{"id":152,"date":"2009-01-12T10:17:39","date_gmt":"2009-01-12T15:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/2009\/01\/parameters_of_jazz_now\/"},"modified":"2011-04-28T16:34:21","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T20:34:21","slug":"parameters_of_jazz_now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/01\/parameters_of_jazz_now.html","title":{"rendered":"Parameters of jazz now"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Winterjazzfest<\/a> held at three venues in Greenwich Village last Saturday, a smorgasbord of almost two dozen acts offered up to attendees of the Association of Performing Arts Centers conference, gave a hint of some sounds to be heard around the U.S. in the months to come. What I witnessed was diverse, engaging, virtuosic but not didactic. The musicians seem to know they’ve got to be audience-friendly, or go without. So they’ve tailored their acts for clarity, balancing familiarity and novelty but not dumbing down.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nI couldn’t catch all the bands, of course, but arrived in time for the first music: lusty-voiced singer Claudia Acuna and band at (le) Poisson Rouge, interposing a hip-hop beat on “Gracias a la vida,” the nuevo cancion anthem by Violeta Parra, adopted as repertoire by Joan Baez in the early ’70s.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Ubiquitous NYC music photographer\u00c2\u00a0Jack Vartoogian<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0was already there at work.\u00c2\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Then I made a short detour, stopping by Terra Blues<\/a> just down the block — one of NYC’s very few venues devoted to that roots music, to hear Jr. Mack<\/a> play acoustic guitar and sing some unusual historic repertoire in his fine baritone.
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Back to Winterfest, at Kenny’s Castaways, which probably never before had free jazz such as that being advanced by the trio of saxophonist Charles Gayle (on alto), bassist William Parker and drummer Rashid Ali (together, they’re By Any Means Necessary<\/a>). What was “free” about their sound was the unfettered spilling out of a three-way improvisation, Gayle taking the penetrating high register while Parker throbbed a relentless beat which Ali held close to on his high-hat while skittering all around on his other drums. They didn’t scare anyone from the packed house out the door — free jazz, having been a fact of art for almost 50 years, has earned its place as another variety of American music (and anyway, pianist Lafayette Gilchrist with band, jazz journalist K Leander Williams and Sexmob leader-trumpeter Steve Bernstein — all at the bar — weren’t gonna be scared by music firebrands). But By Any Means Necessary does indeed project intensity that stretches ears and minds.<\/div>\n
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Around the corner at Sullivan Hall, Earshot Jazz<\/a> (Seattle) director John Gilbreath introduced keyboardist Jonathan Batiste<\/a>, who came out blowing a melodica plaintively, then elicited some complex bebop lines on the instrument that’s often regarded as a toy. Those lines were picked up by a guest alto saxophonist — announced as being 15 years old — as Batiste moved behind the grand piano. He’s a tall man with large hands and plays with brio; he has impressive range, comprising Monk themes (“‘Round Midnight”) as well as Joplin’s “The Entertainer,” the New Orleans r&b staple “Oom-pah-pah-doo,” wisps of a Chopin prelude and . . .you get the picture? He mixed it all up in surprising sequences for high contrast and won over a crowd that included many music mavens — I saw Margaret Lawrence, director of programming for Hopkins Center<\/a> at Darmouth College; Arnie Molina, artistic director of the Flynn Center<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0in Burlington, VT; Lewis Porter<\/a>, director of the Jazz History and Research program at Rutgers U and Coltrane biographer; frequent Down Beat photographer Bill Douthart;<\/a>Tim Jackson, producer of the Monterey Jazz Festival<\/a>, and Bill Bragin<\/a>, producer of the next nights globalFEST 2009 and director of public programming at Lincoln Center, among others checking out Batiste.<\/div>\n
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Having missed Jason Moran’s Bandwagon trio and Sexmob, I returned to (le) PR for Cuban-born drummer Dafnis Prieto<\/a>‘s Sextet, showcasing his compositions from their new album\u00c2\u00a0Taking The Soul For A Walk<\/a>. Prieto is a hard-slashing, precision percussionist, so quick as to introduce a dozen powerful accents in a measure or two of his written scores, which trumpeter Ralph Alessi, saxophonists Dave Binney and Peter Apfelbaum blew as hot as possible, pianist Manuel Valera and bassist Charles Flores grooving behind them. The music room was filled with listeners who’d just plopped down on the floor, stood at the bar or against the back walls — including blogger Hank Shteamer<\/a>, who also writes for Time Out New York; John Phillips, formerly of George Wein’s Festival Productions and now president of the Live Events division of Festival Network<\/a>, which produces the JVC Jazz Festivals, among other events; Sara Donnelly, jazz-activist program officer of the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation<\/a>, and Philip Bither, senior curator of performing arts at the Walker Arts Center,<\/a> Minneapolis.\u00c2\u00a0<\/div>\n
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It was too crowded and we were all too busy running back and forth to share detailed opinions about the music on display — and my mind was buzzed enough, so home I subway’d, thereby missing lots more; read Nate Chinen’s NY Times review<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0for info on bands I didn’t catch. But for the fifth year, Winter Jazzfest demonstrated some of the breadth and depth of urban and urbane improvisation, American-style. Given the influential audience, a few of these musical acts may well be booked somewhere near you in Obama Years One or Two.<\/div>\n
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The Winterjazzfest held at three venues in Greenwich Village last Saturday, a smorgasbord of almost two dozen acts offered up to attendees of the Association of Performing Arts Centers conference, gave a hint of some sounds to be heard around the U.S. in the months to come. What I witnessed was diverse, engaging, virtuosic but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[153,154,151,152,150,149],"class_list":{"0":"post-152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"tag-by-any-means-necessary","8":"tag-claudia-acuna","9":"tag-dafnis-prieto","10":"tag-jonathan-batiste","11":"tag-jr-mack","12":"tag-winter-jazzfest","13":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-2s","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":151,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/01\/manhattan_jazz_surge_for_apap.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":0},"title":"Manhattan music surge for APAP","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) convenes in Manhattan this weekend, demonstrating the greatest health and resilience of any sector of the jazz-new music economy. Last year more than 4000 attendees registered to schmooze, exhibit, theorize and opine on panels, take in showcase performances and make deals with musicians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1176,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/01\/nycs-hot-winter-jazzfest-and-macy-gray-with-david-murray-big-band.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":1},"title":"NYC’s hot Winter Jazzfest, and Macy Gray with David Murray Big Band","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The second weekend of January is now the fullest on NYC's jazz calendar, with continuation of the high energy, two-night showcase Winter Jazzfest in multiple Greenwich Village venues, and aspirational ensembles elsewhere playing (they hope) for booking agents and curators attending the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters convention. Having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"young lions","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/young-lions-297x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1072,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/10\/jazzers-for-obama-in-nyc-tonight.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":2},"title":"Jazzers for Obama in NYC tonight","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"October 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jazz for Obama talent pool fundraising for the re-election of the President at Symphony Space \u00c2\u00a0(2537 Broadway,\u00c2\u00a0NYC) tonight is\u00c2\u00a0stellar. Roy Haynes, Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau, Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Jim Hall, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ravi Coltrane, Arturo O'Farrill, Kenny Garrett, Geri Allen, Jeff 'Tain\" Watts,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/barack1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":230,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/08\/paeans_to_hank_jones.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":3},"title":"Paeans to Hank Jones","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My profile of pianist Hank Jones, who turned 91 on July 31, is in the August issue of Down Beat and excerpted here. Space limitations disallowed any of the resounding shout-outs I asked for from a bevy of musicians to make the print edition: No such problem on the web!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":74,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/02\/robbegrillets_discordant_moder.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":4},"title":"Robbe-Grillet’s discordant modernism","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"February 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"An arts journalism\/literary detour: Alain Robbe-Grillet deserves better than the clip job and interview bites the New York Times's Rachel Donadio afforded him on the editorial page last weekend. His cinematic and, yes, avant-garde jazz-like (fractured, abstracted, jagged, nagging, rhythmically repetitious, cool to the point of cruel) writing style and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2310,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/09\/jazz-on-millennium-parks-big-screen-pokempner-photos.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":5},"title":"Jazz on Millennium Park’s big screen – PoKempner photos","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"September 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A 40-by-22\u00c2\u00bd-foot LED screen is a dominating feature of the stage in the Pritzker Pavilion of Chicago's Millennium Park, difficult to ignore though many try. Photographer Marc PoKempner does the opposite in his shots from the 39th annual Chicago Jazz Festival: he uses what he (and everybody else) sees to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Boom Tic Boom\"","block_context":{"text":"Boom Tic Boom","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/boom-tic-boom"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/MPK5975-e-300x195.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}