine American culture without rock and roll.

It is also hard to imagine what the malt-shop teens and leather jacket hoods of the Eisenhower administration would have thought about auto-tune, power pop and nu-metal. Although the seeds of today’s rock were planted in the 1950s, the resulting flora has blossomed into hybrids that bear little resemblance to the original crop.

Picture how different today’s musical landscape would be if anything that varied from the pre-British Invasion strains of rock and roll were bastardized. If songs bearing the touch of John Lennon and Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were decried as impure for straying from the “true” roots of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly.  Or if anything after the summer of punk and the rise of synthesizers was kept at arm’s length and segregated from the great Rock Cannon.

Would we expect our children to dig out old Bill Haley and Beach Boys albums if this were the case? Teach them “Fun Fun Fun” and “Maybelline” as historical exercises? Of course not. They would shrug, pay us lip service and invent their own confounding strain of music. The ties to existing music would be obvious – nothing emerges in a vacuum – but nothing we couldn’t dismiss as the impure follies of youth.

Why, then, do we place the same parameters around jazz and feign surprise with then inevitable occurs?

It seems every year a new study comes out showing the median age of jazz listeners climbs while attendance drops. The latest is a National Endowment for the Arts Survey of Public Participation in the Arts conducted through the U.S. Census Bureau. Predictably, the self-appointed Guardians of Jazz like Wall Street Journal columnist and former Kansas City resident Terry Teachout are freaking out. But all this hand-wringing is like an ordinary bicycle enthusiast fretting while the chain-driven model populates the streets. The vehicle is still very much alive, it’s just been modified and influenced by culture.

Too many jazz museums and concert curators suffer from WWWS: What would Wynton say. Would Wynton Marsails, the genre’s most prominent performer and steadfast caretaker, approve of their exhibit or event? While Marsalis is a talent trumpet player who deserves every bit of his fame and credit for bringing jazz to the masses, he is conservative and traditionalist to a fault. Museum directors and concert promoters should be following their own muse and vision, not looking to someone as restrictive as Marsalis for tacit endorsement.

The growth of jazz from Dixieland to big band to bebop is celebrated, but somewhere along the line – about 1965, shortly before John Coltrane’s death, when free jazz and fusion started to creep into the mix – a line was drawn. In shorthand, acoustic Herbie Hancock playing with Miles Davis and recording for Blue Note is “good” jazz; synthesizer-rocking Hancock’s best-selling “Head Hunters,” though, is “bad.”

If directors and promoters must get the thumbs-up from a Marsalis, could it please be Branford? Although a lesser celebrity, the tenor saxophone player and older brother of Wynton has equally distinguished jazz pedigree. He’s also allowed jazz to grow, branching into pop with Sting, serving as musical director for the Tonight Show and working with hip hop artists.

If the stodgy stylistic caretakers turned up their noses when jazz artists, the highest pedigree of musicians, started dabbling in rock and funk, they have completely ignored most jazz performers slumming with rappers in a genre oft-maligned for possessing the lowest level of musicianship.

The elitists are missing the point. At their best, jazz and hip hop are better together than chocolate and peanut better. The improvisational aspect of jazz fits the free-flowing poetry delivered by a great MC. The swing of the instruments matches the swagger of the beats. Dig the way DJ Logic’s turntable work complements Medeski, Martin and Wood’s “Combustication” album, how Mos Def and Q-Tip’s rhymes soar over Ron Carter’s live basslines, or how Roy Hargrove’s trumpet pushes and accentuates Common’s poetry.

Teachout and Wynton Marsalis’ simplified stances ignore the long history of jazz in popular culture. The enduring standard “Someday My Prince Will Come,” was plucked from Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Although both Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong released albums of Disney material, it is doubtful Wynton Marsalis would record a song from a children’s cartoon.

The Chicken Little jazz forecasts don’t show that jazz is less popular or interesting today. The news they bring is even more disturbing: hard evidence that the standard-bearers of the genre are increasing ignorant to how their beloved music has grown, changed and been embraced. They’re the ones missing the party, but don’t worry – their numbers are dwindling.

(Below: More Ornette Coleman with the Roots for all the alarmists. Note how well the musicians play together despite being from the disparate worlds of jazz and hip hop. Surely this is a sign of the apocalypse.)

Willie Nelson
American Classic
(Blue Note)
Original release: August 25, 2009

After the success of his Two Men with the Blues collaboration with Branford Marsalis last year, Willie Nelson ambled into a studio to clasp a fistful of American standards to his bosom. The result is 12 most agreeable tracks that highlight the legend’s way with a lyric. He caresses every syllable like an old lover come to call, his mesquite-cured lilt pouring just one more glass, for old time’s sake.

Musically, Willie’s surrounded by some of the finest jazzmen to ever handle a melody. Pianist Joe Sample drives most of American Classic, an able accompanist and foil. Christian McBride keeps a steady hand on bass, and Anthony Wilson’s guitar burbles sweetly when called. Even old pal Mickey Raphael drops in to saw through a few numbers on harmonica.

To his credit, producer Tommy LiPuma keeps an orchestral urge to swell in check; when strings do surface, they’re unobtrusive — supporting, not overwhelming. This is especially evident on a pop evergreen Willie long ago made his own, “Always on My Mind,” here refreshingly spare and reflective, with that bombastic yearning left in the distance.

Willie’s covered this ground before, most famously on 1978’s Stardust, yet he remains revelatory in this setting, forever as depicted on Classic’s back sleeve: a laid-back, long-haired interloper in a tuxedo. He will always be the party-crasher, a hell-raiser among the swells.

And there is a rascally flavor to his voice, even on the straightest interpretations. It’s hard not to hear a devilish rake when he swears, “I’m gonna be true — if you let me” on “Come Rain or Shine.” He locks smoky horns with Diana Krall on “If I Had You,” singing to her as if she’s already sitting in his lap. His other duet partner, Norah Jones, doesn’t stand a chance against the elements in “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”; wily Willie sounds as if he’s delivering the most practical advice (“Look out the window at that storm”), even though we know his true intent.

But there’s no denying the love and reverence he has for this material, how carefully he carries the collected works of some of the last century’s greatest tunesmiths. While American Classic may not match the historic status of Stardust, it sits up there in those very same heavens, a gentle beacon shining down.

Branford Marsalis : Tenor saxophone

Joey Calderazzo : Acoustic piano

Eric Revis : Acoustic bass

Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts : Drums

http://rapidshare.com/files/268747078/Branford_Marsalis_4_Berghausen_JF_2003.zip

Herbie Hancock : Acoustic piano

Ron Carter : Acoustic bass

Tony Willams : Drums

Wynton Marsalis : Trumpet

Branford Marsalis : Tenor and soprano saxophones

http://rapidshare.com/files/268768541/VSOP_NHK_Hall__Tokyo_19.5.83.zip

Running Sept. 19-27 the 2009 Indianapolis Jazz Festival features an exciting line up of musicians including, Branford Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Charlie Hunter, Claudia Acuña and Kurt Elling. This year’s festival begins with a series of indoor concerts at local venues, and ends with two days of outdoor concerts at White River State Park.

David Baker, director of the jazz studies program at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, will lead a Sept. 25 tribute to Indianapolis born-trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who died in December at age 70. The program’s all-star lineup will include trumpeters Derrick Gardner, Pharez Whitted, Nicholas Payton and Randy Brecker, as well as Hubbard schoolmate and veteran saxophonist-flutist James Spaulding.

For details and tickets visit www.indyjazzfest.net

http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001Tg6MbMFpJscsXjkBWT7pvLGdR2et1NTekcpDDja-oPQcBuPrimb4thS0hTn_0YhmRg-qUbhviGfMmxhkdPJVm-6GFaZmSqi7uKPUokn0qgiGipJCy_kXimlDwscW6BYPbD6dJaB2d4cpFw2zI-qCmw%3D%3D

The folks over at NPR Music have done it again with their offering of a free 12-song sampler of this year’s Newport Jazz Festival and another 12 tracks hand-picked from the last 50 years of the Newport Folk Fest. Read about it here! In the meanwhile, have a listen to the jazz selection right here!

Summer Song by Dave Brubeck from “Indian Summer”

Radio Cure by The Bad Plus from “For All I Care”

Tulum by Claudia Acuña from “En Este Momento”

James by Roy Haynes & The Fountain of Youth Band from “Whereas”

Precious by Esperanza Spalding & Leo Genovese from “Esperanza”

Spirit of the Moment by Michel Camilo from “Spirit of the Moment”

Speedplay (For Max Roach) by The Vandermark 5 from “Beat Reader”

Apti by Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition from “Apti”

Jabberwocky by Branford Marsalis Quartet from “Metamorphosen”

Brother Mister by Christian McBride and Inside Straight from “Kind of Brown”

Macaca Please by Vijay Iyer from “Tragicomic”

*Note: One track, “Penta” by Miguel Zenón, carries a protected license and is not posted here. Sorry!

Longtime Marsalis brothers associate Jeff “Tain” Watts’ stand with his 4+1 group featuring Nicholas Payton on trumpet continues through this coming July 3 at the Jazz Standard. The fabled drummer – some would say the heir to Elvin Jones’ throne – is playing bandleader this time around, which other than the compositions doesn’t make a whole lot of difference. Watts pretty much runs the show whether it’s his group or not, and this was a characteristically intense night: what took it to the next level is that he got to do his own stuff, which is uniformly excellent. As fiery a composer as he is a player, he’s never shied away from controversy or apt social commentary. The high point of this set was The Devil’s Ringtone, Watts’ update on the Mingus classic Fables of Faubus (named after notorious segregationist Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus) transformed into a commentary on the Bush regime’s failure with (or deliberate neglect of) what happened in New Orleans. The band left off the conversation between a certain Mr.  W and “Devlin” that’s on the landmark Watts cd but the sarcastic second line march that ended it was every bit as biting. On the way there, pianist Lawrence Fields and bassist Chris Smith built murky ambience over a crime movie motif for some blazing work from tenor saxist Marcus Strickland and trumpeter Payton, flying over Watts’ booming crescendoing apprehension – cymbals to this guy are more or less the icing on the cake. It’s hard to think of another drummer (Rudy Royston, maybe) who gets the boom going as powerfully and propulsively as Watts.

The requiem theme was recurrent. Katrina James mourned both the loss of James Brown and New Orleans, beginning as eerie chromatic funk, Strickland bringing in the rage with an offhandedly vicious swipe at the end of a Payton solo, Fields’ persistently chordal attack against a Watts solo growing hypnotic against the impatient, anguished flail of the drums. The soulful, bluesy swing of A Wreath for John T. Smith – an especially poignant new number – gave Strickland and Fields the opportunity to contribute vividly bitter remorse in memory of a fellow Berklee student and drummer of Watts’ acquaintance who died young.

Watts is especially adept with latin beats, moving in and out of them, starting the first song of the set, Mr. JJ (a tribute to his dead canine friend) with a salsa feel that Fields eventually came around to. Mr. JJ must have been one crazy dog, considering how much everything had been chewed up by the time the group scampered off on the final chorus, Smith getting quite the workout climbing scales for the better part of ten frenetic minutes. The whole show only reinforced the relevance, fearless intensity and emotional depth of both Watts’ writing and his playing, and the new levels to which a first-class drummer can elevate a talented ensemble. You have several chances to see this crew through Friday, after which Watts is off to Europe again.

And on the seventh day... (the sousaphone rested.)

Well maybe it says enough about the last three days of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival that I didn’t have time to jump in here and share an update until now, two days after it has ended.

Every day was filled with tents and stages, artists and good friends, and dancing to the sounds of the area’s best street performers and school-aged bands and ensembles.

Each night rang with music from the festival’s headliners and the wide variety of acts in neighborhood clubs, cafés and streetside patios.

Reggae, gypsy swing, close harmony, experimental, big band, little band, funk, African drumming, a Fela Kuti tribute, and gospel singing…we didn’t miss anything.

Impossible to pick out the best of the lot from the last three days: was it the Branford Marsalis concert last Friday evening, where we were

Corey Harris

introduced to his brilliant new 18-year old (!) drummer? The after-party at the Thai restaurant with the area’s hottest Afro-Cuban jam band? Maybe it was the inspiring City Park sidewalk drawing contest, and deep reggae groove at the Waterfront Tent on Saturday night. Or Anat Cohen’s off-the-charts performance on opening night. Or, the gospel singers on the Marketplace Sunday afternoon, followed by the sweet swing of Django stylings at the local coffee house.

Really impossible.

I can tell you I didn’t see and hear everything I wanted to during the Festival’s 10 days: on Saturday night I made the call to stay in the Tent and ride out the rain with   Pato Banton’s positive jah vibes, instead of walking up the hill to hear Pink Martini singing at the Flynn

Lettuce @ the Waterfront Tent

It was a strong Festival with a lot of high points: planned, many unplanned, and several that weren’t even directly related to the Festival. (The banjo happening at the Firehouse Gallery – unbelievable.)

The only act that didn’t quite measure up artistically was still entertaining. Saxophonist/vocalist/songwriter Grace Kelly lit up the FlynnSpace last Tuesday night with her charm and natural stage presence, even if her music didn’t reach that same level of accomplishment. It’s a tough one to criticize. She’s 17, and the fact that she’s leading her own group at festivals around the world is a notable achievement in itself. But a little less time touring and more time practicing, developing a unique voice, and becoming a stronger player and singer will ultimately be the key to making sure that Grace makes the transition from teen phenom to adult contender in the next crucial couple of years. She can do it, she has everything and more it takes to be great. Even time is on her side, and how many artists can say that?

Yesterday downtown I saw the Festival banners coming down, posters being scraped off the inside of shop windows, and the energy on the Marketplace had already been transformed from the creative crackle of the past week to the usual hum of more typical touristy summer activity.

That just means it’s time to start planning for Discover Jazz Festival 2010!

(Congratulations to the Festival staff, sponsors, partners, the volunteer crew, and ALL of the musicians and artists who made this year’s Festival such a rich experience.)

The Grateful Dead with Branford Marsalis
9/10/91
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

Jerry and Branford in 94'

1991, Madison Square Garden, the Dead and jazz legend Branford Marsalis get together for a beautiful night of music. Turn to the ‘Help on the Way’, the interplay between Phil’s crisp bass sound and Branford’s deep, in-the-pocket grooves is testament to what this combo can bring. The 13 minute ‘Shakedown’ opener is also a great indication of what this gem has in store. Give it a listen – I reccomdend the SBD stream to get a nice mix of all the parts – but the AUD really captures the energy of the Garden. Hell, listen to em’both,  you won’t be dissapointed!

Set 1
Shakedown Street
C C Rider ->
It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry
Black Throated Wind
High Time
Cassidy
Deal

Set 2
Help On The Way ->
Slipknot! ->
Franklin’s Tower
Estimated Prophet ->
Dark Star ->
Drums ->
Space ->
Dark Star ->
I Need A Miracle ->
Standing On The Moon ->
Lovelight

Encore
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

Download the AUD here
Stream the SBD here