![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/First-set.jpg\")
<\/a>Pictured left to right: a Rifftides<\/em> staff member introducing”\u00a0”\u00a0pianist Randy Porter, bassist Nicki Parrott, guitarist Mimi Fox, drummer Chuck Redd, clarinetist Ken Peplowski, trumpeter Byron Striping, tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and Ms. Hofmann. In the course of the opening jam, pianist Mike Wofford, bassist Tom Wakeling, drummer Todd Strait and singer Dee Daniels also contributed.<\/p>\nFor the most part, rehearsals consisted solely of Green Room discussions about tunes and keys. In a series of mix- and-match encounters, musicians from both coasts of the US and places in between relied on the common language shared by first-rate players\u00e2\u20ac\u201dharmonic knowledge, swing, and the ability to stimulate and surprise one another. Not all was unrehearsed. There were two regularly constituted small bands. Pianist Benny Green\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trio with bassist David Wong and drummer Rodney Green played two concerts.<\/p>\n Green paid homage to some of the pianists whose examples helped shape his style, beginning with his version of Cedar Walton’s “Something in Common.” He moved on through Horace Silver’s “St. Vitus Dance” and a massive approach to McCoy Tyner’s “Fly With the Wind.” He caressed Fred Lacey’s “Theme for Ernie” and took Thelonious Monk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u015352nd Street Theme\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at a supersonic tempo. In the Monk piece, the substance and continuity of his improvised piano line at burnout speed astonished the audience as well as his fellow musicians crowding the wings backstage. Rodney Green, using wire brushes in his solo on the piece, was remarkable in his inventiveness. Wong\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s big, centered, tone, firm time and melodic solos were a revelation throughout both of the quartet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sets.<\/p>\n From Portland, pianist Darrell Grant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quartet MJ New saluted the Modern Jazz Quartet in a program of pieces from the MJQ repertoire and two of Grant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s compositions. In John Lewis pieces including \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Versaille\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Django,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d his classic arrangement of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Autumn in New York,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and Milt Jackson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bags\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Groove,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s combination of tonal delicacy and insistent swing captured the aura of the MJQ. Still, Grant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s originals \u00e2\u20ac\u0153An Elise Affair\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bach to Brazil,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were highlights. In the collegial spirit of the weekend, clarinetist Peplowski sat in on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All The Things You Are.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He and Stripling joined Grant, vibraphonist Mike Horsfall, bassist Marcus Shelby and drummer Carlton Jackson on the set\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finale, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bags\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Groove.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Horsfall, like Grant a yeoman figure in the impressive Portland jazz community, is an original vibist, far from being a Jackson clone.<\/p>\n Mimi Fox began her set unaccompanied with a full-bodied workout on Chick Corea’s “500 Based”\u00a0in Portland and known internationally, Rebecca Kilgore, teamed with Harry Allen. She and the tenor s The exception to the general chamber music aspect of the festival was Chuck Redd\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance on vibes with the Swing Shift Jazz Orchestra. The big band from Eugene, Oregon,”\u00a0”\u00a0is populated by avocational players, including music teachers, but has the polish of a professional group.<\/p>\n<\/a> Through the weekend, all of that worked to a remarkable degree, thanks to the talent of the players and singers, Ms. Hofmann\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s organizational ability and the skill of the volunteer stage crew and audio staff, whose work is at a professional level. Here, following on the two-tenor saxophone tradition of Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons, we see Harry Allen and Ken Peplowski with bassist Wakeling and drummer Redd. Mike Wofford was at the piano, a fount of harmonic ingenuity, as he was in several settings during the festival.
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\nIn his set, Stripling alternated between meaty swing-to-bop trumpet inventions and the entertainer persona he has built on the example of Louis Armstrong. Flowery and exhibitionist in a long virtuoso introduction to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Found a New Baby,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he then shifted to quiet exposition of melody for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In a Mellotone,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with references to the minimalist style of Harry \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sweets\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Edison. When Dee Daniels joined him, they traded vocal choruses and scatted energetically on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every Day I Have The Blues.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nicki Parrott was the bassist. In her own opening night set, Ms. Daniels sang a moving version of “All The Way” from her recent album<\/a>, introduced her funky and amusing 16-bar song “Midlife Crisis,” and brought on Peplowski to play a clarinet obbligato behind her restrained “Lover Man.” Her vocalese variations at the end of the song brought an ovation.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> MilesHigh,” shifted down into “Darn That Dream,” then brought on Mike Wofford for a ”\u00a0piano-guitar duet performance of Paul McCartney’s “She’s Leaving Home” that was rich in complex harmonies. ”\u00a0Wofford stood by while she explored “Have You Met Miss Jones” alone, then rejoined her. Now, having promised surprises, Ms. Fox called out Ms. Hofmann, Tom Wakeling and Chuck Redd for Jobim’s “Triste.” The ingenious”\u00a0modulations in her solo raised eyebrows on stage. ”\u00a0Introducing “Willow Weep For Me” and instructing Redd to set up a funk beat, she announced, “I’m not sure this is going to work.” It worked.<\/p>\n<\/a>axophonist performed several pieces from their album <\/a>demonstrated throughout the”\u00a0set that her phrasing and note substitutions tap more deeply into the essence of jazz than some singers’ multiple choruses of scatting. Nicki Parrott joined her to sing “Two Little Girls From Little Rock” from the motion picture Gentlemen Prefer Blondes<\/em>. Afterward (right), they relaxed in the Green Room as Holly Hofmann strolled by.<\/p>\n