Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia,
MD
Friday June 2nd
This year’s Capital Jazz Festival once again gathered
the top names and up-and-comers in jazz and R&B for a whirlwind
weekend. Thousands of fans from all over the East Coast
and beyond joined in to soak it all up. Here is our
recap of the weekend.
Singer Rachelle Ferrell opened Capital Jazz 2006. We
were unable to make it to her performance, but judging by the
adulations and applause from the crowd, she turned it out. The
Rendezvous All Stars (Wayman Tisdale, Jonathan Butler, Kirk
Whalum, and Brian Simpson), the first of several “package” acts
scheduled that weekend, closed out Friday night. Each
one of the Rendezvous All Stars is talented in their own right. We
enjoyed the performance aspect of their show, but were very
disappointed in their set list. It consisted of mostly
old R&B cover tunes. Considering that each one of
these musicians has good original material that they could
have played, the fact that they chose to play covers of old
songs was a big let down for us. Also, Brian Simpson,
who had one of the best smooth jazz albums of 2005, was limited
to playing one song, his radio single “It’s All
Good.” Everyone else got to do several songs.
Saturday June 3rd
The festival was in full swing on Saturday. Lela James
opened the show, welcoming people in for a full day of music
with her wonderful vocals. She was followed by keyboardist
and composer David Benoit. For reasons unknown, Benoit
only had a half hour set, which only allowed for abbreviated
versions of his hits, and a series of medleys. He did
treat us to some new tunes from his soon to be released new
CD, Full Circle.
The Rippingtons, with special guest Jeff Kashiwa played next. We
were treated to many old and new Rippingtons favorites, including, “Welcome
to the St. James Club,” “Spanish Girl,” “Black
Diamond,” “Carribean Breeze,” and “South
Beach Mambo.” David Benoit joined them on their
last song, “Guitarland.” It was a treat
to hear Jeff Kashiwa play with The Rippingtons again. His sound
is very distinct and came through on every song.
Euge Groove took to the stage next, bringing the audience
to their feet with his funky, high energy show. He is
originally from Hagerstown, MD, and stressed the Maryland connection
with the audience. Euge worked the crowd. He jumped
off the stage and played his sax up the aisles and across the
rows. Euge’s set list consisted of several of his
hits, including, “1208 AM,” “XXL,” and “From
the Top.”
Will Downing, a definite crowd favorite, seduced the crowd
with his velvety baritone voice. The audience was on
their feet when Will and one of his back-up singers, Bridgette
Bryant, performed a very sensual duet, which was more suited
for the late show in an intimate club, as opposed to a Saturday
afternoon at a huge jazz festival.
As an introduction for the Groovin’ for Grover (Gerald
Albright, Kirk Whaum, and Jeff Lorber) act and to give the
audience something to watch while the stage was being changed
over, Capital aired footage on the jumbotrons of one of Grover
Washington Jr.’s Capital Jazz appearances. It was
very appropriate, and so moving to see Grover at his best;
interacting with his band, working the crowd, and doing what
he loved (and what we loved him to do) play his saxophone. It
is evident that he is still so revered and respected and still
missed in the smooth jazz community – not just by the
musicians, but by the fans as well.
Groovin’ for Grover has been around for awhile and continues
to be a crowd favorite. In addition to playing some of
the best Grover hits, “Soulful Strut,” “Inner
City Blues,” “Mr. Magic,” and “Just
the Two of Us,” Gerald Albright wowed the crowd with “My,
My, My,” Kirk Whalum played “Grover Worked and
Underpaid,” and Jeff Lorber played his hit, “Ain’t
Nobody.”
Incognito closed out Saturday’s show. This was
a group that a lot of people had been waiting for. They
sold out local venues when they played here a few months ago
touring in support of their latest release, Eleven. This
is a big act. Twelve members of Incognito took the stage,
including powerhouse vocalist and local Baltimore native Maysa
Leak. Band leader Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick
led his ensemble through several of the band’s hits,
including “Deep Water,” and “Always There.” There
were three other vocalists, Gail Evans, Imanni, and Tony Momrelle,
who were all great, and did their thing that night. This
was Incognito’s first appearance at Capital, but we’re
pretty sure it won’t be their last.
In addition to all the music being played on the Pavillion
Stage, which was the main stage, there was also a second stage – the
Symphony Woods stage, which also had musical acts and other
events playing throughout the weekend. On Saturday, the
Symphony Woods stage hosted the 3rd Annual Capital Jazz Challenge
Competition. This is a hugely popular event where up-and-coming
talent gets to perform, compete for a cash prize, and are judged
by a panel of expert judges. The winner of the competition
also gets to open Sunday’s festival on the main, Pavilion
stage. The six finalists were: Ken Ford (electric violin)
from Atlanta; Groove Skool. (contemporary jazz band) from Northern,
Virginia; Matt Marshak (guitar) from Long Island, NY; Soundoctrine
(contemporary jazz band) from Youngstown, OH; Jason “Malletman” Taylor
(vibes) from Brooklyn, NY; and, the winner, Ragan Whiteside
(flute) from Mt. Vernon, NY. The talent they showcase
each year is outstanding and we hope this continues to inspire
more artists to take part.
After the competition, the music on the Symphony Woods stage
continued with another local favorite, Fertile Ground, followed
by Mike Phillips & the Hidden Beach Unwrapped All Stars,
Soullive, and Eric Benet to close it out.
Another interesting and unique aspect of Capital was the Workshop
Pavilion. This was primarily a Q&A session with various
musicians before or after their sets, as well as a place for
aspiring musicians to get first-hand advice from the pros. There
were three workshops Saturday: Russ Freeman & David Benoit,
Jeff Lorber & Kirk Whalum, and Jean Paul “Bluey” Maunick & Maysa
Leak. The workshops were well attended and well received.
– Mary Bentley
and Bonnie Schendell
Sunday June 4th
Sunday was a bright cloudless day and first up was the winner
of the 2006 Capital Jazz Challenge, Ragan Whiteside, a flutist
and vocalist who describes her music as a cross between contemporary
jazz and neo-soul. Backed by her trio, she delved into
breezy sounds as well as punctuated funk riffs during her
set which consisted of all original tunes. The Capital
Jazz audience participated in her closing tune, “Funktuation,” which
evoked memories of the late Herbie Mann.
The theme for the day seemed to be the super-bands, combinations
of fantastic musicians, playing together and having the time
of their lives while playing their music for us.
At noon, Guitarzz took the stage for their first-ever performance
as a trio. There was a little something for everyone
with the combination of Chuck Loeb, Chieli Minucci and Paul
Jackson, Jr. As a trio, they were able to open up and
jam off each other as well as to indulge us with favorites
from their many recordings. Their band included Jaye
Rowe on keyboards, Gerry Brooks on bass and Brian Dunne on
drums. Highlights from the 90-minute set included the cool
jazz of Chuck Loeb’s “Tropical,” an old school
vibe nod to Luther Vandross with “Never Too Much” from
Paul Jackson, Jr., and Chieli’s soaring guitar on “Cause
We’ve Ended as Lovers.” The crowd roared
their appreciation of these three fantastic guitarists as they
ended their set in a tribute to George Benson with “On
Broadway.”
Many know Bobby Caldwell as the singer and writer of the big
hit “What You Won’t Do for Love,” a song
that has been recorded by more than 100 artists. He brought
his full band and wowed the crowd with his hits, including “Walk
On By.” Playing guitar and keyboards during his
set, the crowd was up and on their feet for his closer, swaying
to “All or Nothing At All,” a tune he wrote for
Al Jarreau.
Summer Storm brought us Norman Brown, Alex Bugnon, Paul Taylor
and Patti Austin, along with a fabulous band which featured
musical director Gayle Johnson, along with Noriko Olling on
keyboards, Patsy Myer on percussion, Stevo Theard on drums
and Robert McDonald on bass. As with all the super bands
that performed at the Capital Jazz Fest, it was a dizzying
array of the biggest hits by the artists and tributes to the
old school tunes. Patti Austin established herself as
the Queen of the Festival by bringing the crowd in the pavilion
and on the lawn to their feet in a standing ovation for her
hit “Baby, Come To Me.” Norman Brown kept
the jazzy R&B sound going, playing throughout the entire
90-minute set, which flew by way too quickly. The crowd,
which was grooving along to Paul Taylor’s “Nightlife,” was
back up and into it for Norman’s version of “That’s
The Way Love Goes.” Just when we needed to
catch our breath, the entire ensemble launched into a P-Funk & Gap
Band inspired finale that had us singing and dancing.
– Kat Sarracco
While the musicians and their bands
did a terrific job at keeping the crowd entertained and providing
great music and memorable moments, there were some definite
issues with the overall organization of the Festival that we
would like to address and make known.
It should first be known that we are both
long-time supporters of the Capital Jazz Festival and have
been in attendance throughout its many evolutions, reinventions,
and sponsorships. We’ve always looked forward
to this festival every year because the line-up has always
been top-notch. This year, however, while the musical
talent was still good, the organization of this year’s
festival was so poor that we are seriously re-thinking attending
future Capital events. What should have been a fun event was
an exercise in frustration and did not leave us wanting to
come back next year.
Clearly the promoters oversold this event. Up
until Friday night, the local radio station advertised that
there were lawn seats still available. On Saturday, there
were so many tents and lawn chairs spilling over onto the walkways
that it was nearly impossible for the hundreds of people seated
in the pavilion to get up and move about to access the facilities
or the vendors. Merriweather Post Pavilion is a gated
venue with several large openings for access by emergency vehicles. When
we took a walk through the venue during the day, we saw several
emergency exits that were blocked by tents, blankets and lawn
chairs. We live in a place and time of increased security
threats, so this was rather disturbing for us to see. We
felt bad for many of the vendors who paid their money to secure
spaces to sell their Italian ices, bottled water, etc. only
to have their stands blocked by those same tents and lawn chairs. And
then there was the litter. Truthfully, it was appalling. It
was the worst ever seen by us at a festival, but it was directly
related to the number of patrons at the venue.
– Mary Bentley and Bonnie Schendell
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