Jazz a Vienne 2018

[Ian Thumwood]

The evening gig was the best so far and was completely sold out. The first half featured Ambrose Akinmusires quartet with an impressive Sam Harris on piano. I felt the short set was brilliant and reminded me of an update on Kenny Dorham meets early Cecil Taylor.

Next up was Ibrahim Maalouf with a large string orchestra with the words of his extended work being sung by the exceptional Angelique Kidjo. This was brilliant and the trumpeter being a revelation.

So so impressed by yazz Ahmed with a quartet in therror club afterwards. Electronic processed trumpet was clogged up by the acoustics and the sub-Miles playing was a let down on what came before. Marten France was good on drums. Ahmed seems a work in progress.

[Ian Thumwood]

First gig for me on Tuesday was El Cerrito High School Jazz ensemble. 18 year olds tackling HeftI, Bob Curnow, Ellington and Benny Carter. They also performed an Alan Ferber chart. Discussions afterwards revealed that Ferber works with this band of 18 yr olds and is held in high esteem. Is Ferber the most creative writer in jazz today?

Missed some of the blues gigs due to meeting up with a friend but Toronzo Cannon's Chicago blues set was terrific.

Better still.was Marquise Knox who was fantastic. Excellent voice and guitar and an authenticity which was magnetic. Best new blues artist I have heard and contrary to the perception that this music is not relevant.

Sugar Ray Rayford delivered a soul infused set but not so fun. Lucky Peterson had a new band to the one that played Basingstoke which was noisier. Disappointed with his set .

[Ian Thumwood]

Missed the lunchtime gig as I was at lunch with some special friends but heard the exceptional Oregon Jazz Ensemble led by Steve Owen. Another university band tackling contemporary jazz arrangements including Bob Brookmeyer and florian Ross but intrigued by arranger Josh Nelson who was unknown to me. Fantastic and adventurous music and a good barometer by which to gauge the new British jazz. In my opinion this band was of a far higher standard and more ambitious than many similar UK bands of a similar nature.

[Serial_Apologist]

Marten France was good on drums.

A discussion covering contemporary drummers would be interesting if difficult to stage, as there are so many! That said, I'm not so keen on Martin France these days, nothwithstanding the esteem in which he is held by firmly reputable musicians such as Stan Sulzmann, and the late Kenny Wheeler. Whether or not that's down to me and a change in perspectives brought on by ageing - because I liked him when he first appeared on the scene in Ken Stubbs' First House ca. 1987 before he joined Loose Tubes as Steve Arguelles's replacement - today I find him too busily self-absorbed and in an undifferentiated way, tending to disruptively whack in earsplitting nerve-jangling rimshots when they detract rather than adding. I'm not sufficiently up on kits to know if the hard tone he generally achieves is a characteristic of France's particular one. Powerful drumming is at its greatest a surging, energising, even sensuous aspect of performance. I've been made conscious of this as a trend among certain new generation British, in particular, drummers of late, to the point of consciously noting that this is by no means a universal trend, thank goodness. There are creative ways to jolt the music when it needs jolting, and uncreative ones when it doesn't, and I'm afraid Mr France more than tends towards the latter to the extent that I avoid gigs advertising his presence on the stand.

[Ian Thumwood]

Wednesday was a bit of a mish-mash as I missed the lunchtime gig as I was having a meal with some friends. The afternoon set comprised two gigs by an American big band before a group comprising of musicians playing an oud, a kanun, violin, tenor and percussion offered a surprisingly rewarding "world -jazz" performance. The group was led by Amine Mraihi and Hamza Mraihi and included musicians from Switzerland and India. This set was interesting.

I missed the evening gig by French rock legends Magma and an unknown band influenced by Sun Ra led by Thomas De Pouquery as I wanted to watch the England match more. I didn't hear any feedback abut this gig. After the result, I didn't feel like going to watch the British group Mammal Hands afterwards so cannot comment on their performance.

My last day at Vienne was pretty hectic. I saw the fabulous University of Kansas Jazz Ensemble who kicked off with an original called "WMD" which was followed by something Spanish in flavour. The set was largely given over to supporting the famous singer Deborah Brown who has worked with some famous names like Johnny Griffin, Mike Brecker , etc and she sung some terrific numbers including a breakneck vocalese version of "Donna Lee." This band was brilliant and they were then followed by the younger Glenelg Jazz Ensemble which are festival regulars. They played a more traditional big band set but were impressive considering they were all under 18. Having said my goodbyes, I caught the end of the set by group XXL who were more traditional straight ahead jazz ( 2 saxes, trombone, guitar, bass and drums plus a male vocalist.)


The last gig I attended was at the Theatre Antique and was sold out. The first set was by Roy Hargrove's current quintet with Justin Robinson on alto and Quincy Philips impressive on drums. The band was largely unknown to me. I loved this music but I think that there were two reservations. Hargrove chose to sing on a couple of numbers and I don't think his playing is as crisp as it used to be. He is still a snappy dresser but looked a bit haggard . Interestingly, the music really reminded me of Dizzy Gillespie's 1950s output with elements of r n' b amongst the snappy and catchy jazz originals. There was a degree of hipness about it that was engaging yet it made an interesting comparison with the few other trumpeters performing . I was far more impressed with Akinmusire and the music of Yazz Ahmed and Christian Scott was suggestive that Hargrove's issues were suggestive than the music had moved on - not for the better in the case of Ahmed. Hargrove's kind of jazz now seems to have been marooned by the more populist agendas that are apparent.

Last up was Gregory Porter backed by the Orchestre National de Lyon with arrangements provided by the talented Vince Mendoza. Chip Crawford was back on piano but there was not enough of his playing. The arrangements were excellent and offered a more "modern" approach to writing than on the original Nat King Cole repertoire. Interesting to compare and contract with Maalouf's writing earlier in the week and maybe further evidence to support my argument that compositions is where jazz is making strides. Unfortunately, I think that Cole's repertoire is pretty dull and as great as Porter is as a singer, the originals had more zip about them. There is no doubting that Porter is a class act and one of the greatest male jazz singers the music had produced. The arrangements were more interesting than the repertoire. I thought that this gig was good.

[Ian Thumwood]

Some thought about Vienne:-

1. Interesting to see more "orthodox" piano trios as opposed to the previous trend for everything to sound like Bard Mehldau or EST. Hopefully this is a trend for the better as evidenced by the brilliant Christian Sands. It was quite interesting to see that a lot of musicians I spoke to were quite dismissive of the earlier trend. I met one Canadian pianist and he was scathing about Mehldau and suggested that Keith Jarrett's trio was the last great group in this format. I was also intrigued by his comments about modal jazz and how so much music these days is simply build on one chord. Unfortunately this impacted on my listening and it transpired to be true ! Totally pointless doing this in 2018 - either you can okay "on" the scale or "off" the scale. There is effectively little beyond playing pentatonic scales. Time to kick one chord tunes in to touch ? Very prevalent on the African gig but I am more inclined to favour jazz based on changes which offers far more potential. (I am including freer elements of jazz in this too.)


2. Change in what constitutes "contemporary." Intrigued to see that the "now" generation is now about electronic instruments. Glasper's band seemed to have everyone playing a keyboard as well as their own instrument. Also seeing electronic manipulation in the likes of Yazz Ahmed . Perhaps 1970's Herbie is now a point of reference as opposed to John Coltrane ? Acoustic jazz now seems to not be quite so popular.

3. "Old hat" - I did not hear any traditional / mainstream jazz which has largely been absent from Vienne since the early 2000's. Hard Bop is now pretty much absent too although there were a few groups who played n this style. The younger generation of fans are not in to this at all.

4. "Swing" - I had some interesting discussions with musicians about swing. Dan Gailey of the KCJE proved to be a really interesting bloke and I must admit that I found his comments fascinating. Basically he was saying that no one swings these days. He made a comment about there being no playing like Johnny Griffin anymore but was also open to free jazz and admired the Dutch scene having lived there for a number of years. He did not seem too impressed by the current contemporary scene.


5. As well as loving the music by a trio from Bordeaux who I befriended, I was interested to listen to what they had to say about jazz. A lot of admiration for more orthodox stuff and musicians like John Scofield but surprised by comments about ECM continually making the same record over and over again. Not all Europeans are enamoured by this label.


6. Audience reaction - Fascinating to see what audiences prefer. The biggest draw is always the American college bands with the venue packed out for this performance. Got to say that the range of music played is pretty impressive ranging from Basie to Brookmeyer and audiences not phased by original works either. I had a conversation with a couple of blokes associated with one band and was fascinated to hear their perceptions about music. There was a lot of admiration and affection for Alan Ferber from the California based big band where the trombonist frequently teaches. Quite intrigued to find the number of excellent musicians who work with the college bands but the notion that it is just the likes of Marsalis needs to be knocked on the head. I still think that big band sound relevant and from the experience of the last two weeks, far more so that Hard Bop. A lot of really advance stuff is now being written for larger ensembles and the college bands have no fear in tackling this music.


7. Quality of European musicians - The picture is far broader than the impression we get in the UK and the fancied names are not always the most rewarding.

8. Other than electronica, World Music seems to be pretty influential in contemporary jazz.

9. Singers - They still have an appeal but for the first time I witnessed someone who was influenced by a contemporary artist like Esperanza Spalding.

10. Rap - surprised by the lack of interest in this gig.

11. Blues - Anyone who thinks the Blues are dead needs to reconsider.

[Ian Thumwood]

[Ian Thumwood]

[Ian Thumwood]

[Ian Thumwood]

[Ian Thumwood]

[Ian Thumwood]

[Serial_Apologist]

I am more inclined to favour jazz based on changes which offers far more potential. (I am including freer elements of jazz in this too.)

I don't suppose we'll ever overcome our differences re the relative weight of improvisation v. composition in being the main evolutionary driver in jazz, Ian, but that said, I think we're likely to agree on your above statement regarding the current state of affairs, whichever takes precedent.

Interesting other observations too, for which many thanks - along with the following links, which I shall listen to this afternoon, curtains drawn, in the coolness and comfort of my habitat!

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Some thought about Vienne:-

1. Interesting to see more "orthodox" piano trios as opposed to the previous trend for everything to sound like Bard Mehldau or EST. Hopefully this is a trend for the better as evidenced by the brilliant Christian Sands. It was quite interesting to see that a lot of musicians I spoke to were quite dismissive of the earlier trend. I met one Canadian pianist and he was scathing about Mehldau and suggested that Keith Jarrett's trio was the last great group in this format. I was also intrigued by his comments about modal jazz and how so much music these days is simply build on one chord. Unfortunately this impacted on my listening and it transpired to be true ! Totally pointless doing this in 2018 - either you can okay "on" the scale or "off" the scale. There is effectively little beyond playing pentatonic scales. Time to kick one chord tunes in to touch ? Very prevalent on the African gig but I am more inclined to favour jazz based on changes which offers far more potential. (I am including freer elements of jazz in this too.)


2. Change in what constitutes "contemporary." Intrigued to see that the "now" generation is now about electronic instruments. Glasper's band seemed to have everyone playing a keyboard as well as their own instrument. Also seeing electronic manipulation in the likes of Yazz Ahmed . Perhaps 1970's Herbie is now a point of reference as opposed to John Coltrane ? Acoustic jazz now seems to not be quite so popular.

3. "Old hat" - I did not hear any traditional / mainstream jazz which has largely been absent from Vienne since the early 2000's. Hard Bop is now pretty much absent too although there were a few groups who played n this style. The younger generation of fans are not in to this at all.

4. "Swing" - I had some interesting discussions with musicians about swing. Dan Gailey of the KCJE proved to be a really interesting bloke and I must admit that I found his comments fascinating. Basically he was saying that no one swings these days. He made a comment about there being no playing like Johnny Griffin anymore but was also open to free jazz and admired the Dutch scene having lived there for a number of years. He did not seem too impressed by the current contemporary scene.


5. As well as loving the music by a trio from Bordeaux who I befriended, I was interested to listen to what they had to say about jazz. A lot of admiration for more orthodox stuff and musicians like John Scofield but surprised by comments about ECM continually making the same record over and over again. Not all Europeans are enamoured by this label.


6. Audience reaction - Fascinating to see what audiences prefer. The biggest draw is always the American college bands with the venue packed out for this performance. Got to say that the range of music played is pretty impressive ranging from Basie to Brookmeyer and audiences not phased by original works either. I had a conversation with a couple of blokes associated with one band and was fascinated to hear their perceptions about music. There was a lot of admiration and affection for Alan Ferber from the California based big band where the trombonist frequently teaches. Quite intrigued to find the number of excellent musicians who work with the college bands but the notion that it is just the likes of Marsalis needs to be knocked on the head. I still think that big band sound relevant and from the experience of the last two weeks, far more so that Hard Bop. A lot of really advance stuff is now being written for larger ensembles and the college bands have no fear in tackling this music.


7. Quality of European musicians - The picture is far broader than the impression we get in the UK and the fancied names are not always the most rewarding.

8. Other than electronica, World Music seems to be pretty influential in contemporary jazz.

9. Singers - They still have an appeal but for the first time I witnessed someone who was influenced by a contemporary artist like Esperanza Spalding.

10. Rap - surprised by the lack of interest in this gig.

11. Blues - Anyone who thinks the Blues are dead needs to reconsider.

Swing..."He made a comment about there being no (one) playing like Johnny Griffin anymore..."

I think Griffin was a force of nature, was (at least) the equal of Dexter, incredible stamina and invention almost up until the end. And some really fascinating (overlooked) diverse albums on Riverside. He wasn't just about "speed" and technique.

Interesting comments from Ian throughout. I confess I've not been *that* impressed with the Christian Sands I've heard (a double CD from the Montmartre in Copenhagen), but I've a friend who saw, heard and met him there, and she said he was outstanding.

[CGR]

Thanks for the interesting set of reviews and the summary.

Not sad to see a lack of interest in rap.

Pitty about the lack of interest in mainstream jazz and hardbop at these festivals and big promoted shows. Down at the grassroots of the pub jam sessions they are the bread & butter. And my bet is that most player's jazz cd collections are dominated by the old Blue Note recordings.