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Caught <br />
Women in Jazz Fest<br />
Celebrates Abbey<br />
Lincoln Songbook<br />
The spirit of Abbey Lincoln rang loud and<br />
clear on the second evening of the 16th<br />
Annual Mary Lou Williams’ Women in Jazz<br />
Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington.<br />
The Terrace Theater performance was dedicated<br />
almost exclusively to Lincoln, who during<br />
her legendary half-century career transformed<br />
from kittenish actress and supper-club singer<br />
to uncompromising lyricist and social activist.<br />
Terri Lyne Carrington directed a formidable<br />
sextet that included tenor saxophonist Mark<br />
Turner, guitarist Marvin Sewell and three of<br />
today’s commanding jazz singers—Dee Dee<br />
Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves and Cassandra<br />
Wilson. Opening with a rousing rendition of<br />
“The River” and closing with an equally fierce<br />
“Freedom Day,” the vocalists delivered three-part<br />
harmonies and bristling solo asides against<br />
Carrington’s intricate, thunderous arrangements<br />
that showcased percussionist Luisito Quintero<br />
and bassist James Genus’ rhythmic fire and<br />
friction.<br />
There was nary a dull moment in the twohour,<br />
intermission-free performance as the songstresses<br />
alternatively took center stage.<br />
Completely free of ego-driven vocal battles<br />
that occasionally occur during tributes, all<br />
three singers channeled Lincoln’s flare, theatrical<br />
caprice and unalloyed conviction without<br />
subverting their own singular voices.<br />
Reeves was in spectacular form on the forlorn<br />
ballad “Bird Alone,” which paired her<br />
majestic alto with pianist Peter Martin. She<br />
allowed listeners to focus on her unerring sense<br />
of melody and Lincoln’s purposeful lyrics.<br />
Reeves was the least prone to overdramatization<br />
but demonstrated that she can<br />
imbue her singing with just as much salt and<br />
showmanship as she can sanguinity, as she<br />
emphasized on a roadhouse blues version<br />
of “Tender As A Rose.”<br />
Drama is Bridgewater’s strongest calling<br />
card, and she delivered plenty with the swirling,<br />
polyrhythmic “Wholly Earth” and spiteful “And<br />
It’s Supposed To Love.” Her most poignant<br />
performance was her séance-like rendition<br />
Terri Lyne Carrington<br />
of “Another World,” derived from the memorable<br />
intergalactic six-note motif of Steven<br />
Spielberg’s sci-fi flick Close Encounters Of<br />
The Third Kind. Bridgewater broke down<br />
in tears while singing, moved by the serene<br />
arrangement and Lincoln’s incantatory lyrics.<br />
Because of problematic sound engineering<br />
and the density of some of the arrangements,<br />
many of Wilson’s solo turns came off<br />
hazy. Her humid alto and languid delivery<br />
were intermittently indecipherable on “I Got<br />
Thunder” and “Throw It Away,” but Wilson<br />
demonstrated why she’s one of her generation’s<br />
top jazz singers with a blues-drenched<br />
“Mood Indigo” encore. —John Murph<br />
Margot Schulman<br />
Victoriaville Artfully Veers Left of Center<br />
When it comes to avant garde jazz festivals<br />
on this side of the Atlantic, the cultural<br />
compass still points to Victoriaville, Quebec,<br />
site of the 27th edition of the Festival de<br />
Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV)<br />
May 19–21.<br />
After the focus went a bit fuzzy in recent<br />
years, FIMAV returned in robust shape,<br />
adding surprise nonmainstream elements<br />
of left-field jazz, art rock and epic noise. The<br />
looming stars of the 19-show festival program<br />
were all festival alumni.<br />
Formidable saxophonists Peter Brötzmann<br />
and Anthony Braxton are by now standard<br />
bearers of the free-jazz milieu. Their back-toback<br />
Saturday night sets made for a fascinating<br />
comparison-and-contrast study.<br />
Brötzmann appeared first with an impressive<br />
new trio that featured a longtime ally, drummer<br />
Paal Nilssen-Love, and electric bassist<br />
Massimo Pupillo, whose surging, sludgy sonic<br />
foundation lent a rock-esque spin to the mix.<br />
The operative blend of ferocity and angular<br />
lyricism appeared the next afternoon during<br />
Brötzmann’s solo concert. As a traditional<br />
jazz nod, he finished with a take on Coleman<br />
Hawkins’ “I Surrender, Dear” and Ornette<br />
Coleman’s “Lonely Woman.”<br />
In contrast, Braxton’s multilayered late<br />
Saturday night musical adventure embraced<br />
“moments” of now, as well as then—his septet<br />
was equipped with iPods, loaded with snippets<br />
from Braxton’s vast past discography. What we<br />
got was an hourlong block of music, mixed in a<br />
cathartic but intellectually encoded way.<br />
Dutch extended vocalist Jaap Blonk worked<br />
a magic rooted in history and spontaneous heat,<br />
paralleling his solo program, “Dr. Voxoid’s<br />
Next Move.” A bedazzling vocal phenom<br />
who shapes his voice unexpectedly, Bronk<br />
Anthony Braxton<br />
Martin Morissette<br />
16 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2011
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