IMN has invited the Artistic Director of the Flynn Theater and the Discover Jazz Festival, Arnie Malina, to guest-blog for us on the action happening in Montreal this week. We’ve always admired his insights and hope you will as well.
I was listening to saxophonist Joel Miller in L’Astral, who has a commanding, rich tone, musical phrasing and some good compositions. He’s a Montrealer (and husband of Christine Jensen, saxophonist) and midway in his set he dedicates a song to Len Dobbin, whom we are informed passed away at 1a.m….. This is a shock to me, since I sat next to Len at two of the concerts of the past week and had seen him at many more. He gave me his card, and he had come to Burlington at least a half dozen times for various jazz events over the last ten years at the Flynn. He always asked to say hello back stage to various jazz musicians he knew. He was that kind of jazz fan. On his card, next to a cartoon sketch of his weathered face, it says “Len Dobbin, Friend to jazz (since 1948). He was Montreal’s most beloved jazz fan, writer, reviewer, historian, photographer, and columnist. He was a researcher for The Dorothee Berryman Show on radio Canada and a participant in the Down Beat Critics Poll. Also on his card it says he is author of Jazz Recollections( a book in progress). Undoubtedly his children and friends will see to it that these are published. The remainder of the Festival is in his honor.
I had the pleasure of listening to George Wein’s Newport All Stars with a great supporting line-up performing all kinds of music from the 40’s and 50’s and performing it very well. When you have musicians of the caliber of Lewis Nash, drums, Lew Tabackin, sax and flutes, Randy Sandke, trumpet, Howard Alden, guitar, and Peter Washington bass, you know you’re in good hands. The various numbers by Dizzy Gillespie were especially satisfying and George Wein singing an encore, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” was a charmer. Wein’s piano playing also served the music well. Wein of course is the creator of the “father”of all jazz festivals, Newport, 55 years ago. It’s a pity that the house wasn’t full and it was a decidedly older demographic inside listening to some classic stuff.
Outside, it’s a Friday night, the first sunny day in two weeks, and thousands of people are streaming onto the various free stages; there’s always someone you haven’t heard of, these days always a mix of cultures looking for that spark of collaboration, and always the possibility of making a discovery, but just as likely these stages are taken up by middle-stream talents performing music that is not particularly distinguished. One of the darlings (this is a word often used in the program notes of this 30th anniversary festival) and one of the major free Anniversary events is the super-talented guitarist Jesse Cook and a program called The Rumba Foundation. Like many of these special free events, including Florence K from last week, it has a cast of thousands (well, OK about 40) performing on flamenco guitars, various percussion, voice, etc presenting a potpourri of music from all over the world that in some way connects to the rumba. It’s quality entertainment but pretty much a mélange. I watch it on a video screen with thousands of people in the back of the actual stage, and catch just the first half.
I get to Gesu, the Center of Creativitie, the jewel box of an intimate theatre that was once a church, to hear Indian-American composer, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa with his new trio, Indo Pak Coalition. Mahanthappa is becoming one of our finest saxophone/composers with an adventurous take on jazz and his Indian heritage. His technique is prodigious and his musical instincts generous and deep. He’s playing here with guitar virtuoso Rez Abbasi and tabla/percussionist Dan Weiss. They are playing cuts from their first CD, 2008 “Apti,” which Rudresh explains comes out of many years of avoiding making an Indian/jazz mix until his knowledge and experience had matured, so as to avoid charges of exploitation of his culture and of exoticism. I’m taking it all in, its original stuff that pleases on many levels; it’s witty, passionate, musically adventurous and it’s never predictable. The exchange between the three musicians is also creative. Hoping to bring this band to Burlington to follow up on the Vijay Iyer/ Rudreshquartet we presented about three years ago.
Rudresh also mentions, as intro to his composition, “You Talk Too Much” that this is his response tonight to the Canadian blogger from the Montreal Gazette who wrote this offensive, sexist, boorish and ignorant review of Maria Schneider’s performance a few days ago, one which I praised ecstatically in an earlier blog. The “critic” caused an uproar. You can google to see what all the fuss is about by going to YouTube: Maria Schneider Bare Arms.
I say hello to Rudresh after the concert with a bunch of other admirers and we watch him answer questions and sell his various CDs from a decade of great work. He practically sells all of them, $20 each, and gets to exchange comments with old and new fans; it’s an important part of a musician’s life.
That’s it from this festival this year; two more days left, including the final mega free event on Sunday night, La Fiesta Cubana with Los Van Van and the Afro-Cuban All Stars followed byBen Harper. I’m going back over the border and back to Burlington…..
