JVC Jazz Festival

Trumpeter Wilkes was joined by the hard working Junius Paul on the upright bass, Marcin Fahmy, on piano, Charles "Rick" Heath (currently performing with the touring troupe of "Color Purple") on drums with special guest, saxophonist Greg Osby. Wilkes, Chicago's rapidly rising star, recently dropped his first cd entitled "Drop It," continues to expand his horizon and will be off to Japan within a few weeks for a Far East tour.

This group wasted little time getting things started with Horace Silver's "Deacon's Dream." Each ensemble member had an opportunity to "stretch" on this number which was a preamble to the format for the evening. Although Corey and Greg have national reputations, this performance was an evening of shared opportunities by all.Throughout the evening , all excelled on extended solos with bassist Paul drawing the loudest ovations from the capacity Andy's crowd. This group of jazz enthusiasts (for the most part) was very attentive for the entire evening. Crowds have known to be loud at Andy's but tonight, only a few at the back end of the bar seemed to be the exception.

Drummer Heath had his finest moment on "Riot.".Heath never seems to exert extra energy, yet he's so smooth in his delivery which results in a vibrant and thunderous sound. His hands are so quick and he makes drumming look so easy.

Wilkes displayed his piston like rapid fire action on "Bolivia." This Wilkes trademark signature action always results in a rousing reaction from his audience. There aren't many who can match the speed of Corey.

Osby displayed his soft touch on "You Don't Know What Love Is," with pianist Fahmy chiming in with a nice extended solo.

The quintet concluded this 90 minute set with a rousing rendition of Eddie Harris's "Listen Hear." What a nice beginning to this year's JVC Jazz Festival at Andy's.

This writer left Andy's to catch the second set at the Green Mill on the North Side. This set featured three generations of tenor saxophonists with legendary Von Freeman, increasingly popular Ari Brown and dynamic youthful Frank Catalano.

Catalano, who coordinated most of Chicago's festival had quite a busy week. He performed at his CD release party at Andy's for five hours on Tuesday before leaving Wednesday morning for his New York and Philadelphia gigs then returning Friday evening for the JVC Festival.

As usual, the Green Mill was completely packed. Not a seat to be found with patrons elbow to elbow.No one seemed to mind as all were happy to be present for this historic three generation performance. In addition to the "three tenors" this ensemble also included bassist Brian Sandstrom, veteran drummer Robert Shy, and Chicago's premier pianist Willie Pickens.

The tenors were all quite different with "Vonski" setting the stage and opening most numbers which allowed Brown and Cantalano to take charge. This was particularly noticeable on "Summertime" which Freeman opened with only a few chords from Pickens when suddenly Catalano took his turn with his bold sound full of energy which produced a rousing ovation from the crowd. Brown refused to be outdone and matched Catalano's aggressive sound with his patented rapid runs. The crowd was estactic. Although this writer would have loved to see more from masterful Pickens, this set was primarily the Tenors in action. Nevertheless, both Shy and Sandstrom both had highlight moments during this set.

Perhaps the most dynamic set of the entire weekend took place at the Historic Velvet Lounge in the South Loop on Saturday night. New York bassist William Parker led an improvisational group of exceptional musicians on a 90 minute journey that was simply breathtaking. This aggregate included flutist Nicole Mitchel, soprano saxophonist David Boykins, bassist Josh Abrams, drummer Isiah Spencer, South African saxophonist Zim Ngqawana (in town for Orbert Davis's tribute to Nelson Mandela) and special guest, Velvet Lounge proprietor Fred Anderson. In addition, saxophonist Ernest Dawkins arrived about 30 minutes into the set to join in without missing a beat.

There was no sheet music, no songbook, no orchestration. Just a group of outstanding musicians coming together for a cohesive jam session feeding off of one another. What a sight to see Parker and Abrams side by side mirroring each other as if they had played together for years, and Fred Anderson perched on a chair bent over in his familiar position blowing as strong as ever, Ernest Dawkins and Brother Zim engaging in friendly bantering and Spencer not only keeping the beat with his drumming, but also stepping out front to bang away on the congas and other array of percussion instruments and of course, the team of Boykins and Mitchell making sweet music together as they usually do. And this was all done without the semblance of a pause or break. They just played straight through before Parker finally grabbed the mike to reintroduce this all star group. What a set!! And as Daniel Melnick from the Jazz Institute of Chicago stated as he was leaving, "this was perhaps the best set of the YEAR." Enough said. This writer agrees wholeheartedly.

The final set of the weekend took place at the New Jazz Showcase in the Dearborn Station in the South Loop on Sunday night. Guitarist John Abercrombie led a group that included drummer Anthony Pinciotti, organist Dan Trudell, and saxophonist Eric Schneider. This being the final set of nine by this group over a four day period seemed to pay a toll on these musicians. By Abercrombie own admittance, they were running out of music to play. They often had long pauses between songs to discuss what to play next. Once this was determined, the music was on point.

Trudell, replacing organist Gary Versace was as dynamic as ever. Drummer Pinciotti was very smooth with his delivery while leader Abercrombie had some nice extended solos. Chicagoan Schneider, one of the areas buisest performers, displayed his solid blowing on the few numbers he played during this final set.

Although the final set of the weekend was played before a very sparse crowd and was somewhat anticlimatic, overall the JVC Jazz festival was by all accounts very successful. Let's hope this event continues to be an annual affair with perhaps using an outdoor venue for one full day of diverse jazz.