Jazz@Rochester

I started Friday at the Rochester International Jazz Festival with a plan, but floated through it and, in the end, only saw one show to completion. That show was e.s.t. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) at Kilbourn at 6pm. They are shaking up jazz a bit with their approach to the trio form and the way they play their instruments, with effects pedals on each but firmly rooted in jazz form and rhythms. It was an exhilarating performance. Ken over at Fretful Porpentine was at the 10pm performance and wrote that the band “was so solid and locked in, it’s like they were all playing with one brain.” That pretty much sums it up.

That was enough for the evening and, perhaps, I should have left it at that. I had driven my wife to the airport around 5:00am Friday morning and had been up half the night helping her get ready to go (to help her sister prepare for her wedding). I was REALLY tired, but had planned the whole evening. Feeling wrung out, my friend John and I wandered around for awhile, having a beer and a hot, hitting Havana Moes for a beer (cheaper beer and, for my friend, smoker-friendly), and checking on Milestones as the plan was perhaps to try to catch Asylum Street Spankers there at 10pm. After listening to a bit of Pangea, we heading back to Milestones and I ate a burger and fries (I needed some real substenance). We had good seats at a high table at the back of the club, but we both felt restless and left about 45 minutes before the set and wandering past the huge crowd listening to Soulive (a band that I enjoy listening to, but could just couldnt’t get into last night) and finally wandering into Montage to catch Progressive Soul artist SOMI and that and found that we had come to the “jazz fest” pick. SOMI has a rich voice that ranges from an almost whisperish low to a strong and clear high, and sang her heart out on personal and sometimes very sexy songs. As described by Elena Oumano in the Village Voice on SOMI’s site:

upon first sight, her east african structure, beauty, and poise stare defiantly into your soul. bare-foot and berobed in vibrant fabrics of color and fluidity, the young chanteuse leans into her microphone and exhales a belly full of stories on love, life, and liberation. slithering through the audience, her presence expands beyond the darkest corners of the room. beaming with joy, she straddles effortlessly through two worlds. new and old. east and west. echoes of makeba, vaughan, adu, and fitzgerald are unmistakably heard throughout her phrasing and delivery. but this is something new, fresh, and like nothing you have heard before. you are immediately captivated and truly inspired. welcome to somi…
“…one of the most distinctive voices of New York’s progressive Soul Movement.

While I was enojying SOMI, I again felt restless and did not stay for the entire set. I left and got into my car.

I had decided I was going to try to catch the after-hours gig at the Crown Plaza’s State St. Bar & Grill. Presided over by local guitar hero Bob Schneider, with a house band including locals Phil Flanigan on bass and Mike Melito on drums, this after-hours festival gig is really worth checking out. Seth at Cup O’ Books and Ken at Fretful Porpentine did on a regular basis, and I was hoping to catch them there last night. However, it was not to be. As it is located at the hotel where most if not all of the RIJF artists who stay are bedding down, it provides a spot for those who cannot turn it off yet after their last performance to come down and jam with some of the best musicians in Rochester. It also allows Bob Schneider to put together pick up bands of local high school kids and amateur jazz players have a chance to do that too, in front of a live and somewhat loud bar crowd. Last night, the Swedish beauties Sliding Hammers came and combined these two characteristics, fronting the band with a quartet of trombones, theirs and two young men of tenderer years (one of whom apparently did the arrangement of at least one of the songs they were playing), for several songs. The piano player for Etta James’ band, Dave Matthews (he almost looked like he could have been THAT Dave Matthews in his wife-beater shirt, sunglasses and close-cropped hair), sat in for a number of the songs on piano. There were rumours that the lady herself would come in and sing, but they seemed to be wrapping up when I left at 2:00a.m.
This after-hours club is a great idea, especially in the dual purpose it serves, and deserves to be expanded to another venue as the only downside is that there are a lot of people that cannot get into the club for it (see my earlier post from last weekend). The only drawback to this part of the evening is that I was alone and none of the new acquaintances I’ve made this festival were there, plus standing some more after hours of doing so took a toll as well. I hope to catch this again (perhaps tonight?).