Finding jazz: Tanglewood Jazz ‘98
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Aug. 30, 1998) -- Vocalists and instrumentalists. Standard and blue. Traditional and contemporary. Uptown and downtown. In and out. Black and white. Old and young. Classic and experimental. Melodic and dissonant. Composed and improvisational.

These are all characteristics of the various artists performing in this weekend’s Tanglewood Jazz Festival, running from Friday through Sunday. Though widely disparate in approach and sensibility, they are all united in some way that allows them to be presented together under the rubric of “jazz.”

But can the term possibly have any meaning if it is equally applied to such different stylists as Tony Bennett and Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano and John Pizzarelli, Diana Krall and Patrice Williamson, James Moody and Cyrus Chestnut? By calling all these musicians “jazz” artists, do we dilute whatever is unique about jazz, or suggest that the term is an indiscriminate one devoid of any real significance?

Or, is there some fundamental, essential element of jazz that, indeed, the featured artists in this year’s festival all share, something that makes them recognizably jazz artists as opposed to popular performers who play in a jazz style?

“It’s just the basic element of swing -- the fundamental groove,” said pianist Cyrus Chestnut in a recent phone interview from South Carolina, where he was vacationing with his family.

Swing, said Chestnut, is the fundamental “engine” of jazz, the element which “makes you move involuntarily….which makes you for a few seconds forget all the mayhem and puts a smile on your face.”

In more general terms, singer/pianist Diana Krall said all the musicians at this year’s jazz festival share “great musical integrity and a love for what they do.” While many of them play in different styles, “they’re all very intense and passionate about the music they do,” said Krall, speaking in a recent phone interview from the Israeli resort city of Eilat, where she was appearing in a jazz festival.

To pianist Kenny Werner, who will be performing as part of Joe Lovano’s group on Friday night, the common thread is more obvious. “They’re all musicians,” he said in a recent phone interview from a summer jazz camp near Lake Placid, N.Y. “They all have committed a great portion of their lives to being creative, whatever that means to them. You have many different definitions of creativity within that group, and they’re all artists. It’s music -- the short answer is music ties them all together.”

So if we are to add these responses all together, what we arrive it is that the festival features musicians of great commitment, creativity, passion and intensity who swing. It’s a good definition, but one that falls somewhat short of an overall definition of jazz. After all, one could arguably make the case that all summer long musicians heard at Tanglewood boast such characteristics as commitment and intensity, and as Chestnut points out, even classical music swings.

“It has some type of groove,” said Chestnut about classical music. “There are very different types of grooves. A waltz is a waltz; a polonaise is a polonaise; there is a dance element to both of them. I think I can safely say that back in the 15 or 1600s, when the kings had parties and the musicians were called together, they were to play music for people to dance to and have a good time. And if they didn’t do that, their tenure in that specific venue wouldn’t be too long.”

Leave it to Tony Bennett, who said he doesn’t consider himself a jazz singer, to come up with perhaps the best explanation for what ties together the various artists on this weekend’s program. Jazz, said Bennett in a recent phone interview from his New York apartment, is “of the moment.” Jazz is “not something that’s pre-planned and pre-thought. It’s spontaneous, on the spot performance.”

It is improvisation -- or spontaneous composition -- that ultimately distinguishes jazz from other styles of music. But even jazz musicians themselves don’t always agree on just what is the point of improvisation.

Often musicians talk about improvisational solos in terms of storytelling. “The listener wants to hear a story unfold, a musical story they can react to,” said Cyrus Chestnut, who will be performing with his trio on Friday night at Ozawa Hall. “Something that whether it is simple or complex, it can be felt. And I think that if a good story is being told throughout the improvisation, when the improvisation is finished, everyone will have felt hopefully the passion and the drive of the musician attempting to tell the story.”

Hogwash, says Kenny Werner, when asked if jazz improvisation is about telling stories. “Storytelling? I have no idea what they’re talking about,” he said. “The intention to tell the story would seem to me to choke off the story that’s being told within you. I don’t think of myself as a storyteller. I think of myself as the microphone that the storyteller uses.”

In fact, Chestnut and Werner might not be as diametrically opposed in their ideas about soloing as first appears. “I may have a general idea when I begin, but I am a spontaneous type of person,” said Chestnut about his approach to improvising. “ So what I may have in mind even at the moment, I may be inspired differently and then it can always change. I’m not saying that I just go on a whim -- there are ideas as far as the song is concerned, building the song, keeping the construction of the song, keeping that in focus -- but then I also keep myself open to that other realm of the unknown, because many beautiful things can happen spontaneously.”

It is perhaps the potential for spontaneous beauty that best describes jazz’s appeal, and what listeners will be looking for at this weekend’s festival.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: This year’s Tanglewood Jazz Festival takes place from Friday, Sept. 4 through Sunday, Sept. 6. All concerts are at Ozawa Hall except for Saturday night’s show featuring Tony Bennett and Diana Krall, which is in the Shed. Nighttime shows are at 7:30. Saturday afternoon’s program is at 4, and Sunday afternoon’s concert is at 1:30. Tickets are available from the Tanglewood box office or from Symphony Charge at (888) 266-1200. For more information call (413) 637-5165.

THE PLAYERS:

TONY BENNETT: With the passing of Frank Sinatra earlier this year, Tony Bennett is now the premiere living exponent of classic American popular music. Bennett is a singer of impeccable taste, and in spite of his claim not to be a jazz singer, at his best he swings as hard as most jazz vocalists. A frequent headliner at Tanglewood, Bennett will appear with the Ralph Sharon Quartet. See Friday’s Berkshire Eagle for an interview with Bennett. (Saturday, 7:30)

DIANA KRALL: The Canadian-born Diana Krall combines cover-girl looks with a classic, low-key vocal approach and a cool, pianistic approach that harkens to Nat “King” Cole, whom she saluted on “All For You,” her breakthrough recording on the Impulse! Label. On her latest album, “Love Scenes,” Krall tries on a collection of songs by the Gershwins, Bing Crosby, Irving Berlin, and Peggy Lee, to whom she is often compared.

“These songs are timeless,” said Krall, who didn’t start singing professionally until 1990. “I didn’t think I had a good enough voice, but you get more gigs if you sing, so I started studying vocals.”

As for her low-key style -- the magazine Jazziz put her on the cover last December with the headline, “Killing Us Softly” -- Krall explained, “You can get your point across and tell a story much more effectively in a quiet fashion. Sometimes you have to scream if you’re excited, but what works for me is telling a story how you’d be talking to somebody. The use of silences is very important, and space -- I’m a huge fan of [pianist] Ahmad Jamal. I’m not only influenced by singers -- ee cummings and his use of simplicity is very organic. It’s appealing to me because it’s simple and lovely.”

In any case, low-key can pack a powerfully sensual punch, as one listen to Krall’s version of Dave Frishberg’s “Peel Me a Grape” on “Love Scenes” will demonstrate. Krall will be making her Tanglewood debut with her trio, which includes guitarist Russell Malone and bassist Ben Wolfe. (Saturday, 7:30)

JOE LOVANO: Widely considered one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the decade, the 45-year-old Joe Lovano is a versatile, hard-swinging improviser, as comfortable with a standard (last year he released “Celebrating Sinatra,” a tribute to the late singer) as he is with one of his more abstract original compositions.

Lovano grew up in Cleveland, where his father was a key player on the local jazz scene, and as a result the young Lovano enjoyed great exposure to jazz music from a young age. “Just growing up like that you grew up with not just the sound of jazz around but you hear someone playing live all the time around you, that’s really a heavy influence, that’s the deepest influence you could have, to hear that tone or that sound,” said Lovano in a 1996 Eagle interview. Lovano will be performing with drummer Idris Muhammed, bassist Cameron Brown, and pianist Kenny Werner, with whom he has been playing since they were together at Berklee College of Music in the early 1970s. (Friday, 7:30)

JAMES MOODY: The 73-year-old James Moody kicks off his new CD, “Moody Plays Mancini,” with a youthful, sprightly flute solo on a version of “The Pink Panther.” The multi-instrumentalist, who in addition to flute plays tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, has enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a longtime sideman to Dizzy Gillespie and as a leader in his own right. He is also known for his collaborations with vocalists, including Dinah Washington, Eddie Jefferson and the Manhattan Transfer. Moody had a bit part in the Clint Eastwood film, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” playing the role of Mr. Glover, who walks an imaginary dog, but he is probably best known for his 1952 hit, “I’m in the Mood for Love.” Like Joe Lovano, Moody has also recorded an album of songs associated with Frank Sinatra, called “Young at Heart.” Occasionally known to sing a few licks, Moody carries on his pal Gillespie’s love of showmanship. Amazingly, Moody’s appearance with his quartet this weekend marks his Tanglewood debut. (Sunday, 1:30)

CYRUS CHESTNUT: With a name like his, it was inevitable that Cyrus Chestnut would wind up with one of those great jazz nicknames, and he wears the name “Nutman” proudly -- it’s the name of his publishing company and a song title on his new, eponymous album. One of the young lions of jazz, pianist Chestnut served apprenticeships as a sideman to Jon Hendricks, Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis and Betty Carter before launching his career as a leader with his first album, “Revelation,” in 1994.

Chestnut acknowledges his deep roots in such traditional styles as gospel, the blues and stride piano. “In order to effectively make some strides you have to know what’s been done,” he said. “I’m not trying to be a historian; there are historians around who can play the repertoire and execute it with precision. My position is that I like to listen to history and I like to be moved and react to what has been done and then turn around and give an interpretation of what I’ve heard and how I’ve been inspired from the people of the period.”

Chestnut makes his Tanglewood debut with his trio, but he held out the possibility that Joe Lovano, who appears on his new album and shares the Friday night bill, might sit in with his group. (Friday, 7:30)

JOHN PIZZARELLI: John Pizzarelli is the kind of young performer beloved of older audiences -- he told the New York Times last year, “I have, like, four fans in their 20s, and 10 in their 30s….But when you get up to people in their 60s, I’m huge.” A squeaky-clean kid with a boyish grin who is devoted to classic standards and jazz tunes delivered with a quick, dry but respectful wit, the 38-year-old singer/guitarist and son of legendary guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli has recorded a tribute to Nat “King” Cole, a collection of ballads and a Christmas album.

While his preferred format is the piano-bass-guitar trio, his latest album, “Our Love Is Here to Stay” (RCA), expands his palette to incorporate big-band swing. But it’s Pizzarelli’s personality -- and his considerable guitar chops -- that enables him to put across Johnny Mercer tunes next to Paul McCartney songs, and to toss in mischievous allusions to Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin (listen closely to his live show) with equal finesse and aplomb. (Saturday, 4)

CASSANDRA WILSON: Perhaps the most celebrated jazz vocalist of her generation, Cassandra Wilson has shaken up and expanded the very definition of jazz without betraying the essence of the music. In fact, as heard on albums like “Blue Light ‘Til Dawn,” Wilson extends jazz by going back to its roots in blues and string-band music, blending fiddles and folk guitars into the mix on material ranging from pop standards to Robert Johnson delta blues to Joni Mitchell covers.

“I don’t think of music as being compartmentalized,” Wilson said in a 1994 Eagle interview before her last appearance at Tanglewood. “There’s not some sort of innate thing that ticks away and tells you this is this and this is that….It’s just music. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it.” Wilson returns to Tanglewood with her quartet. (Sunday, 7:30)

PATRICE WILLIAMSON: Named “Best Jazz Vocalist” in Boston Magazine’s 1997 “Best of Boston” awards, Patrice Williamson studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. But long before that, she was playing violin at age 4 and flute at age 11. At the University of Tennessee, she was principal flutist for both the Opera and Symphony Orchestra. Williamson will be appearing with the Patrice Williamson Group, which features lots of interaction between musicians and vocalist. (Sunday, 1:30)

[This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on September 3, 1998. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1998. All rights reserved.]