Monterey turned a corner in 2004:
- No marquee names like The Crusaders or George Benson played, but there were more leading musicians (particularly from outside the U.S.) than usual. The selectors based their choices more on music (less on entertainment) this year.
- Admission price was raised which can be seen as a positive if it brought in more first-rate musicians.
- More energy-driven, modern-rhythm bands played.
- Theme nights were presented on some stages. One venue featured three San Francisco singers, and another had three flute bands.
- Saturday afternoons (old-time blues dominated) and Sunday afternoons (high school big bands) were broadened to include more performances and workshops of improvisational music.
- Some details were not handled as professionally as previous festivals. In particular the sound was not as clean, notably at the "Night Club." Also, an unannounced schedule change resulted in some fans missing a much anticipated Bobby McFerrin concert.
With as many as four stages going at a given time there was often more than one desirable concert to choose from.
Up-and-coming local pianist Milton Fletcher led off with a program of his own crackling compositions. Fletcher knows his Wynton Kelly, but he has moved into the new millennium rhythmically. He likes to vary tempo throughout his pieces. He'll take a simple rhythmic idea and endlessly vary and expand it. He has a long attention span and the patience to gradually work from one idea to the next, and he has the blues down. It was difficult to get a reading on his piano sound because of the rough amplification system.
Claudia Villela is a talented vocalist comfortable in any odd meter or tempo that comes up. Her repertoire is modern Brazilian tunes, but she sounds like she could easily branch out. She loves to take chances, switching the direction of her solos midstream or inventing percussive vocal sounds to accompany or egg on other musicians. She sings with heart, and she is always right in tune. Her accompanists were competent, but occasionally they got in her way more than added dimension to the performance.
Versatility is Kitty Margolis' strong suit-any tempo, blues, pop tunes, scat, old-time ballads, swing, modern urban rhythms, Brazilian—all musically rendered. Her between-tunes comments are hilarious. "I'm Gonna Take It With Me When I Go" by Tom Waits was her most heartfelt number. Drummer Allison Miller added some popping solos and rhythmic comments particularly in her exchanges with the singer.
Pianist Uri Caine led a high energy, equal-participation trio with thundering drummer Ben Perowski sharing the lead much of the time. It was worthy music, but there was sometimes a sense of similarity between one tune and the next. A change-of-pace slow blues featured bassist Drew Gress who launched his solo with a one-of-a-kind triple-stop passage.
The Lee Sarah Big Band from Japan mainly stuck to a conservative set of Buddy Rich charts ("Love for Sale") and basic blues. Their most inspired performance came on a Pat Metheny odd meter piece.
The Brubeck Institute Jazz Sextet (University of the Pacific), mostly college freshmen, presented a program of original music with intelligent soloing, snappy ensemble playing and accompanying, and current-day swing. Bassist Christian McBride, director of the program, sat in on one tune and lifted the music to the next level as he does with any band he plays in. Gifted San Diego high school pianist Eldar Djangirov, currently attending a workshop at the Institute, also sat in and said more in his one chorus than some bands in their entire sets. His accompanying was equally superb. A Russian band studying at the Institute for a few weeks finished the set and seemed to be in transition to music that has a chance to succeed.
Lynne Arriale sounds better and more diverse every time I hear her, particularly as a composer. It helps that she has kept the same trio over a number of years. Her music flows.
Pianist Mark Levine's Latin Tinge was a no-frills quartet (trio + conga) that took some solid tunes by Joe Henderson and Mulgrew Miller through their paces.
