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CaughtCape Town International Jazz FestivalHighlights South African, American BondsTrumpeter Hugh Masekela celebrated his 70thbirthday in front of adoring fans on the closingnight of the two-day Cape Town InternationalJazz Festival in South Africa on April 4. At apress conference a few days earlier, he spokecandidly about the music itself.“The name jazz has been used very looselyand it has been imposed on every kind of musicthat is not classical or religious,” Masekela saidin response to a question regarding the impact ofSouth African jazz on the world at large. Hiscomment, however, spoke volumes about thefestival’s programming, which leaned heavilytoward smooth jazz (Jonathan Butler with DavidKoz, Ringo Madingozi) and r&b (Incognito,Zap Mama). Nevertheless, straightahead artistssuch as Al Foster, Dianne Reeves and DaveLiebman helped balanced the equation.Masekela, who was in exile from SouthAfrica for more than 30 years, concentrated onmaterial from his newest disc, Phola (40 TimesSquare), leading his band on tunes underscoredwith mindful socio-political messages at thejam-packed Kippies stage in the Cape TownInternational Convention Centre. While funkleaningsongs like “Malungelo,” “Weather”and “The Joke Of Life” and the plaintive cautionarytale “Sonnyboy” delighted fans, olderhits such as “Grazin’ In The Grass” and“Soweto Blues” roused the enthusiastic crowd.Masekela played his horn sparingly, focusingmore on the flugelhorn than the trumpet. Butwhen he burst out with staccato-dottedmelodies and brassy tone, he reminded theaudience that he still has plenty of fire.While Masekela made an ideal choice as thegrand finale for the festival, he shared that timeslotwith four other acts, notably Mos Def andthe Robert Glasper Experiment, who were holdingcourt outside at the Bassline stage, whichcatered to a decidedly younger crowd. OnceMos Def arrived onstage (30 minutes late), heenthralled the crowd with a mixture of jazz-leaningrap, pop songs and his hip-hop anthems fromthe ’90s. At one point, he extrapolated the chantfrom John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. TheRobert Glasper Experiment gave a particularlycompelling set the night before joining Mos Defon the Moses Molelekwa stage. Featuring saxophonistCasey Benjamin, drummer Chris Daveand bassist Derrick Hodges, Glasper exhibitedhis love for hip-hop and funk more explicitlythan he’s done with his trio.On the Rosies stage, Reeves demonstratedhow to deliver quality jazz and make it accessiblefor mainstream or neophyte jazz listeners.Elegant and warmhearted, she balanced jazzstandards, r&b (the Temptations’ “Just MyImagination” rendered to sublime effect) andwith charming originals (“Testify” and her signature,“Better Days”). Her most powerful movewas when she segued from conventional jazzscatting during “A Child Is Born” into a SouthAfrican chant—à la Miriam Makeba—thenimprovised her recollection of finally meetingSouth African hero Nelson Mandela a day priorto the show.Among the South African jazz talent represented,guitarist Philip Malombo Tabane deliveredan intriguing performance that often veeredinto Ornette Coleman’s Harmolodics realm.Fronting a quartet composed of an electricbassist and two percussionists, his music suggestedAfrican groove but included outbursts ofrazor-sharp electric guitar licks and open-endedharmonies. Navigating more toward the centerbut ultimately proving more rewarding was saxophonistMcCoy Mrubata’s set on the RosiesMcCoy Mrubatastage. A brilliant modern improviser with aknack for unraveling polyphonic melodies basedupon Xhosa songs known as amagwijo,Mrubata shared the frontline with trumpeterMarcus Wyatt, who emphasized cogent yet edgyimprovisations. Guitarist Louis Mhlanga deliveredone of that set’s most provocative solos,revealing the powerful influence of JohnAbercrombie and Pat Metheny. Mrubata,Mhlanga and Wyatt delved deep into cracklingmodern jazz, engaging in lively dialogue propelledby Kesivan Naidoo’s aggressive drummingand Herbie Tsoaeli’s bass lines. All ofwhich demonstrated that some South Africanmusic that “jazz” is applied to, as Masekela suggested,is indeed credible, exciting jazz.—John MurphENVER ESSOPBudvar Cheltenham Jazz Festival Presents Jazz in Storybook SettingIn spite of a power failure that knocked out twoshows and a travel fiasco that stranded HughMasekela’s band, this year’s BudvarCheltenham Jazz Festival in England triumphedover adversity with a resoundinglystrong program in the present tense. Celebratingits 14th year from April 28–May 4, Cheltenhamis the country cousin to the London JazzFestival. All the venues are within walking distanceand the town makes for a smart backdrop,with its stately Regency architecture and traditionof cultural tourism.This year, trumpet players took pride ofplace, with Arve Henriksen, Dave Douglas andTaylor Ho Bynum delivering three of the topJack DeJohnetteTIM MOTIONperformances. Henriksen’s playful, hauntinglybeautiful set in the Pillar Room (a bar inside thecity’s historic, 850-seat, flat-floor Town Hall)featured the trumpeter blowing airstreams andcrystalline melodies, with or without mouthpiece,adding deadpan speech fragments andfalsetto vocals, all manipulated with atmosphericelectronics.Douglas’ quintet conquered the crowd at thecozy Everyman Theatre with a powerful set thatdanced with declarative cheer. Bynum anddrummer Harris Eisenstadt teamed with pianistAlexander Hawkins and bassist Dominic Lashin the Convergence Quartet at the Pittville campusof the University of Gloucestershire, offer-20 DOWNBEAT August 2009