Vienne 2015

[Ian Thumwood]

One of my friends commented that he was surprised to see me at Vienne this year as the line up for the head line acts was amongst the least original for a long while. A number of artists seemed to make rapid returns with only pianist Chucho Valdes being of interest amongst those which must now be considered staples. There were a number of headline acts which were disappointing such as singer Cyrile Aimee and The Golden Gate Quartet although some like Melody Gardot were better than expected. Once again, the music from the fringes of jazz proved to be the surprise package with an African night including the exceptional Salif Keita and Sting fronting a sextet that left a surprising amount of room open for improvisation by a tight outfit featuring Dominic Miller and David Sanctious as well as a gifted jazz violinist.

The appearance of the odd-Brit barely registered. I missed Soweto Kinch with "Pretty " Purdy but John Taylor's appearance within a young, French soprano led quartet playing themes from "Nouvelle vague" cinema was the biggest let-down with the music being dull enough to nearly send me to sleep in the heat. Strangely, I didn't think that Taylor really stood out amongst the "piano competition" and felt a little bit disappointed that a musician I consider one of our finest jazz exports was over-shadowed. It was a strange set and given that the record has won a poll as best French jazz record of 2014 , the technical brilliance of the music was insufficient to make it a memorable experience. A lot of the French jazz acts were vastly superior to a lot of the British stuff Jazz Line Up has been presenting and Go-Go Penguin's appearance at the after hours clubs was demonstrative to me of little boys trying to play adult's music. It was almost embarrassing listening their minimalist approach that, whilst under-pinned by some good drumming, never actually went anywhere. I suppose the Penguins are a Manchester equivalent of Neil Cowley. Not impressed despite the glowing reference of a fellow Brit.

Hearing groups like Go-Go penguin can make you despair of the current state of jazz however there were some brilliant performances, especially on the free-entry Scene de Cybele where I think both the national and Lyon scenes appeared to be extremely vibrant and original. This varied from sax / guitar duos, big bands, a wonderful all-girl vocal trio called "The Glossy Girls" backed by a Charlie Haden-esque bassist (sophisticated and witty arrangements including elements of fugue and even a cover of "I kissed a girl"), a rap /sax / trombone act that blow everything else off the stage and Guilliuame Naturel's brilliant Latin quartet which featured the leader's exceptional flute before a barn-storming finish on tenor. Naturel has been a feature of the French scene for ages and is evidence of the more orthodox elements of jazz are alive and well. No need to re-invent the wheel as per the Penguins.

There were some terrific concerts. Laurent Cugny's "Gil Evans Workshop" resurrected some neglected scores from the maestro as well as original material and was simply fantastic. Amazing to hear charts like "Day of the Barracudas" performed live. I would have to say that George Benson's tribute to Nat King Cole with an orchestra was professional and extremely enjoyable. The concert then went up a gear when he performed originals like "Give me the night." I've been dismissive of benson in the past but this was a great concert. The best gig was a combination of The Cookers (the brilliant Billy Mitchell, David Wiess, Eddie Henderson, George Cables, Billy Hart, Donald Harrison and the exceptional Cecil McBee) that produced a scorching set including an aggressive version of Hubbard's "The Core" which later cropped up again in the set list of the Jazz Messenger's Legacy Band that had the likes of Craig Handy, Kevin Eubanks and the under-appreciated trumpet hero Brian Lynch , all driven along superbly by the hardly shy and retiring Ralph Peterson ! All the favourites such as "Along came Betty" , "moanin;" and "Blues March" were performed - appropriate as Benny Golson was the featured special guess. As good as these two groups were, they were then over-shadowed by a Quartet led by Chico Freeman that also had Billy Hart on drums. This was one of the best jazz gigs I've heard, Freeman being imperious and backed by a wonderful band. To my ears, this set demonstrated that jazz can still be within the tradition and relevant. Freeman is an amazing musician playing fast and hard one moment, digging deep in to the blues the next and then sounding akin to Ben Webster. This was REAL jazz and made the Penguins look like a comedy act in comparison.

Good to also see the Stanford University big band led by Fred Berry and featuring Jon Faddis dust off some amazing Thad Jones scores which were still sounding resolutely modern fifty years after they were written. Rhoda Scott made a number of appearances but her organ jam session with the organist from Snarky Puppy and a 15 y.o. "New Talent" winner from the Apollo Theatre drew a maximum crowd and much enthusiasm. There were three generations of organists and the music swung like Count Basie on steroids.

[charles t]

Thank you for your (annual) Vienne posting, Ian.

Never been much of a devotee of outdoor festivals, with the exception of my Newport Jazz Fest days with that Atlantic Ocean sanctifying breeze. Who cared when I went broke and sought-out two fans sleeping in the park, to share my room - as long as they fed me?

[Serial_Apologist]

Thank you for your (annual) Vienne posting, Ian.

Never been much of a devotee of outdoor festivals, with the exception of my Newport Jazz Fest days with that Atlantic Ocean sanctifying breeze. Who cared when I went broke and sought-out two fans sleeping in the park, to share my room - as long as they fed me?

Nothing has ever quite equalled Bracknell, which, while it ran from about 1974 to 1989, opened a 2-3 day window on Utopia. Still greatly missed.

[Ian Thumwood]

S-A

I think that Bracknell would be a really different beast today and your fondness for the festival is due to the fact that this was an amazingly creative period in jazz, especially in the 1980's. Vienne celebrated 35 years this year and the television screens either side of the stage repeatedly showed highlights from earlier editions of this festival featuring the likes of Miles, Freddie Hubbard, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, etc. The 1980's were an amazingly fertile period in jazz when it was both possible to hear living legends and a newer and interesting bunch of jazz musicians. It is incredible to think that you could hear performers as diverse as Jabbo Smith or John Zorn in this decade.

I felt that attendances were very much down this year with many of the "big names" having been regular visitors within the last five years. The problem these days is a lack of really high profile talent even if the lesser names are frequently more interesting. It is fascinating to see which of the newer musicians who have emerged since the 1990's who are managing to cement a following. Amongst the most popular is bassist Avashi Cohen who enjoys a huge following in France where he is amongst the best selling "genuine" jazz artists even though he is over-looked in the UK or simply not rated by fans. Despite this, he is a brilliant bassist and managed to front is really useful sextet that included Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar, Steve Davis on trombone and an amazing pianist Nitai Hershkovits on piano. Cohen quietly delivers a very "listenable" approach to jazz that still manages to swing and offer contemporary solos. I've seen him three times at Vienne and must admit that I have been won over.

Setting aside more "fringe" artists like Melody Gardot, the trend now seems to be towards musicians who are rejecting bop and, indeed, much of the jazz heritage. Another regular visitor has been Armenian pianist Tigran, much lauded by Alyn. I'm afraid I am not a fan and his trio sounded like an attempt to mix Bartok with thrash metal. I found it extremely tedious yet this is exactly the kind of artist a festival like Bracknell would probably put on these days. The music from his recent CD never got off the ground in my opinion even if the complex time signatures and atonal harmonies complete with a affinity for the lower tones of the piano should have made the experience interesting. I'm repelled by his approach yet this seems to now be very much the contemporary style and perhaps represents jazz's "cutting edge." His style cannot be seen as "commercial" and it clearly offers a radical and unique approach to music. However, I'm not convinced what he plays has anything to do with jazz, as personal as his music is. It doesn't help that he is full of his own self-worth that it makes him extremely difficult to warm to. Maybe a group like Go Go Penguin might considered to be an British response to this?

What is intriguing is the popularity of the various styles amongst the Vienne audience. Trad and Free Jazz are largely absent although there is often a nod towards anything New Orleans. I was sorry to miss Irving Mayfield's big band, for example. Some of the other styles that are edgier seem to be beyond post-bop yet I wonder whether the freer elements of the music are now seen as quaint and not quite up-to-date.

I don't think that this year's programme was quite so interesting as has been the case in the past but there are still plenty of wonderful surprises and groups which demonstrate the richness of the music. You come away with a mixture of disappointment with some of the jazz and elation that other bands give you renewed confidence about the music. Hearing someone like Eric Bibb perform is also demonstrative that there are artists still around in their genre who more than match their illustrious peers.

[Ian Thumwood]

I thought that this group were good although the video doesn't really do justice to the love experience. You can't really experience how the horns are sampled and re-mixed live whilst the music is being played.

[MrGongGong]

I'm really enjoying listening to Go-Go penguin after reading your condemnation of them here
(ducks behind sofa)

Music that inspires passion (positive of negative) is always worth checking out IMV

[Ian Thumwood]

I'm really enjoying listening to Go-Go penguin after reading your condemnation of them here
(ducks behind sofa)

Music that inspires passion (positive of negative) is always worth checking out IMV

I think my issue with Go Go Penguin's music was that it was so inoffensive. It was interesting to hear other people's take on things and the four English people I spoke to about the music (including a journalist from Jazzwise) seemed to make similar observations which corroborated my own opinions albeit the young music student I spoke to thought that this group were actually better than many of their British contemporaries.

It is a strange situation as the "contemporary" acts tend not to be too outside and, especially with younger musicians, maybe more approachable so far as the music they produce. The most negative reaction I felt was towards Tigran's music which had not relationship to jazz in my opinion and little real affinity towards spinning out improvised lines. Granted, he is an original and has a prestigious technique but the result was monotonous and probably not too appealing to the majority of the people posting on this board. "Jazz Times" reviewed the album, I see and probably came up with a more positive assessment albeit some of my sentiments are replicated.

http://jazztimes.com/articles/162465-mockroot-tigran-hamasyan

I'm too old to listen to this kind of stuff and prefer something more "traditional" in relation to live jazz - "The Cookers" and Chico Freeman probably offered the most credible and "genuine" approach to jazz but it was noticeable that, other than the bassist and pianist in the latter's group, most of these musicians were of a far older generation. There is a lot of brilliant, new jazz out there yet it is intriguing to see where festival organisers now envisage the music that will put bums on seats being or that may tickle the taste buds in a varied programme.