It may be past Labor Day, but the sun will surely shine on pianist Chick Corea, saxophonist Branford Marsalis and others Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 9–10), when the Russian
River Jazz Festival sets up in the Northern California town of Guerneville.
The 24th annual festival will host nearly 4,000 people in bathing suits and sun hats at Johnson's Beach, on the bank of the Russian River. Whether on floating rafts on the 200-foot-wide river or on their beach towels, the audience will hear music from top-name acts, including percussionist Poncho Sanchez, singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and trumpeter Roy Hargrove .
"People are in shorts and bathing suits and wander between the water and their seats," says the festival's director of publicity, Scott Clayton. "You can just go out and float along the river on your back and listen to music. That is part of the draw."
The performances will take place on a stage built on the beach. Besides music, the festival includes wine-tasting and food vendors from around the world.
Saturday's lineup consists of Bridgewater, Sanchez, Corea's trio, singer Jamie Davis and the Mel Martin and Harold Jones Big Band. On Sunday it's Hargrove, Marsalis, the Brazilian team of singer Flora Purim and percussionist Airto and the Omega Aires Gospel Singers.
"There is usually a big docking of boats down there," says Clayton. "So people are out in boats, swimming and wandering around in the sun, while the music pretty much cranks out one band after another,"
One discouraging note for this year's festival is that singer Kevin Mahogany had to cancel his Saturday appearance because of a mild stroke he'd suffered recently.
(Click here for a story on Mahogany's situation.)
Mahogany's substitute will be Davis, a member the Count Basie Orchestra who has performed with saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, vibraphonist Milt Jackson and trumpeter Eddie Henderson. This year marks the festival's return to a straight-ahead lineup, following last year's fare of smooth-jazz artists such as saxophonists Dave Koz and Kurt Whalum. Clayton says that the festival's core fans made their desires clear to move away from commercial artists.
"Originally, it had a very strong, straight ahead and creative flavor to it," says Clayton, a former radio disc jockey in Santa Barbara, Calif. In past years, the festival has been host to trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, singer Betty Carter, saxophonists Wayne Shorter, and Grover Washington Jr. "We are trying to stick with the tradition the festival started with."
For more information: www.sonic.net/rrjazz/
|
