July 11, 2008: Rotterdam North Sea Jazz Festival Day 1
After Spain, Danny and me split off from Dre for a few days (while he frantically tried to finish his finals for his courses that he had been neglecting for five weeks) and headed to Rotterdam, Netherlands to spend three days at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the largest indoor jazz festival in the world. Over thirty thousand people fed into the huge Ahoy concert venue each of the three days, and it was unlike any music festival I’ve ever been to. An amazing experience.
Where's Danny? At the massive Ahoy Concert Venue
During our stay in Rotterdam, we lived at a huge, packed hostel called Mafkees, right next to Rotterdam central station. The giant, dilapidated building had fifty person rooms, cost ten euros a night plus free breakfast of coffee, tea, bread, pb, and jam. Each morning, we loaded up on sandwiches (incidentally one day we woke up for breakfast at 9, quickly ate three peanut butter sandwiches and fell back asleep until 2 in the afternoon). Mafkees proved to be a surprisingly pleasant and safe hostel considering the enormous dorm rooms and lack of aesthetic appeal. Most of the people staying there were also going to the North Sea Jazz Festival and we made quite a few friends whom we went to the festival with, particularly Zlatan, a German dude who Studies in Siberia, and who has an encyclopedic knowledge about modern jazz. We talked with him for hours on end about the stuff any time the music wasn’t on. Great dude who we hope to stay in touch with. We also spent time with Leo and Chaz, two jazzers from London who seemed content to booze, smoke weed and listen to jazz all day (stereotypical jazz musicians), very cool dudes, as well.
Me and Danny with Zlatan at Mafkees on the last morning of the Festival.
Friday, July 11, 2008 marked our first full day, which we spent almost exclusively at the enormous Hudson Stage. As a result of our loyalty to this stage, we sat in the second to fifth rows in the center for all of the concerts.
At 17:30, we started with Maria Schneider and her great Orchestra. While I’m not too into big band music, her ensemble’s great modern arrangements, flawless execution and good solos kept me interested throughout.
Maria Schneider, Sky Blue Cover.
This was the second time I’ve seen them (first was at UMASS) and I was very impressed. Plus, She’s a babe (right).
Thereafter, at 19:30, we saw a great group called the Charles Lloyd Quartet: Charles Lloyd (Alto Flute, Tenor Sax); Jason Moran (Piano); Reuben Rogers (Bass); and the great Eric Harland (Drums). Unfortunately, We could hardly hear Jason Moran (who is a baller). The acoustics were bad in the second row (as bizarre as that sounds) as the speakers were basically behind us and the sound crew was struggling with the levels throughout. Nevertheless, and per usual, Eric Harland stole the show with his active and endlessly creative drumming.
Then, at 21:00, still at Hudson, we saw the Hank Jones 90th Birthday Concert. Unfortunately, Hank Jones was absent (sick). The group featured Roy Hargrove, a total goof (judging by how he acted on stage) and killer modern player, who stuck out like a sore thumb with this traditional group. Not a great band, but Roy Hargrove was highly entertaining.
The RH Factor
At one point, after taking a great solo over an otherwise hokie version of “The Sunny Side of the Street,” RH grabbed the mic and delivered a hilarious scat/vocal chorus that appeared to be on a whim and made the concert worthwhile.
22:45 Herbie Hancock Quintet (not a traditional or particularly functional group).
Herbie Hancock (Piano, Keyboards, Keytar man!); Chris Potter (Sax); Lionel Loueke (guitar); Dave Holland (bass); and Vinnie Colaiuta (drum machine), actually drum set, but he might as well have been a machine.
Although Dave Holland and Chris Potter were in this group, and are some of the finest and most respectable jazz musicians on the planet, this group did not work, and they should not have subjected themselves to this form of debasement. Several times thoughout the gig, either when Herbie played the Keytar or was doodling with his stupid keyboards too much and getting in the way of their attempts to make real music out of his trash, they would exchange a glance that said “This is awful, get me out of here.” While Herbie used to be a respectable and great musician, he has gone completely commercial and his chops are almost nonexistent at this point. Several times throughout the performance I saw him check his watch and I even have a great picture of him looking at his watch while playing some stupid gimmicky crap on the keytar (below, right).
Herbie playing Keytar and checking his watch, clearly he was bored.
His concern for the time is quite ironic as his time was pretty poor. During the tune they played in 13 (that sounded awful), it was very clear that he was unable to hold it together and looked to his guitarist on several occasions to find the downbeat. Dave Holland was reserved to a basic timekeeping function (which is very uncharacteristic for him), and he even was forced to play electric (which he never does) and repeat the stupid “Chameleon” vamp 8 thousand times. Entertaining stuff nonetheless. Plus, when you could actually hear Chris Potter over Herbie’s gimmicks, he played some incredible stuff. I had never seen him live before so I was happy to see him in any capacity, as he is a rare talent.
If only Herbie could get back to his pre-80s self, before Miles’ “experiment” in jazz/rock fusion ruined him (and almost ruined the great Wayne Shorter, as well). One promising moment was in Herbie’s piano introduction to “Cantelope Island” when he quoted the melody to one of his great early compositions from his 1965 quintet album with Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Freddie Hubbard, and George Coleman, “Maiden Voyage” entitled “Dolphin Dance.” However, we were, yet again, severely disappointed when he opted for the commercial hit instead.
At Midnight, we finally left Hudson to see Jill Scott at Maas Stage; She completely redeemed the night after Herbie’s garbage. Jilly from Philly tore the roof off the concert hall. What an awesome performance, very tight rhythm section and brass. She was an amazing entertainer and motivational speaker and the energy level was incredible.
Jilly from Philly
Nearly all of the thousands of audience members were dancing to her hip, funky music. Also, her voice is so great. Note to self, I need to get more of her music pronto, and recommend others do as well.
jill scott is the shit bro… this is fun to read