It’s All Jazz

On Saturday, September 12, 2009, Palmer Square will host their 18th annual JazzFeast. The open-air festival features performances by some of the industry’s best jazz musicians and showcases cuisine from a selection of the area’s finest restaurants.

This is a free event, there is no need for any tickets. Tickets for the few private parties and events AFTER the day’s performances may be available from such places as ticketmaster, eBay, StubHub, and other places that sell jazz tickets.

Noon-1:00pm Alan Dale & the New Legacy Jazz Band
1:15-2:15pm Princeton University Jazztet
2:30-3:30pm Marlene VerPlanck Group
3:45-4:45pm Roomful of Blues
5:00-6:00pm Smith Street Society

That is the line up for this years event.

Also not using tickets are the various food vendors. Food vendors at Jazzfeast are not serving average festival food. Instead, gourmet selections ranging from samosas and Paella to pulled pork and grilled clams are just some of the many things on the menu.

Sounds like a great event. Since you don’t need tickets, just show up. Come and go as you please. Enjoy!

Now in its 16th year, the London’s Meltdown festival was overseen by Ornette Coleman, and he also picked all the artists that played there.

He picked artists such as:

Charlie Haden
James Blood Ulmer
Acoustic Ladyland
Marc Ribot
Keiran Hebden & Steve Reid
Yoko Ono
The Bad Plus
The Roots
Patti Smith
Yo La Tengo
Mike Patton
Robert Wyatt
Moby

That’s quite a lineup, eh? Well, a couple critics did not like Moby at all, but I have been a semi-Moby fan since the 90s so I’m ok with it. It wasn’t the best, i will agree, but Moby really wasn’t that bad.

The Bad Plus did their usual bit, Iverson wearing a suit and tie, Reid Anderson in his graphic Tees and jeans, and King being the mix between the two- button down and jeans.

But the amazing point of the festival was Ornette Coleman. He opened with new material with his double-bass quartet, including switches to trumpet and violin. The music was good, but the energy was lacking.

Luckily, things got hot when he pulled a third bassist onto the stage, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He did amazingly well and held his own in the group of jazz masters.

He also pulled up the Master Musicians of Jajouka, who really spurred the ensemble on to cacophonous, but successful music. The audience loved it, and screamed to Ornette.

He also did a couple tunes reunited with bassist Charlie Haden. That is what the jazz cats were waiting for.

When it was over, Coleman, rockstar-like, touched the raised hands of adoring fans from the front of the stage as the crowd responded with the most protracted of standing ovations. He deserved every second.