For Three Days Boston Becomes The Jazz Capitol of the World
The words float through the album. The sound is sweet and soothing. There are no rough edges.
About five years ago it would have been difficult to believe that this description applied to John Klemmer's most recent albums. But Klemmer, the same John Klemmer who produced the revolutionary sounds of Waterfalls, is also the John Klemmer who has produced the sugary sweet sounds of Barefoot Ballet.
But, the easy-going nature of the new Klemmer need not have a negative connotation. He may have changed his post-Coltrane style into something far less driving. The sound, however, is still meaningful.
Klemmer will be playing this Sunday at 8 p.m., in the Berklee Performance Center. There is an added bonus for the adventurous: Sommerville-Cambridge's favorite funny-man David Misch (no sarcasm, the guy is really a riot) will be on the case with a few pre-performance laughs.
Klemmer is simply a prelude for the jazz festivities coming to the Hynes Auditorium on November 25-28. At that time Boston's largest hall will be the scene of some of the finest jazz ever to grace this city's stages.
The concert will be in five parts with a concert given every night from Thursday to Saturday (matinees on Saturday and Sunday.)
Event number one, beginning Thursday at 8, features saxophonists sonny Rollins, Gato Barbieri and pianist Herbie Hancock. The mixture is an odd but pleasing one. Rollins is one of the few traditional saxophonists around. Longregarded as a pioneer in the late 50's, Rollins was subsequently blown-out by the great Coltrane and went into semi-retirement. He's back on the scene now--some say as forceful as ever. He is not very innovative, but he has complete mastery over the saxophone as no other has. Gato Barbieri is still getting praises for his rock-jazz-orchestra synthesis Caliente, which has managed to find playing time on several local FM stations. Gato is up from South America, but he has been away for so long that one wonders whether his style hasn't taken on a totally American approach. But there is a gutsy resonance in his tenor that can't be found in American musicians. One of the first to embrace electricity in jazz, Gato has refined the sound so much that the gizmos don't interfere in his playing. He is a tremendous musician when he finds it in him, but he hasn't shown Bostonians much more than short sets and long breaks. The festival setting is perfect for him.
Hancock is a complex pianist; a pioneer in electric piano who earned his reputation on the acoustical ivories. He is topnotch on both, but I have always preferred his soft Maiden Voyage stuff to his more recent-jazz synthesis. But I'm in the minority on this point.
On Friday trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, flutist Hubert Laws and pianist McCoy Tyner move in. Hubbard dazzled Harvard crowds last year when he coached music and stood up President Bok in The Learning for Performers Series. Hubbard has not progressed as much as hoped for from the time he broke in as an 18-year old wunderkind. But he is up in the top ten trumpeters playing today. Laws is a rarity; a lead man on flute: Not in the Eric Dolphy bracket, Laws is nevertheless more than competant on the flute. He is very much into the jazz-rock scene despite his usually classical instrument. Tyner is still my favorite pianist. He has not surrendered to the electric piano (in fact, he even tried his hand on the harpsichord in one album) and has maintained a high standard of romanticism in jazz. His style is best when in quartet, but his larger orchestra numbers can be fairly interesting.
The Saturday matinee seems like the most important concert to miss. It stars Buddy Rich and his Killer Force (ugh), Tad Jones, Mel Lewis Orchestra (getting old but still top-notch) and the Herb Pomeroy Orchestra, which sounds like a pretty much unknown quantity.
Why not hold out for the Saturday night concert which looks like it may be the best of the whole bunch: Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass. This concert combines what must be considered the class of the old time jazz field. I caught this identical show last year at the Valley Forge Music Fair, outside Philly, and Ella was still incredible: still a great voice, still great scat-singing. She did the usuals: "Let's Do It," and a few Harold Arlen and George Gershwin numbers. Peterson was a little more on the cocktail, night club side, a little too staid for my tastes. Basie was fantastic, and he had an incredible trombone section. They're all polished and brilliant. His "Satin Doll" can be better than the late Duke's version. Joe Pass was pretty unmemorable.
Even number five is the Sunday matinee with Donald Byrd and his Blackbyrds, Grover Washington and Webster Lewis. This youth movement should be taken with a skeptical glance. Byrd simply is not that good a trumpeter; Washington does not play that good a sax. Lewis is solid.
That's a pretty amazing assemblage for three days in Boston. One more thing; there is a price differential. The Thursday and Friday night concerts have reserved seating for $7.50 and $6.50. The to-be-missed Saturday matinee, which begins at 2 p.m., is $5.00 for general admission. Saturday's concert sells for $10 and $9. Sunday afternoon's concert has $7.50 and $6.50 seating. Ticket information can be obtained at 267-2051.