Jon Garelick
Such a beautiful evening of music — two relatively concise sets, one an hour long, another a little less — adding up to an integral whole.
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We’d returned to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. We’d ridden a paddle-wheeler on the Mississippi River. It was good to be back, and why we’ll go back every chance we get: to life.
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Solo performance is still a way ahead for jazz pianists, judging from four CDs released in 2021.
I’m still not sure I heard what’s revolutionary about Charlie Parker’s recordings — they’re very old news by now. But I warm to the expressions of unique genius, a beauty that in itself is radical.
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By digging deep into Thomas McKeller, the Gardner Museum has not only resurrected a lost figure (and lost music, and “lost” art) but revealed and contributed to an ongoing history.
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“Forgiveness is the key and love is the answer… Have a good Jazz Fest, but also have a good life.”
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The show had an undercurrent that brought to the fore all the issues that have put Wynton Marsalis at the center of the culture wars.
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Mostly the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival ends up being about the multiplicity and infinite variety of cultures and traditions, including generic funk.
Read MoreYou could sometimes be halfway into a Bad Plus show before hearing anything like a jazz chord from pianist Ethan Iverson.
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Jazz Appreciation: Remembering George Wein (1925-2021)
The sum total of George Wein’s career was a successful wedding of art and commerce.
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