[Dixielandjazz] Caesarea Jazz Festival - Israel

[Stephen G Barbone]

Check out this article from Israel.
Cheers,
Steve Barbone

www.barbonestreet.com
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

Jazz's northern frontiers
by Barry Davis - Jerusalem Post

If Santa Claus played sax in addition to his jingling bells, he would,  
no doubt, be ringing in the merry season of jazz. In addition to  
several high class jazz acts at this year's Israel Festival, the  
annual festivals at Shuni and Caesarea are looming large on the  
imminent horizon.

Besides both festivals taking place in the north of the country, there  
is very little common ground between the two events. While the  
Caesarea bash celebrates the insouciant rhythms of the earliest forms  
of jazz, as they evolved in its spiritual home of New Orleans at the  
turn of the twentieth century, the seventh annual Shuni Jazz Festival  
showcases some of our very own jazz talents, across a wide spectrum of  
genres. . . . (snip to part about Caesarea since Shuni is a "modern"  
Jazz Festival))

Caesarea is a completely different kettle of fish. While the setting  
is no less magnificent than the Shuni Castle, the entertainment on  
offer is of a more consistent nature. Jazz started out as dance music,  
before Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and the other founding fathers  
of bebop headed in a more cerebral and technically complex direction  
in the mid-1940s. But, judging by the enduring attraction of swing and  
Dixieland, it seems you can't beat the captivating and joyous rhythms  
and sounds of the earliest forms of jazz.

Over the course of the festival, the majestic ancient port of Caesarea  
will groove to the infectious beat of a host of top class bands, such  
as the Ken Peplowski Swing Quintet and Duke Heitger's Jazz Band, with  
the gently lapping waters of the nearby Mediterranean providing a  
complementary sonic backdrop. Peplowski's ensemble, besides the  
saxophone-clarinet playing leader, includes pianist Cyrus Chestnut and  
guitarist Howard Alden, the latter also having made a name for himself  
on the soundtracks of a number of Woody Allen movies.

And just to show that jazz is a truly global art form, the last day of  
the festival features stride pianist Jeff Barnhart's septet with  
players from the United States, Finland, the Netherlands and Scotland.

Clearly, if you fancy shaking a leg or two down by the seashore next  
week, Caesarea is the place to swing.

Shuni Jazz Festival (June 6-8) visit www.shuni.co.il; and, the  
Caesarea Jazz Festival(June 12-14) at www.jazz.caesarea.com.



Steve Barbone

www.barbonestreet.com
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband