Esperanza Spalding @ Gesu - Centre de Creativite, Montreal 7/2/09

Day 3 of my jazz week, and I get a second chance at seeing Esperanza Spalding here in Montreal, at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

This time, without a thunderstorm overhead, I am able to fully engage and immerse myself in the music and experience that is, Esperanza.

Esperanza played a balanced mix of songs from her previous two albums and many new songs we can expect will likely show up on her upcoming album (which is supposed to be a hommage to Nina Simone). I had a smile on my face the entire performance. I couldn’t wipe it off even if I tried. I was head-boppin’, foot-stompin’ all the way through.

A few thought-provoking ideas went through my head as I was enjoying the concert:

1) You’re only as good as the musicans you play with:
Esperanza played with a stellar, yet young group including Otis Brown (bass), Ricardo Roach (guitar), Geonese (?) (piano). Keep an eye out for any and all of these musicians, as I am very sure they will all lead very successful and distinguished careers as the leaders of their own jazz groups. With the type of music that Esperanza and many of the younger groups are playing, they require each musician in the group to be fully adaptable and possess many different musical specialties.

2) A glimpse into the New Contemp Jazz direction:
Esperanza is not the only artist playing multiple styles fusion. But different from the type of fusion Miles Davis pioneered (Fusion with instrument, sounds and a heavy influence from the then fresh avant garde/free jazz movement) The new fusion is about fusing different styles of popular music genres into Jazz: Rock-Jazz, Soul-Jazz, Trip hop-Jazz, R&B-Jazz, Hip Hop-Jazz. The contemporary jazz musician like Esperanza (an like Christian Scott or The Bad Plus) are arranging each song as it should be arranged, whether it is a Jazz rhythm line supporting a pop song, or a jazz song in a the context of rock.

2a) Successful players must be masters at a multiple number of different genres:
What this means for all contemporary musicians and those up & coming, is that if these advancing artists are constructing this paradigm, all subsequent jazz musicians will need to master not only jazz, but a number of other genres as well. We will see not only specialists in one instrument or style in Jazz, we will see more musicians who will be specialists in multiple genres to master New Jazz Fusion.

2b) Each song is a different kind of fusion:
No longer will a full album be made to reinforce one jazz genre. As we saw in Esperanza’s second album which had three distinct types of fusion equally represented throughout the album, we’re going to see more musicians have consecutive songs distinctly different from one another. It may alienate some listeners, especially those that only like one kind of style/genre/fusion.
But this type of each-song-stands-on-its-own album fits into the iTunes-style of music selling: Now that music listeners & buyers are purchasing each song at a time, and less and less purchasing whole albums, it allows a listener to choose the type of fusions that are most appealing to them from that one particular artist.

Esperanza’s first album set a foundation that established her firmly as a young-rising talented artist in the jazz arena. Album two threw together a few different styles Esperanza could do to show her verasity. It also helped the record label learn more about which styles are most commercially viable. Now with sneak peeks at some new songs, we have an idea where her next album is going: further into fusion: soul, rock, world-music into jazz.

Esperanza’s show illicited continuous standing ovations from the audience, resulting in two encores.

In the subsequent days after Esperanza’s performance at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, I saw and read a number of very strong and positive reviews from her performance. But I think the clearest indicator of how successful her performance at the jazz fest was the fact that all of her cds were sold out in every single music store I could find (and I went to all of the stores, my friend wanted to buy the album but we couldn’t find it anywhere).

Bravo to Esperanza Spalding! The highlight of my few days at this year’s Montreal International Jazz Fest.

Esperanza Spalding @ Confederation Park, Ottawa 6/30/09

Day 2 of following jazz festivals in Canada, and I am in Ottawa attending their outdoor jazz series in Confederation Park.  Amid rain and thunder, we sit outside on the grassy field in our lawn chairs and umbrellas.  It is here that I first encounter Esperanza Spalding in person.

As I’ve reviewed her album before (click here), I won’t go into too much detail again about her background.  All I want to say is that her voice is killer. It is to die for, and it literally sent chills down my neck.  Smooth and silky, her voice effortlessly scats and belts her way right through your heart. Absolutely killer.

Her bass playing, as clearly demonstrated by her few albums, brings it all deep down to earth, and roots it firmly sincere jazz, and authentic soul.

Finally, now that I’ve been able to see her upclose and personal, I must admit, I’m getting even more infatuated with her than I was before.  She’s not just talented, addicting me with her music, but she’s got mad style (the soul kind) and, well, she is really hot. And she’s funny, with a bright and spunky personality.  She has all the elements it takes to be a major commercial force on the billboard charts.

Its a shame that it was pouring so much in Ottawa, I was forced to leave as the friends accompanying me were totally soaked through and in danger of getting sick.

No matter though, I’ve already bought tickets to see Esperanza again at the Montreal International Jazz Festival July 2nd.  This time indoors so I won’t be displaced by bad weather.

More to come as I prepare for my second attempt at Esperanza Spalding’s live experience.

Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow & Antonio Sanchez @ The Four Seasons Centre, Toronto 6/29/09

Day 1 of my week of jazz, and I kick it off with a big bang with a revisit to one of the most influential and profound jazz groups that shaped the path of contemporary Jazz.  Gary Burton is reunited with Pat Metheny, along with Burton’s long-time musical companion, Steve Swallow, and newer addition, Antonio Sanchez, who is a regular in Pat Metheny’s current quartet.

The concert and the album are entitled “Revisited” alluding to the period and songs in the early 70’s that first introduced us to a young Pat Metheny when he then joined the Gary Burton Quartet.

The concert in Toronto on June 29th was as what all jazz fanatics could hope for: a packed house, an awesome acoustically-inclined music hall, and four of the most talented musicians around.

Gary Burton played as masterfully as ever.  I had seen him play once before at the Toronto Jazz Fest in 2005 when he performed his “Next Generation” tour alongside the then emerging Julian Lage.  I can never get over the intricacies of his four mallets as they move across the vibraphone keys.  The double mallets in each hand are mesmerizing to watch, especially if you notice the subtle way Burton changes the distance between the two mallets in each hands to produce different sets of chords & harmonics.  I am utterly amazed at his speed, and it is obvious he’s perfected his muscle memory in the 40 years he has played.

Pat Metheny continues to be at the top of his game.  He played four different guitars that night, including his 42-string Pikassa guitar.  As we all are so well familiar with Pat’s legendary style, I won’t say too much, though it is always the greatest pleasure when I get a chance to watch him perform life.

More posts coming on this week as I travel from Toronto to Ottawa to Montreal and back to Toronto again following all three international jazz festivals.