Buffalo Spree Magazine

Autumn Rhythms: A Jazz Preview

By Philip Nyhuis

John Butcher.
Photo courtesy of the Albright-Knox.

If Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, it also marks a great weekend for jazz festivals across the country. The bad news: if you’re a Buffalo jazz fan you’ve got to either sing the blues over the loss of our once-glorious Artpark Jazz Festival or travel to another town (e.g. Detroit and Chicago’s free three-day festivals). The good news: there’s plenty of great jazz being programmed throughout major WNY concert venues all season long. And compared to theater and BPO (or Bills!) tickets and the prices at most big city jazz clubs, the ticket prices are really a bargain.

The most high profile jazz will be heard again this year not at a jazz club or a traditional concert venue but in the intimate auditorium at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. After four sold-out seasons, producer Bruce Eaton presents another four concerts of the Microsoft Art of Jazz Series stretching from October to May. Indefatigable iconoclast Andrew Hill opens the series on October 25. Pianist Hill cut breakthrough sides for Blue Note in the sixties, but don’t confuse him with the label’s hard boppers. His compositions cook but his heart is firmly planted in the avant-garde. The remaining concerts will feature saxophonist Sonny Fortune and drummer Rashied Ali in a tribute to John Coltrane on February 1; the Bad Plus (eclectic, audacious jazz bad boys with roots in rock) on March 27; and a return to the mainstream traditions of Bill Evans and Tommy Flanagan with the Bill Charlap Trio on May 15.

Karrin Allyson.
Photo courtesy of the Albright-Knox.

As for adventurous international jazz (and other exploratory art), Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center has the lock.

Multiphonic British saxophonist John Butcher blows into Hallwalls with original harpist Rhodri Davies for some free improvisation on September 14. The next month, on October 10, Finnish guitarist Raoul Bjirkenheim teams up with former North Tonawanda drummer Chris Massey (now living in Switzerland) for sixties-style free jazz delivered with Jimi Hendrix-inspired artistry and abandon. In November, Hallwalls presents Philadelphia new music maestro Odean Pope with Tyrone Brown and Craig McIver on the 21st, and The Full-Blown Trio on the 24th. The FBT stars Dave Burrell, former pianist with David Murray, drummer Andrew Cyrille, and bassist William Parker, who will be returning for a Hallwalls residency for a week next year, working with local players, giving clinics, and presenting a concert.

Lizz Wright.
Photo courtesy of the Albright-Knox.

In an unfortunate and all-too-common embarrassment of musical riches, the Performing Artists Center at Rockwell Hall has scheduled acclaimed new jazz vocalist Lizz Wright on the same night (October 25) as the Albright’s Andrew Hill concert. While being hyped as the next Cassandra or Dianne Reeves, Wright really sounds more like a smoldering Aretha. Like Franklin, she grew up as a preacher’s daughter steeped in gospel but gravitated to jazz and Tommy LaPuma instead of Ahmet Ertegun and Muscle Shoals. On April 16, the PAC brings vocalist Karrin Allyson back to town, good news for everybody who caught her last fall at the Sphere. This time she’s teamed up with the grand old man of Hollywood movie hits, Steve Tyrell.

Over at the Tralfamadore, word is that the John Scofield concert canceled at Melody Fair this summer will be rescheduled this fall at the Tralf (still no definite date from the Tralf at this writing, but Scofield’s website says “Buffalo October 16”). We caught the band last summer at a concert in Battery Park in NYC where they played several tunes from their current release, Uberjam. With the exuberant young Adam Deitch on drums, the band created the most exciting fireworks of the evening.

Herbie Hancock.
Photo courtesy of the Albright-Knox.

Like Wynton Marsalis, flutist Hubert Laws successfully straddles the worlds of jazz and orchestral music. Like Hubert, brother Ronnie Laws is also a crossover master, albeit into a quite different bag. After cutting his jazz saxophone chops with the likes of Hugh Masekela and Walter Bishop Jr., Ronnie joined Earth Wind & Fire and got into the R&B and soul groove. He brings his jazz-funk, fusion, pop, and all his other bags into the Tralf on September 20. On October 2, the Tralf hosts the master drummer and clinician Dave Weckl, famous alumnus of Chick Corea bands and another guy with his sticks in several musical camps.

The last time we saw Pat Metheny was at a two-night stand at the Tralf in March, 2000, with Larry Grenadier on bass and Bill Stewart on drums. On November 8, Pat plays the UB Center for the Arts with contrabass superstar Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez, the accomplished young Mexican drummer and Berklee grad Metheny discovered while they were playing on the same bill in Europe. The following week, Herbie Hancock appears at Kleinhans for two performances (November 14 & 15) with the BPO in a tribute to Al Tinney’s pal George Gershwin.

Pat Metheny.
Photo courtesy of the Albright-Knox.

As every baseball fanatic knows, the real fans sit in the bleachers. While the big venues bring in more than their share of jazz tourists, the local haunts are home to that faithful, dedicated corps of jazz players, groupies (M&F), grizzled beboppers, and eager young jazz explorers who can hear three hours of jazz for the price of a couple beers or check out some totally new stuff for a few bucks admission. In the former category, no other place comes close to drummer Danny Hull’s presentations every Tuesday night at Bobby McGee’s. Watch for more on McGee’s in an upcoming Spree.

Phil Nyhuis is a freelance writer and jazz trumpet player
living in Buffalo.

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