2009 Pittsfield CityJazz Festival schedule-at-a-glance
The Pittsfield CityJazz Festival comprises a wide range of events and genres, from jam sessions to jazz legends…something for everybody’s taste. Many performances are free. The following timeline illustrates the rich variety of jazz available to attendees of this, our fifth annual festival.
Kickoff concert:
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7pm
ROYAL HARTIGAN AND BLOOD DRUM SPIRIT
Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Ave.
JAZZ ABOUT TOWN
FRIDAY, OCT. 9
EAGLES STAGE BAND
Noon, Pittsfield City Hall Steps.
Rain location: City Council Chambers
DAVE WINCHESTER-piano
11:30am-1:00pm Joe’s Lunchbox
137 North St., 413-997-4500
WE B 3 Organ Trio
9pm-Midnight The Lantern Restaurant
445 North St., 413-448-2717
DAVE BROWN TRIO
8-11:00pm, Mission Bar & Tapas
438 North St.
www.missionbarandtapas.com
TED MURRAY QUARTET
6-9pm Patrick’s Pub
Park Square, 413-499-1994
www.patricksinpittsfield.com
ALLEN LIVERMORE TRIO
8-11pm, Pittsfield Brew Works
34 Depot St., 413-997-3506,
www.pittsfieldbrewworks.com
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10
TED MURRAY QUARTET
6-9pm Patrick’s Pub
Park Square, 413-499-1994
www.patricksinpittsfield.com
FRAN CURLEY TRIO
8pm-11:00pm Pittsfield Brew Works
34 Depot St., 413-997-3506
www.pittsfieldbrewworks.com
WE B 3 ORGAN TRIO
9pm-Midnight The Lantern Restaurant
445 North St., 413-448-2717
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009
BEN KOHN & FRIENDS JAM SESSION
8pm Dottie’s Coffee Lounge
444 North St., 413-443-1793
www.dottiescoffeelounge.com
THIRD THURSDAY JAZZ CRAWL
OCTOBER 15
DAN BROAD WITH ALLEN LIVERMORE
& STUDENTS FROM BCC
5:30-7;30pm, Intermodal Transportation Center
Columbus Avenue @ North St.
ANDY KELLY’S DIXIELAND AMBASSADORS
5-8pm, Crowne Plaza
Park Square, 413-499-2000
www.crowneplaza.com
THE INBETWEENS
5-8pm Dottie’s Coffee Lounge
444 North St., 413-443-1793
www.dottiescoffeelounge.com
INDUSTRIAL JAZZ GROUP
5–8pm
Downtown, outdoors location TBA
FRANK VIGNOLA MASTER CLASS
7:15pm, Berkshire Music School
30 Wendell Ave., 413-442-1411
http://berkshiremusicschool.org
Oct. 16, 7:30pm
FRANK VIGNOLA TRIO
“Top of the Crowne Plaza”
1 West Street, 413-499-2000
www.crowneplaza.com
Oct. 17, 8pm
DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET with the
BERKSHIRES JAZZ YOUTH ENSEMBLE
Colonial Theatre
111 South Street, 413-997-4444
www.TheColonialTheatre.org
Sunday, Oct. 18, 3pm
JAZZ JAM
(bring your instrument, or come to listen)
Lichtenstein Center for the Arts
28 Renne Ave., 413-499-9348
www.CulturalPIttsfield.com
Grace Kelly named in 2009 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll
Grace Kelly, who appeared at the 2006 Pittsfield CityJazz Festival as a guest soloist, and in 2007 as a featured artist, has been named “Alto Saxophone, Rising Star” in the 2009 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll. Congratulations to this legend-in-the-making!
Miles Davis album Kind of Blue fete in Lenox
Among those appearing will be pianist Andy Jaffe, the Director of the Jazz Program at Williams College and former Artistic Director of the Williamstown Jazz Festival, who will play with his son, bassist Marty Jaffe. The Bob Shepherd Trio, featuring Bob Shepherd on piano, Steve Murray on bass and Dick DiNicola on drums, will perform, along with Don Mikkelsen on trombone and Robert Kelly on piano, as well as pianist Daniel Yudkin.
Also on the program will be guitarists Andy Kelly and Joe Finn. Jeremy Yudkin, Professor of Music at Boston University, will provide insights into the recording sessions for Kind of Blue while also addressing the assertion that the names of two of the album’s songs were erroneously switched. Tom Reney, host of the long-running and very popular jazz show, Jazz a la Mode, on WFCR in Amherst will offer reflections on “Kind of Blue and its Legacy.”
Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, released on August 17, 1959, is the bestselling jazz record of all time. The album brought together seven now-legendary musicians in the prime of their careers: tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb, and trumpeter Miles Davis. An innovative blend of Southern gospel, African finger music and influences from classical composers such as Bela Bartok and Maurice Ravel, the album was recorded with virtually no rehearsal and almost entirely from first takes.
Jazz critic Ashley Kahn has compared listening to Kind of Blue to reading James Joyce. “Every time you go to it” he observed, “you come back with something new – a favorite track, a new solo in that track. If that’s not a definition of a masterpiece, I don’t know what is.”
The program is free and open to the public.
Dave Brubeck tops Pittsfield CityJazz Festival bill
Jazz in Schools visits Hancock Elementary School
Here is a video clip, made by Jenn Smith of the Berkshire Eagle, from our Jazz in Schools program, part of the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, showing the Sister City Jazz Ambassadors playing at Hancock Elementary School in Hancock, MA (featuring Charlie Tokarz, sax and clarinet; Andy Kelly, guitar):
Dave Brubeck and Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble
First report of the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s 2009 Pittsfield CityJazz Festival performance with the Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble at the sold-out Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield has been posted at BerkshireLinks.com. It includes a three and a half minute video clip that segues from the afternoon rehearsal to the evening performance with Mr. Brubeck sharing the piano with Pittsfield HS student Samuel Landes.
Following, is more video from rehearsal, including final preparations for Mr. Brubeck’s transition with PHS student Sam Landes, and interactions with Art Neideck, Ron Lively, and Ed Bride. And there’s another video clip from the concert that can be seen here on YouTube.
video: royal hartigan blood drum spirit
2009 festival is underway…
See a video montage at BerkshireLinks.com from the opening performance of the festival, royal hartigan and blood drum spirit. More video will be posted here soon.
American Jazz Repertory Orchestra concert reviews
Your comments about the concert are welcome here, too, along with any comment pertaining to jazz in the Berkshires.