10:32 PM:
Jamie Baum had more than a septet with her in her show at the Theater at Innovation Square. She had 10 musicians—an decet—including herself. That’s a lot of timbres and textures to work with, in terms of compositions and arrangements. On the flute and alto flute, she was not playing the only peripheral jazz instruments on stage, either. She had a French horn player, too. And the aesthetic definitely seemed to draw on some of the third stream experiments to marry modernist classical composition with jazz. I only stayed for a couple of works, though, since there was a tight schedule of shows this evening.
I thought I would make a quick stop at Parcel 5 for Tito Puente, Jr. and Nestor Torres. But the Latin beats were irresistible, and I spent nearly an hour at that concert. In a bit of a connection point, Baum mentioned she went to school with Torres, who she called an excellent player. Indeed, hearing him live, he was a showman who demonstrated a command of the flute. Puente, Jr. didn’t come out until nearly the end of the first hour of the concert, but once he did, his pounding on the timbales had the whole audience up and dancing. He makes a real effort to continue the legacy of his father, and spoke of his dad’s accolades.
I stopped at the Rochester Metro Jazz Orchestra, who were excellent and tight, on Jazz Street on my way to Max, where I’m currently enjoying the refined jazz of drummer Willie Jones, III and pianist Eric Scott Reed.
I didn’t make it to Avishai Cohen or Bill Frisell, tonight, which is certainly my loss, but it’s hard to feel too regretful when you follow your ears around the festival.
8:43 PM:
There are singers who have a great voice. And then there are singers whose voice is an instrument, a musical tool. Cecile McLorin Salvant is the second kind of singer, whose musicality transcends the medium by which she creates sound. And few singers can do slow ballads, 1920s-style swing tunes, Renaissance court songs, and Broadway musical tunes—but McLorin Salvant does it all. It was a gripping performance.
The Bad Plus had that cool, indie mix of rock and quirky jazz that they are so well known for, even without a pianist and in a new quartet arrangement with a guitarist and saxophonist. The guitarist introduced plugged in soundscapes into the mix, and the saxophone was just another texture in the mixture to help their tunefulness come through. It was still missing something of the original band, aesthetically, but had I not known The Bad Plus before, I wouldn’t have much to complain about. I’m at Jamie Baum now, and will be in and out of shows for the remainder of the night.
6 PM:
Happy Jazz Fest Day 6! We’re over the halfway mark of the festival, but the music is going strong. I’m currently in Kilbourn Hall waiting for The Bad Plus to begin. Cecile McLorin Salvant is directly after, so I probably won’t get an update up until after that – but much to come tonight!
Follow this page for live updates from the Rochester International Jazz Festival on Wednesday, June 24.
Make sure to check out Jazz Festival Day 6: Daily Festival Guide for reviews from last night and recommendations for tonight.
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