One of the sure signs of the spring season that will eventually find its way to the mid Atlantic region is the Boscov Berks Jazz Festival in Reading, PA.  This year marks the 23rd year for one of our favorite festivals.  This festival lasts for 10 days and has over 120 events scheduled.  We’ve been attending this festival for quite some time, so, just when we think that it can’t possibly get any better, it does.  How do they manage to top themselves every year? 

As in previous years, the festival hosted Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, where aspiring bass players meet for a three day weekend and attend master classes, workshops, and perform at jam sessions with their instructors.  These classes are taught by an array of world class musicians.  Besides Veasley, this year’s instructors included Janek Gwizdala, Michael Manring, Adam Nitti, Patrick Pfeiffer, and Anthony Wellington.  In the past, Boot Camp was held during the first week of the festival.  The last few years, it’s been held during the weeks preceding festival time.  The Boot Camp is now in its 12th successful year and shows no signs of stopping.

This festival is not only a showcase for national talent, but it highlights local and regional talent as well.  There are many events scheduled throughout the ten days where local musicians get to play before audiences that may not have the opportunity to see and hear them perform otherwise.  The whole town of Reading plays a part as churches, restaurants, hotels, businesses, and landmark buildings transform themselves into concert halls.  It’s great to see the community come together to support this event.  And, the festival would not run as smoothly as it does without the help of the hundreds of volunteers who work hard every year to make this festival a success; one of our favorites.

Our first show of the opening night of the festival was at the beautiful Miller Center, where we saw pianist Keiko Matsui.  Keiko is celebrating the 25th year of her American music career.  Jackiem Joyner was her special guest and he joined her on sax and flute for several songs.  She’s recorded over 20 albums, and we got to hear quite a cross section of her music: “Whisper from the Mirror,” “Doll,” “The Road…,” “Forever, Forever,” which is dedicated to her daughter, “Across the Sun,” and “Embrace and Surrender.”  Loved how the guitar provides the voice in this song.

Najee, with special guest Alex Bugnon, was the second of three shows we attended that evening.  Always the crowd pleaser, Najee did not disappoint.  He too was celebrating an anniversary: 25 years as a solo artist.  Those 25 years includes four gold and two platinum albums.  Najee’s band was lively and energetic from the very first song.  He performed many of his most popular songs; his renditions of “You Can’t Hide Love,”  “Sweet Love,” and “Knocks Me off My Feet.”   Original favorites “Gina,” “Perfect Nights,” “Najee’s Theme,” and “Noah’s Ark,” absolutely wowed the crowd.   Guitarist Chuck Johnson took over the vocals on the Najee/Freddie Jackson collaboration, “All I’ll Ever Ask.”  We were also treated to a rousing version of the straight ahead classic “Night in Tunisia,” which will be on Najee’s upcoming release.  We learned that Najee and Alex Bugnon have quite a history together; Alex was Najee’s first keyboardist when he first began touring as a solo artist.  When Alex joined Najee, you could hear audience members shouting out titles of favorite Alex Bugnon songs, hoping he’d play them.  As is the case, we know that most artists come prepared with their planned set lists, and don’t usually take requests, and Bugnon was no exception.  He did, however, give us a soulful tribute to one of his influences, the great Issac Hayes.

The third and final show of the night was the hugely popular, sold out Midnight Jam Session hosted by Gerald Veasley.   These shows usually sell out not long after tickets go on sale so if you’re planning on coming next year, take my advice and buy these tickets first.  Its standing room only and you never know who will show up to play during these shows.  Veasley rotates musicians in and out during the night.  We heard music played by Veasley, Richard Waller III, Nick Colionne, Andrew Neu, Elan Trotman, Brian Hughes, Brian Bromberg, David P. Stevens, Eric Bloom, Rick Braun, and Chris Farr, among others.  Each musician got the chance to solo and show off their talents.  It’s easy to list the player’s names, but it’s harder to describe what actually transpires when they take the stage and begin playing together.  It’s more than the notes that are being played; it’s a communication, and its musical magic. 

On Saturday afternoon, the first show of the day was Gerald Veasley’s Sounds of Philly, which included Gerald, Nick Colionne, Phil Perry, Carol Riddick, and the Berks Jazz Fest Horns.  This show, which has been a fixture at Berks for the last few years, was sold out.  Each of the featured artists had solo time playing some of the well known songs that have come out of the Philly area.  Nick provided us with “Love TKO” and “I’ll Be Around,” while Carol Riddick, with her beautiful and smooth voice, gave us “Don’t Let It Go To Your Head.”  Gerald Veasley did his version of “Winelight.”  The backup band was amazing, also.  Besides the horn section there was Chris Farr on sax, Donald Robinson on keys, and Marcus Baylor on drums.  Apparently two hours was not long enough as the crowd did not want this show to end!

After a nice dinner break, the Saturday evening festivities started with the Brian Bromberg Band featuring the Berks Jazz Fest Horns.  This took place in the cozy Jazz Base.  Brian’s band included Chris Farr on sax, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Tom Zeke on pianos, and Joel Taylor keeping the beat.  This was only the fourth show Brian had done since breaking his back last October, but you would never know that.  From acoustic to electric bass, Brian “sings” with his bass.  And while he is often associated with more straight ahead jazz, he and his band brought a great combination of contemporary and straight ahead music to appeal to all tastes in the room.  Songs like “Compared To That,” “I’m Just Sayin’,” and “Eclipse” had the crowd enthralled.  One very cool, upbeat, big-bandish tune was “Rory Lowery, Private Eye.” The audience really loved it.  What is also a great sight at Berks is having other musicians come and partake of the concerts of their peers.  Michael Lington was one of the several who were in attendance at Brian’s show.

Night two for the Midnight Jam was another talent filled free for all.  Artists who played in shows that day, artists who would be playing shows tomorrow, and artists who just wanted to jam rotated in and out of the night’s performance.  Of course, Gerald Veasley hosted and started it off.  We were treated to Andrew Neu on sax, Nick Colionne on guitar, Brian Bromberg on bass, David P. Stevens on guitar, Eric Bloom on trumpet, Chris Farr on sax, Michael Lington on sax, and Richard Waller III on drums among others.  It was another great jam session played to a very enthusiastic crowd.

After staying up way too late at the jam session, we got a few hours sleep and prepared for the first of the weekly Sunday brunches.  This one was hosted by rising saxophone star Elan Trotman.  We’ve seen Elan’s progression over the years as it relates to Berks.  When he first came to Berks, he did not have a show of his own; he would come to play in the jam sessions.  He would continue to make appearances at Berks.  One year, Peter White played Berks (as he often does) and brought Elan as part of his band.  This year, his hard work was rewarded and Elan hosted the first weekend’s Sunday Jazz Brunch.  He walked into the ballroom venue playing his rendition of the Bill Withers classic, “Lovely Day,” before joining his band onstage.  What a great way to start a show.  Elan has a new release, Tropicality, and we were treated to music from that release, including “Tradewinds,” with its contagious calypso beat.  Elan was joined by several of his friends including Gerald Veasley on the Grover Washington classic, “Winelight.”  Veasley has been a big influence for Elan.  Eric Bloom accompanied him on “Spain,” and “That’s the Way of the World.”  Smooth jazz fans are still discovering Elan.  He is making a name for himself, and he definitely knows how to work the stage and build rapport with his audience.

The midday show featured Lee Ritenour with Michael Lington and Joey Sommerville.  We were anxious to see this one because these are three performers that we don’t see as much as we’d like to in our DC Metro area.  Joey Sommerville started it off with “School Boy Crush,” a song he included on his Like You Mean It CD.  On the CD, the song is played as a duet featuring the great Wayman Tisdale, however, during this concert, it was not a duet and did not feature the bass.  This may have been done out of respect for Wayman, but we don’t know.  Joey brought Elan Trotman onstage and they played a very interesting version of the Duke Ellington classic “Caravan.”  He said it was “Caravan turned sideways.”  And, of course he played the song that this Smoothviews staffer was waiting for, “Like You Mean It.”

The second half of this concert belonged to Lee Ritenour with special guest Michael Lington.  Lington opened the show with “Pacifica,” from his Stay With Me CD, a great way to open.  He played more of his songs, as well as joining Ritenour for some of his, “Night Rhythms,” and the finale, “The Village,” from Ritenours’  latest release, Rhythm Sessions.  We heard some great Ritenour tunes that afternoon, including “Road Trip,” and “Wesbound.”  By the song’s end, Ritenour had the audience mesmerized.  Lee Ritenours’ band deserves recognition.  They were incredible: Melvin Lee Davis on bass, Sonny Emory on drums, and Phil Davis on keys.  Bassist Melvin Lee Davis has a long history of playing with Ritenour. (He also did a pretty good Al Jarreau imitation.)  Drummer Sonny Emory started playing at the age of four and has played with the Crusaders, David Sanborn, Al Jarreau, and EWF, to name a few.  Keyboardist Phil Davis has played with Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Rachelle Ferrell, and Gerald Albright.  We were surprised to learn that the Berks show was only the second show he played with Rit.

That evening we attended the sold out Fourplay show, with special guest Lalah Hathaway.  Fourplay is the perfect example of a group with shared musical responsibilities.  They are four musicians with well defined separate careers coming together to play as one cohesive unit. They all contribute to the writing, and the playing usually does not favor one instrument over another.  They have 12 albums to their credit, and we have our favorites, but whatever they played would have been all right with us, as long as one of the songs was “Chant.”  (It was their third song of the set.)   When Lalah Hathaway joined them, she immediately took off her shoes.  This is a good sign; means she’s here to work and get something done.   Her beautiful smoky voice filled the venue in “Summertime,” and “For All We Know.”   Fourplay featuring Lalah Hathaway closed out the first week of concerts on a high note.

There’s a pesky little thing called work that keeps us from staying up at Berks to catch the weekday shows.  For some reason, our employers want us with them during the week.   However, we were back hard at it the following Friday evening.  Our first show that night was Jazz Attack: Richard Elliott, Rick Braun, Peter White, and Jeff Lorber.  It is always a pleasure for us to see these artists perform in whatever incarnation they’re playing.  Rick Braun started the show from the audience.   With the first notes of “Cadillac Slim,” we knew it was going to be a wild ride.  The party continued with Peter White, Jeff Lorber, and Richard Elliott.  All four musicians were backed by an incredible band: Randy Jacobs on guitar, Third Richardson on drums, Ron Reinhart on keys, and Nate Phillips on bass.  We love it when Rick Braun goes off on a musical tangent as he did when playing “Notorious.”  It shows off his versatility as a musician.  Braun joined Peter White for “Who’s That Lady,” which morphed into “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” We loved hearing Richard Elliot play “Rock Steady,” and “Boom Town,” but he received the first standing ovation of the night for his powerful rendition of “When a Man Loves a Woman,” which brings down the house every time.  He certainly knows how to stir a crowd.  Braun and Elliott joined Jeff Lorber for “He Had a Hat.”  We also heard “Montserrat” from Lorbers’ latest release, Galaxy. At show’s end, we were treated to “Shake Your Body down to the Ground,” from the upcoming BWB Michael Jackson tribute album.  This show was the perfect start to our second weekend of music.

The Friday late show was the Gerald Albright & Norman Brown show.  This is one we really wanted to see since we loved their Grammy nominated album so much.  These two heavy hitters have known each other for nearly 30 years.  In addition to songs from their collaborative album, “24/7,” “In the Moment,” and “Bueno Amigos,” they each played from their catalogs of popular songs, “Bermuda Nights,” “So Amazing,” and “My, My, My” from Albright, and the “After the Storm” medley from Brown.  We love the way Gerald Albright takes the notes and twists and turns them around, creating very unique sounds, and how Brown just glides through his grooves so effortlessly.  They both finished the show with “Georgia on My Mind.”

Another Friday night meant another sold out Midnight Jam Session hosted by Gerald Veasley.  There were so many musicians hanging out in the Jazz Base that Veasley had to make a list in order to ensure that everyone got a chance to play.  Veasley is not only an extraordinary musician, he’s quite the comedian as well, calling names of musicians who weren’t even there, like Taylor Swift. (“She’s from Wyomissing.  I’m only going to call your name one time Taylor.”) We heard Brian Bromberg on bass, David Benoit on keys, Third Richardson on drums, Andrew Neu on sax, and David P. Stevens on guitar, just to name a few.

The Saturday afternoon concert was Kirk Whalum featuring Kevin Whalum, plus Marcus Johnson.  Marcus was the first to play in this double billed concert.  It was nice to see the DC Metro area’s own Marcus Johnson performing at this festival, bringing his DC sound to this audience.  He was joined by saxophonists Brian Lennair and Phillip Martin, Doug Crawley on bass, and some of our Smoothviews On the Side alumni, Stan Cooper on guitar and Chris Bynum on drums.  Marcus wowed the audience with “You and I” co written by Phillip Martin, “Mas Que Nada,” and his rendition of “Fly Like an Eagle.”  Marcus recorded his first record, Lessons in Love, 17 years ago and he is still going strong.

Kirk and Kevin Whalum began their show after a brief intermission.  The brothers Whalum are very good performing together; Kirk playing the sax and Kevin singing and scatting.  Songs like “Autumn Serenade,” “You Are Too Beautiful,”  “All I Do,” and “Ascension,” sounded great performed live.  Kevin introduced a special guest, Claude McKnight from the Take 6, who joined the brothers.  And keyboardist and vocalist John Stoddard took us on an emotional journey of finding love, weathering the storms, and coming out on the other side, which we could all relate to.

One of the best shows of this festival was Jazzin’ Up the Pops: David Benoit/Brian Bromberg/Chuck Loeb/Eric Marienthal with the Reading Pops Orchestra, with William Rapp conducting.  These fine musicians were accompanied by Clarence Penn on drums.  Each one of the headliner musicians contributed songs to the set list.  Right away we knew the first song, “Above and Beyond,” was a Chuck Loeb song.  It was a beautiful song to open this concert with.  David Benoit led with“Napa Valley Crossroads,” which was written to be performed with an orchestra.  Brian Bromberg introduced us to the piccolo bass as he led “Coastland Drive.”  And Eric Marienthal’s beautiful sax led the group on “Core Cavada.”   One of the things we like about this festival is that while we were sitting at the Miller Center listening to great music played by contemporary jazz greats and a full orchestra, across town, other people were watching Brian Culbertson doing his high energy, R&B flavored jazz show, and there was room at this festival for both.   There is an audience to support jazz it, and to support jazz in all of its incarnations.  There is enough diversity and variety at Berks to please many palettes.

The Saturday night late show was Jonathan Butler.  We love JB and look forward to seeing him perform every chance we get.  He’s made so much good music over the years that no matter how many of his songs he plays, we’re always a little disappointed because he did not play this song, or that song.  We know he can’t play them all, but we sure do want him to.  “Many Faces,” “Pata Pata,” “If I Ever Lose This Heaven,” which daughter Jodie sang with him, “Lies,” and the spiritual showstopper, “No Woman, No Cry.”  He encored with his rendition of “Fire and Rain.” 

Saturday night’s Midnight Jam Session was just as exciting as the three previous ones we attended.  Gerald Veasley does a great job leading and hosting these shows.  In addition to Veasley and Richard Waller III, Maurice Ellis (bass), Lynn Riley (sax), Felix Pollard (drums), Chris Miskel (drums), and Jonathan Butler were just some of the musicians who came to play that night.  It was another rousing high energy show.  Unfortunately when it ended we would go through withdrawal because we knew that would be the last jam session of the 2013 jazz festival.

Sunday was the last day of the show and the second of the two Sunday jazz brunches, this one featuring Marc Antoine.  Marc brought with him another great band, Jay Rowe on keys, Tim George on bass, and Third Richardson on drums.  The crowd loved his music and his personable nature; “Dreamer,” “Jazzenco,” and the crowd favorite, “Sunland.”  It was another fantastic jazz brunch.
After several years performing at Berks in other people’s shows, they finally gave Maysa her own headliner show.  It was a long time coming but so worth it.  She is a crowd pleaser and we love hearing her gorgeous voice.   She opens herself up and leaves it all on stage when she performs.  Maysa came full on.  She came with horns, strings, a full band, and background singers.  She graced us with “Hooked On Your Love,” “Out of the Blue,” “Hypnotic Love,” “Honey Bee,” “and Can We Change the World,” among others.  There are stories behind her songs, and she willingly shares them with us.  When she sang “Honey Bee,” she adlibbed and told us through song how she was battling allergies.  The best song of the set was her Angela Bofill tribute, “I Tried.”  We learned the origins of her marvelous scatting, how she wanted to be like Al Jarreau, a master of scat.  She has one of the best voices around, far better than some of the people who call themselves singers these days.  More people need to hear her voice.

The festival finale was another concert that showed this festival’s diversity:  Gospel According to Jazz: Kirk Whalum, Jonathan Butler and Donnie McClurkin.  Unfortunately, circumstances did not allow us to attend that show, which we are really bummed about.  We try to attend as many of the 120 scheduled events as possible, but, of course, that’s impossible.

Berks 24 is already scheduled for March 28 – April 6, 2014.  You mark your calendar and we’ll mark ours. We’ll see you in Reading in 2014.

Check out Berks Jazz Fest photo!