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| Jazz and Fireworks! The Iowa City Jazz Festival July 3-5 |
© Andrea Canter
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| Perennial favorites - North Corridor Big Band |
It's one of my favorite jazz festivals, and not just because
it's in my home town, and not just because it is free and only a 5-hour drive
from the Twin Cities. The Iowa City Jazz Festival happens to be one of the gems
of summer jazz -- a small-town feel, an historic college-campus venue, and some
of the world's top artists converging over the Fourth of July weekend. And one
of my favorite elements of the ICJF is that I don't need to fret over which
band to hear -- there is one main stage with no competing music; in-between
main stage acts, there are three small stages within a block, hosting high
school, college and community ensembles while the Culinary Row, Beverage
Garden, Artist Booths and FUN Zone are available for fun and fuel. (And of
course there's the adjacent campus hangs offering additional options for air
conditioned respites.)
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| The famed Pentacrest and main stage |
The festival moves back a day this year, starting late
afternoon Thursday (July 3), continuing mid-afternoon Friday (July 4) and
culminating in Saturday's 8-hour finale and one of the best fireworks displays
you'll see in this region. Coming the weekend following the (also free) Twin
Cities Jazz Festival (June 26-28), this makes the Upper
Midwest the early summer Mecca of Jazz.
So who will you hear in Iowa City? There's a decided brass bias this
year, with three amazing trumpeters and 4 outstanding saxophonists in a mix
that also highlights some of the genre's top women bandleaders. Among the 10
main-stage bands:
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Jared Gold Trio (7/3)- One of New York's most
talked-about B-3 specialists, Gold's Trio usually includes acclaimed guitarist
Dave Stryker and young upstart drummer McClenty Hunter
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Pedrito Martinez Group (7/3). One of
the most exciting Afro-Cuban ensembles of the past decade, the Pedrito Martinez
Group has its roots planted firmly in the Afro-Cuban rumba tradition and in the
bata rhythms and vocal chants of the music of Yoruba and Santeria.
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| Ingrid Jensen |
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Nordic Connect (7/34). Based on compositions
she wrote for her work with Maria Schneider, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen now joins
forces with sister saxophonist Christine Jensen to explore their Nordi
Connection. For this tour, Geoffrey Keezer handles the piano. Cool music for a
hot festival.
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Etienne Charles (7/4). Trinidad native trumpeter Etienne Charles brings us
"Creole Soul," his special amalgam of jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, and
gospel in a sextet format.
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Joe Lovano Us Five (7/4). One of the
giants of modern jazz, Joe Lovano struck gold when he formed the two-drum
quintet, Us Five. Esperanza Spalding brought the band a lot of attention early
on, but now --usually with Peter Slavov on bass--the attention rightfully falls
on the music, original compositions and blistering arrangements, with Francisco
Mela and Otis Brown III doubling the fun on drums and pianist James Weidman.
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| Joe Lovano |
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Melissa Aldana and Crash Trio (7/5).
Winner of the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition at 24,
Chilean native Melissa Aldana is already an accomplished bandleader and touring
artist. She's the first female instrumental artist to take top honors in the
history of the Monk competition.
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Anat Cohen Quartet (7/5). Since
emigrating to the U.S. from Israel,
clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen has become one of the most lauded artists of
her generation, from gracing the cover of Jazz
Times to topping readers and critics polls repeatedly as "top
clarinet". Her quartet has covered a wide swath of music from swing to tango
to choro to original works.
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| Anat Cohen |
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Tom Harrell's Colors of a Dream (7/5).
Long considered one of the singular geniuses of modern jazz, trumpeter Tom
Harrell closes the festival with his new sextet, Colors of a Dream, a
horn-heavy outfit with Jaleel Shaw, Wayne Escoffery, Ugonna Okegwo, and
Johnathan Blake. Consider this Fireworks, Part One.
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| Tom Harrell |
Yes, this is all free. Think of it as the Chicago or Detroit
Jazz Festival downsized to one stage. About a five-hour drive from the Twin Cities,
Chicago, Omaha or
St. Louis.
Where Interstate 80 intersects Jazz. Full line-up and more information at http://www.summerofthearts.org/festival-menu/jazz-festival/
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| Jazz on a Summer Day |
