April 25-May 1, 2002
music
thegig
łOne does not necessarily expect to hear jazz at a jazz festival,” writes Stanley Crouch in the May issue of JazzTimes. “One might hear anything today. Brazilian music. African music. Indian music. Middle Eastern music. Improvised 20th-century concert avant-garde music masquerading as jazz. Rock. Rhythm and blues. Who knows?”
Crouch's statement is intended as a complaint -- it follows a laundry list of rarefied moments associated with the early years of the Newport Jazz Festival (which was, at the time, the only event of its kind anywhere in the world). The implication is that jazz festivals, in shouldering an ever-wider array of genres, have collectively lost their way. It's a sound argument -- if one chooses, like Crouch, to disregard not only the economic realities of concert promotion but also the thrust of American culture during the past 40 years.
Last week Mellon Financial Corp. and Festival Productions Inc. (the company responsible for Newport, then and now) unveiled the lineup of this summer's Mellon Jazz Festival, which runs June 20-23. The festival's banner event, a six-hour concert at the Mann Center, will feature Natalie Cole, Chuck Mangione, Eddie Palmieri and Kenny Garrett. (They're listed in descending order of crossover appeal.) Also on the festival roster are saxophonist Joe Lovano (at the Painted Bride), guitarists John Scofield and Charlie Hunter (sharing a bill at the Keswick), drummer Louis Hayes (at the Clef Club), and trumpeters Wallace Roney and Arturo Sandoval (on successive nights at Zanzibar Blue). It's a rather concise festival this year -- reflecting, no doubt, recent changes in the Mellon patch -- but one could hardly fault the programming, which offers a reasonable sampling of straight-ahead jazz. (Sorry, Stanley: no Indian music here.)
By chance, last week also occasioned the press announcement for the Vision Festival, an avant-apalooza staged annually by the nonprofit Arts for Art Inc. Spanning three consecutive long-weekends (starting May 23 and ending June 8), "A Vision Against Violence" portends much love for proponents of free jazz, (post)modern dance, off-kilter visual arts, experimental film and spoken word. Vision veterans have little use for Crouch's lamentations, and little patience for his critiques. (Ironically Crouch, this music's most vitriolic opponent, was once an active if ineffectual participant.)
For those Philadelphians who embrace the Vision aesthetic, this week offers an unaffiliated preview in miniature. Jump Arts, another New York nonprofit devoted to "creating opportunities for revolutionary artists," will be blazing through town on its five-city American Road Project tour. (Tue., April 30, 8-11 p.m., Tritone, 1508 South St., 215-545-0475.) Performers include the always-impressive Gold Sparkle Band, reedists Daniel Carter and Sabir Mateen, trombonist Steve Swell, cellist Okkyung Lee and a host of other like-minded souls. So, what should we expect? To misappropriate a phrase from Crouch: "Who knows?"
To report a gig -- or any other jazz-related news -- e-mail Nate Chinen at n_chinen@citypaper.net.
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