September 22nd, 2007
Monterey Notebook: A Change in the Weather
Friday, 6:40 p.m. – The Garden Stage
The 50th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival slides into life on a cool, swinging groove.
Along Came Betty, a streamlined quintet with classic West Cast style, is making pianist Biff Smith’s quirkily titled pieces (“Brad Mehldau’s Monogrammed Guest Towels") sound like old favorites. Smith lays on a touch of the blues as Pete Stock’s personable trumpet and flugelhorn weave gently through the gathering outdoor crowd.
It’s a breezy evening under an unsettled sky — weather forecasts predict rain before the weekend is out, a rarity for the festival. But spirits are warm at the Garden Stage. Riding the band’s steady bounce, guest guitarist Storm Nilson spins clean, riffing lines that defy the gray clouds.
Elsewhere, people are already queuing up for the evening’s other sets. By 7:15, more than 40 people are already in line for guitarist Anthony Wilson’s 8:00 set in the Night Club venue. That number will double within a few minutes.
And when the first raindrops fall at 7:45, the Night Club is instantly full.
September 21st, 2007
Monterey Notebook: You Only Turn 50 Once
Friday, 5:40 p.m. – The Fairgrounds
If you haven’t been lucky enough to score a hotel room within walking distance of the Monterey County Fairgrounds — and if you didn’t book a year in advance, you aren’t lucky — then the experience of attending the 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival begins with a cloud of dust.
See, the Festival’s official parking is on a golf course out behind the fairgrounds, a short walk that seems like miles away. And before you reach the neat green lawn, there’s that field of dusty earth, kicked up by a thousand cars, that gives you the unofficial welcome to Monterey.
Parking completed, the long march begins – clear around the fenced-off grounds to the front gate, past the smell of a dozen charcoal fires starting up in the food court, past a legion of volunteers, some fresh-faced and eager to help, others wary veterans alert for scam artists. Finally, you reach the line of early arrivals stretching along Fairground Road, a jolly band of comrades that goes through the same ritual year after year.
This year’s festival is the most popular yet, judging by ticket sales. The coveted Arena seats always go quickly, but this year grounds tickets for Saturday were gone a full week in advance. Sunday was a sell-out soon afterwards. But this is only fitting: you only turn 50 once.
Inside the gates, things are buzzing. Golf carts whiz to and fro as VIPs and messengers conduct their final tasks before opening the gates. Vendors put the finishing touches on carefully arranged displays of wares. Members of the press meet, greet and drink at an official pre-party. And then, suddenly, it’s show time.
September 20th, 2007
Going to Monterey?
Word from Monterey is that ALL Saturday and Sunday grounds tickets for this weekend’s 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival are GONE. That’s right, they’re sold out. MJF says this is the earliest sell-out for these dates in the entire history of the festival. There are still some grounds tickets available for Friday night as of the time of this posting.
I’m covering the festival for All About Jazz, my third reporting stint at Monterey. As in previous years, I’ll be writing in present-tense blog format, with the raw entries available right here at fojazz.com, and a cleaned-up version with photographs appearing several days later at AAJ. It should be an incredible three days with Ornette Coleman, Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins, Gerald Wilson, Terence Blanchard and many many others on the schedule.
Unfortunately, the weather forecast says rain for the weekend. That could make things a little more challenging than usual. And I’ll have to keep my eye on storm clouds of a different sort since my mother is ill—yet another in a long line of family crises that have turned this year inside-out. She’s showing signs of improvement, and right now I’m planning to hop on a plane immediately after the Festival. So here’s hoping for some good healing vibes from the music!
September 19th, 2007
New Yoshi’s Promises Big Names, Elegant Setting
San Francisco’s jazz profile is about to get a big boost.
Yoshi’s, the renowned Oakland jazz club often called the best venue west of the Mississippi, will open its second location on San Francisco’s Fillmore Street November 28th with an all-star band led by the great drummer Roy Haynes. It’s the beginning of an innovative cross-pollinating lineup that will see heavyweight artists playing in both Oakland and SF, trading off bands between the two clubs.
I attended a sneak preview event for the media yesterday, held amidst the construction dust at 1330 Fillmore, the site of the Fillmore Heritage Center development. The new Yoshi’s will occupy 28,000 square feet over two levels of the 13-story mixed-use building, fronting Fillmore Street and anchoring the city’s long-promised jazz preservation district. The event drew a sizeable crowd from the worlds of print, broadcast and online media, including many representatives of the Bay Area’s Japanese-language press.
Designed by Morimoto, Matano & Kang Architects, the room is still essentially a skeleton at this point, all concrete and bare steel. But elegant contours are clearly visible, and some already-painted areas reveal a palette of welcoming earth tones. The restaurant area will eventually seat 370 between a main floor and a balcony lounge, with private banquet rooms and a traditional tatami room off to the sides. Executive Chef Shotaro Kamio, pointing to a vast kitchen area, promised a menu that would go well beyond sushi to incorporate the full range of contemporary Japanese cuisine.
The club itself, accessible through its own entrance or via the upstairs lounge, will be even larger than the Oakland venue (which itself dwarfs most New York rooms). Approximately 420 seats will be available, including about 100 on the balcony level, which may well prove to have the best view in the house. All seats will be the same price, and will be reserved rather than first-come/first seated as in Oakland. The stage will be curved and raised approximately 3 feet from the floor. Sight lines appear to be good from all points.
The club is scheduled to hold a red-carpet, invitation-only reception on November 27, followed by a one-night appearance by Roy Haynes and his Birds of a Feather Superband, an all-star affair featuring Gary Burton, Ravi Coltrane, Nicholas Payton, Kenny Garrett, David Kikoski and John Patitucci. Haynes will then cross the bay for an additional four nights at Yoshi’s Oakland, minus Burton and Coltrane. This “Bay Bridge World Series,” as co-owner Kaz Kajimura jokingly described it, continues with Taj Mahal, Chick Corea and Charlie Hunter hopping between the two clubs throughout December. Each artist will appear with two bands, one in SF and the other in Oakland.
For now, the San Francisco club will pick up the tradition of presenting local artists on Monday nights. But artistic director Peter Williams stressed that he is experimenting with many different booking ideas, and both venues could see a change over time. One thing that is certain, Williams said, is that the Oakland club will not close or move away from presenting jazz.
Williams also addressed concerns that a high-profile club like Yoshi’s might put the squeeze on the city’s existing, smaller jazz rooms. Williams said he saw the Yoshi’s as “complementing” rather than competing with those clubs. “I always look at their calendars,” he said, “and I try not to interfere with what they’re doing.”
In addition to Yoshi’s, the Fillmore Heritage Center building will house a “soulful American” restaurant called 1300 on Fillmore ("You’ve heard of east meets west, well I’m north meets south,” said chef David Lawrence), a Jazz Heritage Center that Executive Director Peter Fitzsimmons promised would “celebrate jazz history and the future of jazz,” and condominium units. The building has its own parking garage and is on or near several bus lines.
“This is a place where we can express our hearts and souls through jazz,” said Yoshie Akiba, co-founder and namesake of the club, adding, “We are in the right place, at the right time, with the right people” to help restore the Fillmore district’s grand jazz tradition.
Developer Michael E. Johnson agreed. “We’ve been working on this project for six years,” he said, “and in all my time as a developer I’ve never been part of a project that had such overwhelming support” from the city and local community. “We believe this is going to be the finest jazz club in the world.”
Read the San Francisco Chronicle’s take on the event...
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