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2005: THE (CONCERT) YEAR IN REVIEW

by J HUNTER

I've loved jazz as far back as I can remember, but I love live jazz like nothing else I can think of. Unlike other genres - where the concert experience has become more about choreography than creativity - jazz lets you see the performer out on the wire, in the moment, creating (or re-creating, or re-inventing) from one moment to the next. Jazz today has more life in it than ever before, but on stage is where the rubber meets the road.

What I've tried to do is pull five moments out of a year's worth of music. “Impossible,” you say? Perhaps. But at the very least, this represents our contribution to the end-of-year listing fervor that grips the media during the holidays. (WARNING: Your memories may vary. Side effects could include scratching of the head and heated arguments with strangers in bars. Ask your doctor if this Top 5 list is right for you… unless he listens to Kenny G, of course.)



Terrell Staford

5) TERRELL STAFFORD QUINTET
BERNHARD THEATRE, SKIDMORE COLLEGE
Three days before, Stafford and uber-pianist Mulgrew Miller blew the roof off the Gazebo at the Freihofer's Jazz Festival. That effort paled next to the Skidmore show, where Stafford rejoined his regular unit. Even though Bobby Watson & Horizon's reunion disc, Horizon Reassembled (Palmetto), was everything it was supposed to be, Stafford showed he's got plenty to play without his old group, wowing the usual capacity crowd with a set driven by new, unreleased material.


Kurt Elling

4) ALBANY RIVERFRONT JAZZ FESTIVAL
CORNING PRESERVE, ALBANY
The J Street Jumpers aside, Albany Riverfront proved it's no longer a throwaway event at the end of the festival season. The Brian Patneaude Quintet's opening set topped the stellar release party for Distance (WEPA) at Linda Norris Auditorium earlier in the year. We lost David “Fathead” Newman to injury, but Joe Lovano was a super substitute. Kurt Elling floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee (while ex-Black/Note drummer Willie Jones III hit like a sledgehammer), and DeeDee Bridgewater rose above Mayor Jennings' blatant politicking to close the fest on a high, high note.


Gary Smulyan

3) “A TRIBUTE TO NICK BRIGNOLA”
NORTH POINTE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER, KINDERHOOK

Jazz might have taken root in the Capital Region without Brignola, but I kinda doubt it. It took One2One's North Pointe concert series - where the pre-show talk is as good as the show - to make Nick live again, thanks to jumping sets by duos Gary Smulyan & Pete Malinverni and Brian Patneaude & Jack Fragomeni. The highlight of highlights was an impromptu take on Sonny Rollins' “Oleo”, featuring Smulyan & Malinverni jamming with three local high-school students (including Joe Finn's son Tom, who already plays a mean alto).


Dave Holland Quintet

2) DAVE HOLLAND QUINTET
VAN DYCK RESTAURANT AND BREWERY, SCHENECTADY
Once again, we were off to the woodshed, as Holland and his merry band of collaborators put the finishing touches on some brand new (and occasionally untitled) music for a Christmas-week recording date. Years ago, Miles Davis told Holland, “Play what you hear.” This band hears everything - every note, every time change, every nuance. To see them is to see a musical force. Seeing them in a club the size of the Van Dyck is a Christmas gift I'll never forget.

A great, great show… but it gets nosed out at the wire by an exercise in overcoming disaster. The Number One Capital Region Jazz Show for 2005 is…


Terence Blanchard

TERENCE BLANCHARD SEXTET
SWYER THEATRE @ THE EGG, ALBANY
Katrina leveled the homes of Blanchard and saxman Brice Winston, so it would have been completely understandable if the band hadn't fired on all cylinders that night. What we got was almost three hours of original, exciting music that stayed exploratory without losing focus. Blanchard's young turks (particularly guitarist Lionel Loueke and keyboardist Aaron Parks) have pushed Blanchard and his music light years beyond the space he was in at Skidmore in 2003. Here's hoping we don't have to wait another two years for a second helping.



Dave Douglas


Richie Cole


Roswell Rudd

MOMENTS IN PASSING: 20-year old Jennifer Sanon's evocative cameo during Wynton Marsalis' Troy Savings bank show… Dave Liebman's unvarnished (and we do mean “unvarnished”) take on Wynton, and on the state of jazz in general, at his North Pointe pre-show talk… TRIO! Bela Fleck, Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke reminding the Freihofer's fest just how good fusion can be… Rediscovering the comic genius of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, thanks to Dave Douglas' multimedia performance at The Egg… Steamboats, cannon fire, and a missing headliner failing to hinder the wonderfully intimate Lake George Jazz Festival… You're As Young As You Feel Dept.: 68-year old Charles Lloyd rattling the stained glass at Williams College, 70-year old Roswell Rudd scat-shouting “Misterioso” at North Pointe… The community coming together: First at the Marriott in celebration at the AMA's first annual JAM Session, and then in mourning at the Whisperdome for A Place For Jazz impresario Butch Conn. Lee Shaw and Peg Delaney played big roles (and beautiful music) in both, and we should all handle tragedy and loss with the grace of Miki Conn.

2005 was an amazing year for me, in both good ways and bad. One of the things that kept me sane was the music, and the chance to write about it here. Thanks for letting me rant, and thanks for making this one of your stops on the Information Beltway. Please come again, and don't throw that trashbag out of the car window until it's full.

Peace.

J HUNTER is a former announcer/producer for radio stations in the Capital Region and the Bay Area, including KSJS/San Jose (where he was Assistant Music Director/Jazz programming), Q104 WQBK/Albany, and WSSV/Saratoga. He has also written music and theatre reviews for the Glens Falls Chronicle. He currently resides in Clifton Park.