ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 9: Joe Lovano, Aaron Park Trio, final thoughts

June 21, 2009 at 7:40am

Joe Lovano works in so many different settings --- from duo to nonet --- that I wondered which band he would bring to Rochester. When his quintet, US Five, took the stage at Kilbourn Hall Saturday night, it was clear that there would be a great deal of musical dialog between Lovano on tenor saxophone and his wife, Judi Silvano, on voice.

Silvano is a leading practitioner of vocalese, using the voice as an instrument. She did sing a straight version of Mal Waldren's great tune "Soul Eyes," but most of the time she was a member of the band, soloing and playing parts with her instrument. There were some intense exchanges between Lovano and Silvano, but of a different kind than in most marriages.

Over the years I've seen Lovano play a variety of instruments, but I hadn't seen or heard what could only be called a Siamese soprano sax. It was two saxes, joined together and Lovano used it skillfully to harmonize and dissonize (hey, this is a blog - I can make up words) with himself.

I ended the festival appropriately enough at a great concert by three leading members of the next generation of jazz musicians, the Aaron Parks Trio. With Parks on piano, Matt Brewer on bass, and Ted Poor on drums, their combined ages (78) still leave them younger than Dave Brubeck.

While they played one jazz standard, Miles Davis' "Solar," the majority of the tunes were Parks' compositions, with one by Brewer. Parks' final two, "Travelers" and "In The Garden," took on an improvisational feel reminiscent of a Keith Jarrett performance.

Brewer played an excellent bass solo before Parks embarked on his wonderfully evocative keyboard journey. Ted Poor, a Rochesterian now based in New York, was absolutely brilliant throughout.

There was a well deserved standing ovation Saturday at �Kilbourn Hall before anyone played a note. It happened when festival artistic director John Nugent stepped out to introduce Lovano.

Nugent has proved himself to be absolutely great at putting together a festival and turning on a city. As I wrote in my first blog entry, New York City couldn't get it together this year, but look what Nugent was able to accomplish here.

The statistics aren't in yet, but this clearly appears to have been the most successful jazz festival so far. Nugent told me there were 40,000 people at the East Avenue stages Friday night alone. Every concert I attended was full; most had people waiting to get in. And most important to the financial health of the festival, the Eastman Theatre series appears to have been highly successful.

For the first time I can remember, every concert almost filled the 3,500-seat theatre. Taj Mahal may have been the only sold-out event, but the others came pretty close. And it was a great idea to have the relatively low-priced Jake Shimabukuro/Carolyn Wonderland concert at the Eastman Theatre.

Artists who travel from festival to festival are in the best position to judge their quality. I was amazed at how many of them at this year's XRIJF commented that this was the best festival anywhere. I'm starting to believe it. I ran into the great vibraphonist (and former Rochesterian) Joe Locke at Christ Church. He wasn't here to play with anyone, he was just catching acts at the festival.

Sure we can quibble. I would have liked a few more jazz headliners. (Then again, I wouldn't have traded Smokey Robinson for anyone.) But I've always thought the Club Pass acts are the heart of the festival, and there were so many great ones this year. At this point the RIJF is not only a Rochester institution, it's Rochester's best institution.�

Comments for "ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 9: Joe Lovano, Aaron Park Trio, final thoughts" (2)

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tom conroy said on Jun. 21, 2009 at 11:01pm

Congratulations on your fine summation of what has become Rochester's signature event. Looking ahead to next year, I hope that: 1. the new owners of the Xerox tower (assuming it's been sold by then) will continue to allow use of the auditorium; 2.that the Eastman theatre annex (under construction) will include at least one good size room, with decent acoustics, that can be added to the existing venues and 3. that someone with a decibel meter should go around sampling the output of some of the heavily amplified groups and recommend reductions, as needed, to enhance sound quality and protect everyone's hearing. In regard to the last point, some of the groups were simply too damn loud for those of us with excellent hearing!

Ron Netsky said on Jun. 22, 2009 at 9:48am

Tom, I couldn’t agree with you more on that last point. I have complained about this in the past in my reviews and blogs but no one seems to care. I never come to the jazz festival --- or any pop or rock event --- without earplugs. I value my ears and I’m always amazed that people tolerate it. The sound is usually just right with earplugs, but this in itself is ridiculous. I don’t bring sunglasses to an art museum because the paintings are too bright.

One example from the jazz festival: Dwane Dropsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers. They were unbelievably loud at their first outdoor set Saturday night. People were dancing and nobody seemed to care. Later, after I returned from another concert, I passed by during their second set. I swear it was twice as loud. Even my earplugs didn’t help. But I have also had to wear earplugs at the Eastman Theatre and once in a while at Kilbourn Hall (for electric acts). Sometimes I see the performers wearing earplugs!

I always wonder where the health inspector is. If these noise levels were present in a factory, I think it would be shut down. I love the jazz festival, but this is really a problem. And, of course it extends far beyond the jazz festival. An inspector making random visits to clubs on a regular basis with a decibel meter would be a good idea.

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