It's all in the mix

Organizers of this year's Clearwater Jazz Holiday hope to please with a more balanced mix of acts, including acoustic, fusion, Latin, R&B and neo-swing music.

By PHILIP BOOTH

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 19, 2000

It's all in the mix Organizers of this year's Clearwater Jazz Holiday hope to please with a more balanced mix of acts, including acoustic, fusion, Latin, R&B and neo-swing music. Terence Blanchard Terence Blanchard is keeping busy with a well-received new CD, scoring movies and as the artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the University of Southern California. Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater strayed for a while -- dabbled in other musical directions, took some acting roles. But the vocal traditions of jazz called her back. Jerry Gonzalez Jerry Gonzalez's musical inspiration comes from legends such as Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Machito and Eddie Palmieri who, he says, showed him how "to go in my own direction."

CLEARWATER -- Critically acclaimed jazz diva Dee Dee Bridgewater and rising-star pianist Eric Reed are on the bill for tonight's kickoff of the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, the 21st edition of a festival that has become a much-anticipated part of the Tampa Bay area's cultural calendar.

The Jazz Holiday, at breezy downtown Coachman Park through Sunday, returns to its traditional format -- two evenings and four full days of music -- following last year's experiment with two weekends of entertainment, the first of which was held on Clearwater Beach.

The long view, among jazz enthusiasts: Clearwater's festival, which has hosted legendary artists such as Sonny Rollins ('89), McCoy Tyner ('88), Stan Getz ('86), Dizzy Gillespie ('82), Buddy Rich ('81) and Woody Herman ('80), suffered an artistic decline during the first half of the '90s. Slick commercial acts, such as the Rippingtons, Hiroshima and Spyro Gyra, began to dominate. Crowds swelled, along with the banks of synthesizers and stacks of high-tech sound equipment on stage. The simple pleasures of acoustic jazz, played by musicians more concerned with artistic development than sales figures, seemed to have been forgotten by the event's organizers.

This year's edition of the Jazz Holiday, like the last few, is far more balanced. Fans of the straight-ahead jazz heard on WUSF-FM 89.7 will be pleased by the inclusion of Bridgewater, Reed, Latin-jazz heavy hitters Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, pianist Monty Alexander and Terence Blanchard, the New Orleans trumpeter also known as Spike Lee's score composer.

Enthusiasts of the smooth jazz heard on WSJT-FM 94.1 will applaud the encore appearances of fusion bassist Stanley Clarke and singers Patti Austin and Oleta Adams, as well as crowd-pleasing Tampa vocalist Fred Johnson.

It's a terrific bargain, too, as admission is free. The rules: No coolers or alcoholic beverages may be brought into Coachman Park, the better to increase sales of beer and wine. Blankets left overnight will be removed. Umbrellas, major sightline obstacles in the past, are no longer allowed.

But the VIP section in front of the stage remains a fact of life at the Jazz Holiday. The most enthusiastic fans of the music, as a result, are separated from the artists by a wide gulf of seats, typically packed with chattering donors. One solution: Restrict the VIP areas to the sides and rear of the stage, and allow all listeners access to the front.

Here's the schedule:

Thursday

6-7:15 p.m.: Tampa favorites Orquesta Infinidad specialize in a high-energy brand of Latin jazz, salsa, merengue and other traditional Latin styles.

7:45-9 p.m.: Eric Reed, a Philadelphia native, began playing piano at age 2, and as a teenager played with Wynton Marsalis, the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson. He was a member of Marsalis' septet from 1989 through the group's disbanding in 1994 and released his debut solo album in 1990. Last year's Manhattan Melodies had the accomplished musician leading a trio on retooled versions of jazz and pop familiarities. Reed will lead a quintet featuring drummer Carl Allen.

9:30-11 p.m.: Dee Dee Bridgewater

Friday

6-7:15 p.m.: Mike MacArthur, a gifted Tampa saxophonist, spent a couple of years on the road with Maynard Ferguson and recently made a high-profile Ice Palace appearance with ex-Pink Floyd front man Roger Waters. MacArthur's own band plays a spirited mix of hard-grooving electric jazz and fusion, heard on the group's recently released debut disc.

7:45-9 p.m.: Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, led by the San Francisco singer, combine swing and jump blues with Latin, New Orleans and bebop styles. Smith, said to be influenced by Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, took on a variety of upbeat chestnuts on last year's well-received Everybody's Talkin"Bout Miss Thing.

9:30-11 p.m. Stanley Clarke, one of the world's most revered electric bassists (and also a master of the upright bass), began his career playing with Horace Silver, Dexter Gordon and Art Blakey, and made his breakthrough as a co-founder of fusion band Return to Forever. He has since shifted into R&B and funk and has developed a second career as a composer of scores for television and film. Clarke and RTF drummer Lenny White re-teamed last year for a band -- and album -- called Vertu.

Saturday

12:45-1:45 p.m. The U.S. Air Force Band, directed by woodwind specialist Senior Master Sgt. James M. Larimer, plays a mix of jazz and pop standards.

2:15-3:30 p.m. The Yellowjackets, organized in 1977 by former member Robben Ford, have undergone major sonic renovations over the years, shuttling from funky R&B to fairly bland pop instrumentals. These days, though, the band sports a muscular electric-acoustic jazz blend, thanks in part to the addition of busy saxophonist-composer Bob Mintzer to a lineup that includes keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer William Kennedy. The quartet's recent Warner Bros. discs, including 1998's Club Nocturne, have been among their best.

4-5:15 p.m. Tim Hockenberry, also from San Francisco, is a jazz and R&B singer who has shared the stage with Robert Cray, Roberta Flack and B.B. King, among others.

5:45-7 p.m.: Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band .

7:30-8:45 p.m.: Bellevue Cadillac, a neo-swing septet from Boston, galvanized listeners at last year's Jazz Holiday, thanks in part to the silky singing of "Gentleman Joe" Cooper. Prozac Nation, the group's debut CD, was released in 1998.

9:30-11 p.m.: Patti Austin, a returnee from last year, is an R&B favorite who released her first recording in 1969, has done duets with George Benson and Michael Jackson and hooked up with James Ingram for Baby, Come to Me, a chart-topping pop hit from her 1982 album Every Home Should Have One. Ingram and Austin were also paired for How Do You Keep the Music Playing? and she later worked with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Austin became a major player in the world of smooth jazz during the '90s, with a string of discs on the GRP and Concord labels.

Sunday

1-2 p.m.: Nu Soul Company, one of three winners of this year's Clearwater Jazz Holiday Band Search, reportedly thrilled the competition crowd with a mix of saxophone-led smooth jazz and vocals.

2:30-3:45 p.m. Oleta Adams, officially discovered at a Kansas City, Mo., hotel lounge by Tears For Fears singer Roland Orzabal, gained a Grammy nomination for her 1990 debut album, Circle of One. The singer has a sterling reputation for her live performances, and discs, including 1997's Come Walk With Me.

4:15-5:30 p.m. Fred Johnson, a longtime member of the Tampa Bay area's artistic community, has cut back on his public performances in recent years. But his rich, flexible vocals remain ripe and ready, judging by his enthusiastically received set at the Boney James-Rick Braun show.

6-7:15 p.m.: Monty Alexander, a Jamaican-born pianist who grew up in Miami, is a polished bebop and swing pianist deeply influenced by Oscar Peterson, Nat King Cole and Gene Harris. Alexander's resume includes work with Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Herb Ellis and Ray Brown, and this year he teamed with a pair of legendary reggae rhythm masters for Monty Meets Sly (Dunbar) and Robbie (Shakespeare). At Jazz Holiday, Alexander reportedly will be backed by his Jamaica-based Gumption band, with several of the musicians who appeared on the pianist's 1999 Stir It Up, a jazz-meets-reggae tribute to Bob Marley.

7:45-9 p.m.: Terence Blanchard

PREVIEW

Clearwater Jazz Holiday

• When: Thursday through Sunday.
• Where: Coachman Park, downtown Clearwater.
• Admission: free.
• Rules: No coolers or alcoholic beverages may be brought into the park. Beer, wine and food are available for purchase. I.D. required for beer and wine. Blankets left overnight will be removed. Large umbrellas are not allowed.
• Parking: available on side streets and in lots and garages downtown. Downtown garage parking is free after 7 p.m. weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday. Downtown meters are free after 6 p.m. weekdays and all weekend. Designated handicapped parking areas are at the bridge tender's lot on Drew Street and at Harborview's parking lot near the stage.

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