Fine-tuning the Jazz Holiday

By PHILIP BOOTH

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000

CLEARWATER -- The 21st annual Clearwater Jazz Holiday is history, and organizers are able to point to the success of another smartly produced, well-organized event. The festival notched an attendance of about 60,000 for nearly 30 hours of free music spread out over four days in downtown Coachman Park. Storm-season worries, a factor last year with Hurricane Irene, faded in the face of sunny days and breezy nights.

Serious listeners and casual observers alike came away impressed with what they heard. Terence Blanchard, a young post-bop master celebrated as the year's top artist and best trumpeter in Down Beat magazine's latest readers poll, led his sextet through a magnificent closing set that would have been at home in New York's venerable Village Vanguard. Dee Dee Bridgewater, a fiercely talented veteran jazz singer in full comeback mode, opened with a hard-swinging performance that thrilled fans and converts alike. And the big-name smooth jazz acts pleased the partisans of that genre and easily gained the enthusiasm of fans.

The Jazz Holiday, for any number of reasons, will never be as artistically significant as the major jazz festivals in San Francisco, Montreal, New York or Europe. But the consensus is this: Programmers are striking a decent balance, appealing to those listeners who want all Rippingtons, all the time, and others loyal to music created in the tradition of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.

"I think it's kind of swung back in a good direction the last two or three years," says Bob Seymour, jazz director at WUSF-FM 89.7. "I'd like to see it swing a little more toward straight-ahead jazz, although I certainly don't have anything against a Patti Austin or a Stanley Clarke as a weekend headliner. My personal preference would be to keep a wide mix, but offer a little more for the hard-core jazz fans."

A few suggestions for an even stronger event in 2001:

Present a bona fide legend, someone who has played jazz long enough, and created a body of recorded work substantial enough, to have exerted an undeniable influence on the music. How about bringing back legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who played the festival in 1989? Why not invite drummer Max Roach, a forefather of bebop, still going strong? A few others who might fit the bill: Clark Terry, Ornette Coleman, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Phil Woods, Freddie Hubbard and Keith Jarrett.

When it comes to electric-jazz acts, peel off the sonic wallpaper and go for someone with more depth, maybe a guitarist on the order of Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, John Scofield or Mike Stern. Or find a fusion act as relevant as the Zawinul Syndicate, the worldbeat-influenced band led by former Weather Report keyboardist Joe Zawinul.

Take a hint from the jazz magazines, and bring a jam band or two into the mix. Younger audiences would flock to see Medeski, Martin and Wood, Charlie Hunter, Galactic, Soulive, Michael Ray and the Cosmic Crew, the Jazz Mandolin Project, Deep Banana Blackout or popular Tampa trio Beanstalk.

Stick with the strategy of bringing in a Latin-jazz heavy hitter, such as this year's roots-deep Fort Apache Band, led by trumpeter and composer Jerry Gonzalez.

Find a way to get Chick Corea, preferably with his top-shelf band Origin, on the bill as soon as possible. The pianist, who makes his home in the Clearwater area, was backstage during the performances by Bridgewater and Blanchard. He reportedly declined a slot this year because of a planned European tour that subsequently fell through. And it's time for return engagements by pianist Kenny Drew Jr., and electric bassist Jeff Berlin, nationally known jazz artists based in the Tampa Bay area.

For the big band slot, dispense with the military-base acts and go for something more artistically significant, perhaps beginning with the Jazz Surge, the group headed by talented composer-pianist Chuck Owen, a jazz studies professor at the University of South Florida. Also on the short list: the Rivbea All-Star Orchestra, led by Orlando-based saxophone great Sam Rivers, the Maria Schneider Big Band and the Mingus Big Band.

Try a theme night, perhaps Thursday or Sunday. How about a New Orleans evening, with a brass band (Rebirth? Dirty Dozen? Michael Foster?), a mainstream player (Nicholas Payton? Irvin Mayfield?) and an acoustic-electric act (Astral Project? Quintology?). It would have been appropriate this year to stage a tribute to the late Manfredo Fest, the Brazilian-born pianist and composer who had such an influence on the Tampa Bay area's jazz community, and the jazz world at large. Next year would not be too late to address that oversight.

Hold off on the repetition: Did we really need to see Patti Austin, Oleta Adams or Bellevue Cadillac two years in a row? Should Stanley Clarke, a hit in 1998, have returned so quickly?

Public competitions, which tend to favor high-energy acts over those specializing in musical subtleties, may not be the best way to fill the three slots made available to local acts. Next year, consideration might be given to bands as deserving as trombonist Buster Cooper's group, Gumbi Ortiz's Latino Project, bassist Michael Ross' quartet, and/or artists such as guitarist Larry Camp, guitarist Phil Fest and pianist Richard Drexler.

Finally, it may be time to dismantle, or at least trim way back, the VIP section. The most enthusiastic fans are separated from the artists by a wide gulf of seats, typically packed with chattering sponsors. As a result, the interaction between performer and audience, so integral to vibrant performances, is diminished. One solution: Restrict the VIP areas to the sides and rear of the stage, and allow all listeners access to the front.

Philip Booth, a music journalist and musician based in Tampa since 1988, is a frequent contributor to the St. Petersburg Times. His writing also appears in Jazziz, Down Beat, Billboard, Bass Player, CMJ Music Monthly and the Internet magazine Salon.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.