By Nancy Robinson

When you love contemporary Jazz, the Capital Jazz Fest in Columbia Maryland should be a definite on your summer plans and festival list. A whopping twenty-six concerts in three days. No wonder they draw over 20,000 people! This is truely one of the world's largest jazz festivals dedicated to contemporary jazz. Two stages keep the smooth sounds continuous and huge selections of food and crafts (and yes, ample washroom facilities) keep the crowd from waiting too long in any line.

Jonathan Butler	Chuck Mangione	Tom Scott	Rick Braun	Warren Hill	Regina Carter	Oleta Adams

The festival is held at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland with two stages. The main stage is the Pavilion stage itself, with six concerts Saturday and seven more Sunday. In between those concerts, there were five more concerts at the outdoor Symphony Woods stage, about a five-minute walk through the country's largest grove of beech trees. The music is constant from noon until 10 pm.

The festival kicked off with two free concerts Friday evening at the Columbia Town Lake, featuring local talent Collaboration, a creative ensemble of six who play a good mix of jazz, R&B and inspirational, and Debbie Kirkland -- a vocalist who graduated from Duke Ellington School of the Arts and performed extensively in the Baltimore/Washington area and in Chicago. Her first CD was released earlier this year.

Saturday started with two talented jazz women on both stages. Angela Bofill's sweet vocals opened the Pavilion stage and Regina Carter's distinctive violin opened the Symphony Woods stage.

Great weather encouraged people to move back and forth between the stages readily as the acts changed: Angela was followed on the Pavilion stage by legendary Chuck Mangione in fine form, then the ever-popular and rarely-touring Jeff Lorber, fabulous & funky Tom Scott, outstanding guitarist and vocalist Jonathan Butler, and the headline-closer Saturday night was a fantastic two-hour set by the Capital Jazz All-Stars: Everett Harp, Peter White, Marc Antoine and Kirk Whalum.

In between those great sets, the Symphony Woods stage was humming with steady saxman Eric Marienthal, local keyboardist Marcus Johnson, the ever-eclectic & creative Tuck & Patti and the original "R&J" (rhythm & jazz) band, Fattburger.

Sunday followed the high standard set Saturday. Fast-rising keyboardist Brian Culbertson opened on the Pavilion stage and Warren Hill proved his crowd-pleasing popularity with an outstanding opening performance on the Symphony Woods stage.  

The incredible music continued with major names in the Contemporary Jazz world on the Pavilion stage: distinctive vocals of Phil Perry, unique and prolific sax of Richard Elliot, smooth guitar chords of Earl Klugh, major trumpeter Rick Braun. Oleta Adams showed her command of the vocals and the piano, and long-time saxman David Sanborn was the headline-closer.  

The temperature and talent were heating up on the Symphony Woods Stage Sunday as well. After Warren, Gregg Karukas took the stage as the keyboard headliner -- out on his own at Capital Jazz after backing Boney James last year. Another very talented musician who has also been here as a band-member followed with his own headline act; Steve Cole played many hot pieces from his new "Stay Awhile" CD. The legendary jazz-rock pioneer Larry Coryell was next, showing that he has not slowed down at all since early fusion days. Around sunset, the crowd really got wild with a very upbeat performance by vibes master Roy Ayers.

Kemp Mill Music did an excellent job hosting a meet-and-greet-the-artists area where two separate artists or bands could mingle. The majority of the musicians did appear and spent much time signing autographs and posing for pictures with the fans. In fact, Chuck Mangione stopped by the area twice.

The tent was located strategically where people could hear the music from the Symphony Woods stage while waiting in line. The schedules were posted (and maintained) each day so fans knew when to expect the artists. Kemp Mill personnel did an admirable job of managing the two separate lines, filling CD orders and keeping the lines moving so everyone had a chance. This is an often-overlooked part of a festival and Kemp Mill did it right.

So... plan now to save some Memorial Day energy and a few bucks and take in this great festival next year!

All Photos © Nancy Robinson and Traveling Light PhotoGraphic Services, 1999.