[Trying again with 2 parts.] http://www.jazzsaalfelden.at/ Went to JazzSaalfelden for the first time, in western Austria last weekend (2002/08/23-25). Had a decent time, there was a large range of good to bad concerts, imo. Overall, I think this festival is probably too big for its britches now - the crowd numbered about 2000, I'd say, and it seemed to me that that number of people spelled money, and the programming is compromised a bit to make sure the appeal of the program sustains that number. I don't regret going, but probably wouldn't go again if I had the chance (there being any number of festivals to choose from). ========== FRIDAY, 23. 08. 02 19:00 MARTIN KOLLER'S SYSTEM DISTORTION Austria, Switzerland, USA, Germany Martin Koller: guitars, electronics, programming Jojo Mayer: drums, beat manipulation Jesse Murphy: bass, low-end manipulation Jay-Rope: electronics, toys A modern fusion gig mostly, with heavy synth-bass grooves and lots of guitar, which I like in the right doses. They delved into rock some, and the concert reached a nadir with a stereotypical stadium-rock drum solo which was just lame-ass. The fact that the crowd cheered enthusiastically was a dangerous sign. Koller wasn't bad, but I prefer fusion guitarists who focus more on their sound than their runs. 20:30 BILLY BANG "Vietnam - The Aftermath" USA Billy Bang: violin, John Hicks: piano Curtis Lundy: bass Frank Lowe: tenorsaxophone James Zoller: trumpet Michael Carvin: drums This was moderately enjoyable - Bang seemed to be in high spirits, and was bouncing around joyfully and sounding good. But they played only uptempo vamp tunes, mostly, and I missed hearing them play some more thoughtful stuff. More party than adventure. Lowe seemed to be slowing down some; Zoller was good, but overdid the growls on "Bien Hoa Blues". They played from the recent album, opening with "Yo, Ho Chi Minh is in the House", then "Tunnel Rat" and "Saigon Phunk". 22:00 LUCAS NIGGLI Zoom Switzerland, Germany Nils Wogram: trombone Philipp Schaufelberger: guitar Lucas Niggli: drums, percussion The highlight of the first night, for sure. Great open improv interplay over very nice, workable tunes (presumably by Niggli). All played great, and I will seek out a recording. 23:30 JACK DEJOHNETTE & FODAY MUSA SUSO USA, Gambia Jack DeJohnette: drums Foday Musa Suso: kora This was nice, but there's only so much sonic variety possible with this duo, and it just went on too long for my tastes. I enjoyed it for a while, then got up and wandered. 01:00 BUGGE WESSELTOFT "New Conception of Jazz" Norway Bugee Wesseltoft: keyboards, programmation Ingebrigt Flaten: bass Anders Engen: drums Jonas Lonna: DJ Rickard Gensollen: percussion Hakon Kornstad: saxophone Jan Martin: video I was tired, and the first tune and a half were pretty sleepy, ambient groove jazz that I didn't find overtly interesting, so I went to bed. ========== SATURDAY, 24.08.02 15:00 MUTHSPIEL & MUTHSPIEL "The music of Harry Pepl and Werner Pirchner" Austria Wolfgang Muthspiel: guitars Christian Muthspiel: trombone, electronics Here was a very pleasant and likable duo. The brothers not surprisingly seemed to know each other's music well and played inventively and sprightly. A nice start to the day. 16:30 TIM BERNE "Clownfinger" USA, France Tim Berne: saxophone Herb Robertson: trombone Marc Ducret: guitar Craig Taborn: piano Scott Colley: bass Tom Rainey: drums Basically an augmented SCIENCE FRICTION band/sound. I'm a huge Berne fan, and of course dug this. Berne never coasts, ime. They performed "Huevos", "Sigh Fry", and "Clown Finger" from SF, and an unrecorded comp called "The Shell Game" (which did not appear on the album of the same name from last year). Berne and Robertson recalled their early partnership in a nice high-tension duo on "Huevos", backed by Colley and Rainey. Herb was undermixed, imo, and I couldn't hear him very well, worsened because he spent most of the time doing his fast, small-detail playing, which just got lost. Berne's sound seems to me to be developing like a constantly sharpening knife. Ducret just rocked - you could tell he was making an impression on the audience. Colley sounded really strong too - he's new to this crowd, afaik. "The Shell Game" featured on really nice section where Tim, Herb, Craig, and Marc were all playing these long, subtle tones, with Scott and Tom boiling over the top. Nice. Ime, Tim doesn't like encores, but they did one here, a really high-energy version of another SF track (can't remember which, sorry). 18:00 RENE LACAILLE & BOB BROZMAN "Digdig" La Réunion, USA René Lacaille: vocal, accordion, charango, tschoulas Bob Brozman: hawaiian guitar, bottleneck- spanish guitar Bernard Marka: percussion, vocals Joel Gonthier: percussion, vocals Kayamb: percussion This was ok, but kinda that typical overly fun, bouncy world music improv thing. You know - music-festival-y. :) There was lots of soloing, so I suppose it was a reasonable booking, variety-wise, but I only hung out for a few tunes. 21:00 SUSSAN DEYHIM "Madman of God" USA Sussan Deyhim: vocals Richard Horowitz: keyboards Karsh Kale: tablas Dawn Bukholz: cello, vocals Will Calhoun: drums, electronics Ok, this sucked. Imo, of course. But I hated it - sounded like nothing more than, say, bad Sheila Chandra. Unconvincing airy vocals over a popped-up middle eastern rock/ambient groove. Ugh. By far the nadir of the festival, for me, and the one whose booking I severely question. Worse, I was kinda trapped in the seat because a family was next to me and the little girl was sleeping. 22:30 ERIK TRUFFAZ Ladyland Quartet & Mounir France, Tunesia Erik Truffaz: trumpet Manu Codjia: guitar Michel Bénita: bass Philippe Garcia: drums Troudi Mounir: vocals Drum'n'bass flavored 70s electrified Miles-type stuff. Not bad, but not great either - it didn't keep me from napping. 24:00 THE JOHN SCOFIELD BAND "Überjam" USA John Scofield: electric guitar Avi Bortnick: rhythm guitar and samplers Jesse Murphy: bass Adam Deitch: drums Now this was more like it, as far as "popular" booking can go. Definitely crowd-party music, but I think Scofield's a great guitarist, and his lines sustain interest, no matter what the setting. And these were quite decent grooves. He did play too much with some loops and samples, which he's not very good at, but the playing was always on. I liked it. -- Vincent Kargatis np: Thelonious Monk - "I Surrender, Dear" (Brilliant Corners)