I met my first love during the Montreal Jazz Fest at age 17 — always a bit of magic happening there. Very true about how the festivals have marked the city forever.
A shout-out to Ottawa Jazz Fest this week. Lake Street Dive was sublime.
What a great (and unexpected!) article, I was drawn in within the first few lines. Writing so deeply about music is rare these days, I really enjoyed it.
I haven't been to FIJM for five years and haven't taken in the full experience for a few years before that. I probably need to go back, but I'm not confident I can ever recapture that feeling of exhilaration that I had when passing the Dunkin Donuts on St. Catherine and then the entrance at Bleury. And while it's all online now, and might have been then, the Fest always started for me in grabbing both the small and large programs at the entrance booth and scanning the first for those I knew and wanted to see and the latter for those I didn't know but thought might provide pleasant surprises. It was a pretty significant, but enjoyable, optimization problem to figure out a schedule.
But as Paul aptly noted, it was the unexpected that was the most fun. Weirdest for me was seeing Iain Ballamy perform his piece "Haunted Swing" as the music so effectively created the image of a physical thing. I left thinking, "what the h$## was that".
The evening would generally end for me taking the elevator down from the Jam sessions in what was then the Wyndham hotel. I think they were semi-secret then, so I felt cool being in the know. And given the very few opportunities I've had to feel cool I'd prefer if no one burst my bubble on that one.
There’ve been concerts that struck me like lightning. Geri Allen solo. The first time Branford Marsalis came with only a trio. Benny Carter, Charlie Haden and Eric Reed in a trio. For a while in the 90s, every time Joe Lovano came through town it was like hurricane season. Scofield sitting in with Medeski, Martin and Wood. Nothing I heard this season was at that level, but I’m still glad I went.
I saw Charlie Haden with Metheny right after Beyond the Missouri Sky, which was great but probably not quite lightning. It now is going to bother me, but I saw Lovano at one of the smaller theaters and I think he and Dejohnette were sidemen to someone else and I can't remember who that "else" was, but yes, he always stood out; just a ton of ideas in his solos. Was the MMW with Scofield concert in a famous disco/dance bar on St. Catherine (again, a brain freeze). I specifically remember the wafts of pot smoke that went up when the lights went down. Pretty sure Prince played at the same place one Jazz Fest (which I didn't see). I have pretty clear and pleasant memories of The Dave Holland quintet with Chris Potter at the Spectrum but maybe that was as much because I got to meet my teenage-era bass player hero at the back.
One more thing: at those jam sessions, at the Meridien as it was before it was the Wyndham, George Benson started borrowing a local musician's guitar and sitting in for an hour or two at a time. Just mowing everybody down, and happy to play with anyone who came up. One year when I wasn't there, he didn't feel like soloing but he sat up there all night playing rhythm guitar. The musicians were talking about it later.
I vaguely remember Michel Donato anchoring the sessions and thinking Terence Blanchard showed up. Still, maybe the best jam session I attended was here in Ottawa when most of LCJO got on stage. I think that's when I took notice of Ted Nash
One of the best jazz review pieces I have seen in a long time….what I liked is your honesty …saying that a so called icon like Lage ( whose work I really like ) didn’t have such a good day at the office…and a relief from so many jazz writers who burble on in 10$ words about how so & so is a legend yadda yadda
You ask, rehotorically, why you keep writing about jazz. Why bother. It's a bit like trying to unscrew the inscrutable. Even Mr. Balliet, a deft hand to say the lest, whose work I still read with great pleasure, came only close. You do it because you are damn good at it. It must be a refreshing break from your usual round. Another reason is that it keeps you in the game and part of a unique art form the attracts interesting people.
That's at least enough. Wait, after several months of JT (not James Taylor) and PP you will need to go to your jazz friends on record or DVD or...... just to keep your sanity. Remember, you will be the eyes and ears of thousands of your fellow country persons. We will be reading what you write, avidly. And, a couple of jazz record reviews along the way won't be remiss.
mr. o'farrill may be an even better composer in the avantist space than a player or band leader. if it ever comes out, check out his production entitled for these streets. when it was performed live about a year ago or so it was simply stunning. he recorded it a couple of days after performing it, but it is still not released. he stands in that lineage of grandfather chico and father arturo. it's in the genes, never mind how hard he works.
I had planned to go the Jazz Festival but the thought of being surrounded by so many people, as a home-body, caused me to renege. Your comment about the older musician standing verses sitting at his piano made perfect sense to me as an aging person myself. At age 65 I can't bear sitting for long stretches. My body has always needed to move. I ride my bike to get around the plateau in Montréal. Sitting in a car bores me, and I gave up my car when I moved here. As older folks, we're offered seats on the metro, which is very kind, but as long as we're fit enough to remain upright, it's important to keep doing so. I want a standing desk for the same reason.
Thank you for this. I was only in Montreal once, briefly while the Jazz Festival was happening. I'm in Port Hope and we have this small but mighty Jazz Festival at the end of August https://www.porthopejazz.com/. Just sayin ...
Do you have any idea how jealous that 30-year-ago anecdote about the Gazette's coverage makes me? Of course you do. Thank you for doing even just a fraction of that work here. Glad to hear DFA ruled on the huge stage.
I met my first love during the Montreal Jazz Fest at age 17 — always a bit of magic happening there. Very true about how the festivals have marked the city forever.
A shout-out to Ottawa Jazz Fest this week. Lake Street Dive was sublime.
I imagined meeting the love of my life when attending FIJM in my early 20s. Thanks for reminding me of one more romantic failure!
What a great (and unexpected!) article, I was drawn in within the first few lines. Writing so deeply about music is rare these days, I really enjoyed it.
I haven't been to FIJM for five years and haven't taken in the full experience for a few years before that. I probably need to go back, but I'm not confident I can ever recapture that feeling of exhilaration that I had when passing the Dunkin Donuts on St. Catherine and then the entrance at Bleury. And while it's all online now, and might have been then, the Fest always started for me in grabbing both the small and large programs at the entrance booth and scanning the first for those I knew and wanted to see and the latter for those I didn't know but thought might provide pleasant surprises. It was a pretty significant, but enjoyable, optimization problem to figure out a schedule.
But as Paul aptly noted, it was the unexpected that was the most fun. Weirdest for me was seeing Iain Ballamy perform his piece "Haunted Swing" as the music so effectively created the image of a physical thing. I left thinking, "what the h$## was that".
The evening would generally end for me taking the elevator down from the Jam sessions in what was then the Wyndham hotel. I think they were semi-secret then, so I felt cool being in the know. And given the very few opportunities I've had to feel cool I'd prefer if no one burst my bubble on that one.
There’ve been concerts that struck me like lightning. Geri Allen solo. The first time Branford Marsalis came with only a trio. Benny Carter, Charlie Haden and Eric Reed in a trio. For a while in the 90s, every time Joe Lovano came through town it was like hurricane season. Scofield sitting in with Medeski, Martin and Wood. Nothing I heard this season was at that level, but I’m still glad I went.
I saw Charlie Haden with Metheny right after Beyond the Missouri Sky, which was great but probably not quite lightning. It now is going to bother me, but I saw Lovano at one of the smaller theaters and I think he and Dejohnette were sidemen to someone else and I can't remember who that "else" was, but yes, he always stood out; just a ton of ideas in his solos. Was the MMW with Scofield concert in a famous disco/dance bar on St. Catherine (again, a brain freeze). I specifically remember the wafts of pot smoke that went up when the lights went down. Pretty sure Prince played at the same place one Jazz Fest (which I didn't see). I have pretty clear and pleasant memories of The Dave Holland quintet with Chris Potter at the Spectrum but maybe that was as much because I got to meet my teenage-era bass player hero at the back.
One more thing: at those jam sessions, at the Meridien as it was before it was the Wyndham, George Benson started borrowing a local musician's guitar and sitting in for an hour or two at a time. Just mowing everybody down, and happy to play with anyone who came up. One year when I wasn't there, he didn't feel like soloing but he sat up there all night playing rhythm guitar. The musicians were talking about it later.
I vaguely remember Michel Donato anchoring the sessions and thinking Terence Blanchard showed up. Still, maybe the best jam session I attended was here in Ottawa when most of LCJO got on stage. I think that's when I took notice of Ted Nash
ScoMMW was indeed at Metropolis. Merely a good show until Sco walked on.
One of the best jazz review pieces I have seen in a long time….what I liked is your honesty …saying that a so called icon like Lage ( whose work I really like ) didn’t have such a good day at the office…and a relief from so many jazz writers who burble on in 10$ words about how so & so is a legend yadda yadda
You ask, rehotorically, why you keep writing about jazz. Why bother. It's a bit like trying to unscrew the inscrutable. Even Mr. Balliet, a deft hand to say the lest, whose work I still read with great pleasure, came only close. You do it because you are damn good at it. It must be a refreshing break from your usual round. Another reason is that it keeps you in the game and part of a unique art form the attracts interesting people.
That's at least enough. Wait, after several months of JT (not James Taylor) and PP you will need to go to your jazz friends on record or DVD or...... just to keep your sanity. Remember, you will be the eyes and ears of thousands of your fellow country persons. We will be reading what you write, avidly. And, a couple of jazz record reviews along the way won't be remiss.
Bob Oxley
St. John's. NL
mr. o'farrill may be an even better composer in the avantist space than a player or band leader. if it ever comes out, check out his production entitled for these streets. when it was performed live about a year ago or so it was simply stunning. he recorded it a couple of days after performing it, but it is still not released. he stands in that lineage of grandfather chico and father arturo. it's in the genes, never mind how hard he works.
vaya montreal.
I had planned to go the Jazz Festival but the thought of being surrounded by so many people, as a home-body, caused me to renege. Your comment about the older musician standing verses sitting at his piano made perfect sense to me as an aging person myself. At age 65 I can't bear sitting for long stretches. My body has always needed to move. I ride my bike to get around the plateau in Montréal. Sitting in a car bores me, and I gave up my car when I moved here. As older folks, we're offered seats on the metro, which is very kind, but as long as we're fit enough to remain upright, it's important to keep doing so. I want a standing desk for the same reason.
Thank you for this reporting. I really enjoy reading your reviews on jazz. I hope you continue to post on this subject.
Thank you.
Thank you for this. I was only in Montreal once, briefly while the Jazz Festival was happening. I'm in Port Hope and we have this small but mighty Jazz Festival at the end of August https://www.porthopejazz.com/. Just sayin ...
Do you have any idea how jealous that 30-year-ago anecdote about the Gazette's coverage makes me? Of course you do. Thank you for doing even just a fraction of that work here. Glad to hear DFA ruled on the huge stage.
As one of our more insightful poets put it, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
You had the time of your life!- a thousand lifetimes! Well done.