Jazzfest remains timely
Jazz 2012 in New York City began as 2011 did: with a Winter Jazzfest proving that a couple thousand fans in their twenties and thirties will flock to The Village in January for staggered sets by some five dozen original and emergent ensembles for one low price in multiple venues.
The excitement and diverse styles of bands showcased at (Le) Poisson Rouge, Sullivan Hall, Kenny’s Castaways, Zinc Bar and The Bitter End demonstrated that there’s way more innovative art derived from American standards, blues, swing and improvisation than can be accounted for by the scant monies trickling through recordings, clubs and concert spaces to the players. Evidently, they make music for love.
2012 also announced itself with the gala concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center staged by the National Endowment for the Arts to celebrate its 2012 Jazz Masters: singer Sheila Jordan, drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Charlie Haden, Chicago saxophonist Von Freeman and flugelhorn player Jimmy Owens, designated an “advocate” for his teaching at the New School and work with American Federation of Musicians Local 802. From the stage (the entire show, which was webcast live, is archived at arts.gov), Owens announced that every New York City jazz club reneged on its 2009 promises of pension fund contributions. May 2012 be the year of the 802 slogan, “Justice for Jazz Musicians.”
The concert was amazing in part for the vigor with which men and women in their seventies and eighties perform—vibist Bobby Hutcherson, almost 72, struck a heartbreakingly beautiful final cadence in his duet with pianist Kenny Barron while getting oxygen from a tank. But the NEA, wanting to acknowledge and encourage young artists, included a handful of them onstage jamming with the Masters.
Which was cool, because at the end of 2011, the jazz net was abuzz about self-described “Black American Music” trumpeter Nicholas Payton’s blog posts insisting that jazz is dead. He means especially the word “jazz,” believing it’s a dirty old denigration that keeps new developments from being embraced as “popular” music. That’s a long-standing complaint from musicians who dislike any classification.
Counterarguments say that jazz has earned respect for its lengthy, noble tradition. That we all know what jazz is when we hear it, even if we can’t or won’t define it. And this word is a short wonder, fit for headlines and tweets, expressing sizzle and zip, akin to “wizard” and “pizazz.” Jazz, whatever it becomes in 2012, has been and remains jazz.
Reach Howard Mandel at jazzmandel@gmail.com.
