Tanglewood Jazz Festival 2008 Opening Night
Eliane Elias Trio and Edmar Castaneda Quartet
By: Charles Giuliano - Aug 30, 2008
Opening night of the Labor Day weekend Tanglewood Jazz Festival 2008 was a mixed blessing. Inside the filled to capacity Ozawa Hall the audience was warm and cozy enjoying the Edmar Castaneda Trio with special guest Joe Locke on vibraphone and The Eliane Elias Trio in a "Tribute to Bill Evans." But out on the lawn, yet again, as has been true all season, the rains came. While there was a full house in Ozawa Hall it was another washout on the sparsely populated lawn where hearty souls and die hard jazz fans hunkered down to catch the vibes.
The festivities continue today with the 90 year old pianist Marianne McPartland in one of her series of broadcasts for PBS. Her special guests for this occasion include the vocalists Nnenna Freelon and Spencer Day as well as the pianist Melgrew Miller. She will perform in Ozawa Hall at 2 pm while the Kate McGarry Trio will appear at 12:30 in the tent or Jazz Café. The Jason Palmer Quintet takes over at 6:30. Tonight, at 8pm in Ozawa Hall Donal Fox is featured in the Scarlatti Jazz Suite Project with special guest, Christian Scott. His set will be followed by the singer Dianne Reeves.
The informal Jazz Café series, which is open free to those with tickets to main stage events, features emerging artists. It is an important part of making the point that jazz is an ongoing and ever evolving art form. Other than in festival setting there are too few opportunities to hear new artists. Many of these performers tour in Europe and the Far East where they are often better known and appreciated than back home in the U.S.A.
A case in point was the appearance last night by the virtuoso Edmar Castaneda playing the Colombian harp. Last year, during the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, his set in the Jazz café blew away the audience. So much so that he was invited back as a headliner opening the weekend on the main stage on Friday night. Later, when the group met with fans to sign CD's, we learned that they had just barely made the gig having flown in from dates in Israel. Locke was telling friends that there is a great jazz scene in Israel. "We would have liked to stay longer and check it out" Locke said. "But we had to get back for this gig. Man, we barely made it. The traffic up from the city was brutal."
If they were a bit jet lagged that was not evident as the group delivered a stunning and energetic set. While the harp is a rare jazz instrument, the only other which comes to mind is Andreas Wollenweider, the performance by Castaneda was anything but precious and romantic. He proved, at times, to have an aggressive and percussive attack on the instrument which he performs on from a standing position.
"So, you like Colombian music" Castaneda asked the audience after their enthusiastic response to a galvanic opening number.
The instrumentation of the trio was surprising. In addition to a drummer, Dave Silliman, rather than the usual bass, the third member of the trio was Marshall Gilkes on trombone. On the opening Latino flavored piece Gilkes evoked jungle like bird sounds that created exotic textures that complemented Castenada's descriptive and narrative improvisations. There was another dimension when Joe Locke joined them to create a quartet. He employs the double mallet technique on vibes that was developed by Gary Burton but with a harder drive and ferocious attack.
Overall, the audience was floored by the range and energy of the playing. There was a solo by Castenada dedicated to his muse, Jesus Christ. To my taste it was a bit overly romantic but well displayed his musicianship and lyrical sensibility. In another piece we heard the full range of possibilities by Locke on the vibes. This included a special effect when he evoked the sound and texture of a Caribbean steel drum. This provided a dash of calypso flavor. Based on their enthusiastic reception at Tanglewood we expect to hear more of Castaneda in the future particularly collaborations with Locke.
Marc Johnson, the husband of the Brazilian born pianist and vocalist, Eliane Elias, was formerly a bass player with the pianist Bill Evans who died in 1980. Shortly before he passed away he sent a cassette of some new pieces he was working on including his voice over comments. The tape was put away and forgotten until fairly recently. When Elias heard the music, which was unfinished but a great example of Evans as a composer, she decided to transcribe the pieces. She added lyrics and finished the arrangements. This resulted in a CD which has been a global best seller.
Last night she presented works from that CD in "A Tribute to Bill Evans." While playing in the Evans manner it was hardly a tribute session. Compared to Evans who could be moody, introspective, understated and bluesy, indeed the most poetic of all jazz pianists, her style draws on those elements but is more robust and upbeat. There were times when we could really feel the presence of Evans, particularly a rendering of his "Waltz for Debbie" with its catchy time signature, but, as an artist, she displayed far more range and ambition than just the influence of Evans.
Elias got superb support from Johnson, on bass, and a terrific drummer, Andy Nussbaum, who thrilled the audience when he cut loose in wonderfully inventive solos. On stage, Elias, a full figured woman in a black cocktail dress with black arm length gloves for a dramatic flourish, cavorted about under a mane of shoulder length blonde hair. At one point she stepped away from the piano to sing providing her full presence and persona to a delighted audience.
During the performance a fan from the back of the audience shouted out a request. She was appreciative but couldn't understand what was said. She asked for it to be repeated. Elias then took time to explain her Brazilian roots and the influences of Bossa Nova. Apparently, when she was just 17 and performing with her trio in a small club when she was stunned to see Antonio Carlos Jobim, the most famous Brazilian pianist and composer, with two of his collaborators. They invited her to tour with them.
"This is the 50th anniversary of Bossa Nova" she said. "Jobim created the music and movement in 1958." It was to have an enormous impact on American jazz particular the late tenor sax player, Stan Getz. "When Jobim died in 1994 I moved to New York." She then performed several of his standards. Her singing evoked memories of Astrid Gilberto with a similarly breathy, soft, and catchy style. There is nothing more richly sensual than Bossa Nova and Elias delighted the audience with her deeply rooted authentic renderings. For encores she returned to sing two solo Bossa Nova tunes accompanying herself on piano.
It was a wonderful evening and a great start to the much anticipated annual Tanglewood Jazz Festival. There is a lot more to come. Be there or be square.