2001 Monterey Jazz Festival - Herbie Hancock, New Directions

In 2001, both Miles Davis and John Coltrane would have celebrated their 75th birthday. With that in mind, Herbie Hancock went on tour with a quintet modeled after his V.S.O.P. bands of the '70s and '80s and the Tribute to Miles band of the '90s, which in turn were modeled after the 1965-1968 Miles Davis Quintet. That band consisted of Michael Brecker, Roy Hargrove, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade.

The simple path would have been to simply play a montage of the famous standards produced by those two giants. Hancock doesn't do simple. Herbie is about innovating and creating. With this collection of artists, not even new arrangements would do. Completely updated versions were called for. In what was only the second live performance by this band what the opening night audience experienced was one of those truly unforgettable "Monterey Moments". The haunting tempo of "Impressions" overlayed with the modal chord progression of "So What' was a stunning example of one of those dramatic reconstructions. Brecker's solo version of Coltrane's classic "Naima" is still the talk of the festival faithful.

This performance alone was the high point that year for many in attendance. To quote one 25+ year festival veteran, "I feel privileged just to have been here".

Comments

Jazz 500 - An Overdue Personal Project

Hello again. First, I must apologize for being away for so long. I wish I had more of an excuse to give you, but the fact is, sometimes life just gets in the way. In any case, I’m back just in time for the heart of the festival season. Next up for me is the Monterey Jazz Festival in September. We have our tickets in hand, and can’t wait for this, the 61st edition, of the longest continuously running jazz festival in the world. In the meantime, if you’ve followed my Instagram feed in the past, you may have noticed quite a bit more activity than normal. I usually post images live from the festival, and hope to be doing that again this year. In addition, I’ve started a series I’m referring to as Jazz 500 (#jazz500). My Jazz Photojournalism adventure began in 1995. A year later, I covered my first Monterey Jazz Festival. Since then, I’ve covered it every year except 1997 and 1998. As you can imagine, after 20 years of photographing some of the greatest legends of the musi

Faces of Jazz: Nancy Wilson, 2008 Monterey Jazz Festival

The afternoon "Conversation" segments of the Monterey Jazz Festival are a hidden gem in the festival's weekend program. The audience takes a rare, personal look at an artist as they reflect on various aspects and moments of their storied careers. This image was captured in one of those sessions with Nancy Wilson. Later that evening, Ms. Wilson would take the stage for the first time since the passing of her husband of 35 years, just weeks prior. She noted that how performing would be very different now. "Whenever U was onstage," she explained, "...no matter where I was in the world, I was always singing to him." She went on to say her signature song "Guess Who I Saw Today" had absolutely nothing to do with the Reverend Wiley Burton. All ticket options for the 2013 Monterey Jazz Festival are available now. Choose from single day grounds tickets to full weekend subscription packages for the Arena concerts. Go to the Monterey Jazz Fe

Faces of Jazz: Charnett Moffett - 2013 Monterey Jazz Festival

Charnett Moffett has had a connection to the elite artists in jazz for a very long time. His father, Charles, was a drummer for Ornette Coleman in the 1960s, so he's more than accustomed to being around the legends of jazz. This year, Saturday evening's performances on the Garden Stage featured the artists of the Moté ma Records label. Moffett's fourth CD on Moté ma , Spirit of Sound, was released on July 9th. Together with label founder Jana Herzen, Moffett hosted a showcase of Moté ma artists, and anchored many of the ensembles on bass.

Jazz Currents

Search This Blog