The 30th annual Atlanta Jazz festival took place this past weekend. It was my fourth jazz festival since I moved to Atlanta and it was definitely the best that I've seen thus far. Following are some of the highlights from the concerts along with a few pictures. I also attended a panel discussion with Charles Tolliver and Bobby Hutcherson, which I've written about here.

Unless otherwise noted, events are listed in the order in which they occurred.

VIJAY IYER QUARTET W/ RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA

For the past year or so, I've had Vijay Iyer's "Reimaging" album and "Raw Materials" (w/ Rudresh Mahanthappa) in my regular listening rotation. Since I've enjoyed their music, I was definitely looking forward to hearing Vijay perform at the Atlanta jazz festival. I was even more excited, however, about seeing and hearing Rudresh Mahanthappa. Rudresh, or "Rudy" as I've known him, was at DePaul University's music school during the last few months before I changed majors. I didn't really know Rudy well, however he spent a year or so living with one of my good friends from music school and Rudy once sat in with a quintet that I used to play in during one of our on-campus gigs. So, it was a little nostalgic for me to see and hear him once again, especially since that part of my life seems so distant now.

CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND

Charles Tolliver is definitely one of my trumpet heroes from the great Blue Note recordings of the 1960's. I especially enjoy his playing on Andrew Hill's "Dance of Death" and Jackie McLean's "Jackknife" and "Action." I've also enjoyed listening to Charles Tolliver's recent big band recording "With Love." During their set, Charles Tolliver and his fantastic big band played several of the tunes and arrangements from "With Love" including "Right Now," a tune written by Tolliver and recorded by Jackie McLean on the wonderful album of the same name.

The big band itself was a who's-who of jazz greats. The lineup included George Cables on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, Victor Lewis on drums, and Billy Harper on tenor sax. The entire band sounded terrific, but Billy Harper's solo on the final tune absolutely killed. What a powerhouse!

HERBIE HANCOCK

Herbie Hancock sure draws a crowd. This was only my fourth year at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, but I've never seen an Atlanta Jazz Festival audience remotely as large as the crowd that turned up for Herbie's scheduled performance Saturday night. From what I could tell, at least 3/4 of Piedmont Park's concert field was filled with people. There were also thousands of people lining the field's rim. I've never been to a concert with so many people!

The photo below gives you some idea of how crowded it was. This was shot from about 50 feet in front of the stage, about 2 hours before Herbie Hancock was scheduled to perform. Many more people were still on their way!

The size of the audience is testament to the fact that Herbie Hancock is easily the most well known living jazz musician. Jazz fans know him for his work as a bandleader and as a sideman with Miles Davis (!!!), Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, and just about every other legendary jazz artist who recorded during the past 40 years. Everybody else probably knows Herbie for his 80's pop hit, "Rockit". Not only was "Rockit" a popular song in its day, but it also helped popularize scratching (aka turntablism). Put all of these factors together and you've got a pretty wide potential audience that includes, jazz fans, DJ's/turntablists, and anyone else alive and listening to music in the 80's… oh, and don't forget all those fans of his speaker infomercials ;-).

Herbie treated us to a handful of tunes, including a mixed-meter take on the Head Hunters version of "Watermelon Man" (with a keytar solo, no less), a laid-laid back rendition of "Cantaloupe Island", and a hard driving performance of "Actual Proof" from his "Thrust" album. For me, the highlight of Herbie's performance was "Actual Proof". I don't really listen to the original recording of "Actual Proof" all that often, but whenever I do hear it I'm always amazed at its complex and energetic groove. Watching Herbie, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Nathan East (bass), and Lionel Loueke (guitar), I was similarly in awe. The four of them created a sound so rich and powerful, you'd expect to see a band twice as large.

It was my first time seeing Herbie Hancock live and I have to admit it was sort of a surreal event. I've listened to his recordings many thousands of times over the years. His recordings with Miles Davis in the 60's are possibly my favorite recordings of all time. So, it's hard to process that the man behind all that wonderful music was just 50 feet away from me.

THE BAD PLUS

The first band I saw on Sunday was The Bad Plus. I've been a fan of The Bad Plus for a few years now, and I'm a regular reader of their jazz blog, "DO THE MATH". As most of my readers probably know, The Bad Plus are known for taking modern rock/pop songs and performing them in a jazz style. For example, they've recorded jazz versions of such tunes as Blondie's "Heart of Glass," The Pixies' "My Veloria," and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Not surprisingly, they've become rather popular with college kids who find their music accessible, modern, and inventive due to their avant-garde leanings.

The Bad Plus put on a great show and I think they managed to win over many of the more traditional jazz fans who at first might have found some of their avant-garde experimentation to be a bit jarring. Likewise, it was great to see that some of the college-age Bad Plus fans (they were pretty easy to identify) stuck around to hear some of the other great musicians like Bobby Hutcherson.

BOBBY HUTCHERSON

Without a doubt, Bobby Hutcherson is my favorite vibraphonist. He plays the vibes with the same intensity that you'd typically expect to hear only from a horn player. My favorite recording of Bobby as a bandleader is probably "Stick-Up" but all of his Blue Note albums from the 60's are great. As a sideman, he's been on tons of great recordings including Jackie McLean's "Destination Out," Eric Dolphy's "Out To Lunch," and Joe Henderson's stellar recording "Mode For Joe." If you want to see how truly phenomenal his list of contributions are, check out the CREDITS tab on his AllMusic.com page.

Bobby Hutcherson definitely did not disappoint during his performance at the Atlanta Jazz Festival. He was joined with Renee Rosnes on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Al Foster on drums. I hadn't heard of Renee Rosnes prior to this concert, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for her in the future. She's an extremely talented player who complemented Bobby's playing perfectly.

Of all the tunes Bobby and the band played, "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" was my favorite due to the emotion Hutcherson put into every note. As he slowly played the tune's melody, his body arched over the vibes holding him in awkward poses as if the notes needed him to physically resonate each note. Between each of these exquisite notes, Bobby took huge cheek-puffing breaths of air, perhaps to calm him from rushing the melody or ruining the moment. I found it remarkable to see such a gifted performer, and true jazz icon, taking such care to play every note just right.

PETE ESCOVEDO ORCHESTRA

The second day of the Atlanta Jazz Festival ended with The Pete Escovedo Orchestra. It was a great choice for the closing slot, and by the end of their set it seemed that the entire festival crowd was on their feet dancing. Pete Escovedo was joined by two of his children, Juan Escovedo and Sheila E(scovedo). There were quite a few Sheila E fans in the crowd and she did her best to keep everyone entertained. Even though she had lost her voice, she managed to sing a bit of her 80's hits "Glamorous Life" and "Love Bizarre" with the crowd singing along.

Rounding out the rest of the band were some Latin jazz heavyweights like trumpeter Ray Vega and Steve Turre on trombone. This was my first time hearing Ray Vega live. He only had one solo but damn was it fierce. It was one of those where he kept playing higher and higher. Each time giving the impression that he had hit his highest note... but he just kept going and going!

FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE

For the second year in a row, the Atlanta jazz festival had two stages. The second stage was reserved for local Atlanta-area jazz musicians. It's called the "Future of Jazz" stage because its performers took part in the local Future of Jazz Competition. It really isn't as much of a competition as it is a showcase for local jazz musicians, particularly up-and-coming and/or lesser-known artists. I tried to catch at least a few minutes of various performers on the second stage and was delighted to see how large the audience was for local talent. If only we could get those same people to come out and support the local jazz clubs!

I was familiar with most of the Atlanta-based musicians, however Joey Summerville really took me by surprise. I had heard his name before but didn't really know what kind of music he played. When I saw him at the jazz festival, he was playing Parliament's "Flash Light" on a red Martin trumpet while walking around in the crowd (he had a clip-on mic). People were dancing, smiling, and just plain loving his gigantic sound. His website clips are a bit too smooth for my liking, but I'd definitely welcome the opportunity to hear him play some more funk. This guy's got serious chops!

VIP SECTION -- TOO BIG?

I hate to complain about any aspect of a free jazz festival, but I really felt that this year's VIP section was too large in proportion to the rest of the prime viewing area. I don't know exactly whether it was truly larger in size than in past years, but in past years there was definitely more room between the end of the VIP section and the sound booth, so more people could get a good view of the stage, especially from the middle.

The image to the right shows how large the VIP section was this year, in relation to the prime viewing area.

For what it's worth, I'm not opposed to the VIP section. I understand that at a corporate-sponsored festival you need to give those sponsors some perks like VIP seating. Also, the VIP section allows the various festival musicians and their families to watch other acts when they're not playing. But, it's a shame that the VIP area filled most of the area directly in front of the stage. It's even more of a shame that for the majority of the day, the VIP area had 15 or fewer people sitting in it. In fact, during the first couple of acts on Saturday and Sunday, there were periods when it was totally empty.

Here's a picture of part of the VIP section during The Bad Plus performance. As you can see there are less than 10 people taking up quite a bit of space:

Despite this VIP issue, the free Atlanta Jazz Festival truly is a wonderful event and I sincerely thank everyone involved for all of the hard work that goes into making it possible. I can't wait for next year!

Updated 5/28/07: The information shown below was originally posted prior to the 30th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival. I'm leaving it here for archival purposes.

The 30th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival takes in Piedmont park this Memorial Day weekend! It's a free event, so if you're in the Atlanta area, you owe it to yourself to come out and see some fantastic jazz.

For full information about the artists, schedules, etc, you can visit the Atlanta Jazz Festival website. If you do go to the official site, I strongly suggest that you use THIS DIRECT LINK to avoid their slow-loading and somewhat confusing homepage. And for that matter, if you just want to view the Atlanta Jazz Festival's schedule of events, I'd recommend THIS SCHEDULE LINK.

Microsoft and festival organizers teamed up to present a Live Search Maps collection for the Atlanta Jazz Festival. This is a great collection that highlights the best spots to find parking near the festival, concert venue locations, restaurants and bars for after the concerts, and a live traffic feature - so you won't get caught off guard before leaving the house. VISIT THE SITE.

FESTIVAL LINEUP

As you'll see below, the Atlanta jazz festival has two stages. The main stage is where the national touring bands will perform, and the "Future of Jazz Stage" will showcase local Atlanta-area jazz musicians. I definitely encourage readers of my jazz blog to check out some of the artists at the Future of Jazz Stage. It will no doubt be less crowded than the main stage and I know the local musicians will appreciate your show of support.

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - MAIN STAGE

• 2pm - Youth Jazz Band Competition Winner # 3
• 3pm - Chieli Minucci and Special EFX
• 4:30pm - Vijay Iyer Quartet
• 6:00pm - Charles Tolliver Big Band
• 7:30pm - Terri Lyne Carrington and Friends
• 9:00pm - Herbie Hancock Quintet

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE

• 1pm - Daysahead
• 2:30pm - Reggie Hines
• 4pm - Jaspects
• 5:30 - Julie Dexter
• 7pm - Joey Sommerville

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - JAZZ EDUCATION TENT

• 1-3pm - "Artists in Retrospect" w/ Bobby Hutcherson and Charles Tolliver

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - PARK TAVERN

• 9:30pm - Ron James

SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - MAIN STAGE

• 2pm - Youth Jazz Band Competition Winner # 2
• 3pm - The Ronny Jordan Trio
• 4:30pm - The Bad Plus
• 6pm - Flora Purim & Airto Moreira
• 7:30 - Bobby Hutcherson Quartet
• 9pm - The Pete Escovedo Orchestra with Sheila E, Steve Turre, Ray Vega & Juan Escovedo

SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE

• 1pm - Squat
• 2:30pm - Joe Gransden
• 4pm - Hudson On Bass
• 5:30pm - Tammy Allen
• 7pm - Ken Ford

SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - JAZZ EDUCATION TENT

• 1-3pm - "Conversations: Not Just Men's Jazz" w/ Flora Purim, Dwight Andrews, and Joseph Jennings

SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2007 - PARK TAVERN

• 9:30pm - Eric Essix

MONDAY, MAY 28, 2007 - MAIN STAGE

• 2pm - Youth Jazz Band Competition Winner # 1
• 3pm - Nefetari Bey
• 4:30pm - Lou Donaldson Quartet
• 6pm - Monty Alexander
• 7:30pm - Mike Phillips
• 9pm - Laws Family

MONDAY, MAY 28, 2007 - FUTURE OF JAZZ STAGE

• 1pm - Antoine Knight
• 2:30pm - Future of Jazz Competition Winner, Ron James
• 4pm - Toni Redd
• 5:30pm - Yonrico Scott
• 7pm - William Green

MONDAY, MAY 28, 2007 - JAZZ EDUCATION TENT

• 1-3pm - "Jazz Origins: Civil Rights and Jazz" w/ Joseph Jennings and Ojeda Penn