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The Preservation All-Stars:
Wendell Brunious,
Maynard Chatters,
Will Smith,
Aron Lambert,
Richard Moten,
Rickie Monie, and
Louis Ford
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Preservation Hall, New Orleans, LA, USA |
(3.5)
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| A 45-minute show. No smartphone. An attentive audience. We were very close to the musicians (next to the trombone player). We had a really good time. I had already been there in 2001. |
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Washboard Chaz Blues Trio:
Chaz Leary,
?, and
?
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The Spotted Cat Music Club, New Orleans, LA, USA |
(3.0)
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| A nice blues trio in a noisy bar. For the price of a cheap drink. Not really my cup of tea, but it was not bad. |
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Mike Stern & Randy Brecker:
Mike Stern,
Randy Brecker,
Lenny White, and
Teymur Phell
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Montreux Jazz Club, Montreux, Switzerland
Montreux Jazz Festival |
(4.0)
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| Mike Stern and Lenny White are two musicians who, again, played with Miles Davis (Mike Stern in 1981-83 and 1985-86, and Lenny White, on the Bitches Brew album). I had already seen Mike Stern with Bill Evans (another musician who played with Miles) in 2005. A good and fun concert. I don't think I'm a fan of the way Randy Brecker plays the trumpet, but there aren't many trumpet players I enjoy outside of Miles. I should probably give him another chance. All the musicians were good, though, especially Mike Stern, who has a very recognizable style. |
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Saxophone Summit:
Dave Liebman,
Joe Lovano,
Greg Osby,
Phil Markowitz,
Cecil McBee, and
Billy Hart
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Montreux Jazz Club, Montreux, Switzerland
Montreux Jazz Festival |
(3.75)
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| I had already seen Joe Lovano in Cully in 2009 and Billy Hart with Charles Lloyd in 1999. Dave Liebman played with Miles Davis on the On The Corner album, on tracks such as "Calypso Frelimo" and "He Loved Him Madly", as well as on many concerts in 1973-74. I didn't know Billy Hart played with Miles Davis (on On The Corner and Tutu). This was what I would call "cerebral music" (not many melodies, a lot of dissonance, etc.). Overall, I liked Dave Liebman better than the other two sax players. |
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Olli Hirvonen New Helsinki:
Olli Hirvonen,
Adam O'Farrill,
Luke Marantz,
Marty Kenney, and
Nathan Ellman-bell
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Montreux Jazz Club, Montreux, Switzerland
Montreux Jazz Festival |
(3.5)
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| A "young" band. I liked it a lot better than Kurt Rosenwinkel a few days earlier. A lot of energy. I liked how Olli Hirvonen played the guitar. Unfortunately, the audience was apparently not convinced (the music was a bit too loud, maybe?) and there wasn't any encore (they played for less than 40 minutes). A shame. |
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John Scofield Überjam:
John Scofield,
Andy Hess,
Avi Bortnick, and
Dennis Chambers
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Montreux Jazz Club, Montreux, Switzerland
Montreux Jazz Festival |
(4.25)
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| An excellent concert! This was my 8th John Scofield concert and my 3rd Überjam concert, this time with Dennis Chambers, which I saw last year for the first time with Bill Evans & Co. This was excellent, funky, full of energy from start to finish. I really like the Überjam concept. It works well. Miles would be proud (?). |
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Kurt Rosenwinkel's Caipi:
Kurt Rosenwinkel,
Pedro Martins,
Antonio Loureiro,
Bill Campbell,
Federico Heliodoro, and
Olivia Trummer
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Montreux Jazz Club, Montreux, Switzerland
Montreux Jazz Festival |
(2.5)
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| They're talented, that's for sure. But I was definitely not impressed by the compositions and the unison-like singing. A couple of guitar solos were pretty good. |
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The New Power Generation:
Andre Anderson (aka André Cymone),
Kip Blackshire,
Thomas Elm (aka Tommy Barbarella),
Morris Hayes,
Damon Herbert-Dickson,
Kirk Johnson,
Anthony Mosley (aka Tony M.),
Michael Scott, and
Lloyd Thompson (aka Sonny T.)
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Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux, Switzerland
Montreux Jazz Festival |
(3.75)
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| If it wasn't for the music, my rating would be lower. Let's be honest: I had fun from start to finish, even if they're not the greatest musicians. Two conclusions: Prince's music, in itself, is great, but Prince was of course an important part of the equation. Anyway, I didn't expect much, so I was happy to be there. The New Power Generation was opening for Lauryn Hill, but there were a lot of Prince fans in the audience (hints: t-shirts, tatoos, etc.). The setlist was, I think, pretty much the same as at the other European concerts (7 songs from 1991-92 and 18 songs from 1980-90, if I'm correct). Mainly hits. Nothing from 1993-2016 (a real shame!). "Call the Law" was an excellent surprise (although, Mike Scott on the guitar is definitely not the same as Prince, of course). "Jughead" was fun. There was a moment of silence for John Blackwell just before "Purple Rain". |
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Kostas Smoriginas,
Riccardo Novaro,
Anne-Catherine Gillet,
Lucia Cirillo,
Catherine Trottmann,
Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani,
Ruben Amoretti,
Leon Košavić,
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne,
Michael Güttler,
Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne, and
Pascal Mayer
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Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Don Giovanni opera |
(4.0)
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| Don Giovanni opera (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), directed by Éric Vigié. Yet another famous opera that I didn't know. A lot of excellent singers. The sets in the second part were particularly impressive (the scenes with the Statue), yet quite simple. Some of the colors/lights effects were also simple but effective. After seeing Molière's Dom Juan at Théâtre de Vidy last year, it was intriguing to see Mozart / Lorenzo da Ponte's take on the Don Juan character. |
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McCoy Tyner,
Geri Allen,
Craig Taborn,
Gerald Cannon, and
Francisco Mela
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Chapiteau, Cully, Switzerland
Cully Jazz Festival |
(3.5)
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| McCoy Tyner is a legend, but let's be honest: at 78, he's currently not at his best. He still has some energy left, but his playing is a bit patchy, to say the least. I must say that I was not completely comfortable seeing him like that (i.e. less than healthy, barely able to walk and speak). I was far more impressed by Wayne Shorter's concert last year, for example (he was 82 at the time). Anyway, the concert consisted of three parts, each with a single piano player (Craig Taborn came first, then Geri Allen, and finally McCoy Tyner, who played for about 30 minutes). |
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Colin Vallon,
Patrice Moret, and
Julian Sartorius
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Chapiteau, Cully, Switzerland
Cully Jazz Festival |
(3.5)
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| This was the third time I saw Colin Vallon, but I can't say I'm really familiar with his music, which is quite melodic, sometimes based on repetitive, almost funky riffs. I had already seen Patrice Moret a lot at Le Bout du Monde, a bar with a small concert room in Vevey, back in 2006. This was the second time I saw him with Colin Vallon. This was also the third time I saw Julian Sartorius and the first two times were solo performances (drums only), which were enjoyable but didn't particularly convince me. I liked him way better in the context of this trio. So, yes, musicians I had already seen quite a few times, but that I don't really know. I think I'm going to buy Colin Vallon's latest album, "Danse". We'll see. |
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Autour de Chet:
Camélia Jordana,
Hugh Coltman,
Piers Faccini,
Erik Truffaz,
Camille Bertault,
Airelle Besson,
Cyril Atef,
Christophe Minck,
Pierre-François Dufour,
Bojan Z, and
Stéphane Belmondo
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Chapiteau, Cully, Switzerland
Cully Jazz Festival |
(3.5)
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| I had already seen Erik Truffaz five times, mainly in Cully, incidentally. I had also already seen Bojan Z once, in Cully, in 2004, and Cyril Atef three times, with Mathieu Chedid, the last time in 2010. There were many good moments during the concert, as well as far more average moments. With 11 musicians on stage, never all at the same moment, it was to be expected. "A Taste of Honey", with Piers Faccini on vocals, was one of the highlights, for me. |
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Emily Dorn,
Giorgio Berrugi,
Anne-Sophie Petit,
Vittorio Prato,
Luigi De Donato,
Benoît Capt,
Mario Marchisio,
Marin Yonchev,
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne,
Jean-Yves Ossonce,
Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne,
Jacques Blanc, and
Maîtrise Opéra du Conservatoire de Lausanne
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Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
La Bohème opera |
(4.0)
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| La Bohème opera (Giacomo Puccini), directed by Claude Stratz. This was my fourth opera at the Opéra de Lausanne. As usual, I didn't know anything about the work (let's say I wanted to have a fresh, neophyte perspective - but I'm a bit lazy as well...). The first two acts (before the intermission) are very happy. Almost mushy. The last two acts are a bit more dramatic. The very end of the fourth act is really designed to make you cry. The main themes are quite common, a bit clichés: the poor artist, love at first sight, happiness in poverty, etc. The music is easy to follow. Overall, I really liked the simple (but not pared-down) set and the singers were very good. Some of the longer "monologues" got a lot of applause from the audience. |