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Freihofer's Jazz Festival 2002

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It was another spectacular jazz weekend at Saratoga Springs, NY as the Freihofer's Jazz Festival rumbled into town June 29-30. Coming hot on the heels of the JVC Jazz Festival in Manhattan, this sister event is a perennial favorite.
Every year I try to treat myself to the upstate New York annual trek. The two-day celebration is a rejuvenating spell, therapy for the soul. You end up making lots of friends, with their blankets and picnic baskets and umbrellas for shade from the hot summer sun. It's perfect.
The sleepy little town of Saratoga Springs is perhaps best known for its horse racing, spas and mineral baths. But the population of 26,000 swells in late June as jazzoids from around the country converge on the area for the big jazz fest'.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is a two-tiered amphitheater that opens to a sprawling hillside for the audience to lay out on. There is also a separate gazebo stage for other outstanding acts to perform simultaneously with the main stage. Non-stop music from noon 'til whenever...WAR, the last act to go on Saturday, hit the stage at 10:45 p.m.
Saturday's lineup kicked off with funky bass man Gerald Veasley. Soulive, then vocalist Kurt Elling soon followed. Things kicked up a notch as The Dave Holland Quintet made their presence known. Swingin'! Regina Carter wowed the crowd with her magic violin, while Manhattan Transfer proved they still had the right stuff.

It was about 8:00 p.m. Saturday when "Directions In Music" hit the stage. This is what I'd been waiting for. It's a celebration of the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. The representatives of this spiritual evening included Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Michael Brecker on tenor sax and Herbie Hancock at the piano. Nice. Seeing these three onstage together, performing music by the masters, is a moving experience.

The Dave Koz Summer Jam frolicked in, then the funky low riders took over as WAR brought the day to an end. Rest up and back tomorrow.

This is where I take a minute to thank George Wein, Charles Bourgeois and all the rest of the folks at Festival Productions for hooking me up with front row seats! They sure take care of the press and run a class operation. Hats off to Festival Productions and JVC Jazz!

Sunday mornin'...another beautiful sunny day. A quick breakfast, then a fast run downtown for the best cup of coffee I've ever had (a place called Uncommon Grounds) and back to SPAC.

This day promises to be the best day of music in a long time. Better than yesterday? A funky, brash bunch named the Moutin Reunion Quartet surprised everybody to kick off the day. Then Steve Turre amazed me by playing Miles' "All Blues" on a conch shell! But the show stopper of the two-day event...was about to take the stage.

Angelique Kidjo, a beautiful singer/dancer from West Africa pounced from behind the curtains and took control! Happy, packed with energy and soulful good vibes...Angelique Kidjo won everybody over. Before long, she had the stage overrun with people from the audience, up and dancing. She's a little dynamo! It was what sunny summer jazz festivals are all about: forgetting about everything else! If only for a day or two.

Be sure to pick up a copy of her new release: Angelique Kidjo "Black Ivory Soul" on the Columbia label. I saw a video last year that she did of the Jimi Hendrix song "Voodoo Child". It was awesome. "Voodoo Child" may be found on her previous CD, "The Best of Angelique Kidjo."

Speaking of Hendrix, as my traveling friend and I took a break and walked back through the seated audience in the grass, we approached the arts & crafts tents. This is like a little world of its own and helps make the jazz festival experience what it is. Art lovers supporting artists.

It was there I happened upon this beautiful hand-drawn picture of Jimi Hendrix. I had to have it! On the back of the illustration was a moving poem about Jimi. As it turns out, the artist is Marian Howard and the writer is her son, Alfred Omar Howard. She tells me he does poetry to a "live" band...like the ol' beat days. Look for this family of artists from Morristown, New Jersey!

A brief break and it's back to the front row for legendary Roy Haynes. Well into his 70's, Roy never seems to age. He's young and vibrant and plays his ass off! This is the drummer for Charlie Parker! And he's still goin' strong!

The jazz group "Fourplay" redefined the word "super group". Man, these guys rocked! Gray hair or not! Guitarist Larry Carlton can mix it up with any young, pierced, tattooed rocker out there! I mean, he was on fire! He had the audience on their feet, screamin' n' stompin'. Carlton won a Grammy Award this year for "Best Pop Instrumental Album" called "No Substitutions - Live in Osaka" with Steve Luthaker. Keyboardist Bob James is steady freddie. Always in the groove. Nathan East played the bass like a lead guitar and Harvey Mason showed off his traps chops as winner of the Smooth Jazz Award - "Drummer of the Year." These guys are top studio musicians that have fun. And, of course, they do it for the biological need. Look for Fourplay's new release "Heartfelt."

Then came Cassandra Wilson. I have never seen this woman perform "live" before, although I've met her twice. She's beautiful and in charge. Her stage presence is like nobody I've seen in decades. She truly is what the press says she is...a force to be reckoned with. As my lovely traveling companion, Annie, says - "Her voice is like whiskey and honey." True.

Don't miss her in concert if you have the chance to see her. You won't forget it for the rest of your life. Her band was completely acoustic. Simple, raw, barefoot.

If anybody could follow up a performance like that...the right guy for the job was next. Wynton Marsalis brought his septet with him this night. He has been busy with the fine folks at Jazz At Lincoln Center. Hello to my friends: Public Relations Director Mary Fiance Fuss and Administrative Director Andre K. Guess. They've got big expansion plans over the next couple of years with Jazz At Lincoln Center, the world's largest non-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz.

Finally, to close out the 2-day festival, it was the magnificent Natalie Cole. It seems that JVC Jazz brought back the jazz singer this year. From Kurt Elling to Cassandra Wilson to Natalie Cole to Angelique Kidjo. Sing praises. Amen.

Scott H. Thompson is a member of the Jazz Journalists Association and is a columnist for The Jazz Report magazine. He has contributed to JazzTimes, Jazziz and Down Beat. Thompson wrote the CD liner notes for such classics as Herbie Hancock "Headhunters" and Weather Report "8:30", to name a few.

Photo Credit: Annie Taylor Mecca

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