http://www.calendarlive.com/printeditio ... 1378.story
QUICK TAKES
New Orleans to be saluted at fest
Don Heckman
February 23, 2006
New Orleans, the wounded birthplace of jazz, will be saluted during the 28th annual Playboy Jazz Festival June 17 and 18 at the Hollywood Bowl. The survival and recovery of the Crescent City will be celebrated in a joint performance by Elvis Costello & the Impostors with Allen Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section. . Other tribute highlights include saxophonist Branford Marsalis' performance of a collection of traditional New Orleans tunes and an appearance by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
The balance of the lineup largely bypasses the pop elements present in recent festivals. Among the major artists: the Stanley Clarke/George Duke Project, the McCoy Tyner Trio with the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, the Golden Striker Trio (Ron Carter, Mulgrew Miller and Russell Malone), the Benny Golson Quartet, Chuck Mangione making his first festival appearance, "Groovin' for Grover" (a Grover Washington Jr. tribute with Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber and Kirk Whalum) and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with Stefon Harris performing a tribute to Milt Jackson.
Ticket information: (310) 450-1173 or http://www.playboy.com/jazzfest
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http://www.playboy.com/arts-entertainme ... neup2.html
28th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival Artist Lineup
Sunday, June 18, 2006
2:00 - 10:30 p.m.
* McCoy Tyner Trio with the Lula Washington Dance Theatre
* Elvis Costello and the Impostors featuring the piano and songs of Allen Toussaint with his New Orleans Horn Section, The River In Reverse Tour 2006
* Groovin' for Grover featuring Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Kirk Whalum: A Celebration of the Music of Grover Washington Jr. (The Grover Washington Jr. Protect the Dream Foundation to benefit young musicians)
* Ozomatli
* Eddie Palmieri Afro-Carribbean Jazz All-Stars with special guests Regina Carter and David Sanchez
* Chuck Mangione
* The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
* Eldar
* Christian Scott
* Lesa Terry and the Women's Jazz Orchestra of Los Angeles
* Elder Edward Babb and the McCollough Sons of Thunder
Master of Ceremonies: Bill Cosby
Produced by George Wein
Elvis plays....Playboy Jazz Festival, LA, June 18 .
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That would have been so embarrassing for us both to show up in the same outfit.martinfoyle wrote:I wish. If I was, I'd be dressed like this
Here's the setlist:
1. Tears, Tears And More Tears
2. A Certain Girl
3. Clown Strike
4. Broken Promise Land
5. Freedom For The Stallion
6. The River In Reverse
7. Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?
8. Professor Longhair medley, including Tipitina (Allen solo)
9. Ascension Day
10. Watching The Detectives
11. Yes We Can Can
12. The Sharpest Thorn
13. Yes We Can Can (brief reprise as the revolving stage took the band away)
It was a great show but MUCH too short.
This was why I didn't go, though it hurt a bit. Just couldn't see paying for the whole day (which was a pretty high if memory serves), and getting only a short set. Especially painful because of my famous obsession with...okay, now how I am supposed to say this without making a British sexual pun....those instruments that people have to blow into...nope, that's not it....
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u ... 247834.jpg
Elvis Costello (R) performs with The Imposters, pianist Allen Toussaint (L) and the New Orleans Horn Section during the 28th annual Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood June 18, 2006. REUTERS/Fred Prouser (UNITED STATES)
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930 ... =1266&cs=1
Posted: Mon., Jun. 19, 2006, 1:49pm PT
Playboy Jazz Festival, Day Two
(Hollywood Bowl, 17,391 seats, $105 top)
Presented by Playboy Enterprises. Reviewed June 18, 2006.
By RICHARD S. GINELL
( extract)
Though the 2006 Playboy Jazz Festival was touted as a gathering of soul brothers for the storm-battered city of New Orleans, only on Sunday did the connection really surface. Elder Edward Babb and the trombone-laden McCollough Sons of Thunder evoked the spirit of N'awlins first (though they hail from Harlem); then, the still-spry Preservation Hall Jazz Band roused the handkerchief-waving crowd right around dinnertime. But ultimately it was the joker in this jazz deck, Elvis Costello -- in cahoots with the magnificent producer-songwriter-singer-pianist-catalyst Allen Toussaint -- who seized the moment with the most irresistible musical and emotional pull.
Costello/Toussaint project "The River in Reverse" shouldn't have surprised the mass media as much as it did, for rock stars since the Band have collaborated happily with Toussaint for decades -- and Costello seems bent upon collaborating with just about everybody. This live teaming brought out the best in both.
While the sound of their collaboration stayed pretty much on Toussaint's terms, Costello sounded confident, cocky and totally at home in the absolutely distinctive Toussaint horn arrangements and signature Southern funk -- as did his band, the Imposters. The lead went back and forth, with Toussaint giving an especially funky push to the vocals on "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" and Costello resurrecting a tune that Toussaint did for Lee Dorsey long ago, "Freedom for the Stallion," that fit the tone of their post-Katrina agenda.
Even an old Costello calling card, "Watching the Detectives," was perfectly translated by Toussaint -- and Costello gave Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" a jolt of his urgency. That one got this jazz party jiggling in the aisles.
Indeed, Costello and Toussaint were riding a wave of energy at the fest that had been building for hours. McCoy Tyner managed to follow the Preservation Hall party with a splendid idea -- teaming his hard-driving augmented trio with the dynamic dancing of nine members of Lula Washington's Dance Theater. The dancers galvanized Tyner, and he in turn urged them on with ever-cresting rhythmic movement Latinized by conguero Kevin Ricard. Alas, the bloated sound was awful -- the piano was overamped, and one couldn't hear the bass. Do Playboy's engineers ever listen to the sonic garbage coming out of their sound board?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/re ... 1002690567
The Playboy Jazz Festival
By Tony Gieske
Bottom line: A dwindling proportion of jazz and a growing ration of the bogus.
A tribute to Milt Jackson served as a counterbalance for everything that was wrong with the 28th edition of the Playboy Jazz Festival, sold out, scorching and sad.
Stefon Harris stood in for Bags, as the great vibraharpist was known, and he couldn't have done better. He had many of the departed soul master's little habits down, including swinging from the heels, and added his own impossibly fleet licks. The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra spelled him, playing with their customary verve and precision from richly inventive charts by co-leader John Clayton and sending out such brilliant soloists as Clay Jenkins, trumpet, and George Bohanon, trombone.
The sad part is that this is probably one of the last of those colorful and formerly abundant beasts, the concert jazz band.
It's not as far along the road to oblivion, though, as the white haired Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans, which played -- while seated -- an elegantly courteous brand of jazz, meant for listeners, that was a refreshing but wistful taste of fading Old World values.
Besides the Hamilton orchestra, the highlight of the two sold-out days was getting to hear the Eddie Palmieri Afro-Caribbean All-Stars, featuring David Sanchez on tenor and Regina Carter on electric violin. Like Harris, these two are burners, but they could not outmatch such Palmieri regulars as the brilliant trumpeter Brian Lynch, who is two steps ahead of the ordinary ear, and alto man Donald Harrison, likewise.
The soloists sailed unstoppably on with never a dull moment, atop the clear and constant rhythm from pianist Palmieri, who has the greatest left hand since Noro Morales, and his brotherlike bass man, Jose Santiago, who subtly refreshes the powerful underpinning figures before they get monotonous.
A happy few more served loyally in the cause of jazz authenticity. One was saxophonist Benny Golson, who made a tasty, easygoing dish out of the long-ago ballad "Cherry." Another loyal bunch was the Golden Striker Trio, with pianist Mulgrew Miller, the fleet yet homespun guitarist Russell Malone and bass titan Ron Carter. The Russian-born pianist Eldar followed the straight-ahead line with vigor and aplomb.
Bill Cosby's Cos of Good Music starred the promising trumpet newcomer Christian Scott, out of New Orleans. Steve Turre played dual conch shells, and Kevin Eubanks got off his customary super inventive, swinging guitar licks. And we mustn't forget the hotly creative saxophonist Branford Marsalis or the wistfully nostalgic flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione.
McCoy Tyner, looking wan, got his signature dark, deep piano sound when he got a chance to do a whole number. But most of the time, he supported the members of the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, an agile and erotic troupe without much jazz provenance. The same could be said of Baaba Maal's Senegalese dancers.
The driven Brit pianist Jamie Cullum seemed like he could play a little jazz someday, but at the moment he is too breathless.
Elder Edward Babb, a bar-walking, gospel-quoting, mighty loud trombonist, is never going to be a J.J. Johnson. Neither are the many other trombonists in his band, the McCullough Sons of Thunder.
But at least Babb means what he says. This was not the case with the noted singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, who brought the Imposters along to help him out with his piano man. That was the equally noted Allen Toussaint, a fellow producer with a major New Orleans track record and the ability to play exactly like Jelly Roll Morton.
The outcome, intended to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina, was about what you would expect from the two crack-shot producers: overproduced empty pieties, predictable stuff about helping your brother and overcoming tragedy. The band for the two stars' River in Reverse tour, just getting started, was competent enough.
Elvis Costello (R) performs with The Imposters, pianist Allen Toussaint (L) and the New Orleans Horn Section during the 28th annual Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood June 18, 2006. REUTERS/Fred Prouser (UNITED STATES)
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930 ... =1266&cs=1
Posted: Mon., Jun. 19, 2006, 1:49pm PT
Playboy Jazz Festival, Day Two
(Hollywood Bowl, 17,391 seats, $105 top)
Presented by Playboy Enterprises. Reviewed June 18, 2006.
By RICHARD S. GINELL
( extract)
Though the 2006 Playboy Jazz Festival was touted as a gathering of soul brothers for the storm-battered city of New Orleans, only on Sunday did the connection really surface. Elder Edward Babb and the trombone-laden McCollough Sons of Thunder evoked the spirit of N'awlins first (though they hail from Harlem); then, the still-spry Preservation Hall Jazz Band roused the handkerchief-waving crowd right around dinnertime. But ultimately it was the joker in this jazz deck, Elvis Costello -- in cahoots with the magnificent producer-songwriter-singer-pianist-catalyst Allen Toussaint -- who seized the moment with the most irresistible musical and emotional pull.
Costello/Toussaint project "The River in Reverse" shouldn't have surprised the mass media as much as it did, for rock stars since the Band have collaborated happily with Toussaint for decades -- and Costello seems bent upon collaborating with just about everybody. This live teaming brought out the best in both.
While the sound of their collaboration stayed pretty much on Toussaint's terms, Costello sounded confident, cocky and totally at home in the absolutely distinctive Toussaint horn arrangements and signature Southern funk -- as did his band, the Imposters. The lead went back and forth, with Toussaint giving an especially funky push to the vocals on "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" and Costello resurrecting a tune that Toussaint did for Lee Dorsey long ago, "Freedom for the Stallion," that fit the tone of their post-Katrina agenda.
Even an old Costello calling card, "Watching the Detectives," was perfectly translated by Toussaint -- and Costello gave Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" a jolt of his urgency. That one got this jazz party jiggling in the aisles.
Indeed, Costello and Toussaint were riding a wave of energy at the fest that had been building for hours. McCoy Tyner managed to follow the Preservation Hall party with a splendid idea -- teaming his hard-driving augmented trio with the dynamic dancing of nine members of Lula Washington's Dance Theater. The dancers galvanized Tyner, and he in turn urged them on with ever-cresting rhythmic movement Latinized by conguero Kevin Ricard. Alas, the bloated sound was awful -- the piano was overamped, and one couldn't hear the bass. Do Playboy's engineers ever listen to the sonic garbage coming out of their sound board?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/re ... 1002690567
The Playboy Jazz Festival
By Tony Gieske
Bottom line: A dwindling proportion of jazz and a growing ration of the bogus.
A tribute to Milt Jackson served as a counterbalance for everything that was wrong with the 28th edition of the Playboy Jazz Festival, sold out, scorching and sad.
Stefon Harris stood in for Bags, as the great vibraharpist was known, and he couldn't have done better. He had many of the departed soul master's little habits down, including swinging from the heels, and added his own impossibly fleet licks. The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra spelled him, playing with their customary verve and precision from richly inventive charts by co-leader John Clayton and sending out such brilliant soloists as Clay Jenkins, trumpet, and George Bohanon, trombone.
The sad part is that this is probably one of the last of those colorful and formerly abundant beasts, the concert jazz band.
It's not as far along the road to oblivion, though, as the white haired Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans, which played -- while seated -- an elegantly courteous brand of jazz, meant for listeners, that was a refreshing but wistful taste of fading Old World values.
Besides the Hamilton orchestra, the highlight of the two sold-out days was getting to hear the Eddie Palmieri Afro-Caribbean All-Stars, featuring David Sanchez on tenor and Regina Carter on electric violin. Like Harris, these two are burners, but they could not outmatch such Palmieri regulars as the brilliant trumpeter Brian Lynch, who is two steps ahead of the ordinary ear, and alto man Donald Harrison, likewise.
The soloists sailed unstoppably on with never a dull moment, atop the clear and constant rhythm from pianist Palmieri, who has the greatest left hand since Noro Morales, and his brotherlike bass man, Jose Santiago, who subtly refreshes the powerful underpinning figures before they get monotonous.
A happy few more served loyally in the cause of jazz authenticity. One was saxophonist Benny Golson, who made a tasty, easygoing dish out of the long-ago ballad "Cherry." Another loyal bunch was the Golden Striker Trio, with pianist Mulgrew Miller, the fleet yet homespun guitarist Russell Malone and bass titan Ron Carter. The Russian-born pianist Eldar followed the straight-ahead line with vigor and aplomb.
Bill Cosby's Cos of Good Music starred the promising trumpet newcomer Christian Scott, out of New Orleans. Steve Turre played dual conch shells, and Kevin Eubanks got off his customary super inventive, swinging guitar licks. And we mustn't forget the hotly creative saxophonist Branford Marsalis or the wistfully nostalgic flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione.
McCoy Tyner, looking wan, got his signature dark, deep piano sound when he got a chance to do a whole number. But most of the time, he supported the members of the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, an agile and erotic troupe without much jazz provenance. The same could be said of Baaba Maal's Senegalese dancers.
The driven Brit pianist Jamie Cullum seemed like he could play a little jazz someday, but at the moment he is too breathless.
Elder Edward Babb, a bar-walking, gospel-quoting, mighty loud trombonist, is never going to be a J.J. Johnson. Neither are the many other trombonists in his band, the McCullough Sons of Thunder.
But at least Babb means what he says. This was not the case with the noted singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, who brought the Imposters along to help him out with his piano man. That was the equally noted Allen Toussaint, a fellow producer with a major New Orleans track record and the ability to play exactly like Jelly Roll Morton.
The outcome, intended to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina, was about what you would expect from the two crack-shot producers: overproduced empty pieties, predictable stuff about helping your brother and overcoming tragedy. The band for the two stars' River in Reverse tour, just getting started, was competent enough.
Written like a true jazz snob.
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-et ... -top-right
Elvis Costello
(Ricardo DeAratanha, Los Angeles Times)
June 18, 2006
Elvis Costello
(Ricardo DeAratanha, Los Angeles Times)
June 18, 2006
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/en ... 186216.php
Elvis Costello performs at the Playboy Jazz Fest, accompanied by the Imposters and Allen Toussaint.
ARMANDO BROWN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Monday, June 19, 2006
Playboy Jazz Fest: More like a party
REVIEW: Eye-grabbers like Jamie Cullum and Ozomatli stand out over traditional jazz stars.
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
( extract)
Costello's collaboration with Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section at times was as invigorating and soulful as one might have hoped. It certainly begain strongly, with a hearty "Tears, Tears and More Tears" spilling into some breezy Fats Domino-esque rock 'n' roll and a very lively rearrangement of Costello's "Clown Strike."
But the mix grew severely out of whack. Costello's stinging guitar obliterated all but the horn blats in "Broken Promise Land." "The River in Reverse" suffered from technical glitches he did his best to hide. "Watching the Detectives," the only other reworked Costello tune, was an unnuanced muddle. Inspiration finally arrived with the finale, "The Sharpest Thorn," but by then it was meager compensation. Here's hoping this tour with Toussaint will return for a proper SoCal spotlight.
Elvis Costello performs at the Playboy Jazz Fest, accompanied by the Imposters and Allen Toussaint.
ARMANDO BROWN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Monday, June 19, 2006
Playboy Jazz Fest: More like a party
REVIEW: Eye-grabbers like Jamie Cullum and Ozomatli stand out over traditional jazz stars.
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
( extract)
Costello's collaboration with Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section at times was as invigorating and soulful as one might have hoped. It certainly begain strongly, with a hearty "Tears, Tears and More Tears" spilling into some breezy Fats Domino-esque rock 'n' roll and a very lively rearrangement of Costello's "Clown Strike."
But the mix grew severely out of whack. Costello's stinging guitar obliterated all but the horn blats in "Broken Promise Land." "The River in Reverse" suffered from technical glitches he did his best to hide. "Watching the Detectives," the only other reworked Costello tune, was an unnuanced muddle. Inspiration finally arrived with the finale, "The Sharpest Thorn," but by then it was meager compensation. Here's hoping this tour with Toussaint will return for a proper SoCal spotlight.