Sexta-feira 23 Jun 2006, 0h:22

I just recently went to the Rochester Jazz Festival in Rochester (where else?), NY. I didn't get a chance to see a lot of the acts, but I had tickets specificly for McCoy Tyner's show with his trio, and Wayne Shorter with his quartet. Both were really great experiences. McCoy, who is quite old by now, still uses all the flair, depth, and power on the piano that he was known for with John Coltrane. I didn't recognize the names of the players in the group, but they were both extremely solid players. But McCoy really stole the show; he still really beats the shit out of a piano. They didn't play very long, which wasn't surprising because McCoy's style of piano playing seems like it would really tire you out. And he's in his 80's…

The Wayne Shorter concert was even more intense, for me anyway. As a drummer, I was extremely happy to see Brian Blade walk out with Shorter, and as a lover of jazz I was equally pleased to hear John Patitucci]'s name announced. Danilo Perez on keys was really the icing on the cake. A lot of the show was very abstract playing, in an almost ambient way. It was like acoustic fusion of the late 60's: similar to Shorter's playing on In A Silent Way. They would often stop as they found an interesting overarching sort of tonality and improvise in a very organic way over it. But other times, Blade and Patitucci would lock up a groove and Perez would introduce a piano ostinato, and Shorter would wail. Wayne Shorter definitely re-asserted himself as my favorite saxophone player of all time that night. He still sounds absolutely fantastic, like he's serenading the audience. I highly reccomend any drummers look into Brian Blade if they had not.

So yeah…good times….