winter jazzfest 2016 [day 1 - jan 13]
- photography by Clara Pereira / text by Filipe Freitas
- This article was also published in Portuguese on Jazz.pt Magazine
Day 1 - Three in a row
From January 13 through 17, New York City had its biggest jazz festival, known as the Winter JazzFest, established in 2005 by the producers Adam Schatz e Brice Rosenbloom.
The festival kicked off at the (Le) Poisson Rouge, located on Bleecker Street, whose ample room accommodated three totally distinct shows. The first band to step on stage was the trio from Minneapolis, Happy Apple that includes the skilled drummer David King, most known for his contribution to another successful trio, The Bad Plus. The band delighted the audience by mixing the right proportion of jazzy melodies with energetic rock rhythms. The pretty inventive bass player, Erik Fratzke was fundamental in the warm ‘conversations’ with the drummer, creating the perfect vehicle for the fluid and connected language of the saxophonist Mike Lewis, a musician that conquered a few more fans among the audience.
One hour later, a paralyzing concert took place, performed by the talented, prolific, and versatile bassist, Bill Laswell, who was joined by the saxophonist Colin Stetson, owner of a robust sound, both on alto and bass saxophones, and of an incredible ventilation when resorting to the use of circular breathing in order to maintain the penetrating and cyclic textures that composed this hypnotic ‘black mass’. The musicians created a creepy, phantasmagoric atmosphere, filled with saxophone guttural sounds played on top of mesmeric and cavernous loops engendered by Mr. Laswell. Speechless, the audience reacted to this resonant chaos with a mix of admiration and consternation.
This first night of the festival ended with the Dutch anarcho-punk quartet The Ex, which amused a few enthusiasts with its rebellious attitude, but left me with the sensation that their sound was totally out of context. Those who went to listen to jazz, including myself, turned their backs on them.