All that Jazz!
Festival attracts the top brass to Newport
Terell Stafford
By Sue Fagalde Lick • For the TODAY
Posted Sept. 28, 2011
What happens when you take jazz musicians from all over the world and throw them together on a stage in Newport with little more than a list of songs scribbled on a napkin? Magic!
That magic will be happening this weekend at the Newport Performing Arts Center and the Shilo Inn as players assemble for the eighth annual Jazz at Newport, sponsored by the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts. Although some sets will be planned and rehearsed, several will reprise previous years’ jazz party format in which musicians with compatible skills and a shared knowledge of the Great American Songbook get together in various combinations to jam.
Newport will ring with music Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, as some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians play eight sets over three days, including various combinations of artists performing afternoon, evening and nightcap sets, working their way toward an all-artist jam session at the end.
Plus, there will be jazz clinics in drums and piano, an interactive panel, and an autograph session with the musicians. It’s a lot to do in one weekend, but jazz lovers can’t wait.
Don’t like jazz? Don’t be so quick to judge, said drummer Jeff Hamilton, who is back this year with the Jeff Hamilton Trio. “People decide they don’t like certain kinds of music and close their minds. It’s such a wide category. Don’t think about the labels. Come with an open mind and listen to music you maybe haven’t heard before.”
Indeed there seems to be something for everyone. Music over the weekend will include chamber jazz, Latin, blues, bebop, gospel, and a big dose of all-American standards.
“It’s going to be a very interesting tapestry,” said Catherine Rickbone, executive director of OCCA.
One of the new headliners this year is Jamaica-born pianist Monty Alexander. His Harlem-Kingston Express, the latest project in his 50-year career, merges Jamaican music and American jazz.
“When I start playing music with a rhythm of some kind, or as we say in Jamaica, ‘riddim,’ I feel it all up in my bones,” Alexander said. “I can’t tell you a difference between the two worlds of jazz and Jamaican music, because one of the things I love to do is put them together. It’s gotta be ramping along, in terms of making you want to move your being — your heart, mind and body.”
Playing another flavor of jazz is the Weber Iago/David Valdez Chamber Jazz Project. This quintet blurs the lines between modern jazz, contemporary classical and traditional Brazilian music.
The roster also includes bassist Hassan Shakur, sax and clarinet player Anat Cohen, guitarist Howard Alden, bassist/vocalist Kristin Korb, drummer Lewis Nash, trumpeter Terell Stafford, and pianist Mike Wofford, plus flutist Holly Hofmann, bassist David Captein, pianist Tamir Hendelman, vibes-player Mike Horsfall, bassist Christoph Luty, and Portland’s PDX Jazz Quintet.
Friday night’s opening sets will be followed by Saturday afternoon’s “Happy Hour,” featuring the PDX Jazz Quintet, and Saturday evening’s “Jazz Three Ways,” which presents solo, duo and trio performances. Music director Holly Hofmann will perform with Mike Wofford in the “Sunday Morning Jazz Message.”
The Chamber Jazz Project of Weber Iago and David Valdez kicks off the final set on Sunday, followed by the renowned jazz trio of Monty Alexander, Hassan Shakur and Lewis Nash. A jam session featuring all the artists wraps up the festival.
A variety of jazz “nightcap” sets will take place Friday and Saturday nights at the Shilo Inn.
Jeff Hamilton, who has played in Newport many times, including stints at the old Otter Crest and Salishan jazz parties that preceded Jazz at Newport, said he looks forward to hearing the other players as much as the paying audience does. Usually they’re so busy touring that they never hear each other. Now they get to take the stage together.
How do they prepare for a performance when they haven’t rehearsed? “You prepare for 40 years,” he said.
The musicians share advanced skills and a common repertoire from which they draw songs to perform together. They designate a leader who starts and stops the songs and makes sure no one hogs the stage. They agree on some tunes and keys to play them in, then let ‘er rip.
Rickbone said she is amazed to see musicians work this way. A symphony, chamber orchestra or string quartet may practice for months before a performance, but these guys meet briefly in the green room and go on.
“For me, it makes something that is very exciting. This is something that’s never heard again,” she said.
Music director Holly Hofmann said, “This is a very, very advanced level of artistry that we’ve put together.” She laughed. “I tell them I need artists who play well with others.”
In addition to performing, some of the stars will take time to share their knowledge in special sessions during Jazz at Newport. Hamilton and pianist Tamir Hendelman will host music clinics in drums and piano. Hamilton’s session takes place Friday at 3:30 at Newport High School, and Hendelman’s will be Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the PAC. Both will discuss the jazz art form and demonstrate techniques. They will work with the participants individually and as a group to help them learn the techniques involved.
Hofmann, who does a lot of workshops, said, “It’s passing on the information that people were gracious enough to give to you.”
Admission to the clinics is $15 for adults, $10 for students. Registration forms can be found at jazzatnewport.org. Scholarships are available. Contact Polly Ivers at 541-574-2655 for information.
With music education disappearing from the schools, Hofmann said, “We all have to teach when we’re on the road.”
She urges attendees to bring their young friends and relatives in order to expand the audience for jazz and further the art form for future generations. In addition to the clinics, Hofmann, Hamilton, Kristin Korb and Terell Stafford will answer questions at a free interactive panel discussion at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the PAC.
The audience for Jazz at Newport comes from all over Oregon and at least a dozen other states. Many jazz aficionados come back every year, but there are always newcomers dipping their toes into the jazz world for the first time. Hofmann said she meets people every year who tell her they didn’t expect to like the music, but discovered they loved it.
2011 Jazz at Newport Schedule
At the Performing Arts Center & the Shilo Inn
More information and events: jazzatnewport.org
Friday, September 30, 2011
Set 1: OPENING NIGHT
7 pm Jeff Hamilton Trio: Tamir Hendelman,
Christoph Luty, Jeff Hamilton
8 pm Anat Cohen, Howard Alden, Christoph Luty,
Lewis Nash
9 pm Monty Alexander, Hassan Shakur, Jeff Hamilton
Set 2: NIGHTCAP AT THE SHILO
10:30 pm Howard Alden, Terell Stafford, Kristin Korb,
Lewis Nash
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Set 3: JAZZ THREE WAYS
12:15 pm THE SOLOS: Tamir Hendelman, Kristin Korb,
Mike Wofford, Jeff Hamilton, Monty Alexander,
Mike Horsfall
1 pm THE DUOS: Anat Cohen and Howard Alden,
followed by Terell Stafford and Mike Wofford
2 pm THE TRIOS: Kristin Korb, Tamir Hendelman and
Jeff Hamilton, followed by Howard Alden,
Christoph Luty and Lewis Nash
Set 4: HAPPY HOUR
3:15 pm PDX Jazz Quintet: Dick Titterington, Rob Davis,
Greg Goebel, Dave Captein, Todd Strait
4 pm Lobby Jazz with Mike Horsfall and Christoph Luty
Set 5: SUPER SATURDAY NIGHT
7 pm Anat Cohen, Tamir Hendelman, Hassan Shakur,
Todd Strait
8 pm Terell Stafford, David Valdez, Mike Wofford,
Dave Captein, Lewis Nash
9 pm Jeff Hamilton Trio: Tamir Hendelman, Christoph Luty, Jeff Hamilton
Set 6: NIGHTCAP AT THE SHILO
10:30 pm Mike Horsfall, Howard Alden, Kristin Korb, Anat Cohen, Lewis Nash
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Set 7: SUNDAY MORNING JAZZ MESSAGE
With Coffee, in the PAC Lobby
10 am Holly Hofmann (f), Mike Wofford
Set 8: THE WRAP SESSION
11 am Weber Iago/David Valdez Chamber Jazz Project: Weber Iago, David Valdez, Eddie Parente, Evan Kuhlmann, Reinhardt Meltz
12 pm Monty Alexander, Hassan Shakur, Lewis Nash
1 pm All-Artist Jam Session featuring Everybody
Weekend passes are already sold out, but you can still buy tickets for the individual sets. For a brochure, more information and tickets, visit jazzatnewport.org or call the Newport Performing Arts Center, 541-265-ARTS (2787).
Posted Sept. 28, 2011
What happens when you take jazz musicians from all over the world and throw them together on a stage in Newport with little more than a list of songs scribbled on a napkin? Magic!
That magic will be happening this weekend at the Newport Performing Arts Center and the Shilo Inn as players assemble for the eighth annual Jazz at Newport, sponsored by the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts. Although some sets will be planned and rehearsed, several will reprise previous years’ jazz party format in which musicians with compatible skills and a shared knowledge of the Great American Songbook get together in various combinations to jam.
Newport will ring with music Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, as some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians play eight sets over three days, including various combinations of artists performing afternoon, evening and nightcap sets, working their way toward an all-artist jam session at the end.
Plus, there will be jazz clinics in drums and piano, an interactive panel, and an autograph session with the musicians. It’s a lot to do in one weekend, but jazz lovers can’t wait.
Don’t like jazz? Don’t be so quick to judge, said drummer Jeff Hamilton, who is back this year with the Jeff Hamilton Trio. “People decide they don’t like certain kinds of music and close their minds. It’s such a wide category. Don’t think about the labels. Come with an open mind and listen to music you maybe haven’t heard before.”
Indeed there seems to be something for everyone. Music over the weekend will include chamber jazz, Latin, blues, bebop, gospel, and a big dose of all-American standards.
“It’s going to be a very interesting tapestry,” said Catherine Rickbone, executive director of OCCA.
One of the new headliners this year is Jamaica-born pianist Monty Alexander. His Harlem-Kingston Express, the latest project in his 50-year career, merges Jamaican music and American jazz.
“When I start playing music with a rhythm of some kind, or as we say in Jamaica, ‘riddim,’ I feel it all up in my bones,” Alexander said. “I can’t tell you a difference between the two worlds of jazz and Jamaican music, because one of the things I love to do is put them together. It’s gotta be ramping along, in terms of making you want to move your being — your heart, mind and body.”
Playing another flavor of jazz is the Weber Iago/David Valdez Chamber Jazz Project. This quintet blurs the lines between modern jazz, contemporary classical and traditional Brazilian music.
The roster also includes bassist Hassan Shakur, sax and clarinet player Anat Cohen, guitarist Howard Alden, bassist/vocalist Kristin Korb, drummer Lewis Nash, trumpeter Terell Stafford, and pianist Mike Wofford, plus flutist Holly Hofmann, bassist David Captein, pianist Tamir Hendelman, vibes-player Mike Horsfall, bassist Christoph Luty, and Portland’s PDX Jazz Quintet.
Friday night’s opening sets will be followed by Saturday afternoon’s “Happy Hour,” featuring the PDX Jazz Quintet, and Saturday evening’s “Jazz Three Ways,” which presents solo, duo and trio performances. Music director Holly Hofmann will perform with Mike Wofford in the “Sunday Morning Jazz Message.”
The Chamber Jazz Project of Weber Iago and David Valdez kicks off the final set on Sunday, followed by the renowned jazz trio of Monty Alexander, Hassan Shakur and Lewis Nash. A jam session featuring all the artists wraps up the festival.
A variety of jazz “nightcap” sets will take place Friday and Saturday nights at the Shilo Inn.
Jeff Hamilton, who has played in Newport many times, including stints at the old Otter Crest and Salishan jazz parties that preceded Jazz at Newport, said he looks forward to hearing the other players as much as the paying audience does. Usually they’re so busy touring that they never hear each other. Now they get to take the stage together.
How do they prepare for a performance when they haven’t rehearsed? “You prepare for 40 years,” he said.
The musicians share advanced skills and a common repertoire from which they draw songs to perform together. They designate a leader who starts and stops the songs and makes sure no one hogs the stage. They agree on some tunes and keys to play them in, then let ‘er rip.
Rickbone said she is amazed to see musicians work this way. A symphony, chamber orchestra or string quartet may practice for months before a performance, but these guys meet briefly in the green room and go on.
“For me, it makes something that is very exciting. This is something that’s never heard again,” she said.
Music director Holly Hofmann said, “This is a very, very advanced level of artistry that we’ve put together.” She laughed. “I tell them I need artists who play well with others.”
In addition to performing, some of the stars will take time to share their knowledge in special sessions during Jazz at Newport. Hamilton and pianist Tamir Hendelman will host music clinics in drums and piano. Hamilton’s session takes place Friday at 3:30 at Newport High School, and Hendelman’s will be Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the PAC. Both will discuss the jazz art form and demonstrate techniques. They will work with the participants individually and as a group to help them learn the techniques involved.
Hofmann, who does a lot of workshops, said, “It’s passing on the information that people were gracious enough to give to you.”
Admission to the clinics is $15 for adults, $10 for students. Registration forms can be found at jazzatnewport.org. Scholarships are available. Contact Polly Ivers at 541-574-2655 for information.
With music education disappearing from the schools, Hofmann said, “We all have to teach when we’re on the road.”
She urges attendees to bring their young friends and relatives in order to expand the audience for jazz and further the art form for future generations. In addition to the clinics, Hofmann, Hamilton, Kristin Korb and Terell Stafford will answer questions at a free interactive panel discussion at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the PAC.
The audience for Jazz at Newport comes from all over Oregon and at least a dozen other states. Many jazz aficionados come back every year, but there are always newcomers dipping their toes into the jazz world for the first time. Hofmann said she meets people every year who tell her they didn’t expect to like the music, but discovered they loved it.
2011 Jazz at Newport Schedule
At the Performing Arts Center & the Shilo Inn
More information and events: jazzatnewport.org
Friday, September 30, 2011
Set 1: OPENING NIGHT
7 pm Jeff Hamilton Trio: Tamir Hendelman,
Christoph Luty, Jeff Hamilton
8 pm Anat Cohen, Howard Alden, Christoph Luty,
Lewis Nash
9 pm Monty Alexander, Hassan Shakur, Jeff Hamilton
Set 2: NIGHTCAP AT THE SHILO
10:30 pm Howard Alden, Terell Stafford, Kristin Korb,
Lewis Nash
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Set 3: JAZZ THREE WAYS
12:15 pm THE SOLOS: Tamir Hendelman, Kristin Korb,
Mike Wofford, Jeff Hamilton, Monty Alexander,
Mike Horsfall
1 pm THE DUOS: Anat Cohen and Howard Alden,
followed by Terell Stafford and Mike Wofford
2 pm THE TRIOS: Kristin Korb, Tamir Hendelman and
Jeff Hamilton, followed by Howard Alden,
Christoph Luty and Lewis Nash
Set 4: HAPPY HOUR
3:15 pm PDX Jazz Quintet: Dick Titterington, Rob Davis,
Greg Goebel, Dave Captein, Todd Strait
4 pm Lobby Jazz with Mike Horsfall and Christoph Luty
Set 5: SUPER SATURDAY NIGHT
7 pm Anat Cohen, Tamir Hendelman, Hassan Shakur,
Todd Strait
8 pm Terell Stafford, David Valdez, Mike Wofford,
Dave Captein, Lewis Nash
9 pm Jeff Hamilton Trio: Tamir Hendelman, Christoph Luty, Jeff Hamilton
Set 6: NIGHTCAP AT THE SHILO
10:30 pm Mike Horsfall, Howard Alden, Kristin Korb, Anat Cohen, Lewis Nash
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Set 7: SUNDAY MORNING JAZZ MESSAGE
With Coffee, in the PAC Lobby
10 am Holly Hofmann (f), Mike Wofford
Set 8: THE WRAP SESSION
11 am Weber Iago/David Valdez Chamber Jazz Project: Weber Iago, David Valdez, Eddie Parente, Evan Kuhlmann, Reinhardt Meltz
12 pm Monty Alexander, Hassan Shakur, Lewis Nash
1 pm All-Artist Jam Session featuring Everybody
Weekend passes are already sold out, but you can still buy tickets for the individual sets. For a brochure, more information and tickets, visit jazzatnewport.org or call the Newport Performing Arts Center, 541-265-ARTS (2787).
