Articles by Forrest Dylan Bryant
Monterey Notebook 2007, Part 1: Friday
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 The 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival, held September 21-24, had the deck stacked in its favor from the get-go. Already possessed of the ineffable mystique that comes with being one of the most storied venues in jazz, a famously convivial scene in a legendary setting, this year's edition had the added allure of a golden anniversary--and a heavyweight artist lineup to match. The festival shattered attendance records and, despite a ...
read moreMonterey Notebook 2007, Part 2: Saturday
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 James Hunter: Turning Back the ClockSaturday, 1:00 p.m.--The Arena
Friday night's drizzle has held on tenaciously through the morning hours, turning the 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival into a soggy, mud-speckled event. The Arena is mostly empty as British soul man James Hunter begins the traditional Saturday blues program. But even if much of the sellout crowd is staying home so far, the preponderance of slickers ... read moreMonterey Notebook 2007, Part 3: Sunday
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 Banana Slug String Band: Getting Dirty Sunday, 1:20 p.m.--Garden Stage
“Okay, put down your beers and hold up your munchers!" says the man calling himself Doug Dirt. Several dozen members of the audience comply, raising their arms and working their fingers like snapping jaws. “Great," the man yells encouragingly. “And you guys over here? You're sunbeams!" Huh? What the heck is going on here? read moreMonterey Notebook 2006, Part 3: Sunday
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3Sunday, September 17, 12:30pm - The Night Club
Day Three of the 49th annual Monterey Jazz Festival kicked off with a lively discussion on the topic of “Whatz Jazz and Whatz Not," moderated by writer Dan Ouellette and sponsored by the Jazz Journalists Association. I had the honor of sitting on this panel, along with Seattle-based writer Paul de Barros, writer/broadcaster/producer Willard Jenkins, KCSM-FM morning host Alisa Clancy, and super-reviewer Scott ... read moreMonterey Notebook 2006, Part 2: Saturday
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Saturday, September 16, 1:00pm - The Arena
My calendar says Saturday, but here at the Monterey Jazz Festival it must be Sunday morning. A revival meeting is underway at the Arena stage as the McCollough Sons of Thunder, straight from Harlem's United House of Prayer, fill the air with worshipful brass. It sounds like a Salvation Army convention on Bourbon Street. The McCollough group is unique, not ... read moreMonterey Notebook 2006, Part 1: Friday
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3It was clear from the first press release that the 49th annual Monterey Jazz Festival, presented by Verizon, would feature a mind-boggling array of top jazz talent--Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Kurt Elling, Roy Hargrove and many others crowded the program on five stages over three days (September 15-17). But no roster of names can convey the deep-seated sense of community and exultant atmosphere that pervades the Monterey County Fairgrounds each year. This ...
read moreRobert Glasper at Joe's Pub
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
Robert Glasper QuintetJoe's Pub, NYCJanuary 13, 2006Anyone who attended Robert Glasper's January 13th set at Joe's Pub solely on the basis of Canvas, Glasper's recent recording for Blue Note, was in for a major shock. Canvas is a very well executed, compelling, but quite straightforward jazz album. What Glasper and his crew laid down at Joe's was a glimpse of the music's future, pure and simple.The casually dressed group -- with Glasper at the piano, ...
read moreScott Amendola: Unlimited Possibilities
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
When Scott Amendola sits down at his drum kit, almost anything can happen. That's not mere hyperbole; it's a fact. From his base in Berkeley, California, Amendola provides the rhythmic drive for some of the most creative and acclaimed ensembles in the jazz avant- garde, including the Nels Cline Singers and his own Scott Amendola Band. But he's also the road drummer for the phenomenally popular singer Madeleine Peyroux. Throw in his work with Charlie Hunter and the funky quartet ...
read moreBilly Butterfield & Andy Bartha: Take Me to the Land of Jazz
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
The annals of jazz are full of figures like Andy Bartha and Billy Butterfield. Solid horn players with long, respectable careers as sidemen, they remained on the fringes of popular attention, occasionally brushing greatness but never attaining that status themselves.
Butterfield came close, playing trumpet alongside Bob Crosby, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman in the swing era. His stint with Shaw included a classic solo on the latter's 1940 recording of “Stardust," as well as time in Shaw's groundbreaking Gramercy ...
read moreDavid "Fathead" Newman at Pearl's
by Forrest Dylan Bryant
David “Fathead" NewmanJazz at Pearl'sSan Francisco, CAJanuary 22, 2006When David “Fathead" Newman picks up his weathered tenor saxophone and begins to blow, he doesn't compel you to listen with a towering tone or crazy acrobatics. He does it by connecting with his music on a human level, embodying a depth of feeling that suffuses the atmosphere of the room. You can't help but breathe it in.Newman comes from a world in which the ...
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