Multiple riffs on the summer jazz festival
By Mike Zwerin Bloomberg News
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2005
Ajazz musician, almost by definition, is not in it for the money. The minority music called jazz is an ethical stance as much as a style, so a "jazz" festival with Crosby, Stills & Nash on the program can be seen to be exploiting its good name. That said, festivals are principally parties, and you can't have a good party without music. Here's a selection.
PARIS JAZZ FESTIVAL A good mixture of French and American musicians on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It costs €3 to enter the park, which is in the Bois de Vincennes. The concerts are free. Bring the kids; there's a large lawn. The performers include Steps Ahead, Aldo Romano, Brian Blade, Henri Texier, Hermeto Pascual, Sara Lazarus and the Bad Plus. Parc Floral de Paris, June 4-July 24,
www.nemomusic.com.
FESTIVAL DJANGO REINHARDT The iconic Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt lived and died in Samois-sur-Seine, a pleasant river town five kilometers from Fontainebleau. This is the 26th season of an annual testimonial to jazz manouche, or Gypsy swing, a style Django pretty much invented, and it includes Gypsy Swing groups led by Latcho Niglo, Yorgui Loeffler and Ninine Garcia. The other performers include Russell Malone, Scott Hamilton, Chucho Valdes and Phil Woods. Samois-sur-Seine, France, June 20-26,
www.django.samois.free.fr.
MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL On the shores of Lake Geneva, Montreux has a long and honorable history (this is the 39th edition), but it has become very large (three simultaneously running major venues, plus a number of others) and long. The festival is a major tourist attraction with its yearly collection of commercial acts such as Kraftwerk, Eagles of Death Metal, Alice Cooper, Tori Amos, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Brian Wilson and Juliette Gréco. They go along with such jazz players as Michael Brecker, Oscar Peterson, Mike Stern, Richard Bona, Stanley Clarke, Bobby McFerrin and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Montreux, Switzerland, July 1-16,
www.montreuxjazz.com.
JAZZ A JUAN Jazz à Juan always comes up with unique programming featuring important and interesting people who like to perform amid the pine trees on the Côte d'Azur. The festival's 45th edition features Biréli Lagrène, Ibrahim Ferrer, McCoy Tyner, the Keith Jarrett Trio, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marcus Miller, Sonny Rollins and the Los Angeles Crenshaw Gospel Choir. Antibes Juan-les-Pins, France, July 14-24,
www.antibesjuanlespins.com.
PORI INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL This jamboree takes place on the Finnish coast 250 kilometers northwest of Helsinki. There are big open-air concerts on the banks of the Kokemaki River, with music around the clock on the riverside jazz street, which is lined with intimate clubs and factory-type halls. Warning: This can become something of a beer festival. Performers include the Pointer Sisters, Jamie Cullum, Charlie Haden, Odean Pope's Salute to Max Roach, Los Van Van and Alice in Dixieland. Pori, Finland, July 16-24,
http://www.porijazz.fi.
MOLDE JAZZ FESTIVAL An agreeable little port on the scenic Norwegian Atlantic coast. The attraction is the good combination of both sides of the music/tourist-engine equation. Without a lot of stars, Molde is a low-budget festival programmed by people who are passionate about the music. This year's roster includes Anthony Braxton and Lauryn Hill as well as such deserving lesser-known European musicians as Bojan Z and Arild Andersen. Following the arms of fjords, you can drive to Mardalsfossen, the highest waterfall in northern Europe. Molde, Norway, July 18-23,
www.moldejazz.no.
SAN SEBASTIAN JAZZ FESTIVAL This is a well-run and imaginatively programmed festival. There are concerts on spectacular squares and sumptuous beaches in a breathtaking city on Spain's Basque coast. Gilberto Gil, the Dave Holland and Charles Mingus big bands, Solomon Burke, Joe Cocker, Benny Golson, Cedar Walton and Bebo Valdés. San Sebastián, Spain, July 22-27,
www.jazzaldia.com.
SIENA JAZZ It's a workshop more than a festival. The focus is on the successive waves of graduate students who have been coming to this beautiful city in the green hills of Tuscany every summer for 35 years. (You can eat very well in Siena.) One thing they are here to learn is how to play for people, so there are several concerts every day. The venues will blow you away. The Italians add up to possibly the best collection of jazz musicians in Europe, though they don't often cross the Alps, so don't worry about not knowing such names as Gianluigi Trovesi, Claudio Fasoli and Stefano Battaglia. Siena, Italy, July 24-Aug. 7,
www.sienajazz.it.
JAZZ IN MARCIAC The festival has put this farming town nestled between fields of sunflowers in southwestern France on the map. Arguably the best jazz festival in Europe, it is, however, growing a bit heavy for its own good. (Whatever happened to "small is beautiful"?) Performers include Ibrahim Ferrer, Randy Brecker, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Taj Mahal, Ravi Coltrane, Ghetto Blaster, Femi Kuti, Omar Sosa, Wynton Marsalis and strings, John Zorn, Michel Portal, Randy Weston, Wayne Shorter and the Count Basie Orchestra. Marciac, France, Aug. 1-15,
www.jazzinmarciac.com.
SANT'ANNA ARRESI JAZZ FESTIVALAvant-garde music on a charming town square, plus great windsurfing and seafood in the southwestern corner of the island of Sardinia. It's worth the detour, and it's not crowded at the end of the season. Enrico Rava, Sun Ra Arkestra, Antonello Salis, Muhal Richard Abrams and Anthony Braxton. Sardinia, Italy, Aug. 24-Sept. 3,
www.santannarresijazz.it.
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