North Sea Jazz Festival

[sidewinder]

Any other board members going along to this mammoth Dutch jazz feast?

North Sea Jazz Festival 2006

Edited July 3, 2006 by sidewinder

[ValerieB]

I'll be there.

oh, lucky you! enjoy! you, too sidewinder!

[sidewinder]

I'll be there.

oh, lucky you! enjoy! you, too sidewinder!

Thanks !

[sidewinder]

First time, Val. Looking forward to it.

Splendid !

Still to book my flight but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. My first North Sea too (hopefully). Can't beat the lineup at this Fest. Dillemas galore - should one go and see Yusef Lateef or (at same time) the Pat Martino Quartet?

[kh1958]

First time, Val. Looking forward to it.

Splendid !

Still to book my flight but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. My first North Sea too (hopefully). Can't beat the lineup at this Fest. Dillemas galore - should one go and see Yusef Lateef or (at same time) the Pat Martino Quartet?

That wouldn't be a dilemma for me, as I've seen Pat Martino twice and never had even a remote opportunity to see Yusef Lateef. You may have other opportunities to see Pat Martino--Yusef Lateef, this likely will be your only one.

[ValerieB]

First time, Val. Looking forward to it.

Splendid !

Still to book my flight but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. My first North Sea too (hopefully). Can't beat the lineup at this Fest. Dillemas galore - should one go and see Yusef Lateef or (at same time) the Pat Martino Quartet?

That wouldn't be a dilemma for me, as I've seen Pat Martino twice and never had even a remote opportunity to see Yusef Lateef. You may have other opportunities to see Pat Martino--Yusef Lateef, this likely will be your only one.

i'm with you, kh!

[sidewinder]

Yep, I'd deduced that - but what a shame to have to pass on the Martino !

[kh1958]

There's a Pat Martino thread over on allaboutjazz.com, where he is a very active participant, freely giving detailed and thoughtful answers to questions--in case you hadn't seen that.

[sidewinder]

There's a Pat Martino thread over on allaboutjazz.com, where he is a very active participant, freely giving detailed and thoughtful answers to questions--in case you hadn't seen that.

Thanks - yes, seen it.

Have met Martino on a couple of occasions and have found him to be an extremely courteous and thoughtful guy.

Incidentally, of all the acts in the line up for this Fest, it is Yusef Lateef with the Belmondos that fires me up the most by far. I've gone all these years without ever seeing Yusef live and it's great that he's putting in an appearance here at North Sea (not sure if there are any other European dates planned).

Edited July 4, 2006 by sidewinder

[J.A.W.]

(not sure if there are any other European dates planned).

When NSJF founder Paul Acket was still alive, artists appearing at the festival were not allowed to perform elsewhere in Europe for a certain period of time. I don't know if that's still the case.

[DatDere]

I'll be there, but only on Sunday. I can't afford to go three days this year, would have liked to have seen Yusef Lateef too, though...

[sidewinder]

Time to post a few thoughts. I've mentioned the 'Trio Beyond' concert in a separate thread but here are a few highlights.

Starting with Friday:

Awesome, virtuoso performance by James Carter with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. First time I have seen Carter and was very impressed. Much of the material was a tribute to Don Byas, with lovely arrangements penned by Henk Meutgeert. A mighty fine job he did too (the band sounded quite like the CBBB at times). Nice vocal features for local singer Fay Claasen.

Benny Golson was up next and he was featured in an amazing all-star group in a tribute to Clifford Brown with Roy Hargrove and Eddie Henderson on trumpets, Buster Williams on bass and Al Foster on drums ! As ever, Buster's big sound was a joy and Hargrove got solo honours (not the last time either, at this festival).

The next concert was 'Influence' by Yusef Lateef and the Belmondo Bros.. Nearly missed it thanks to a human gridlock problem in the main corridor between stages but as I arrived Yusef was in the middle of one of his great modal flute solos. Absolutely awesome ! The performance featured an adventurous mid-size group with bassoon, cor anglais, flute, french horn etc. with the belmondos and Yusef doing most of the solos on recreations of many of the Lateef song book. Great young French Tynerish player on piano who was just right for the vampy, modal feel of the music. Yusef even got his tenor out for a long solo ( ) and to finish off he was featured on oud (I think) for an arrangement of what I assume was 'P-Bouk' (postscript - no, it was 'Brother John', of course). Absolutely flamin' incredible !

Then it was en-route to the main auditorium for 4 or 5 Grolsh's and a bit of head banging to Buddy Guy'. Again, a fantastic performance and the showmanship of this man and his group is first rate. Hearing permanently damaged I think as a result of the decibels...

Then a brief interlude to check out Candi Staton and it was in for the last half hour or so of Regina Carter. Again, first time I have seen a performance by Ms Carter but it was nice stuff, with her C&W influence and very fine violin technique clear to hear. Unfortunately wasn't able to hear the Eddie Palmieri All-Stars, which clashed with this particular time slot.

Great evening therefore - with pride of place to the Lateef.

Sat and Sunday thoughts to follow...

Edited July 23, 2006 by sidewinder

[fasstrack]

[ I've gone all these years without ever seeing Yusef live and it's great that he's putting in an appearance here at North Sea (not sure if there are any other European dates planned).

At 18 I approached Mr. Lateef with a youthful question and received a most wise and thoughtful response, though he was getting ready to go to work at the Vanguard.

32 years hence I caught up with him at the 2004 IAJE conference here in NY. We had a minute to talk and I reminded him of his long-forgotten kindness. He said something like 'that's beautiful, bless you, brother' and smiled broadly. I think he is a great man and wonderful artist. He must be 80 or damn close. Long may you live Yusef Lateef, and salaam.

[sidewinder]

in fact, it prevented my hearing McCoy Tyner (I will hear him in two months at Monterey Jazz Festival).

Same thing happened to me - stayed for the whole of the (highly enjoyable) Hank Jones and got caught up in the queue - just able to see the last 20 minutes of the McCoy but it was great. He sounded pretty good, especially on his solo feature - once again I was struck by just how great a drummer Eric Gravatt is.

Heard McCoy quite recently too so again wasn't too put out at missing much of the concert.

[sidewinder]

He must be 80 or damn close. Long may you live Yusef Lateef, and salaam.

Isn't he 85 or thereabouts? In any event, he defies the years.

At the end of the North Sea concert as he was packing his kit away a lady in the audience presented him with what looked like a brochure or magazine (must have had an article on him or something). He very graciously accepted it - a genuinely kind and humble man, I thought.

[sidewinder]

Here's some thoughts on Saturday's performances.

First up was Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet. Again, first time I had seen Delfeayo and I quite liked his straight-ahead, boppish style. Nice tenor work by Clarence Johnson. Couldn't stay long though as priority went to seeing Hank Jones with his working trio of George Mraz and Willie Jones III. Hank didn't put a foot wrong - playing in his usual impeccable and dignified style. This man should be representing the US internationally as a permanent State Department paid rep! Again, another great artist who defies the years. For the second half of this performance, promising Italian vocalist Roberta Gambarini was added to the trio.

Hank over-ran a bit so was only able to catch about 20 minutes of McCoy Tyner All Star Septet. In the front line were Wallace Roney, Donald Harrison, Eric Alexander (sounded great) and Steve Turre, who was also featured on his custom conch shell selection on one number. Another capacity house for this one.

Trio Beyond (DeJohnette/Scofield/Goldings) were the next act I saw - again to an absolute capacity audience. Thoughts on this superb performance posted in another thread but I've since listened to the ECM 2CD 'Sauvades' and this performance was even better. They have tightened up quite a bit since the 2004 London performance.

The Blue Note CD chalet distracted me a bit at this point (just about every mid price CD plus rare grooves and a few good Conns at mid price on sale. Incredibly, I snagged most of the new Conn releases at 3 for 25 Euros ) so only got in for the latter part of Kenny Garrett Quintet. Another fine performance by Kenny - with pianist Benito Gonzales a standout. The last number was a vocal feature with lots of audience participation and it went on forever with the audience going wild at the front. A lovely way to end this second fine evening of jazz.

Edited July 19, 2006 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

Slightly earlier 4.30pm start for the Sunday shows and first off was able to see a bit of RH Factor Featuring Roy Hargrove. This is Roy's fusion/R&B band and they had an enthusiastic, young audience going wild in the 'Nile' auditorium. Not my favourite Roy but his playing was immaculate in this style and with a few vocal features too. The front line was shared with a vocalist/2nd trumpet (Crystal Torres).

Next performance was a meeting of the Kenny Werner Trio and Norma Winstone/Kenny Wheeler. Werner and Wheeler often work together but apparently this was the first time that Norma Winstone had worked with the trio. Wouldn't have guessed it though - sounded like they'd worked together for years. This was probably the best performance I have seen by Kenny Wheeler over the past 5 years at least and Norma, as usual, didn't put a foot wrong. Not suprisingly, a strong introspective 'Azimuth'/ECM feel to the music but there were a couple of terrific, hugely swinging solos from Werner, who was on great form.

Then it was back up to the Hudson auditorium and (via more gridlock) to see the Branford Marsalis Trio with Roy Haynes. This performance very reminiscent of Sonny Rollins' famous Village Vanguard recordings and with the octogenerian Haynes showing some of that legendary feel for time and space. A packed house, as usual and the audience loved the show. Dr. Michael White and his quartet came on and joined Branford and co. for a number at the end. This was good, as I'd missed the White performance earlier in the afternoon (although heard some of it from next door just before the Werner/Winstone/Wheeler).

Next up was the Wayne Shorter Quartet with the usual group of Perez/Patitucci/Blade in absolutely sterling form. Again, I have seen this group several times and this is the best performance I have seen from them - they have tightened up a lot. Wayne played most of the set on tenor with some lovely impressionistic, fluent runs and when he changed to soprano the impact was quite startling. The style of the group sort reminds me of the sort of stuff Wayne was playing on 'Oddesey of Iska' but with more classical influence. The two numbers from Phantom Navigator/Joy Ryder at the end of the show sound even better, to my ears, in the acoustic version. Also a lovely performance by Wayne - on tenor - of 'She Moved Through The Fair'.

After Wayne Shorter I was able to catch the best part of half-an-hour of Paul Weller. Not my usual cup of tea but enjoyed this one immensely. Weller and co. were putting everything into this performance and the crowd loved it.

I had wanted to check out Joe Zawinul with WDR Big Band and the separate performance by the Kenny Barron Trio but unfortunately both of these clashed with the Wayne Shorter. Talk about spoilt for choice !

Last performance of the evening and Festival for me was Dizzy Gillesie All Star Big Band conducted by Slide Hampton. This is the tribute band put together by Slide and bassist John Lee and with some stellar soloists including James Moody, Roy Hargroove, Antonio Hart and Claudio Roditi. Fantastic version of 'Dizzy's Business' to kick things off, followed by the Quincy Jones 'Jessica's Day', both very faithful to the original versions. Of note - James Moody featured on vocals in a performance of 'Moody's Mood' which included a section of rap !(?) The band also played a special 80th birthday tribute to the venerable Mr Moody - nice touch. Things were brought to a splendid conclusion with a metioric 'Things to Come' with all of the trumpeters featured in a chase sequence.

Slide and Moody also did a 'clinic' during the evening elsewhere at the Festival but unfortunately I missed it.

Great Fest - to quote a phrase 'I'll be back'.

Edited July 23, 2006 by sidewinder

[jeffsjazz]

NEW LOCAL ??

I have been twice to NSJazz,in the old Hague location.How was the new Rotterdam locale? Anyboby been to both to compare.The "Human Gridlock" problem was very evident in the Hague.One piece of advice I can give rookies to avoid such problems is to find a room with several groups in a row that are to your liking and stay put.Let the music come to you !

North Sea is an intense Jazz experience,not for the faint of heart,or casual fan.It is definetly for the Jazz Warrior (maniac).Having just returned from Umbria Jazz for the 7th time,I can say it is a much more pleasing experience,better food,better wine,better environment,better looking women,more mellow.

A buddy and I saw 3-5 shows/day,with ample down time between shows.I highly recommend it,but I live in Italy so perhaps I'm biased.But many American friends who have come,confirm my thoughts.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Jamie Cullum-nice stage presence,interesting voice,good songs (yes,that were pop-influenced also),good piano playing,a good time!!

Herbie Hancock was disappointing.This was the third time seeing him and I was let down again.I await a Jazz trio formation.This was with a violinist,African guitar,electric bass,drums.There some good moments,but most of it left me cold.

Pat Metheny was very good also.I saw him in various formations.Him sitting in with Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava was a highlight (especially the two in duo).

Viva la Jazz !