Jazz@Rochester

While starting to write, a profile of John Scofield’s tribute album to Ray Charles came on Saturday Edition on NPR. It’s his first tribute album and the first of his album with vocals. Scofield is playing at the Rochester International Jazz Festival later tonight at Kilbourn Hall. I’ll be there along with what I expect will be a large crowd.
I went last night to see Wallace Roney Sextet. He made it this year on time and in great form. Roney and his band were in an accident while driving to the Festival last year and he was lucky he came out of it alive. I came alone to see Wallace Roney and with Kilbourn Hall heating up as the bums filled the seats, I was again fighting the urge to fall asleep (a common issue with me on Friday night after a week of work). That did not last. Wallace and his brother Attoine were often blowing hard, with only a few moments of down tempo Miles noodlin. I found Wallace’s cover of Al Green’s Let Stay Together, during which his trumpet hung on each note, stretching it well past where Al had sung it, as one highlight. Presenting a mix of hard bop, a bit of hip hop (without the words), with a sometimes avant guarde twist, it was a hard set for some in the audience, who got up to leave under the insistent driving force of the rythym section, which included turntablist Val Jeanty, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, Adam Holzman on keyboards, and drummer Eric Allen. I found it exhilarating and it woke me up . . . bigtime. It may have been where I was sitting, but the mix seemed out of whack, with the keyboards and bass drowned out (the keyboard issue became major during one number when Holzman had to turn around and shout at the soundman “can you hear that?” in frustration.
Coming outside, I was confronted with a crowd and a line of elderly women in black spandex dance outfits doing a tap to soul music. . . in the rain . . .with pink boas. It was a bit too surreal for me so I moved on to find my wife, who was to join me and some friends to catch John Cleary for some New Orleans blues later. The rain, however, began to get insistent. We tried to wait it out in the tent with a martini, but then realized that it was going to be a washout and, as I had already talked myself out of the club pass acts for Friday, we decided to head home instead and have a pizza. I hear that Raul Midon was the big hit of the club scene on Friday. He’s also playing tonight.