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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2018 10:39:34 GMT -6
I was wondering which festivals you all attend and which you think are the best for fusion
Last year I thought the Montreal Jazz Festival was the best of the big jazz festivals around the world in terms of fusion.
I also think the NAMM show in LA is fabulous with a variety of unusual shows and demos along with the acts booked at the Baked Potato that week.
What are your choices and thoughts?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2018 13:50:33 GMT -6
Any thoughts?
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Post by GeorgeX on Nov 20, 2018 17:15:44 GMT -6
I went to the Abstract Logix New Universe Fest. That was a very good bill, and the fest ran smoothly.
It must have been a fuck ton of work though, because I was sure he was going to do another one, and it never came to pass.
I've been out to NAMM a few times. It can't be beat for the sheer number of ace players you can see, but mostly in off the cuff
situations. Some guys have shows scheduled around the venue, but I think the draw is more the stuff that happens outside of that.
I know a guy that used to love going to North Sea Jazz Fest. That's above my pay grade though. i'm just grateful all those
Euro fests exist, as I always end up with some quality dvds out of it.
Never been to Montreal, but the lineups seem to be pretty hit or miss. I have a friend who caught Scofield out there in the 80s,
and he came back raving about the drummer. That's where I first heard of Chambers.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2018 11:50:13 GMT -6
I went to the Abstract Logix New Universe Fest. That was a very good bill, and the fest ran smoothly. It must have been a fuck ton of work though, because I was sure he was going to do another one, and it never came to pass. I've been out to NAMM a few times. It can't be beat for the sheer number of ace players you can see, but mostly in off the cuff situations. Some guys have shows scheduled around the venue, but I think the draw is more the stuff that happens outside of that. I know a guy that used to love going to North Sea Jazz Fest. That's above my pay grade though. i'm just grateful all those Euro fests exist, as I always end up with some quality dvds out of it. Never been to Montreal, but the lineups seem to be pretty hit or miss. I have a friend who caught Scofield out there in the 80s, and he came back raving about the drummer. That's where I first heard of Chambers. The Abstract Logix Fest was great without a doubt but unfortunately a one-off much like the Baked Potato's fantastic fest a few years back with an incredible line up too.
NAMM has an incredible array of people out there so the Baked Potato basically does a fusion 'best of' that week and then you have the additional NAMM sessions during the day and some extra concerts they set up too (along with shows at Alva's, the Blue Whale, Catalina and Bogies).
In some ways, a good week at the Baked Potato (supplemented by the Blue Whale, Catalina and Bogies) is unbeatable and NAMM just adds to that (the next closest 'normal' non festival fusion concentration would be NYC with the 55 Bar, Iridium, Blue Note etc).
The North Sea is one of the better festivals for sure along with Umbria Jazz, Monterrey and a few others but typically, Montreal has more fusion and quality modern jazz than they do.
Last year Montreal Jazz had the following: Mike Stern/Randy Brecker, Wayne Krantz, Al Di Meola, Jerry Granelli with Robben Ford, Gilad Hekselman, Chris Potter, Terence Blanchard with Charles Altura, Herbie Hancock, Soft Machine, Cameron Graves, David Binney, Nir Felder and a ton of other jazz of course.
No other major jazz festival to my knowledge came close to that depth and range of fusion and fusion related music.
I do think the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival should be singled out as through the years they have featured Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale and Holdsworth (which is something no other jazz festival has done to my knowledge) along with people like Mike Stern, Scofield, John McLaughlin, Jim Beard and the Yellowjackets among others. Someone there is definitely a fusion fan.
Strangely, Japan only has one significant international jazz fest (Tokyo Jazz) and it doesn't remotely compete with any of these.
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Post by JaySee on Nov 26, 2018 10:43:01 GMT -6
I've never been to any festival in my life. Many times I planned to visit Pori Jazz Festival, but I never did. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2018 11:25:50 GMT -6
I've never been to any festival in my life. Many times I planned to visit Pori Jazz Festival, but I never did.
Why have you never attended a festival? You don't like the concept?
Pori's 2018 lineup was absolutely terrible from my perspective (barely any jazz and hardly any fusion either) but there are far more interesting ones out there.
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Post by JaySee on Nov 27, 2018 12:11:02 GMT -6
Why have you never attended a festival? You don't like the concept?
Pori's 2018 lineup was absolutely terrible from my perspective (barely any jazz and hardly any fusion either) but there are far more interesting ones out there. I don't like big crowds of restless people.
Pori Jazz used to be a good jazz festival, but nowadays it's more like a pop/rock event.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2018 12:32:40 GMT -6
Why have you never attended a festival? You don't like the concept?
Pori's 2018 lineup was absolutely terrible from my perspective (barely any jazz and hardly any fusion either) but there are far more interesting ones out there. I don't like big crowds of restless people.
Pori Jazz used to be a good jazz festival, but nowadays it's more like a pop/rock event.
If you don't like big crowds, you are safe at a jazz festival  I am somewhat joking but in any case I think you might enjoy a good one, particularly when there are interesting collaborations which don't happen elsewhere.
Yes, I remember checking out the lineups for Pori in the past but that festival has REALLY gone downhill in recent years. I struggled to find any jazz or fusion at all for 2018.
What's the jazz and fusion situation like in Finland these days more generally? It is said that metal is extremely healthy there. Does that carry over at all to prog and fusion?
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Post by JaySee on Nov 30, 2018 8:59:38 GMT -6
What's the jazz and fusion situation like in Finland these days more generally? It is said that metal is extremely healthy there. Does that carry over at all to prog and fusion?
I must confess that I don't know much about fusion in Finland nowadays. It's never been a popular genre and I usually read about Finnish bands/artists on foreign websites/forums.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2018 12:36:35 GMT -6
What's the jazz and fusion situation like in Finland these days more generally? It is said that metal is extremely healthy there. Does that carry over at all to prog and fusion?
I must confess that I don't know much about fusion in Finland nowadays. It's never been a popular genre and I usually read about Finnish bands/artists on foreign websites/forums. How about in terms of live shows; what's it like there now compared to say 20 years ago? The festivals seem to have declined but what about the rest? By the way, other than this forum where else do you discuss and read about fusion? |
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Post by shadow on Nov 30, 2018 16:28:06 GMT -6
Jazz fusion fests are gonna be hard to have because people just don't come out. Abstract was nice but standing up is a pain in the ass. The Baked Potato fest was great but far from a sellout, but that is how the west coast is. I flew out to L.A. in 2000 for Progfest for the first time Banco and Kenso played the US with a great line up and that didn't even sell out.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2018 18:20:02 GMT -6
Jazz fusion fests are gonna be hard to have because people just don't come out. Abstract was nice but standing up is a pain in the ass. The Baked Potato fest was great but far from a sellout, but that is how the west coast is. I flew out to L.A. in 2000 for Progfest for the first time Banco and Kenso played the US with a great line up and that didn't even sell out.
I agree that a specific fusion only festival is very hard to have indeed and that's also why I discussed major jazz festivals which have a stronger fusion component like Montreal and the smaller Riviera Maya Festival which though it doesn't bill itself as a fusion fest, is obviously much more attuned to it than others. And of course the NAMM show/week ends up being a fusion gathering in so many ways.
The Baked Potato fest was awesome but I'm not sure the West Coast is the problem more specifically. I think LA must be the fusion capital of the world still with only New York being in the running really (particularly if we blur the modern jazz/fusion line a bit). The Baked Potato by itself along with MI, Alva's, the Blue Whale, Catalina and Bogies Place offer so much more fusion than anywhere else on a consistent basis.
I was living in Europe at the time of that Progfest in LA but heard about it. How did you like it? It's kind of amazing that Kenso and other Japanese bands in prog and fusion have almost never played in the West, not even on small club tours, and it's interesting that there's never been a fusion fest of any kind in Japan given that many imagine Japan to be fertile territory.
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I am somewhat joking but in any case I think you might enjoy a good one, particularly when there are interesting collaborations which don't happen elsewhere.
