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Terence Blanchard<br />

Craig Lovell<br />

Caught<br />

Monterey Smartens Up,<br />

Spotlights Sidemen<br />

The MVP of the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz<br />

Festival (MJF) also turned out to be its Rookie<br />

of the Year—a free, first-time app that provided,<br />

among other things, a customizable master<br />

schedule, helping smartphone owners navigate<br />

performances on seven bandstands and a<br />

screening/simulcast viewing area.<br />

Erik Telford’s Collective was an early<br />

indicator of the historical continuity that was<br />

certainly a theme of this year’s programming.<br />

Telford, who grew up in neighboring Pacific<br />

Grove, was the first winner of the MJF’s<br />

Jimmy Lyons Scholarship to the Berklee<br />

College of Music.<br />

The trumpeter humbly announced that he<br />

hoped his band would do justice to the stage<br />

that pianist/keyboardist and 2011 Showcase<br />

Artist Robert Glasper had christened the<br />

same evening. Telford’s sextet seamlessly<br />

incorporated electronic, global, ambient and<br />

fusion elements into its 21st Century instrumental<br />

sound.<br />

Another MVP candidate was fellow<br />

trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who officially<br />

participated in two separate events and extemporaneously<br />

joined two others. Blanchard<br />

was Dizzy Gillespie to conguero Poncho<br />

Sanchez’s Chano Pozo during Friday night’s<br />

“Cubano Be! Cubano Bop!” program. He<br />

then took the solo spot for most of Sunday<br />

night’s stunning tribute to the Miles Davis<br />

and Gil Evans studio collaborations. The tribute<br />

featured conductor Vince Mendoza with<br />

the Still Ahead Orchestra and special guest<br />

drummer Peter Erskine.<br />

Blanchard also took part in Saturday’s<br />

spirited “An Afternoon In Tremé” set, which<br />

was emceed by actor and Jazz at Lincoln<br />

Center radio host Wendell Pierce, Blanchard’s<br />

hometown friend from New Orleans. Pierce<br />

was an able last-minute replacement for trombonist/vocalist<br />

Glen David Andrews, who was<br />

absent due to illness and would later go on to<br />

sit in on the Robert Glasper Experiment’s final<br />

Sunday night set featuring vocalist Bilal.<br />

Pianist Geri Allen performed this year’s<br />

commission, “The Dazzler,” a jazz tap tributo<br />

Sammy Davis Jr., Saturday night on the<br />

Main Stage. Serving in a percussionist role,<br />

tap dancer Maurice Chestnut’s well-received<br />

soloing reached a peak during the eight-minute<br />

compositional homage to the iconic multifaceted<br />

artist and entertainer.<br />

The traditional Sunday afternoon MJF<br />

Next Generation Jazz Orchestra main stage<br />

concert featured three of the all-star high<br />

school band’s alumni—pianist Benny Green<br />

and saxophonists Joshua Redman (this year’s<br />

Artist-in-Residence) and Donny McCaslin,<br />

who grew up in nearby Santa Cruz County.<br />

Vocalist Hope Flores, from the Los Angeles<br />

County High School for the Arts, had starmaking<br />

takes on “Cheek To Cheek” and “Gee<br />

Baby, Ain’t I Good To You”<br />

Another unofficial theme for this year was<br />

that of the super sidemen—pianist/keyboardist<br />

Uri Caine with McCaslin’s group, drummer<br />

Marvin “Smitty” Smith with pianist<br />

Helen Sung’s superb trio, and drummer Matt<br />

Wilson, who performed with saxophonist<br />

Sarah Wilson’s excellent quintet and kept<br />

time for pianist Bill Carrothers much-buzzedabout<br />

trio. The artist most likely to next headline<br />

the Main Stage was saxophonist Tia<br />

Fuller, whose Sunday evening Garden Stage<br />

show opened the ears of critics and fans alike.<br />

As the weekend wound down, Sonny<br />

Rollins closed out the Main Stage with a predictably<br />

rousing two-hour set, including<br />

a new number, “Professor Paul,” that mixed<br />

deep, authoritative funk with spry overtones.<br />

<br />

—Yoshi Kato<br />

18 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011

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