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SF Jazz Festival Promises Diverse Charms

Forrest Dylan Bryant — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 06:16:45 +0000

Think the jazz festival season is over now that you’ve unpacked your bags from Monterey? In San Francisco, things are just warming up.

The 29th annual San Francisco Jazz Festival got underway this past weekend, kicking off a formidable 36-night concert series that will keep the city’s auditoriums busy until early November, with a few outlying shows spread all the way to to December 18.

Nonprofit presenter SFJAZZ has done a fantastic job of building and maintaining this festival over the years, with top-flight touring artists, cleverly themed programming, aggressive marketing and tireless fundraising efforts in these economically tough times. Since starting out in 1983 as Jazz in the City, SFJAZZ has steadily expanded under the leadership of founder and Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline to become a year-round operation — the Festival’s Spring Season celebrated its twelfth year in 2011. And the organization recently broke ground on a new performance and educational space of its own: the ambitiously conceived SFJAZZ Center in Hayes Valley, just blocks from Davies Symphony Hall and the War Memorial Opera House. Not bad for a jazz presenter.

But let’s talk about that festival.

If you missed Monterey, you can still catch Robert Glasper‘s trio at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on September 29, piano phenom Eldar Djangirov three nights later at the Legion of Honor, Pamela Rose and her “Wild Women of Song” project at Herbst Theatre on November 12 or the multicultural soul of India.Arie and Idan Raichel at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on October 15. That’s just one of a half-dozen shows being held in Oakland, by the way.

Want big names? Check out the Wayne Shorter Quartet, McCoy Tyner with Chris Potter, Joshua Redman with Brad Mehldau or Jim Hall‘s quartet. They’re all appearing at Herbst throughout the month of October. Or Pat Metheny, who’s at Marines Memorial Theatre this coming weekend for two shows. Or Mose Allison at the YBCA Forum on October 27. Or Ahmad Jamal at Herbst in December. That’s a pretty damn good festival right there.

Look closely at the ads this year, and you’ll notice that right below the SFJAZZ logo there’s a new tagline: “JAZZ & BEYOND.” And this year’s lineup does indeed stretch pretty far afield from bebop. But SFJAZZ has always been a champion of world music, and when the “beyond” artists are of the peerless caliber of Indian vocal megastars Asha Bhosle and Shujaat Khan, father-daughter sitar masters Ravi and Anoushka Shankar, throat singers Huun Huur Tu and Brazilian songwriter Vinicius Cantuária, who can complain?

Okay, one complaint. I would like to maybe see a little more representation from local jazz artists on the calendar. But that’s a perennial issue, and one that passes over the real point: the problem isn’t that SFJAZZ doesn’t give gigs to local artists (they do — check out Mimi Fox this weekend at the Swedish American hall, or the free SFJAZZ Summerfest, or the Hotplate series at Amnesia Bar). The real problem is that those artists need more exposure, more places to play and more turnout from local jazz fans all year round, not just at big events.

And this one’s pretty big. But there’s still time to pick up tickets to most shows. To see the full calendar, visit www.sfjazz.org

Jazz Observer in Recovery Mode

Forrest Dylan Bryant — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:06:53 +0000

The Jazz Observer website was down for a few hours on September 18 due to a database catastrophe. All posts have been restored, but many are still missing their images. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your support.

Live from MJF/54

Forrest Dylan Bryant — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:49:10 +0000

The Jazz Observer is back, and what better way to relaunch than with a trip to Monterey? It’s time for the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, and once again I’ll be on the scene with live reports throughout the weekend.

It’s an intriguing lineup this year. There’s been a lot of talk about headliners India.Arie and Huey Lewis, but hardcore jazz fans have nothing to worry about. Joshua Redman is this year’s Artist-in-Residence — his James Farm supergroup is playing two sets, and he’s also sitting in with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Showcase Artist Robert Glasper will be on hand all three days, playing with his fine trio as well as his mind-blowing “Experiment” group, and trailblazer Geri Allen is this year’s Commission Artist — she’ll debut a work in tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. with her tap-fueled Timeline group on Saturday night. In between, there will be big names and rising stars, local heroes and bold souls, and an eclectic mix of sounds including blues, funk, African traditions, and even a little western swing.

Check back in this space: I’ll be posting on-the-spot concert reviews throughout the weekend! Or follow me on Twitter @jazzobserver for additional updates.

This is my seventh straight year blogging from the Fairgrounds. It’s always a crazy, exhausting, exhilarating three days, and I hope you’ll join me for the ride.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18