DownBeat May 2008 [antikvár]

"High Energy funk and rhythm-and-blues propulsion with a Jazz sensibility." -THE NEW YORK TIMES "Great rhythm heartfelt soul," - DR. LONNIE SMITH Key Tour Dates May 24, Sonoma Jazz Plus Fest, CA June 6-7, Harmony Festival, CA July 11-20, Umbría Jazz Fest, IT Ongoing Residency at 55 Bar, NYC See full tour schedules at Molema.com >mintr this June! 'The name Antonio C/occo will soon be on the Hps of discerning jazz fans throughout the world. It's inevitable." - BENNY GOLSON H^y Tour Dates Juno 2-5, Ronnie Scotts, London, UK July 21, La Spezia, opening for H. Hancoci July 5 - Jazz Image Festival, Rome First Take by Jason Koransky Saxophone Revelations Musical revelations ol'ten lurk around the corncr al a jazz festival. It's part of the excitement of being in an environment wilh constant music. Over the course of a day, you never know when a transcendent performance will emerge—from a young, previously unknown artist, from an established musician on the scene or from a legend of the music. Such a revelation happened at the 2005 Monterey Jazz Festival. Taking place in September, just a few weeks after Huiricane Katrina and the subsequent floods devastated New Orleans, the festival sei'ved as a time for ailists and fans to collectively pay homage to the Crescent City. Coincidental ly. and quite apropos, Branford Marsalis was artist-in-resi-dence. Besides starting to spread the word about his work with Harry Connick. Jr. in developing the Musician's Village in New Orleans, the New Orleans native used the festival to offer a display of musical might the likes of which 1 had never heard from him. With Jeff "Tain" Watts, Joey Calderazzo and Eric Revis. MarsaUs led a blistering set on the Jimmy Lyons Stage on the festival's closing Sunday night. For almost an hour, the quartet played virtually nonstop. The intensity that radiated from the stage from this improvisa-tional juggernaut was overwhelming, as the unpredictable sense of adventure that they conveyed kept me at the edge of my seat. After the show—which turned out to have featured much of the material that ended up on the quartet's 2006 album B/Y/4'u/t>u7i —the festival buzzed about the group. Before the show, 1 knew that the quartet was a working band that operated at an incredibly high level. After the show, in my eyes the band had elevated itself to something tmly special. Today, the group has only enhanced its rapport. It stands as one of the most exciting units in jazz. So rather than featuring only Marsalis on the cover, we have done a story on the band. Ted Panken caught up with the group at its February show at Purchase College in New York, to leam about how the group developed its identity (Page ."^O). One of the more interesting pans of this fea-ture is when Marsalis discusses a path he eniharkcd upon about 10 ycai's ago to impix)ve his playing. "Ai ."^7, I slartotl wi>rking on the Ihcrt "CoiiLvrtino Da Camera." and within the llr.sl iiiiH-liour came laee lo face with vinually every weakness I had." Marsalis said. The saxophonist practiced hard, addressed these weaknesses and credits this work in the shed as a key to his band's expanded horizons. This issue of DownBeat features a new section, "Down-Beat U—Saxophone School" (Page 49) that hopefully will help some of the saxophonists (or any musician) who read the magazine expand their musical horizons. With DownBeat U, we're trying to create a section of the magazine that will offer players a few specific ideas that they can use for inspiration for their playing, and some practical tips that they can apply in the practice room. The section features a story with Tom Scotl, who goes into detail about what makes Cannonball Adderley's sound unique, an interview with West Coast alto legend Bud Shank, master classes by Tim Ries and Jeff Coffin, an expanded George Coleman solo transcription, and stories about new saxophones and accessories. Besides the new DownBeat U, this issue includes our annual guide to summer jazz festivals. Larger than ever, the guide, stiuiing on Page 91, features information on more than 150 festivals fmm around the world. well as stories about the Chicago Jazz Festival, the blues festival explosion. 25 great jjizz festival recordings and tnuch more. Use this guide lo help you plan a trip to chock out some jazz this sununor. .And who knows? Perhaps you'll encounter a rcvelaiion such as the ono that Marsalis' quartet prv^\ idcvl at the 2(X)5 Monioivv Jazz i-osti\ ul. OB