It’s All Jazz

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.

Here’s some info about an upcoming jazz concert festival and where you can get tickets.

The West Oak Lane Jazz and Arts Festival will start tomorrow and run thru Sunday. Some of the headliners will be WAR, The Mingus Big Band, Average White Band, Tower of Power, and Roy Ayers.

This festival is funky and happening. The people love it. For tickets, you can visit their website at westoaklanefestival dot com. It may also be possible to get tickets from stubhub, ticketmaster, or eBay. I don’t know for sure.

Here’s some bits about the headliners:

Average White Band: “Widely regarded as one of the best soul and funk bands in the history of music, Average White Band is perhaps known best for their timeless instrumental mega-hit ”Pick Up the Pieces.” The band’s strength actually lay in their consistently accomplished songwriting, stretching across several gold selling albums and multi-Grammy nominations for the legendary Atlantic Records.”

Mingus Big Band: “The Mingus Big Band is one of three repertory bands that were created to celebrate the music of the composer and bassist, Charles Mingus, who died of ALS in 1979. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, this critically acclaimed band tours extensively in the United States and abroad, providing audiences with a mix of ballads, blues, extended through-composed pieces, and arrangements for vocalists. With nine recordings to its credit—six of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards—the Mingus Big Band and the other repertory bands, Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra, are keeping Mingus music alive and vibrant for future generations.”

Anyways, this looks like a great festival! I can’t wait to go. I’m not sure about where to get tickets. Tickets may be available online or at StubHub, Ticketmaster, eBay, or other places.