Various Artists - Monterey Jazz Festival: 50th Anniversary All-Stars

Filed under: Eric Saeger, Music Reviews   

Eric Saeger

Outside the fringes of pop culture dwell many artists whose existence is news to you regardless of their high-level accomplishments, a phenomenon suffered by jazz players more commonly than anyone else. With no small degree of casualness we tick off the list of career highlights accomplished by the individual members of the jazz supergroup that came together to celebrate the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival and post up this live tour-de-force – trumpet whiz Terence Blanchard’s Best Jazz Album Grammy award in 2005; reedman James Moody’s Jazz Master Award from the National Endowment for the Arts; singer Nnenna Freelon’s Eubie Blake Award. The jam captured here was simply too good for a one-off, thus right now the troupe is about a quarter of the way through a national.

Highlights on this CD are many, attesting to the fun spirit that materializes from the group dynamic – Moody trying to goof up Freelon as she mimics a wah-wah-muted trumpet during a scat clinic, Blanchard’s wing-and-prayer runs in “Monterey Mist,” and the incorrigible brightness the band finds in “Misty.” In a nutshell, three generations of jazz greats are here, all tuned into the same fascinated, explorative, fully collaborative mindset.

Posted on February 10th, 2008.

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