[Dixielandjazz] S.F. Jazz festival 04

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

Seems like the OKOM pattern of private social clubs members are a closer knit 
group than even some would think.

Many of them are headed out for Arizona this weekend when the San Francisco 
Jazz Festival has scheduled some OKOM.  I guess they would rather sit at 
cafeteria style tables in Elks clubs or the round banquet tables or folding chairs 
in Hotel Ballrooms than to go to a luxurious facility like the Davies Symphony 
Hall which will feature a Fats Waller Tribute this weekend.  Also on the bill 
are Jay McShann, Dick Hyman, and a host of other great artists considered by 
the writer as Traditional Jazz.

I guess we won't have a F2F at Davies Symphony huh?  Well maybe I could take 
a mirror and have one.  :))

Perhaps this is just one of those festivals that is so crowded hardly anybody 
goes anymore.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins




As traditional jazz audiences age, it has become incumbent upon jazz festival 
promoters to expand the boundaries of jazz to include pop, R&B, hip-hop and 
even soft rock. While purists bemoan the watering down of old-fashioned 
musicianship that sometimes accompanies these changes, no one is complaining about 
the crowds that swarm to attend festival concerts.

This Year: For 2004, the San Francisco Jazz Festival has put together an 
artist roster that includes traditional jazz by Gary Burton, Jimmy McGriff, Jay 
McShann, Jim Hall, Michael Brecker and Dick Hyman; younger performers Michel 
Camilo, Brad Mehldau and Julian Lage; R&B singers Etta James, Ruth Brown and Mary 
Stallings; Latin stars The Conga Kings, Ojos de Brujo and Gonzalo Rubalcalba; 
local heroes Lavay Smith and Hot Club of San Francisco; plus international 
stars such as Brazil's Caetano Veloso, Mali's Rokia Traore and Portugal's 
Mariza. Those who tend toward the traditional won't want to miss 'The Joint is 
Jumpin',' a Fats Waller centennial salute at Davies Symphony Hall. Anyone who saw 
the film 'Talk to Her' will want to hear Caetano Veloso recreate his 
performance of 'La Paloma' at the Masonic. Several of the best performances occur at the 
same time at different venues, so it sometimes is difficult to choose. 

Tips: There is, however, one caveat to selecting your concerts: sit in the 
very front at Grace Cathedral or don't bother. Two out of every three notes from 
saxophonists Michael Brecker and Jane Ira Bloom could simply disappear into 
the cavernous Grace echo. However, at a venue like the Masonic Auditorium, you 
can buy the cheapest seat in the house -- the sound system can easily support 
the crowd. -- Doug Konecky