“In rock ’n’ roll there’s just as much cultural weight (as jazz), but that sense of responsibility isn’t there when people talk about it. Instead there’s constant evolution, and it’s accepted that audiences can move from one thing to the next and get down with it. That’s how that scene flourishes. With jazz such a thing doesn’t exist.” – Adam Schatz, Search and Restore (as quoted in the NY Times)
For the eighth year in a row, the Winter Jazzfest took over five Village venues last weekend, presenting a sterling lineup of music from all ends of the jazz spectrum. The festival, which deliberately coincides with the annual APAP conference, brought out some 2,000 jazz fans over two days. And, while there was the usual quotient of old-school jazz heads blathering on about esoteric stuff noone cares about, there were even more young folks, all of whom came ready to get down.
Kudos to the Adam and Brice from Search and Restore for keeping it real. And cheap: a weekend pass cost all of $45, which worked out to way less than a buck a band (assuming you managed to last til the last set at 3:15am on Saturday)
Below are pics; the rest are over at the photo page: Friday, Saturday. You can also go back and see my real-time updates at twitter.com/feastofmusic. Or, for great clips like this one by the Vijay Iyer Trio, check out NPR Music.
Friday, Jan. 6
Ben Allison Trio (w/Steve Cardenes and Jenny Scheinman), Kenny's Castaways