Guelph Jazz Festival 2012

I returned to Columbus, Ohio late Sunday evening from the five-day Guelph, Ontario, Canada Jazz Festival. My friend and I attended our fourth Guelph Jazz Festival. Rather than attempt a performance-by-performance account of what we heard and witnessed, I'll treat the wonderful 2012 Festival in a general way. It was the Festival's nineteenth year - quite an accomplishment. We remember Ann Arbor's Once Festival; so-named because as reckoned by Robert Ashley and others it was believed that they could only get away with advanced, serious music Once at most. Professor Ajay Heble, Guelph's Artistic Director and the Guelph Festival stalwarts have gotten away with presenting great music and great musicians for nineteen years! The co-operative effort on behalf of The Government of Canada, The Province of Ontario, The City of Guelph, and others over such a protracted period is something that Canadians can be extremely proud of. And something of which Americans  should be envious.

  It may have been the great musician, critic, educator, and human being Sir Donald Francis Tovey who remarked that in order to criticize something one must understand why people like what you criticize - I'm talking about "criticize" in the senses of I'm not sure that X is worthy of my consideration or the short-form version, I don't like or understand X. I learned something of value at this year's Guelph Festival. There were numerous performances that incorporated electronics in significant ways - laptops, drone-machines, re-recorded sounds &c. Most of these performances were to my ears, mind, and aesthetic sensibilities rather over-done, and in certain instances hokey - remnants of Karlheinz Stockhausen via Miles Davis or the other way round.  

  After Fred Frith's solo electric-guitar performance, which was not to my liking, I was asked by a woman how I liked Frith's music. I replied that I didn't like it. My reasons were as follows: (i) I didn't like the guitar very much (Freddie Green was enough guitar for me), (ii) I didn't care for all of Frith's Cage-like assaults on his guitar (messing with the guitar by using foreign objects, etc.), (iii) the result of all of Frith's assaults were to my ears without rhythmic or harmonic flow. 

  I asked my inquisitor why she liked Frith's music. Her reply was very revealing. It made me understand something that I didn't understand before. She replied that she liked Frith's music because she liked his creativity. I asked her what she meant by creativity. She replied that she liked seeing him doing all that stuff with his guitar (what I call assaulting his guitar). I replied that when I listen to music, I prefer to listen with the lights off - in the dark. All of Frith's Cage-like moves detracts from my enjoyment of the music. For my interlocutor all of Frith's physical moves plus the resultant sounds were the music. I then realized that visual items were an important part of music enjoyment and understanding for people who prefer their music lit-up, not in the dark. I then understood why music like Fred Frith's was admired. I finally got it. Flamenco music without the visuals, without the dance is not exactly appealing; it isn't as good in the dark. Of course, everyone knew this already.

  For me, one of the highlights of the Guelph Jazz Festival was the ROVA saxophone quartet's Coltrane Re-imagined - The Electric Ascension. This was performed by ROVA plus eight with the subtle use of computer electronics. The fabulous Chicago percussionist, Hamid Drake took care of the time and rhythm. 

  The other highlight was Peter Brötzmann (saxophones and clarinets) and Jason Adasievicz (vibes). They performed at least four pieces, one for each of Brötzmann's wind instruments. These un-amplified performances were spellbinding. There exists one recording of this fabulous duo. Sunday morning's 1AM performance was recorded. I noticed after I got home that Brötzmann and Adasievicz were performing that Sunday evening at Ohio Wesleyan University. Had I known about this, I would have certainly stopped to hear these great musicians on my way home.
  I'm looking forward to the EdgeFest in Ann Arbor, Michigan in October.  http://www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com/index.php/events/edgefest/