One of the highlights of this year's Hyde Park Jazz Festival was the opportunity to see and hear the great jazz trumpeter, Tom Harrell, together with TRIP, which also features saxophonist Mark Turner. A tight unit that plays gorgeous music. Still lots of humidty in the air, but the darkness and dark greenish-yellow hues portend Fall.
By Day Four, I am running on empty. It's not the time put in at the festival or the gyrations necessary to capture some decent images despite the people paid to hassle photographers. It also the late night and early morning image processing. So I come with low expectations, hoping I can snag one or two decent images and hear some great jazz.
The Good News from the Chicago Jazz Festival: Legendary drummer, percussionist, and nice guy Avreeayl Ra was back in the saddle tonight, after having been jumped and then beaten by a group of thugs as he walked to the parking lot from Chicago's Green Mill Jazz Club a couple of weeks back. From my seats, he looked fully recovered, but my photographs reveal some purple bruising around his left eye. He was in excellent form and spirits.
Photographically, the Jay Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park is a hot mess. I didn't have a media pass, so I positioned myself just to the right of the media pit in the second row on the aisle, which gave me a relatively unobstructed view. What those in the pit learned very quickly is that the video screen behind the stage creates all sorts of problems.
Taj, accompanied by Bill Rich on bass and Kester Smith on drums, came out at the appointed time, proceeding to put on a terrific show for 100+ minutes. He still has chops, with a voice that is as distinctive and strong as ever. No question on the guitar. During the performance, he played a hollow-body guitar that generated incredible reverb, a National steel guitar, and an acoustic guitar. For the encore, he stepped over to an electric piano. I was disappointed that he didn't pick up the banjo or the ukulele.
Tonight we have Here and Now, a trio compromised of Tomeka Reid on cello, Mazz Swift on violin, and Sylvia Bolognesi on bass. When I read list of instruments, I can only wonder whether this will sound like a Hayden string piece.
"What a lonesome feeling when you are by yourself." This well-dressed gentleman was certainly by himself tonight, playing very softly while many people passed by on Chicago's river walk, paying no attention to him.
While we waited for the return water taxi, we spent some time in Ping Tom Memorial Park. The willows lining the river have grown over the years that we have lived in Chicago.
The visual treat in this neighborhood is the Amtrak vertical life bridge that was built in 1915 (101 years old). It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It doesn't look like it has been painted since then. I had never seen it in the "up" position, but on this trip, I watched it go upwards after a southbound Amtrak train rolled over it. It works just like an elevator.
