Jazzaldia 2013: days 2-5

(This is a digest of the more detailed account of the 48º Heineken Jazzaldia, the annual summer jazz festival in Donostia/San Sebastián, Spain, which can be found in Spanish, here. You can read about day 1 in English here.)

As vilified as it may be, the European summer jazz festival circuit must surely come as a blessing for many, musicians and fans alike. Besides the opportunities to work for the former, and to enjoy quality live music for the latter, it's a good chance to meet up with old friends who become part of the landscape for a few days a year.

One of those chance meetings: John Zorn and Lee Konitz
(© Fernando Ortiz de Urbina)

Going to a summer jazz fest

Everybody's been doing it for over 60 years: The discreet charm of combining the summer resort with a feast of live jazz and other musics (Chuck Berry played Newport '58, so you might say that it's always been like that). Genteel, maybe. Exclusive, not at all.

In the coming days I'll be reporting the news from San Sebastian's Heineken Jazzaldia, where I got started as a newspaper reporter ages ago. Good memories, old friends, and some extraordinary food await. Check the programme here, and see if you can come along.

That is now. The following is back when: Newport 1962. A few good quality clips from Franz Hoffman, plus a longer one, in not so good quality (but we get to see some Roland Kirk and Pee Wee Russell, so no complaints).

See you!

Count Basie and His Orchestra

On your marks, get set...

It's (not at all) funny how time seems to speed up when we change the hour on the last weekend of October. Suddenly it's mid-November and the London Jazz Festival is again upon us. Around 280 events — most of them gigs, but also masterclasses, talks, etc. — in 10 days, with some of the most exciting music in the world available in town, unabated by cuts in public spending or general financial gloom.

Even a cursory look at the programme will reveal an impressive array of names, some of them regulars at this kind of international festivals. To give you twenty random names, Ornette Coleman, Henry Threadgill, Charles Gayle, Ray Gelato, Stefano Bollani (featuring Martial Solal!), Hermeto Pascoal, Richard Galliano (featuring Dave Douglas), Michel Portal, Roy Haynes (with Peter King), McCoy Tyner (featuring Chris Potter), Stan Tracey, Soweto Kinch, the Brubecks, Martin Taylor, Steve Swallow, Joey Calderazzo, David Sanborn, Kenny Wheeler, Archie Shepp & Joachim Kühn...

Going back to the current situation, though, and especially for curious listeners, there are quite a few *** free *** events that are worth noting, like the gigs by the likes of Duck Baker, Gwylim Simcock, Martin Speake (featuring John Hollenbeck), locals F-IRE Collective, or (is this a LJF first?) the one-hour CD exchange. And there's also the HMTTY ("Hear Me Talkin' To Ya") series of live interviews for BBC broadcast.

So, if by any change you're around town, do have a look and let the sound of surprise surprise you. I'll be tweeting on it, and also reviewing a very small part of it, in Spanish, for Cuadernos de Jazz.

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