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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