By Forrest Bryant
People like round numbers; it's programmed into our genes. We rate things on a scale from one to ten. Perfect vision is called 20/20. And whenever a birthday party celebrates a round number, we make an extra effort to make that event special and memorable. That's the only logical explanation for this year's San Francisco Jazz Festival, a 20th anniversary blowout that is bound to cement an already growing reputation as one of the nation's premier jazz events.
For 18 days, from October 23 through November 10, the hard-working San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ) will lavish the city with sublime gifts. Thirty-five separate concert events are scheduled for no fewer than eleven venues, from the elegant summit of Nob Hill to the rocky promontories of the Golden Gate. It isn't the cheapest ride in town, but it is guaranteed to thrill.
Of course, the first things one notices in scanning a festival calendar are the headliners - those two or three big names that give the festival credibility. In this case, you might lose the forest for all the trees. Consider the following artists: Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Elvin Jones, Shirley Horn, Greg Osby, Branford Marsalis, Bobby Hutcherson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Patricia Barber, Charles Lloyd, Mark Murphy. Any three would make a festival sound pretty darn good. But that's fewer than half of the big names SFJAZZ has lined up this fall. The biggest problem won't be buying tickets; it will be deciding which tickets to buy.
Starting with a Bang
But enough gushing; let's get down to the nitty-gritty. The extravaganza kicks off on October 23 with two concerts. First up is a freebie by the formidable SFJAZZ All-Star High School Ensemble (don't scoff; these kids were finalists at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington band competition), followed by a massive New Orleans party at the dance-friendly Regency Center ballroom featuring six bands (the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth Brass Bands, plus groups led by Nicholas Payton, Zigaboo Modeliste, Donald Harrison, and Mitch Woods).
If it's those BIG BIG names you're looking for, your first stop may be on Saturday the 26th, when Wayne Shorter, hot on the heels of his Footprints Live album, teams up with Branford Marsalis for a double bill at Masonic Auditorium. Marsalis' latest project honors Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, so much blowing can be expected. Another dynamite double-play comes one night later, when Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine takes the same stage, followed by McCoy Tyner and his big band - the first time that ensemble has visited SF in over a decade. Ornette Coleman shook things up in his last visit to the festival in 1994; his November 7 trio date at Davies Symphony Hall promises to be another night they'll talk about for years. And who could ignore saxophonist Charles Lloyd and his supergroup of Geri Allen, John Abercrombie, and Billy Hart? They'll appear at the Herbst Theatre with the Tomasz Stanko Quartet on November 9.
It's becoming standard practice to feature small ensembles at SFJAZZ events, so duos and trios will be in abundance this year. Michel Camilo's trio will make its first-ever SF Fest appearance at the Palace of Fine Arts on October 30, while avant-garde fans head across town to hear ECM recording artists JackDeJohnette and John Surman along with with the Paul Plimley/Lisle Ellis Duo at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The trios of Shirley Horn and Ahmad Jamal share an evening at Masonic on November 2, while pianist Lynne Arriale leads her own trio at the Florence Gould Theatre (nestled inside the Palace of the Legion of Honor). Ellis Marsalis and Bobby Hutcherson appear together at Herbst the following night, and bandleader Toshiko Akiyoshi trumps 'em all with a rare solo piano performance at the Florence Gould Theatre on November 3.
Blurring Boundaries
Along with the small groups, SFJAZZ has been paying more and more attention to world music lately. Indeed, this fall's festival is not only the best local jazz ticket of the year, but one of the biggest events for international sounds as well. Lovers of Brazilian music will be in heaven, as superstar Caetano Veloso appears at Masonic on October 25, followed three nights later by the legendary artist Hermeto Pascoal (solo, with "a host of instruments") and Banda Mantiqueira at the Palace of Fine Arts.
A number of other concerts will also have a distinctly international flavor Pianist Jon Jang and the mighty David Murray on saxophone will lead a pan-Asian night at Herbst on October 24, including the premiere of a new large-scale work called "Up from the Root!" At the same time, the duo of Bay Area guitar man Charlie Hunter and drummer Idris Muhammad will be at the Regency Center, opposite an acoustic performance by Djelimady Tounkara, leader of Mali's famous Rail Band. The following night, singer/songwriter Ruben Blades comes to the Regency with the same globe-hopping groove laid down in his new album, Mundo. And most intriguing of all is the annual Sacred Space concert, held in the beatific atmosphere of Grace Cathedral on November 1. What will happen when jazz saxophonist James Carter meets Tuvan throat-singers Huun-Huur-Tu in that cavernous echo chamber? It's bound to be a mind-blower.
World fans should also look for mercurial wind player Yusef Lateef, who will play an intriguing duo set with percussionist Adam Rudolph at Yerba Buena on November 1, and emerging flamenco star Vicente Amigo at Herbst on November 8. There will also, of course, be the requisite Latin dance party: in this case Cuban icons Los Van Van, with three performances at the Regency Center (including a family matinee) on November 8 and 9.
Other boundaries will be broken when blues-drenched guitar funk invades the Regency Center on October 26, led by James "Blood" Ulmer, Vernon Reid, and newcomer Johnny A. This is followed by a late-night dance set in which Reid leads The Yohimbe Brothers and turntablist extraordinaire DJ Logic into new realms of jazz-jamming. October 31 sees genre-bending of a different sort, as the Tin Hat Trio joins forces with an avant-garde orchestra called Japonize Elephants for a melting pot of gypsy tango and hillbilly circus music at Yerba Buena.
Tributes Galore!
Tired yet? Well, SFJAZZ isn't. Three tribute shows are on the agenda, as Benny Goodman, Herbie Nichols, and (surprise!) western fiddler Bob Wills each get the posthumous spotlight for a night. The Goodman tribute on October 27 includes a fine lineup of swingers such as Eddie Daniels and Bucky Pizzarelli at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel. Bob Wills, whose Texas Playboys could handle jazz and blues as easily as country music, recorded some his best work in San Francisco just after World War II. So western swing will be the name of the game at Masonic on November 8, as longtime Wills fan Merle Haggard teams up with local band Lost Weekend for a salute to "the best damn fiddle player in the world". In the remaining tribute, Blue Note staples Greg Osby and Jason Moran will join the Jazz Composers Collective's Herbie Nichols Project band at Herbst on November 2 in what's sure to be a fantastic display by New York's younger generation of musicians.
This year's Beacon Award for lifetime contribution to the SF jazz scene will be bestowed on the great Ed Kelly in an all-star tribute at the Palace of Fine Arts on October 29. Joining Kelly will be Eddie Marshall, Khalil Shaheed, Babatunde Lea, Jules Broussard, Michele Rosewoman, and a full gospel choir. The Beacon Award show is always a treat, as the Bay Area's best honor one of their own.
Vocalists aren't plentiful this year, but they will be well represented nonetheless. Young phenom Jane Monheit will take the stage at Herbst on October 27, along with the Bill Charlap Trio, for a night of standards. Patricia Barber, who just gets better and better, will do the modern cool thing at the Palace of Fine Arts on November 6, and latter-day beatniks Mark Murphy and Kurt Elling will close the festival with a hep-fest at Herbst on November 10. But the most interesting vocal night will be November 9, when Bobby McFerrin submits to a "surprise party." SFJAZZ promises a "parade of guests," but their identities will not be revealed to audience or star until they actually take the stage. This one is going to be fun, and should demonstrate the true meaning of improvisation.
As always, tickets for all these shows are selling like hotcakes. Tickets and more information than you could ever need are available at SFJAZZ's Web site: www.sfjazz.org.
One can't help but wonder: if this is how SFJAZZ celebrates its festival's 20th birthday, whatever will they do the next time one of those nice round numbers comes along?
