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Burlington Discover Jazz Festival: Burlington, VT, June 5-14, 2015

Burlington Discover Jazz Festival: Burlington, VT, June 5-14, 2015
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Burlington Discover Jazz Festival
Burlington, VT
June 5-14, 2015

The continuing success of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival not only elevates the level of participation in the city's music scene for the duration of each annual run, but also shines a light throughout Vermont's Queen City to illuminate the variety of venues and associated amenities it offers. And BDJF has created healthy competition too, to the extent the historical stronghold that is Nectar's put together a full fledged jazz roster during the June 5-14 dates.

Most importantly of all, BDJF has evolved with the times in line with its mission of education combined with entertainment (and enlightenment). With the ever increasing prominence of FlynnSpace events and performances, the festival, in collaboration with Vermont Public Television, arranged to record those of 2015 for broadcast in the autumn of the year, This isn't to give short shrift to the gala MainStage shows, but to more accurately reflect the subtle dynamics of a festival that more accurately than mirrors its home all the time.

Implicit in the varied roster and various locales involved with Discover Jazz is the invitation to rediscover the city, in and around its downtown, at the waterfront of Lake Champlain, and within the formal venues as well as the nooks and crannies of activity and participation around and in between. The success of the 2015 Burlington Discover Jazz may very well be that joyful experience was equal to the music itself.

The Wayne Shorter Quartet
Flynn Center MainStage
June 5, 2015

The definitive summer weather that graced BDJF's opening reception gave way to equally familiar wet gray June inclemency (as it did the next Friday evening for Mavis Staples) by the time The Wayne Shorter Quartet took the stage for the opening show. But the low barometric pressure was more than balanced by the increasingly high density mood the band created during the course of its ninety-minute performance. While the namesake of the group kept a curiously low profile (except for one resounding trill from his feet at the end of the encore), it's well to remember that, during the extended tenure of his co-stewardship of the definitive fusion band Weather Report, he was nicknamed 'Mr. Gone.'

The evening of June 5th, he was the eye of a storm during which roiling, cascading and increasingly intense explorations of melody and rhythm were, for all intents and purposes, driven by drummer Brian Blade. Set off slightly in the stage alignment from the leader, pianist Danilo Pérez and bassist John Patitucci. an unaware attendee might well have thought it was in fact his band: Perez was the main timekeeper, offering block-chords intermixed with rippling runs that alternately brightened and accented the waves of sound. Patitucci engaged in more than one extended joust with his rhythm section partner, each seemingly more intense and densely interwoven than the last, while Shorter, for his part, was content to use his saxophones to season the mix, occasionally resolving an interlude in the mostly non-stop proceedings, in much the same understated way he did when working with keyboardist Joe Zawinul.

Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet
FlynnSpace
June 6, 2015

In fact, the Shorter Quartet's sound reminded of nothing so much as a spare acoustic alternative to the electrified sounds of that ever-changing fusion group. Similarly, Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet transcended the all too easy comparisons to Miles Davis sound of the sixties and seventies that arise from hearing their trumpeter leader's albums. Like the previous evening's arrangements, but proffered in more insistent and often urgent style, the mix of grand piano, double bass, drums and untreated horn sound like nothing so much as a skeletal acoustic exploration of the territory 'The Man with The Horn" opened up with In A Silent Way (Columbia, 1969) and Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970).

And if it's true there's no drama so intense as watching musicians interact in the spontaneity of the moment as they improvise, Smith and his foursome created enough suspense to wholly enrapture the audience comfortably filling the downstairs venue. Each musician knew his role intimately enough so that their respective parts were sewn even more tightly by the leader with the sound of his instrument—braying, piercing and sometimes gently and lovingly muted—-as well as hand signals, facial expressions and impromptu vocal outcries and whispers.

The Dave Keller Band
Long Trail Live @ Halvorson's Upstreet Cafe
June 8, 2015

One of the enduring virtues of Burlington Discover Jazz is the abundance of free events conducted during the course of the ten day run and sponsorship of the Long Trail Live series is only one of the most prominent, with performances running up and down Church Street—weather permitting of course.

Moving to Halvorson's open-air courtyard due to heavy rains and a questionable forecast, The Dave Keller Band opened their set at with a bouncy instrumental that augured well for the mix of blues, r&b and soul the quartet subsequently offered: an upbeat second cousin to "Green Onions" was proof positive the leader/guitarist/songwriter and his three partners know their roots and remain loyal to them. Their command of style was such, in fact. it wasn't really necessary for quite so much between song patter or spoken word intervals because, ingratiating as it was to most of the growing audience, the momentum faltered within the otherwise well-wrought arrangements of originals and judiciously chosen covers.

Joe Locke's Love Is A Pendulum
FlynnSpace
June 8, 2015

Likewise, vibraphonist Joe Locke was sufficiently articulate on his instrument during the course of his performance that his overly demonstrative stage presence proved as superfluous as his effusive praise of his bandmates. Congratulations to a knowing audience were accurate though and ironically so because the comfortably ensconced attendees could sense, of their own accord, how stylishly empathetic were all these players, including the leader.

The luminescent glow of the sounds that emanate from the vibraphone wouldn't seem to lend themselves to accompaniment from a powerhouse drummer, but Terreon Gully gave the lie to that preconception. At the very start of the "Love Is A Pendulum" suite, Gully generated so intricate a set of syncopations, a blindfold test might beg the question of whether there were actually two percussionists at work. And as the near two-hour set progressed, the man at the kit demonstrated he knew how to adjust to the material, alternately light, snappy and hard-hitting in his attack.

In that nimble approach, he was a kindred spirit with his bandmates and the leader himself, all of whom contoured their playing to suit the music, whether it took the form of fleet, upbeat passages or dreamy interludes; in doing so, the group exhibited what fully formed personalities each has developed on their instruments. And given his feel for the sole number, "Embrace," he guested on, Burlington saxophonist Brian McCarthy made a similar statement even with minimal time on stage.

Aaron Goldberg Trio
FlynnSpace
June 9, 2015

Witty and engaging in the repartee with the near-adoring audience during his FlynnSpace set, Aaron Goldberg led what was possibly the best ensemble performance of Discover Jazz. Watching the young pianist play with bassist Matt Penman and drummer Obed Calvaire, each instrumentalist offered melodic and rhythmic themes so closely intertwined, it was as if each man was simultaneously playing the others' instruments in addition to his own. Whether on original material, a clutch of Brazilian tunes the trio covered, the ideas flowed effortlessly, each musician hearing the others in such a way the transitions sounded as effortless as delightfully unpredictable cold stops to various tunes, often on offbeats.

And it appeared to be as delightful for each of the three to participate in the playing as it was to observe, particularly as it appeared arrangements were structured in such a way Calvaire had regular intervals to demonstrate his finesse (not that his touch was not otherwise readily discernible): Goldberg and Penman gazed over as if enraptured each such instance. As was the audience, so that when the group gathered at the front of the stage, arms interlocked in a metaphor for their musical union, the standing ovation was a genuine communion made all the more palpable by the intimacy of the venue.

Robert Randolph and The Family Band; Matt Schofield
Waterfront Tent
June 11, 2015

Not since keyboardist Jon Cleary opened for bluesman John Mayall in 2006 has there been a more complementary co-bill for the BDJF Waterfront Tent than this year's first of Matt Schofield and Robert Randolph. With shared roots in the blues and distinctive means to transcend them, these two artists offered the most fully and consistently satisfying evening of performances the shores of Lake Champlain have see in quite awhile (and that includes the Maritime and Grand Point North Festivals of recent years).

The big screen project of the festival logo behind Schofield and his trio couldn't help but hearken to classic lightshows of Bill Graham's Fillmores, but to depict their music as a throwback is way off the mark even though it has its direct antecedents: British blues of the Sixties as well as the late Johnny Winter and his Texas kindred spirit and now long departed Stevie Ray Vaughan. Although Schofield and his bass/drum partners never played too long on a single number, the threesome nevertheless improvised healthily throughout their close to ninety minute set; smartly mixing up styles of material from 12-bar structures to funky syncopation only accentuated their self-aware approach to performance.

And the sound in the Waterfront Tent was ideally suited to their music: resonant and full in keeping with the hard blues Schofield and co played and sang so earnestly; little wonder they received the robust acclamation they did comparable to what might be afforded a headliner.

At least until Robert Randolph and The Family Band took the stage and got going at a furious pace right out of the gate, the leader squeezing screams from his pedal steel that ratcheted up the intensity of his band's furious accompaniment. If Randolph wasn't so genuine in his positive enthusiasm (deriving no doubt from his upbringing in the sacred steel community where he grew up), he and his group wouldn't be able to maintain that near manic level of intensity for so long without flagging. But they did , reminding of no one so much as Sly and The Family Stone in their heyday.

The group avoided mere crowd-pleasing by almost imperceptibly altering the sound and the songs they played as their two-hour single set progressed. Randolph moved from his main instrument, to six string guitars and a modified lap steel that, like its pedal counterpart, carried effects of fuzz, wah-wah et al to make them all sound nothing like they would otherwise. The Family band didn't improvise much collectively, but the extended tease of Jimi Hendrix' "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" at set's end made up for that as much as it signified Randolph's growth as a musician and bandleader over the years: like Matt Schofield before him on this balmy summer night in Vermont, he is cognizant of his influences and respectfully so, but also confident enough to make something of his own from them.

The Will Bernard Trio
City Hall Stage on Church St
June 13, 2015

When Steve Winwood was inspired to write his line about "jazz on a summer's day," he must've experienced something like the guitarist and his trio mid-afternoon June 13. The cool breeze up and around lower Church St complemented the warm sunshine, that high barometer combination in turn a reflection of the three musicians' connection, as Bernard, keyboardist Brian Charette and drummer Eric Kalb offered two relaxed sets.

The appearances of influential material from the likes of Jimmy McGriff, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Wayne Shorter only made the group's departure from those roots all the more clear-cut. Bernard had a slide out on the very second number, in fact, but he didn't use it in a conventional way there any more than he did later on is the set to match the ambient sounds Charette coaxed from his multiple keyboards. Kalb utilized used the most minimal of kits to maximum effect too, the fluidity with which he often played more evidence of his ever-so-tight grasp of rhythm. That the trio were seemingly so effortless in their cohesion only added to the relaxing weather Bernard's deadpan humor further heightening the balmy overall effect of 2015 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival's unsung highlight of the year.

The Christian McBride Trio
FlynnSpace
June 13, 2015—Early Show

Even if Christian McBride's artist in residence participation in the festival didn't culminate with his two trio performances (there was at least one more scheduled event the next day), the dignified yet soulful musicianship he shared with pianist Christian Sands and drummer Jerome Jennings demonstrated why he deserved the role. The latter's newcomer status was evident early in this first set, but not as any real detriment to the playing: it was only clear that he was exerting tremendous effort to rise to the occasion, his first real gig with the threesome (he had taken part in a children's concert the day before in this same venue)?.

But he acquitted himself stylishly and snappily when it came time for his solo and the trio were progressively tighter as the concert went on through excerpts from "The King and I" and an as-yet untitled McBride original in homage to the recently departed Ornette Coleman (the bassist's quick tease of Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up" early in the set in keeping with his reference to shared love of the late James Brown during his intro of Jennings.)

Yet The Christian McBride Trio were never tighter than on the encore so vociferously commanded by the respectful audience: the simplicity of Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "Volunteered Slavery" lent itself equally well to melodic and rhythmic decoration at either side of the bandleader as he alternately pumped and glided over the motif that forms the heart of the idiosyncratic hornman's song. It was a statement in itself, on a number of levels, and if it served as the last moments of this year's Discover Jazz Festival, it was hearty punctuation indeed.

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