here´s a brief review of last weekends Saalfelden festival www.jazzsaalfelden.at: The first day began lame and had near others a boring set of Elliott Sharp and Saadet Türköz. Day two had one of the rare discoveries of musicians I hadn´t heard of before: Pierre Audetat on keyboards and samples w/ Brad Shepik and Mark Feldman. The evening on the main stage growed better and better: The first highlight was a quintet with Michel Portal and Louis Sclavis - very close interplay. Next was Steven Bernstein w/ Sam Rivers Trio - a great concept and playing, partly trumpet with three saxes. The best moments for me were Rivers´ flute playing. Late at night there was a great dance party with James Chance! This is the best fusion I can think of: you can hear everything from Elvis to P-Funk, from Harmolodics to Soul, from Lounge Lizards to Punk - still fantastic! Day three started with a nice duo of Ribot and Ikue Mori - an exploration of soundscapes amd not completely different from Painted Desert. The afternoon began with Supersilent - perhaps the wildest performance on main stage since Mike Patton w/ David Slusser some years ago. Myra Melford brought her new project Be Bred which was very threadgillish. Scorch Trio with Raoul Björkenheim, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love (Europe´s most challenging rhythm section since ages) performed a colourful set. Dave Douglas presented Freak In w/ DJ Olive instead of Ikue Mori - a good concert but a bit overarranged and I prefer the quartets with his participation (Masada, Charms, Mengelberg). The last day showed Ribot as a singer of cowboy and love songs - better than expected! Franz Hautzinger presented a project with electronics and Luc Ex on electric bass - really progressive though Miles looked On The Corner. Another Ribot concert with his Mystery Trio points to the rockish side of this year´s artist in residence. Other projects didn´t really make it for me. To point out three favorites: Bernstein, Ribot Sings and Hautzinger (James Chance is beyond those categories). Andreas _________________________________________________________________ Mit dem MSN Messenger eine Reise für 4 Personen nach Barcelona gewinnen – jetzt mitmachen! http://www.sweepstakes2003.com/entry.aspx?locationid=15