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Festival Report
SFJAZZ Spring Season PreviewBy Tessa Stuart | Feb 27, 2010
For two weeks every fall, San Francisco hosts a world-class jazz
festival. It's been called "one of America's premier cultural
events
by theLos Angeles Times, "The crown jewel among American jazz
festivals" by the Chicago Tribune and "The #1 jazz festival in
t
world" by London's Observer. But you don't have to wait until
next fall to get a good jazz fix. Luckily SFJAZZ, the organization
tha
presents the fall festival, hosts a series of concerts
throughout the spring for aficionados and amateurs alike -- and I
have to admit th
I am one of the latter. There are a number of true jazz legends
in the line-up, but also world music and bluegrass performers
who
highlight facets of the complex genre. In this way, SFJAZZ is
equal parts nostalgic grandfather-type who tells you about the
hep-ca
who used to play with Coltrane and Miles Davis, and hipster
college-station DJ who introduces you to amazing, obscure bands
yea
before anyone else knows about them.
Here's what I mean: SFJAZZ opened their Spring Season this past
weekend with two performances, Max Raabe and Palast Orcheste
at the Paramount in Oakland on Friday, and on Sunday, Tinariwen
at the Palace of Fine Arts. Raabe is a Berliner who performs
classics; his interpretation of that word stretches to include
Tom Jones' "Sex Bomb" alongside songs from Weimar Republic films
o
the '20s and '30s. It's difficult to explain Tinariwen if you're
not familiar: their sound alternately invites unlikely hybrid
descriptions
like bluesy-Berber-psych-rock -- or defies description
altogether. The band mixes influences from the traditional music of
the Tau
people, a North African nomadic tribe, with Led Zeppelin and
Jimi Hendrix. They formed in a rebel camp in Mali in the late
'70s,
producing music they now describe as "propaganda" for the
insurgent movement. Tinariwen's songs were recorded with
rudimentar
equipment and put on cassettes, which were passed around Africa
for decades before the band burst on the world music scene with
performance at Mali's Festival in the Desert in 2001.
The Spring season's opening performances are just a couple
helpful examples of SFJAZZ's eclectic but exquisitely curated
offering
Here are other picks for the upcoming season:
March 11: Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Congregation Sherith
Israel
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is an all-male a capella group from
South Africa, whose voices you might recognize if you're a fan
of
Paul Simon's Graceland (they can be heard on "Diamonds on the
Soles of Her Shoes" and "Homeless"). The band sings Isicathami
a cross between traditional Zulu music and traditional European
a capella. The result is a relative of the African-American
slave
spiritual inspired by the melodies black workers sing while
forced to work South African diamond mines. The band is considered
so
emblematic of South Africa that they were invited by Nelson
Mandela to sing at both his inauguration and Nobel Peace Prize
ceremony.
http://www.kqed.org/arts/profile/index.jsp?essid=24166http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAAFMKWHfAYhttp://www.kqed.org/arts/profile/index.jsp?essid=24166
8/14/2019 SFJAZZ Spring Season Preview: Music | KQED
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2/24/10 11:3FJAZZ Spring Season Preview: Music | KQED Public
Media for Northern CA
Page ttp://www.kqed.org/arts/music/article.jsp?essid=28006
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March 19: Keith Jarrett Solo at the Davies Symphony Hall
Wynton Marsalis said, "In Jazz, improvisation isn't a matter of
just making any ol' thing up. Jazz, like any language, has its
own
grammar and vocabulary." If jazz is a language, Keith Jarrett
could be its poet laureate. His solo shows are completely
improvised,
and even though he has played with legends like Miles Davis and
Chick Corea, when jazz enthusiasts talk about Jarrett, they
emphasize the singularity of his ability, maintaining he is one
of the best, in terms of artistry and musicianship, living
today.
In April, both Punch Brothers with Chris Thile (4/18) and Booker
T. (4/23) play San Francisco's Herbst Theater. Punch Brothers
is
progressive bluegrass band with heavy classical influences -- in
2007, they performed a 40-minute, 4-movement suite composed by
mandolin prodigy Chris Thile at Carnegie Hall. Booker T. is
probably best known for recording the iconic soul instrumental
"Green
Onions" with the M.G.'s -- a tune that seems to pop up
everywhere from movies to video games, and on all time best songs
lists.(Recognize it?). Last year, Booker T. put out Potato Hole, a
collaboration with Neil Young and alt-country rockers The
Drive-By
Truckers; the record won Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 2010
Grammys.
Also not to be missed: Legendary saxophonist Pharoah Saunders at
Grace Cathedral, April 16; "Brazil's Bob Dylan," Caetano
Veloso, at the Nob Hill Masonic Center, April 17; Sexmob's pop
covers, with DJ Olive at the YBCA, May 25.
SFJAZZ's Spring Season 2010 runs through June 12, 2010 at
various Bay Area locations. For tickets and information visit
sfjazz.o
Resources
SFJAZZ
NPR Topics: Music
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