Performing Arts

Telluride Jazz Celebration: Guest of honor, Bill Frisell

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Bill Frisell]

2009 Telluride Jazz Celebration, June 5-7

No doubt about it. Telluride Jazz Celebration impresario Paul Machado is really good at his job. His choice of Bill Frisell as the 2009 Guest of Honor was inspired, perfect for a time when the chips are down, when substance trumps style every day.

Soft spoken – literally, I had to ask him to speak up more than once in our interview –  and self-effacing and shy, Frisell is a man you might miss at a party; that is until he straps on his ax. Ax in hand, this "Clark Kent" quickly morphs into a Superman, arguably, quietly, the most brilliant and distinct voice to come down the pike in jazz guitar since Wes Montgomery, not coincidently one of Bill's idols. Ax in hand, the man is on fire. Bill claims performance is his drug of choice. It transforms him, allowing him to do things he would not do in real life. Performance brings out his inner Woody Allen. 

Telluride Jazz Celebration: vocalist Lizz Wright

[click "Play" button to hear Susan talk with Lizz Wright]

Chanteuse/songwriter Lizz Wright was only 25 when she first visited town, a guest of the 29th annual Telluride Jazz Celebration. At the time, the soulful young charmer was already brushing shoulders with song stylists such as Cassandra Wilson and Anita Baker, Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln. The buzz among critics was that stars such as Norah Jones and Diana Krall had better get a firm grip on their crowns: Lizz was waiting in the wings.

The sheer beauty and quiet serenity of the lady, the full-bodied texture and musky warmth of her gospel-trained contralto, the conversational way she phrased her lyrics, had the crowd eating out of her hand. This was no aural window dressing. Lizz was – and is –  the real deal.

Paul Machado on Telluride Jazz Celebration #33

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Paul Machado]

Paul Machado took over the helm of the Telluride Jazz Celebration in 1991 reconfiguring the event with aplomb and extending the venue to include local clubs and the Mountain Village. The depth and breadth of his stellar programming and the mountain setting add up to a musical weekend second to none in the world.

For Paul, "jazz" is not just any four letter word, nor does the handle refer to any one specific thing. If Lawrence Welk plays a song John Coltrane wrote, that's not jazz. If John Coltrane plays Lawrence Welk, it is. Jazz for Paul is contextual. For him, the label refers to a certain kind of spontaneous interaction on stage and off. It is an opportunity to enjoy internationally in a unique setting. At its center, Paul believes his Jazz Celebration is an aural elixir that makes a person's ears smile.

Telluride Jazz Celebration: Ozomatli

[click "Play" button to hear Ozomatli's Ulises Bella]

Telluride Jazz Celebration's impresario Paul Machado programs for cultural diversity, including everything from mainstream to mariachi. This year, booking one act alone, he could have covered all his bases.

Ozomatli plays a notorious mash of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East L.A. r&b and New Orleans second line, Jamaican reggae, Indian raga and rock.

Ozomatli. The name comes from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, also a god of dance, fire, the new harvest – and music.

Telluride Jazz Celebration: Christian Scott, trumpet

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Christian Scott]

At the 33rd annual Telluride Jazz Celebration, audiences get to come face to face with the future of the genre: young trumpeter Christian Scott. The past is a given.

At the turn of the 20th century, jazz  – or "jass" – referred to the kind of music created by obscure black musicians and played in brothels. The word itself was slang for making love.

At early light, jazz was simply a synthesis of Western harmonic language and forms combined with the rhythms and melodic inflections of Africa. In the 60s, the genre waxed emotional, screaming, moaning and piercing the ear with atonality. The 70s was schizophrenic: The decade witnessed a revival, a return to traditional concepts like Big Band. Newness came from a fusion with rock and the modal themes and drone effects of Eastern religion. In the 80s, the jazz train gained speed with a stronger emphasis on Afro-Latino sounds, especially Brazilian. And so on..

Telluride Jazz Celebration: Guitarist Jimmy Herring

[Click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Jimmy Herring]

Telluride Jazz, May 5-7. Sideman out front: Jimmy Herring

He has been the legend behind the legends, a musician's musician, but the 33rd annual Telluride Jazz Celebration, June 5 - June 7, will set the record straight. After three decades as a sideman, guitarist Jimmy Herring is finally getting exactly what he deserves: center stage.

Fusion guitarists that claim the middle ground generally skew one way or the other: former Telluride Jazz Celebration headliner John Scofield, for example, has deep roots in jazz,  and Carlos Santana is a rocker at heart. Jimmy is a rarity: he stakes his claim where jazz harmonies and rhythmic concepts and the edgy power of classic rock come together, improvising with an intensity that underlines his roots.

Jimmy's formidable chops have been used to great advantage by outfits ranging from Widespread Panic to the Dead, Phil Lesh and Friends (a Dead offshoot), Project Z, the Allman Brothers, Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz is Dead and others.