Jazz@Rochester

Awhile back, I sent you over to you over to smokerblog, where local blogger Ken Smoker was writing on the shows he was seeing at last year’s RIJF. I enjoyed his take on the shows during the festival and have been reading his posts on music and the other self-described “self-indulgent blather” (which pretty much describes my efforts) from time to time since. He’s now got a new look and name over at Fretful Porpentine and has graciously added this blog to his bloggery list. Thanks.

Over at AllAboutJazz.com, Robert Iannapollo recently posted a review of the 2005 Rochester International Jazz Festival. One fact that I hadn’t seen brought out was the difference in the number of attending the festival this year as compared to earlier years. Iannapollo writes:

An early summary of the attendance figures shows as many as 65,000 people attended this year. The original 2002 festival had an attendance of 15,000. It’s definitely a festival on the upswing and one that’s found its own character. And with the increasing attendance figures, it’s an encouraging sign that if you don’t underestimate the intelligence of the audience, good things can occur.

Like Iannapollo, I think that one mark of John Nugent’s approach to programming the RIJF is pushing the envelope while doing enough with “known” and “safe” artists to get enough “bums in seats” to keep the festival going financially. The fact that festival attendance has gone so far up is a sign that this approach is doing airight.

Althouth I missed their gig there this week, for those of you who loved their sets on the free stage at this year’s Rochester International Jazz Festival, you can catch the gypsy jazz swing of Lumiere at Starry Nites on August 16th and 23rd from 8-10 pm (probably outside if the weather permits). Django lovers will be diggin the tunes while they sit sipping their hot or cold beverage on (hopefully) a starry night.

My jazz guitar playing friend, Gene Rogalski and the group The Standard Quartet, returns to Starry Nites on Friday, September 2nd. Hope to see you there.

I saw something every night of the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Staying away from the Main Events at the Eastman Theater (and from what I’ve heard missing some very good shows), I still managed to see about 20 artists/bands and to experience a wide variety of music. Truly a great experience all told—experiencing some new sounds, artists and cultures. That’s what the RIJF is about and John Nugent has done a great job putting together a truly world class set of musicians and music.

Of course, there were many at the festival who were muttering “this isn’t jazz” to anyone who’d listen. They were missing the point. I think to Nugent and many others (I include myself here) “jazz” is about creativity and improvisation, it’s about focusing on the music. Music changes and it and its players are changed by what they hear. It is always evolving and so are the people who are listening to it. Many people live in very small musical boxes, defined by what others tell them is good or what is dealt them by the corporate media, and any attempt to push out the edges of that confinement or let the rest of the world and its music inside is a good thing in my book. I’ve lived in that box before, but broke out of it during college when myself and a musically-gifted best friend with eclectic tastes ran a small record (yes, vinyl) store during the early 80s. That experience and my continuing friendship left me as a person who can dig the scratching of Wallace Roney’s turntablist Val Jeanty or the percussive hooting and mumblings of Kahil El’Zabar of the Ethnic Art Ensemble, and yet also lose myself when listening to Cottontail or Kind of Blue. Who can be equally happy listening to a Mozart symphony, an alt country ballad, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin On, or an Alban Berg opera. I feel that opening your ears to new sounds (and I mean new to you) can lead to wonderful discoveries. I respect the choices those who have decided that they “know what they like”—I just don’t understand them.

The biggest surprise for me was the change that trying to blog the RIJF had on my listening. With the knowledge that I might be writing about what I was experiencing, I listened closely and took some limited notes whenever my fatigue would let me, and just laid back and soaked it up when it wouldn’t. I looked around to see how those around me appeared to be experiencing the music. I read other local bloggers’ takes on the same shows I saw or shows that I missed (and learned a lot from the easy manner that they blogged the fest). I even talked to strangers! While I never felt that I had heard enough or knew enough to be a “critic,” my intent was to try to communicate the emotions and thoughts that I came away with after experiencing the different music and musicians I was hearing. I still have a long way to go in expressing myself in this way, but the RIJF was a crash course that taught me a lot on what was missing and what I had to do to get there.

In part, this blog as a way for me to learn about blogging and, oh boy, am I learning. I’ve been working pretty hard in the office and have hit most nights of the Rochester International Jazz Festival during the past. However, unlike the me of ten years ago who would have been out there all 9 nights until they kicked me out of the afterhours spot at State Street Grill, I have found it way too easy to convince myself to see just an early show and head home during the week. Not enough committment? The passion for jazz isn’t there? No, just willing to listen to my body and mind. What it shows is that I need to get into the gym and get more energy. However, going home early is the only reason that there have been any posts to this blog since last weekend. Not that they are pearls of wisdom.

Since I do not have the electronic means (yet) to post from the festival site itself, and will not post from work, I need the discipline of coming home and sitting down to write. That has been much harder to do than I thought, as I’ve had to squeeze whatever else was necessary to get accomplished into these small windows. The festival has concentrated as many posts as I’ve previously made to this blog since starting it in April into just the past couple of weeks. I was unprepared for that. I will hopefully be prepared for it for next year’s RIJF.

This also has been a real workout for my mind and ears, providing me a reason to listen to the music I’m hearing, catching moments that really stand out, and trying to find ways of expressing the feelings and emotions of those moments. I know I have a long way to go in that direction. I have been impressed by the postings from other local blogs that I’ve linked to. Clearly, they’ve been doing this blogging thing much longer than I, but they’re writing is engaging.

It’s been rough and tiring, but I really have enjoyed the work.