 Hilton Ruiz |
 Charlie Haden |
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This year’s Jazz Fest features a vast range of artists and styles with a little something for everyone. While perhaps not reaching the level of last year’s strong lineup, the 2007 fest offers plenty of talented artists both young and old, along with some groups, who while lesser-known, may present surprisingly rewarding sets. This year’s Artist in Residence is iconic acoustic bassist and composer CHARLIE HADEN. Perhaps best known as a member of Ornette Coleman’s seminal band in the early ’60s, Haden has collaborated with many of the top jazz artists of the last half century, including: John Coltrane, Jack Dejohnette, Hank Jones, Keith Jarrett, Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, Don Cherry, Pat Metheny, Art Pepper, Kenny Barron, Paul Motian, Dewey Redman, Michael Brecker, Archie Shepp and Hampton Hawes, along with world artists like Brazilian guitarist Egberto Gismonti and Argentinean bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi, while being awarded too many awards to be listed in this space. 
As an artist who has always combined his music with political activism, Haden and Bley’s latest recording - “Not In Our Name,” is a pointed musical statement of “disaffection many people in America and all over the world feel about the manner in which the present administration is conducting its affairs both at home and in the global arena” that includes "America the Beautiful," "Amazing Grace," "Lift Every Voice and Sing," Metheny’s "This Is Not America," and Ornette Coleman’s "Skies Over America."Other acts appearing: MARK COLBY – This well-regarded local tenor sax player has performed with Gerry Mulligan, Jaco Pastorius, Frank Sinatra, Maynard Ferguson, Bob James, Charlie Haden, Brian Culbertson, Ramsey Lewis, Rob Parton, Mulligans Mosaics and Mose Allison. He is a first call studio musician, and has played on over 2,000 commercials in the competitive Chicago market. He has been a jazz faculty member at DePaul University since 1983, as well as Elmhurst College. His latest recording is 2006’s "Speaking of Stan – a Tribute to Stan Getz" so expect to hear some echoes of that great departed tenor giant in Colby’s set. 
Chicago native TAMMY MCCANN received a classical voice scholarship to Virginia Union University before going on to perform with artists such as: Ray Charles, Von and George Freeman, Ramsey Lewis, Five Blind Boys of Alabama, and the Soul Stirrers. Singing in Italian, French, and German has brought McCann to stages around the world.JUSTIN DILLARD – This young up-and-coming pianist is currently making waves around Chicago with his trio. He served his youthful apprenticeship under the guidance of such Chicago masters as Ernest Dawkins, Fred Anderson & Kahil El’ Zabar. HILTON RUIZ (1952 – 2006) was a Puerto Rican-American jazz pianist in the Afro-Cuban jazz mold, and also a talented bebop player. Ruiz began playing piano at the age of eight, and gigged with Freddie Hubbard and Joe Newman when he was young. Later, he was Roland Kirk's main pianist from 1974 to 1977. Ruiz also recorded several solo albums between the 1980s and 2000s. Ruiz died in June 2006 from injuries suffered from an accidental fall. Several Afro-Cuban stars will salute him. 
ROBERT IRVING III was one of a group of young Chicago musicians that in the late '70s and early '80s formed the nucleus of Miles Davis' recording and touring bands. Irving left the Davis band in 1989, and has gone on to a prolific career as touring musician, composer, arranger, producer, educator and interdisciplinary artist. Irving will be highlighting the work of the great Thelonious Monk in this set.KEEFE JACKSON is a saxophonist/clarinettist/composer who has performed with many musicians on the avant garde, including Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Jason Ajemian, Tatsuya Nakatani, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Anton Hatwich, Frank Rosaly, Nick Broste, Paul Hartsaw, Karl Seigfried, Kevin Davis, Swiss musicians Marc Unternährer, Thomas Mejer, and many others. Jackson appeared on last year’s bill with the Lucky 7s. Jackson should be highlighting tracks from his fine new release - "Ready Everyday." 
MICHELLE ROSEWOMAN is an acclaimed pianist now working out of New York, and is considered by many to be one of the most original and innovative instrumentalists and composers on the current global jazz scene. Ms. Rosewoman appears with her group Quintessence and will be performing selections from her 2006 release "The In Side Out" which moves from acoustic modern jazz to sophisticated funk to electric fusion to ecstatic Afro Cuban jazz.Veteran songstress ERNESTINE ANDERSON’s voice "sounds like honey at dusk," says Quincy Jones, and he should know. She is acknowledged as a virtuoso of the sassy blues who can also sing sultry ballads and sophisticated swing with ease. FRANK WESS has been playing saxophones and flutes since the early 1930s including a lengthy stint with in the ’50s and ’60s with Count Basie – where he was instrumental in introducing the flute as a jazz instrument. He spent several years with the ABC network in New York performing for “Saturday Night Live”, the Dick Cavett Show, the Sammy Davis TV Show. In the late ’80s and early ’90s he led a Basie-style big band which included ex-Basie alumni like Harry "Sweets" Edison, Joe Newman, and Snooky Young. In 2007 he received the American Jazz Masters Fellowship award from The NEA.Today, at age 85, Frank is still an active and highly respected member of the New York Jazz scene and travels the world to play with musicians everywhere. Drummer JOHNNY VIDACOVICH has been playing French Quarter clubs in the Big Easy since an early age, and has shared the stage with greats like New Orleans' "Tan Canary" Johnny Adams, Professor Longhair, and Mose Allison, and as a member of Astral Project. He will be lecturing on percussion technique and performing for an audience at the Jazz and Heritage Stage. 
New Orleans contemporary jazz group, ASTRAL PROJECT has been "taking its audiences to higher planes of reality for several decades." A favorite of Chicago audiences for their funky street rhythms, exotic melodies and inspired improvisational solo flights, this loose affiliation features several highly talented musicians who have played together for many years.PETE BENSON is known as one of Chicago’s premiere Hammond B3 jazz organists, and as a current member of the late-night band Sabertooth, a long running staple at the legendary Green Mill Lounge. The energetic organist frequently plays around Chicago with The Andrew Distel Quartet, The Skinny, Kyle Asche, Scott Burns, and guitarist Jeff Parker(who guests on this set), and is featured on recordings by Kyle Asche, Andrew Distel, The Mighty Blue Kings, and the Typhanie Monique/Neal Alger duo. 
One of the highlights of Jazz Fest is always taking the opportunity to watch and listen to the great musicians who helped shape the Chicago jazz and blues sound. ERWIN HELFER is a Chicago boogie woogie innovator who has been playing and performing for over forty years. A Chicago favorite, it is said that Erwin has the chops, the feel, and the drive of the masters but he also pushes the "classic" blues forward in a totally new direction. His music has been described as graceful, spirited, and at times beautifully dissonant. Erwin's classical music training allows him to hear and interpret the simple, percussive blues and boogie piano style like no one else.BILL MCFARLAND and The CHICAGO HORNS are a hard-hitting sextet led by trumpet player Kenny Anderson (a long standing professional and one of the leading Salsa performers from the Chicago music scene), Hank Ford on saxophone (played with many great performers of blues and jazz, including Aretha Franklin, Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield) and band leader and founder Bill McFarland (who played on the late, great Albert Collin's "Frostbite" album and on Fenton Robinson's and Lonnie Brooks' albums, and has also played live with Aretha Franklin, Etta James and Otis Clay just to name a few). MARK COURTNEY JOHNSON is a new vocalist who promises to mix the classical standard of the likes of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Hartman, and Billy Eckstine seamlessly with modern jazz and pop. Singer JANICE BORLA has performed with a formidable list of greats in the jazz world, as well as her own group, while continuing to expand the parameters of jazz vocal expression with adventurous, risk-taking vocal improvisation. She has gained worldwide critical acclaim for her albums and has earned a highly regarded reputation as a teacher of voice. She will expound on “The Art of the Solo” at the Jazz and Heritage stage. 
Saxophonist SKINNY WILLIAMS first toured the world with blues great Junior Wells after graduating from Berklee College of Music and has since worked with people in jazz, R&B and blues like George Duke, Chaka Khan, B.B. King, Lucky Peterson, Buddy Guy and Bo Diddley. He plays crowd-pleasing sets often at Close Up 2 and Joe’s BeBop Café, with critics comparing him to such greats as Stanley Turrentine, Junior Walker, Grover Washington Jr. and Boney James. Saxophonist EDWIN DAUGHERTY was a student of Walter Dyett's at DuSable High School in the mid-1960s, and joined Red Saunders at the Regal Theater right out of high school. He played the blues with Koko Taylor and Luther Allison, toured the world with the Motown Band backing their top artists and was a member of Chicago’s AACM (Association For the Advancement of Creative Musicians). As one of the city’s top on call musicians, he played with artists like Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Nancy Wilson, BB King, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones. The EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA is Rob Mazurek’s avant garde big band that featured some of Chicago’s top players (Nicole Mitchell, Corey Wilkes, Ken Vandermark). Mazurek and his group create swirling atmospheres of textured sound aided at times by experimental pre-recordings (of electric eels for example) and/or electronics. Despite the unusual description, this music is surprisingly melodic and listenable, and should definitely be worth catching. DAN TRUDELL is one of the best organ players in Chicago and is the musical director/composer and co-leader of The B3 Bombers. Dan has worked with Jon Faddis, Randy Brecker, Eddie Daniels, Peter Erskine, Carl Fontana, Von Freeman, Bobby Broom, Eric Alexander, Johnny Frigo, Doug Lawrence, Pat Mallinger, The Sabertooth Organ Quartet and Aretha Franklin, among others. 
ELDEE YOUNG was one of the premiere jazz bassists of the '50s and '60s and played with everyone from King Kolax to Marshall Vente. He is perhaps best known for his work with Redd Holt in their legendary trio, and the drummer leads this tribute to Young, who passed away in February of this year.
TYPHANIE MONIQUE and NEAL ALGER have worked around Chicago as a vocal/guitar duo for the past several years. Their repertoire reflects a love of jazz standards, rock and pop music and R&B/Soul music. The MINGUS BIG BAND is a jazz ensemble, based in New York City, which specializes in the compositions of the late Charles Mingus. In addition to its weekly Tuesday night appearance at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, the Mingus Big Band also tours frequently in Europe and other parts of the world.Band members are rotated in and out, depending on who is available and feature some of the hottest players on the NYC jazz scene. MATT GERAGHTY is a world traveler and bassist/composer who plays a delicious mixture of world music and jazz. His band features exceptional Indian vocalist, Satya Gummuluri, along with popular Chicago saxman Jim Gailloreto. 
The eclectic trio MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD are joined by frequent collaborator, guitarist John SCOFIELD, in what should be an especially popular show with the younger crowd. Look for plenty of hip-hop rhythms, funky organ-based grooves, and free form improv in this set.Veteran Chicago clarinetist KIM CUSACK will take his audience with him back to the prohibition era, when seminal clarinetist Jimmie Noone inspired a young Benny Goodman at the SouthSide Apex Club. Over at the Jazz and Heritage Stage The KENWOOD ACADEMY High School Jazz Band will represent the future of jazz in Chicago. Rising young trumpeter JEREMY PELT is doing double duty at this year’s fest – leading his own ensemble called The Cookers into action. Featuring a Chicago favorite – Billy Harper on sax, this band also boasts the legendary Cecil McBee on bass. Expect the group to live up to their name. 
Pelt also appears with saxophonist BOBBY WATSON’S HORIZON, in what should be one of the highlights of the fest. Veteran Victor Lewis mans the drums for this high-powered outfit that has been getting great reviews.KEN CHANEY is one of Chicago’s favorite pianists, and with good reason. If his set is anything like the one he and his trio put on at the Glen Ellyn Jazz Fest, the audience is in for a treat. Bassist Junius Paul and drummer Charles "Rick" Heath are as good of a rhythm section as you’ll see, and Chaney makes it seem easy on the 88s. Finally, don’t miss JABARI LIU and ERNEST DAWKINS "Salute to JIMMY ELLIS," which should feature enough burning saxophone riffs to satisfy any jazz buff, while conducting a well-deserved shout out to one of Chicago’s finest. And I am reminded that Haden also leads a "Windy City Jam" session with such stellar local players as Paul Wertico and Laurence Hobgood. You don't want to miss that! |
Click here for a 2007 Jazzfest schedule
Contact Brad Walseth and JazzChicago.net at bwalseth60@aol.com
