fantastic festival finale

august 31, 2003 performances reviewed by dave conlin read

The final concert of the 2003 Tanglewood Jazz Festival was a triple bill that attracted the weekend's largest audience to the Koussevitzky Music Shed, and it was a beauty! The bill itself is worthy of some praise for its range and depth, including a genre-defying rookie, Hiromi, and two seasoned (young) veterans who each bring dynamic creativity to their types of jazz, Wynton Marsalis and Natalie Cole.

Hiromi, who just graduated from Berklee College of Music in May, came on stage alone and sat down at the piano shortly after 8 p.m. and forty minutes later, having been joined by a bass player and drummer, had thousands of delirious new fans in her camp; fans who could've come from any number of musical bags. As she herself says on her website: "I don't want to put a name on my music...It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don't want to give it a name."

Well, when she was introducing her band after about twenty minutes of the most elegant ferocity, the names my mind heard were: Jack Bruce on bass, Ginger Baker on drums... . It'd be silly to call Hiromi the Eric Clapton of the piano, but not too much of a stretch to recall the glorious power of Cream when reflecting upon Hiromi and band in concert.

For the record, their names are Mitch Cohen on bass and Dave DiCenso on drums and they're also on her debut album, Another Mind, much of which she played tonight, for an audience that included her mentor, Ahmad Jamal.

Next was another artist who won't go gently into any pigeonhole, Wynton Marsalis, tonight with his Septet, having played here in June as leader of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and with whom he'll perform his "All Rise" cantata with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in December.

His fifty minute set tonight was a perfectly wonderful survey of traditional New Orleans style jazz, with plenty of great solos, and fresh arrangements. Especially affecting was "Take A Closer Walk With Thee;" not only was it aurally laden with sweet sadness, but also it had visual appeal, a little casual choreography with the four horn players stepping into and retreating from center stage, coming in pairs from opposite sides of the rhythm section.

A personal favorite tonight, taking a solo using just the tambourine, was drummer Herlin Riley, as he was with the LCJO in June. Then, he was seated high on a riser in the rear next to Marsalis, and we noticed that he was looking over his shoulder at Marsalis throughout the gig, figuring he was keeping an eye on the band leader, as one ought. Well, he was looking over his shoulder tonight, too, but there was nobody there, that's just the way he plays!

And speaking of shoulders and seating - tonight we were looking over the shoulders of James Taylor, who had the seat in front of us for Wynton Marsalis' set.!

Before the curtain came down on this fabulous festival, the ususally austere Koussevitsky Music Shed got all dolled up for the grand finale, including smartly matching music stands for the orchestra, and a big bouquet of flowers for the singer, Miss Natalie Cole, who glided on stage wearing a dazzling gold gown and got right to work belting out "Let's Face the Music."

She delivered a ninety minute performance, backed by a teriffic jazz orchestra directed by Gail Deadrick, that was full of joy, passion, humor, and warmth. Taking note of the chilly temperature, Ms. Cole said to the audience, "Is it FREEZING, OR WHAT??? You know that's why God made me the singer and you the fans - I couldn't take it. God bless you all for coming."

Her set was accompanied by a neat light show, projecting aqua, puce, and chartreuse patterns and geometric shapes that gave the staid Shed stage the look of big nightclub, circa 1965.

For a few memorable moments late in the set, though, we brought somewhere else entirely, as a movie screen was lowered over center stage and Miss Cole stepped a bit to her left in order to look at the film of her father and sing "Unforgettable" in duet with his recorded voice. What courage she has just to attempt this, and what artistry to pull it off so beautifully.

Her 17-song set included such highlights as "Straighten Up and Fly Right," from her father's repertoire, a shimmering medley of "For Sentimental Reasons," "Tenderly," and "Autumn Leaves," as well as "Ask a Woman Who Knows," the title-track from her latest release, and a boisterous encore, "I'm a Woman," that heated up the chilled audience and had them dancing toward the parking lots.

And so closed the 2003 Tanglewood Jazz Festival, as it began with the audience on its feet cheering an excellent performance. Can't wait to see what they'll come up with to top this next year!