Entertainment
FESTIVAL REVIEW: The 2007 Montreal International Jazz Festival
Wed, Jul 11, 2007 12:13 pm
By Mitch Myers
Once again I found myself faced with a decision: What to do for the 4th of July holiday? After much deliberation, checking my press credentials and my bank balance, I finally decided that the most patriotic thing I could do was go to see Bob Dylan play at the Montreal Jazz Festival on Independence Day.
It wasn’t just the Dylan show that I was going to attend. The Montreal Jazz Festival ran from June 28 until July 8 with over 650 performances, almost 400 of them free. I was going to be there for just over a week. The festival is extremely diverse and not at all restricted to jazz; there was also plenty of rock, electronic, and world music, lots and lots of world music.
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonist Josh Redman both performed at the festival. Marsalis presented Congo Square with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra while Josh Redman played it straight with a small group – and each man was at the top of his game. No longer young jazz lions, both veterans showed exactly why they are considered premier performers in contemporary jazz.
The outdoor performances in Montreal are designed for the masses and big entertainment is mandatory, as illustrated by bandleader Carlinhos Brown, who kicked off the opening night with a huge contingent of beautiful dancing girls and an army of percussionists.
Another huge outdoor event was a concert by Seun Kuti & Egypt 80. Seun and his band performed a wild, rhythmic tribute to Seun’s late father, the king of the Afrobeat, Fela Kuti.
One of the more impressive jazz moments was a dazzling concert by the Keith Jarrett Trio. The Jarrett show was piano jazz at its most melodic and idyllic; ably anchored by the lighter-than-air rhythm section of Gary Peacock on bass and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Jarrett indulged himself in a number of beautiful ballads, all of which were “standards” made popular a half-century ago.
Another important event was the performance of the Wayne Shorter Quartet, with special guests the Imani Winds. Mixing this classic jazz band with a classically oriented wind ensemble was something that only Wayne Shorter could pull off. Shorter is seventy-five and his saxophone playing is still vital, his compositions still challenging, and the improvisation that goes on between Shorter, pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade is no less than spectacular. This band must be seen repeatedly in order to fully appreciate their spontaneity.
Additionally, multi-culti ringmaster Manu Chao and his Radio Bemba Sound System made their first appearance in Montreal in six years playing offsite, away from the rest of the festival.
There were also concerts by Angélique Kidjo, Sean Lennon, and one of my old favorites, Van Morrison. Van the Man has smooth and profession band these days, with plenty of musicians to make sure that the sound is full. Van came out in a sharp suit and hip fedora, playing alto saxophone and looking every inch the jazzman. His voice is still in great shape and the music was mostly jumping R&B from some of his later albums. But Van still played “Moondance,” and closed out the show with a long, rocking version of “Gloria.”
A late evening jazz series was held at the Gesù Theater, a small, converted church that hosted some excellent/outside/left-of-the-dial talent. Some of the acts that I saw/heard at Gesù included the atmospheric guitarist David Torn, the humorously devilish Italian piano virtuoso Stefano Bollani, the icily mesmerizing Tord Gustavsen Trio, and the hypnotic singer/oud player Dhafer Youssef, who put on a show that combined strings, electronics, tablas and Sufi chanting. The entire Gesù experience was beautiful.
After Gesù there was the late night scene at Club Soda, where world-class DJs and dance bands ruled the roost from midnight until morning. The acts included Mr. Scruff, Girl Talk, British house masters Swayzak Sound System, Bay Area funk mob The Coup, and Brazilian mixmaster Amon Tobin. The place was jumping almost every night.
Finally, on the 4th of July, I was chillin’ with Bob Dylan. On the first three songs Bob was back to playing electric guitar, which was very unusual because he’s been playing piano for the last couple of years. He kind of looked like Zorro, dressed in black with a large flat hat – very stylish. Dylan sounded great and bluesy on the guitar and it was shaping up to be an incredible show when he switched back to the keyboard. This would have been fine too, except instead of playing piano, Dylan is playing the organ now, which he did for the rest of the night. While Dylan is an accomplished musician, he used the organ to help him keep tempo on his vocals, which transformed some song arrangements into simpler rhythmic structures that went against the groove the band has established of late.
So again, after all these years, we had Dylan in transition, pushing his Americana-styled band into a realm that they weren't familiar or comfortable with and really not sure what to do other than play their parts the way they had rehearsed. This worked well enough on most numbers, but slowed things down on a few important tunes, particularly “High Water Everywhere.”
Dylan's voice is not what it used to be but that wasn't really the problem. At his age, Dylan feels like he has to play it safe a good part of the time, which, I felt, he did. He played only one complete harmonica solo, and another one where he seized up physically, looked oddly uncomfortable, and stopped playing completely – fixing his hair and hat and trying to regain his composure. I thought it was a bad sign, he’s a fantastic harmonica player with a style that is still totally unique after all this time and it looks like he is just plain running out of air.
The “All Along The Watchtower” encore has become perfunctory in recent years, but the stuff off the new album sounded great (see below for full set list).
Independence Day with Bob Dylan was the perfect way to cap off a great week in Montreal. What better way to assert one’s independence than by seeing live music and smoking good herb for eight days straight?
Set list for Bob Dylan at Montreal Jazz Fest:
Rainy Day Women, Don't Think Twice It’s All Right, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, It's Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), When The Deal Goes Down, Rolling and Tumbling, Shelter From The Storm, High Water (For Charley Patton), Spirit On The Water, Tangled Up In Blue, Chimes Of Freedom, Highway 61, Nettie Moore, Summer Days. Like A Rolling Stone, Thunder On The Mountain, All Along The Watchtower
Once again I found myself faced with a decision: What to do for the 4th of July holiday? After much deliberation, checking my press credentials and my bank balance, I finally decided that the most patriotic thing I could do was go to see Bob Dylan play at the Montreal Jazz Festival on Independence Day.
It wasn’t just the Dylan show that I was going to attend. The Montreal Jazz Festival ran from June 28 until July 8 with over 650 performances, almost 400 of them free. I was going to be there for just over a week. The festival is extremely diverse and not at all restricted to jazz; there was also plenty of rock, electronic, and world music, lots and lots of world music.
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonist Josh Redman both performed at the festival. Marsalis presented Congo Square with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra while Josh Redman played it straight with a small group – and each man was at the top of his game. No longer young jazz lions, both veterans showed exactly why they are considered premier performers in contemporary jazz.
The outdoor performances in Montreal are designed for the masses and big entertainment is mandatory, as illustrated by bandleader Carlinhos Brown, who kicked off the opening night with a huge contingent of beautiful dancing girls and an army of percussionists.
Another huge outdoor event was a concert by Seun Kuti & Egypt 80. Seun and his band performed a wild, rhythmic tribute to Seun’s late father, the king of the Afrobeat, Fela Kuti.
One of the more impressive jazz moments was a dazzling concert by the Keith Jarrett Trio. The Jarrett show was piano jazz at its most melodic and idyllic; ably anchored by the lighter-than-air rhythm section of Gary Peacock on bass and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Jarrett indulged himself in a number of beautiful ballads, all of which were “standards” made popular a half-century ago.
Another important event was the performance of the Wayne Shorter Quartet, with special guests the Imani Winds. Mixing this classic jazz band with a classically oriented wind ensemble was something that only Wayne Shorter could pull off. Shorter is seventy-five and his saxophone playing is still vital, his compositions still challenging, and the improvisation that goes on between Shorter, pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade is no less than spectacular. This band must be seen repeatedly in order to fully appreciate their spontaneity.
Additionally, multi-culti ringmaster Manu Chao and his Radio Bemba Sound System made their first appearance in Montreal in six years playing offsite, away from the rest of the festival.
There were also concerts by Angélique Kidjo, Sean Lennon, and one of my old favorites, Van Morrison. Van the Man has smooth and profession band these days, with plenty of musicians to make sure that the sound is full. Van came out in a sharp suit and hip fedora, playing alto saxophone and looking every inch the jazzman. His voice is still in great shape and the music was mostly jumping R&B from some of his later albums. But Van still played “Moondance,” and closed out the show with a long, rocking version of “Gloria.”
A late evening jazz series was held at the Gesù Theater, a small, converted church that hosted some excellent/outside/left-of-the-dial talent. Some of the acts that I saw/heard at Gesù included the atmospheric guitarist David Torn, the humorously devilish Italian piano virtuoso Stefano Bollani, the icily mesmerizing Tord Gustavsen Trio, and the hypnotic singer/oud player Dhafer Youssef, who put on a show that combined strings, electronics, tablas and Sufi chanting. The entire Gesù experience was beautiful.
After Gesù there was the late night scene at Club Soda, where world-class DJs and dance bands ruled the roost from midnight until morning. The acts included Mr. Scruff, Girl Talk, British house masters Swayzak Sound System, Bay Area funk mob The Coup, and Brazilian mixmaster Amon Tobin. The place was jumping almost every night.
Finally, on the 4th of July, I was chillin’ with Bob Dylan. On the first three songs Bob was back to playing electric guitar, which was very unusual because he’s been playing piano for the last couple of years. He kind of looked like Zorro, dressed in black with a large flat hat – very stylish. Dylan sounded great and bluesy on the guitar and it was shaping up to be an incredible show when he switched back to the keyboard. This would have been fine too, except instead of playing piano, Dylan is playing the organ now, which he did for the rest of the night. While Dylan is an accomplished musician, he used the organ to help him keep tempo on his vocals, which transformed some song arrangements into simpler rhythmic structures that went against the groove the band has established of late.
So again, after all these years, we had Dylan in transition, pushing his Americana-styled band into a realm that they weren't familiar or comfortable with and really not sure what to do other than play their parts the way they had rehearsed. This worked well enough on most numbers, but slowed things down on a few important tunes, particularly “High Water Everywhere.”
Dylan's voice is not what it used to be but that wasn't really the problem. At his age, Dylan feels like he has to play it safe a good part of the time, which, I felt, he did. He played only one complete harmonica solo, and another one where he seized up physically, looked oddly uncomfortable, and stopped playing completely – fixing his hair and hat and trying to regain his composure. I thought it was a bad sign, he’s a fantastic harmonica player with a style that is still totally unique after all this time and it looks like he is just plain running out of air.
The “All Along The Watchtower” encore has become perfunctory in recent years, but the stuff off the new album sounded great (see below for full set list).
Independence Day with Bob Dylan was the perfect way to cap off a great week in Montreal. What better way to assert one’s independence than by seeing live music and smoking good herb for eight days straight?
Set list for Bob Dylan at Montreal Jazz Fest:
Rainy Day Women, Don't Think Twice It’s All Right, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, It's Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), When The Deal Goes Down, Rolling and Tumbling, Shelter From The Storm, High Water (For Charley Patton), Spirit On The Water, Tangled Up In Blue, Chimes Of Freedom, Highway 61, Nettie Moore, Summer Days. Like A Rolling Stone, Thunder On The Mountain, All Along The Watchtower
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i'm you
Jul 19 2007, 11:49 am
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