There’s still some late-summer jazz waiting in the coming week, and very good excuses to head to Red Rocks or Vail or both.
On Monday Red Rocks gets as close to jazz as it’s been lately, with singer/pianist Diana Krall and trumpeter Chris Botti. Krall sells a lot of music, and understandably so. She’s continuing a tradition of ballads and crowd-pleasing easy swing mastered by personalities like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra decades before she was born. And she has a certain geek-cred, thanks to her 2004 CD, “The Girl in the Other Room,” with many of the songs co-authored by husband and jazz fan Elvis Costello.
I preferred the smoky, confessional “Girl” to the shimmering productions like her current “From This Moment On” CD, but even those platinum-selling discs have integrity.
Botti is something like a contemporary Chet Baker, and his discs tend to get granted gold- record status at a consistent rate, meaning they sell at least 50 times more than your standard neglected jazz genius’ releases do. But in Botti’s case, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, and maybe some who appreciate his music will discover Baker, then Miles, etc. At least you hope so.
Tickets are $48.50-88.50 through Ticketmaster.
For Labor Day Weekend, the 13th annual Vail Jazz Festival Weekend Party features one of the most exciting working groups around, drummer Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts, which seemingly takes on any kind of material and turns it into fodder for improvisation. Also expected: The Clayton Brothers Quintet, Herlin Riley, Paul Bollenback and Bill Cunliffe’s intriguing-sounding “Multi-Media Salute to Thelonious Monk.” It’s all at the Vail Cascade Resort and Spa. Tickets start at $45, and you can call 888-824-5526 for more information.
Hornsby’s jazz odyssey
When rock- or pop-identified musicians take on jazz, I’m often reminded of Spinal Tap’s disastrous “Jazz Odyssey” at the fictional Themeland Amusement Park, where they were humiliatingly billed second to a puppet show. Mastery of one form doesn’t always lend itself to another, but pianist Bruce Hornsby has been putting his jazz chops on display since the mid-’80s, employing McCoy Tyner-like solos on hits like “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain.” A couple of years ago Hornsby eagerly discussed Cecil Taylor with me before a radio interview. He knows the keyboard and its history, so it’s nice that he’s finally decided to put out a straight-ahead trio disc.
“Camp Meeting” (Legacy) is presented as a collaboration with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Jack DeJohnette, as opposed to a Hornsby-led recording. They really do sound like a working trio, embellishing each other’s thoughts and playing with a sense of unity.
Hornsby puts his good taste on display throughout, ably covering Bud Powell, Monk and Keith Jarrett while exploring the possibilities of their melodies. Stylistically, he sounds as much like Ahmad
Jamal in his use of space as he does Tyner in those impassioned chords, and what’s most evident here is his obvious respect for the masters. He can certainly play effortlessly, but I wonder if he’s willing to settle for a smaller share of the audience in the long run.
Out and about
The Ninth Annual Longmont Jazz Festival concludes today at Roosevelt Park with the Longmont All Stars Big Band, Mambotet, Pat Bianchi’s Trio and Fusion Juice … Ralph Sharon plays Dazzle on Wednesday, and Taylor Eigsti takes over the piano chair there on Thursday … Soulive brings its newly streamlined sound (and vocalist Toussaint) to the Fox Theatre on Wednesday … Saxophonist Nelson Rangell is at Nissi’s in Lafayette on Wednesday.
Bret Saunders’ column on jazz appears every other Sunday in A&E. Saunders is host of the “KBCO Morning Show,” 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays at 97.3-FM. His e-mail address is bret_saunders@hotmail.com.
