PETRILLO MUSIC SHELL

Billy Taylor Trio
6pm
Pianist Billy Taylor would warrant a place in the anniversary honors celebrating Louis Armstrong's arrival in Chicago, and Von Freeman and Illinois Jacquet's 75th birthdays, but at 76 he's just too old! Flying in the face of this assertion is the title of his most recent recording, "Music Keeps Us Young," which features permanent trio members bassist Chip Jackson and drummer Steve Johns. These are the guys you'll hear backing Taylor on his highly educational Sunday-night NPR broadcasts from the Kennedy Center. The rejuvenescent powers of music-making obviously work for Taylor, who performs with unabated panache after a long career which began under the wing of Art Tatum and included a stint as the house pianist at Birdland in the early fifties, playing with the likes of Charlie Parker, Ben Webster and Stuff Smith. With a deft, choice touch and the suave grace of a Teddy Wilson, Taylor's become an institution.

Havana
7pm
This percussion-heavy, Afro-Cuban octet led by bassist Richard Pillot is one of Chicago's busiest Latin bands and one of its most authentic. Among the personnel are saxophonist/flautist Willie Garcia, vibraphonist Mark Jacobi, pianist Edwin Sanchez and a four-man percussion team.

Joe Henderson Quintet
7:55pm
Has Henderson mellowed, or was he always this laid-back? Has he been sucked into the tunnel of commercialism attendant to his string of Grammy-friendly tribute albums for Verve (celebrating Strayhorn, Jobim, Miles and now Gershwin)? Well, his saxophone sound has always been a paradoxical blend of the mellow and the caustic, a thing built of crumbly sandstone with a substratum of basalt that is shaken periodically by playful rhythmic tremors. And as far as his Midas touch with Verve goes, how can you carp? Sure it's almost too neatly packaged an association, but you get the feeling Henderson is doing exactly what he wants, and his success is richly deserved. He follows up his big-band album with a remake of "Porgy and Bess," but the big surprise is it features Sting and Chaka Kahn, and we have to wonder who exactly made that decision. Who cares? Perhaps record companies can make interesting decisions themselves, eh? Regardless, Henderson has the discernment and equilibrium of a sage; you can simply trust him. He has found the secret and will cure your ills. Don't miss him!

The Mingus Big Band
8:50pm
The challenge of resurrecting the ghost of her late husband (who died in 1979) every Thursday night at the Fez beneath New York's Time Cafe was taken on some six years ago by the indefatigable Sue Mingus. In the early eighties she had assembled a smaller aggregation under the banner Mingus Dynasty and has kept on ever since. Now she has a committed band leader in Steve Slagle, a prolific arranger in Sy Johnson amongst others, and the power to draw in just about any soloist you could wish to hear tackle Mingus' repertoire. (Tonight's line-up includes Seamus Blake, Vincent Herring, Ronnie Cuber, Kenny Drew Jr. and regular bassist Andy McKee). Nevertheless, despite the accolades this band has deservedly garnered, the task of tapping into the darker side of the Mingus canon, the brooding existentialism of his persona, his political/poetic/surrealist incantations and the earth-shaking power of his bass playing itself, is mountainous indeed. This band, superb though it is, is inevitably quite a different thing without him. But it taps into the turbulent maestro's spirit of collective expressionism and allows rarely heard Mingus music to get an airing, much of which should not be touched by any but the bravest of heart.

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Friday, August 29

PETRILLO MUSIC SHELL

Julie Wood Quintet featuring Mel Rhyne
5pm
Most women carving out a career in the still largely male-chauvinist jazz world are either twice as mean and determined or twice as talented as the men. This is probably true across the board, but particularly so for horn players. Candy Dulfer cut through and Jane Ira Bloom puts just about every other saxophonist to shame, regardless of sex, but you know it must have been a tough haul. Julie Wood from Milwaukee not only sings, but she also has the audacity to play alto, tenor and baritone saxophones as well. Since she moved to Chicago last year, she has become a firm fixture on the scene. Backing her up is self-effacing Milwaukee organist Mel Rhyne, formerly of the Wes Montgomery Trio, whose style offers the flip-side to the ostentation of the Jimmy Smith school.

Myra Melford Quintet
5:55pm
This highly promising gig unites pianist/composer Melford with erudite trumpet star Dave Douglas (seen elsewhere with John Zorn's Masada), clarinet virtuoso Chris Speed, cellist Erik Friedlander and drummer Michael Sarin. Melford hails from Evanston but has been active for years now at the experimental end of the New York scene, contributing to recordings by Henry Threadgill, among others. She studied early on with Chicago blues pianist Erwin Helfer and later with the late great Don Pullen. Melford has developed into a highly lyrical and compelling free player, rationalizing this with her considerable compositional ambitions.

The Ferre Brothers Quartet
6:55pm
Frenetic French fretwork from two Manouche Gypsies, sons of guitarist Pierre Ferré, who comped for Django Rheinhardt in the hallowed days of the Hot Club Quintet in the thirties. Boulou Ferré displays the requisite coruscating technique and tackles tricky Tristano heads in staccato unison with junior sibling Elios. They weave a high quota of passé bebop quotes into their lines, which I guess is part and parcel of their Gallic charm. Their most recent of several recordings for the Danish Steeplechase label reflects their respect for the American jazz tradition and features the New York rhythm section of George Cables and Billy Hart. Tonight, however, they will be joined by compatriots Christophe Le Van (bass) and Gerard Faroux (drums).

The Jackie McLean Sextet
7:50pm
Trying to avoid comments about McLean's alto sax sound being tart, tangy or menthol sharp will be the impossible challenge of this preview. That sound remains his indelible trademark alongside his similarly angular, idiosyncratic choice of notes, and it will reverberate long after he's gone, because quite simply no one has ever sounded remotely like him. With his flint-like tone (uh,oh, I succumbed!) and urgent approach to the beat, McLean defined the term "hard bop" with a series of recordings for Prestige and Blue Note in the late fifties and early sixties, and has remained a torch bearer for a certain style of playing ever since. In between times, though, he made important explorations into free playing (recording alongside a trumpet-playing Ornette on one occasion) and has always been open to the influence of African and Asian musics. He has also cut some particularly strong discs in the nineties. An all-star performance at the Fest a couple of years back with Bobby Hutcherson and Grachan Moncur seemed ill-prepared and a tad lackluster, but tonight he introduces a new young band, no doubt configured to kick his ass-though, in actuality, it is nearly always McLean who takes care of the ass-kicking.

Illinois Jacquet Big Band
9pm
See the Jazz Fest story, "Flyin' Ace."

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Saturday, August 30

JAZZ ON JACKSON STAGE

Ameen Muhammad's Chicago 3-D
Noon
Elsewhere most often seen alongside saxophonist Ernest Dawkins in the New Horizons Ensemble, trumpeter Muhammad has worked with fellow heavies Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, and also Ed Wilkerson and Kahil El'Zabar. Chicago 3-D has been together for eight years with the mission of cherishing the principals of jazz music's African heritage, its Afro-American tradition and its inevitable move toward the avant garde. The quintet boasts bassist Yosef Ben Israel, 8 Bold Souls' drummer Dushan Mosley and the indispensable Ari Brown on tenor and soprano.

Allen Batts/Earma Thompson
1:10pm/1:40pm
A brace of afternoon solo piano sets commemorating Lil Hardin Armstrong, wife of Louis Armstrong, who played piano on the seminal Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions in the 1920s. Allen Batts from Mississippi has a wealth of experience playing with primarily blues artists in Chicago, while the career of the marvelously poker-faced Earma Thompson stretches back to stints with Billie Holiday and Clifford Jordan.

Rich Corpolongo Quartet
2:20pm
The corpulent talent of composer/saxo- phonist/clarinetist Corpolongo may escape the casual listener wont to tag him as another bulldog bebopper. Though certainly not lacking in pugnacity (Corpolongo's alto has something of the bowling urgency of a Phil Woods or Sonny Criss), his oeuvre is in fact a thing of much greater sophistication, as his highly recommended Delmark debut, "Just Found Joy," attests. By no means your run-of-the-mill jazzer, despite his many years as a jobbing musician in Chicago, Corpolongo blends his sensitivity to classical composition with forays into the avant garde, harnessed with sharply honed technique. Rock-solid backing and other percussion texture from staunch Chicago drummer Mike Raynor here will unite with the panoramic ears of pianist Larry Luchowski and bassist Eric Hochberg.

Jackie Cain and Roy Kral
3:30pm
In these cynical times, post-Watergate, -Irangate, -Whitewatergate and Z-Kathie-Lee-versus-Frank-gate, it's a revelation to behold the refreshingly bourgeois world of the vocal duo Cain and Kral. Inseparable now for fifty years and steeped unapologetically in nostalgia, there is nothing ultra-new here; to quote the lyrics of "The Continental," there are no "dangerous rhythms," but the heart-on-sleeve sincerity of authentic lounge music. Cain has the keening pitch of Barbra Streisand and Kral, whose primary function is as pianist/arranger, calls to mind Bobby Darin. Their original material seems Sondheim-influenced, with some obtuse choices of lyric, but listen for intriguing poignancy in Cain's rendition of "You Didn't Tell Me it Was Wrong."

PETRILLO MUSIC SHELL

Marshall Vente's Project 9+ 5pm
Pianist/broadcaster/impresario Vente, the man with a band for every occasion, fronts the nonet (tonight augmented to a twelve-piece), which best showcases his considerable talents as composer/arranger. Some tips on the latter job he no doubt picked up during his NEA-sponsored apprenticeship with Gil Evans in the early eighties. Vente is a catalyst and a survivor and there is nothing exclusionary about his attitude: He conducted the Chicago Bears Big Band for five years and also runs his own Chicago Blues Review. Able to take on much disparate activity, Vente is obviously a man who thinks quickly and isn't overly precious. Project 9+ reflects this with its busy charts and a rough-and-ready vibe which rarely fails to illicit high-energy performances. We're especially likely to hear them from the feisty piano of the leader himself and from guest stars saxophonist Jeff Newell and vocalist Anna Dawson.

Steve Turre Sextet
5:55pm
Turre gives the lie to the scurrilous in-joke "What's the definition of an optimist? A trombonist with a pager!" He has been one of the most in-demand sessioneers for years, appearing on a bewildering variety of dates with the likes of Santana, the Skatalites, the Jazz Messengers with Woody Shaw, Ray Charles, Van Morrison, McCoy Tyner and Lester Bowie. Simply, he has been working at the top of his game for thirty-odd years. It has been in the last decade, however, that his true colors as a leader have been revealed and he has skillfully created for himself an imperial, highly marketable persona, no doubt partly influenced by the eccentricities of one of his mentors, Roland Kirk. However, there is nothing eccentric about Turre's playing; he is not a questing avant gardist á la Manglesdorff, but a consummate professional and entertainer. Apart from having a huge, exuberant tone and being a master of the plunger mute and the world's foremost jazz conchologist, Turre has an in-depth appreciation of Latin percussion and is a thoughtful composer and arranger. His latest Verve project brought together the talents of Cassandra Wilson, Graciela Perez, Jon Faddis and the usual host of trombone peers. Despite the absence of such front-line glitterati tonight, he will feature the nonpareil trio of pianist Stephen Scott, Buster Williams and Lewis Nash, backed by strings.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Big Band
6:55pm
At first glance, you might mistake this for a Blues Fest booking, but don't air that opinion within earshot of the resolutely eclectic "Gate"; he's notoriously irascible about being pigeonholed as a blues artist. Recently I met his piano player, Joe Krown, pumping out rousing honky-tonk at the Maple Leaf Tavern in New Orleans, and he told me we can expect a creamy big-band sound tonight. Gate himself is quick to point out that when he started in 1947, he led a twenty-three-piece band and was using horn arrangements inspired by the Basie band and Lionel Hampton. He tackles Hampton's "Flyin' Home" on his latest CD, "Gate Swings." Notably, it takes two of his horn players' best efforts to grapple for the mantle of Illinois Jacquet's original solo spot. Gate's guitar quotes the solo, too (see main story), but hey! don't start molding him into a jazz musician now-after tonight he'll pick up his fiddle again and with a yodeling cry, exhort us all to hoe down, "zydeco style."

Nicholas Payton Quintet
7:55pm
In conjunction with the festival's acknowledgment of the date that Louis Armstrong hit Chicago to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (75 years ago, in 1922), his latest-and some say greatest-progeny, New Orleans native Nicholas Payton, pays tribute. The program will also remember the late Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, who was slated to appear alongside Payton as he did recently on their heartwarming Verve recording. Tragically, or rather not, as Cheatham had an unusually long and rewarding life, the veteran trumpeter recently passed on at age 92. The great shame, besides the lack of elegant, pithy instrumental contributions from Cheatham, will be the absence of his delightfully urbane vocals, which would have rekindled your interest in such winsome lyrics as those to "How Deep Is the Ocean?," "Maybe" and "She's Funny That Way." Payton belies his 23 with both precocious talent and a mature mien that startled Cheatham in its resemblance to Joe Oliver himself. Thus is the baton passed on. Listen here also for the luxurious alto sound of Jesse Davis; he and Payton tore up the after-fest jam session at the Jazz Showcase last year when they hit town with the Kansas City band.

Von Freeman
Another VIP set to be honored at Jazz Fest this year is Chicago's valiant Von Freeman, who was born within a month of Illinois Jacquet in 1922. A saxophonist and pianist, Freeman is a hero both musically and spiritually in the Chicago jazz community and beyond. His early career featured stints with Horace Henderson, Sun Ra and the late bluesman Sunnyland Slim. Together with his brothers, drummer Bruz and guitarist George, and a succession of important pianists, including Ahmad Jamal, Muhal Richard Abrams and Andrew Hill, Freeman paid host to countless visiting luminaries, Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon amongst them, during a long-running residency at the Pershing Hotel.

In addition to leading jam sessions for as long as anybody can remember at the Enterprise and the New Apartment Lounge on the South Side, he is currently spawning a lively new scene on Sunday nights at the Note in Wicker Park. Freeman has recorded sporadically as a leader for an assortment of labels over the last twenty years, including a string of Steeplechase albums in the early nineties, of which the crucial balladry of "Never Let Me Go" is outstanding. His Southport disc "Walkin' Tuff" is another gem, and Freeman made some superb contributions to a Steve Coleman/Greg Osby M-Base project, "Transmigration," which revealed how startlingly searching and contemporary his conception really is.

But because Freeman is completely absent of pretension, he is particularly squeamish about being celebrated. If you remark in awe about his robust constitution he will quickly refer you to Benny Carter, aged 90 and still an active player: "Beside him, I'm just a kid. I was still in knee pants when he was in his prime. All I can say is that many of the friends and fellow musicians I came up with, I've outlived them, but I haven't got anything to do with that. I live as hard as anyone else does, so I've no explanation for why I'm still here."

As for the notion of wider recognition, Freeman says, "Your time will come if it comes and if it didn't come, it wasn't supposed to come." He also claims, erroneously, "There are thousands of Von Freemans around the world.

"You see, to me no one is un-important and no one is important," he adds. "Everybody's just... wonderful!"

Appearing at this attempt to pay tribute to Freeman will be his son, saxophonist Chico; brother George; his right-hand man, drummer Mike Raynor; and a host of guests, including exceptional alto talent Rudy Mahanthappa, Kurt Elling, Brad Goode and pianists Jodie Christian and John Young.

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Sunday, August 31

JAZZ ON JACKSON STAGE

Samana
Noon
A glamorous female equivalent to the Art Ensemble of Chicago, this five-piece founded through the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians features vibraphone, flutes, clarinets, mbira (thumb piano) and collective percussion and vocals. The material draws upon the African heritage of jazz and features colorful costumes, a cappella singing and folk dancing.

Willie Pickens Quintet
1:10pm
Impeccable pianist Pickens, a Chicago treasure, made a major career comeback after a heart attack in 1987, which fortunately did not impede his formidable dexterity at the keyboard. He became much better known internationally in the early nineties, when Elvin Jones took him Œround the globe with his Jazz Machine. He should further raise his local profile with the coming release of his debut Southport CD. With him on this occasion are trumpeter Tito Carillo, burning, ŒTrane-infused tenorist Todd Herbert and the first-call rhythm section of bassist Larry Gray and drummer Robert Shy.

The Chicago Hot Six
2:20pm
Harking back to the days when music was supposed to be a gentleman's pastime and was never permitted to interrupt the day gig are trombonist Roy Rubinstein (who is a nuclear physicist), clarinetist Norrie Cox (a diesel-engineering consultant), trumpeter Bob Neighbour (a graphics designer) and bassist Dick Pierce (who writes industrial-training manuals). Whether this amateur status is good for the music you can decide for yourself this afternoon. The fellas will attempt to revive the classic early jazz era of King Oliver and Kid Ory, and sounds from the 1940s heyday of Bunk Johnson and George Lewis.

Mark Murphy (with special guest Kurt Elling)
3:30pm
Murphy's bass-baritone voice and subtle blend of jazz and rap poetics has always had primarily a cult following. Retro cabaret elements in much other jazz vocalizing rarely cut it on gut level. And the majority of singers churning over the repertoire don't fire from the hip; they fire from somebody else's "hip." Mark Murphy, in contrast, charts his own course. Beyond his usage of hackneyed beatnik vernacular like "dig," "wig" and "pretty baby," he's probably the most serious storyteller in the business. He combines strong linguistic skills and unpretentious musicality with a profound-but-palpable passion for what he does. That recipe has made him inimitable for forty years. Only until recently, with the arrival of Chicago's own Kurt Elling, has the importance of Murphy's beguiling anecdotal style become more evident. Whatever your taste, these guys warrant high credibility, aside from their considerable collective chops, for their determined quest to spin some honest new tales.

PETRILLO MUSIC SHELL

Chicago Underground Orchestra
5pm
Cornetist Rob Mazurek, well-known as a Freddie Hubbard-style hard bopper, leads this hip, arty quintet co-starring versatile, inventive guitarist Jeff Parker, respected trombonist/percussionist Sara P. Smith, her buddy bassist Chris Lopes, and seasoned ex-New York drummer Chad Taylor. Together they create an ego-free, democratic sound on a fascinating blend of material, mostly Mazurek originals with a Herbie Hancock tune thrown in for good measure. The influence of Hancock and Wayne Shorter is apparent despite the absence of piano or saxophone in the CUO, but each member of the ensemble takes off in a unique, yet paradoxically collective, direction.

Ruby Braff Quintet
5:55pm
Ruby Braff, whose name is onomatopoeia for his brand of succinct, unflashy cornet playing, is a recent inductee to the American Jazz Hall of Fame. However, he is primarily appreciated by the swing-era cognoscenti, the apostles of garrulous bebop largely sleeping on him, and as a result he has spent some lean years out of step with fashion. Braff has an anarchic, larger-than-life sense of humor, but on the bandstand exhibits uncompromising dedication to his craft and always picks choice sidemen. The highlight of his early career was working alongside trombonist Vic Dickenson. Dickenson's sense of humor and ear for translating woodwind lines to his instrument rubbed off on Braff, who lists Ben Webster and Lester Young as important influences on his style, as well as Ellington's violinist Ray Nance. Louis Armstrong once picked out Braff as best player in a Down Beat poll, and Braff has returned the compliment with his latest CD, "Being With You," a paean to Armstrong's music. With him tonight will be crack bassist Michael Moore, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and pianist John Bunch.

Bernie McGann Trio
6:55pm
One of the all-too-few international jazz acts to appear at Petrillo features antipodean altoist McGann and long-standing cohorts John Pochée and Lloyd Swanton. This may also prove one of the musical excursions closest to the avant garde during the Fest's otherwise largely mainstream program. Avant garde is (by definition) a mirage of a term, though McGann is more of a rooted expressionist like Jackie McClean or Rollins. It's no wonder that Dewey Redman has expressed admiration for McGann; they share an integrity in their mutual conceptions, a level of dedication that precludes fanfare, and a debt to Ornette Coleman. The latter point is contentious, however, since McGann was doing his thing Down Under concurrent with Coleman but was largely oblivious to the latter's activities. Whatever, the necessity of comparisons with the American model are tedious for the underrated Australians, who are conscious that McGann is their first serious contender on the international stage since Dale Barlow or James Morrison. In fact, McGann is somewhat beyond the bebop bombastics of those two.

Betty Carter
7:55pm
Carter is an alchemist. She spins threads of silk with her throat that transmute into twists of high-tensile steel. She makes jazz chamber music. She's a super-tough cookie, but her music is very, very soft; so soft that most of the time you don't know what's happening, least of all what hit you. It fades in and out unannounced as part of the time/space continuum; it sounds sleepy when it's highly alert; if you squint your ears you'd swear she was singing in Japanese. Clearly, you have to be telepathic to play with her. She's an empiricist; she feeds on sense data. Then you realize where she came from, singing bebop with Lionel Hampton and dueting unforgettably with Ray Charles on "It's Cold Outside," which should have made her a fortune but didn't. She ran her own record label for years and allowed herself to grow and still record and now she's ahead of her time. She's a purist, an intellectual, a satirist, a matriarch, a hypnotist, a sweetheart, a bully, a genie, an exasperating inspiration.

Salute to Motor City Jazz
8:55pm
This all-star septet is set to cap the festivities with a dose of Detroit grit. All the protagonists in the group have strong links with the Motor City, even if they weren't actually born there. Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave is perhaps the lesser-known member of the group. But he has worked with Fathead Newman, McCoy Tyner and David Murray and, as an educator in Detroit, he nurtured the fledgling talents of Bob Hurst, Gerri Allen and Kenny Garrett, among others. Altoist Charles McPherson is a Parker aficionado with compelling pedigree; he plays more stridently than his idol and with a soulful conviction that transcends imitation, often pushing himself to the limits of his technique. Pianist Tommy Flanagan remains a central figure in the jazz firmament, having proved himself ubiquitous and indispensable at pivotal moments in the music's history. Tenorist Frank Foster led the Basie band for nearly a decade from the mid-eighties and is finally getting recognition as a distinctive solo artist. Kenny Burrell has become an icon of the jazz guitar; his warm, bluesy feel has made its presence felt on crucial recordings by John Coltrane, Jimmy Smith and Stanley Turrentine.

If all cylinders fire on this gig, sparks should indeed fly!

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Like Blues Fest, Jazz Fest adds an extra evening of music this year, but the crowds aren't likely to be as large around Petrillo Music Shell or the Jazz on Jackson stage. If you want to stay home, that's all reet, too: Although WBEZ-FM 91.5 abandoned Blues Fest, the station will broadcast jazz from the park Thursday through Sunday night. And as always, the Fest is free for the listening.

Lineups are subject to change. For more information, call the city's Events Hotline, 312.744.3370.

Compiled by Michael Jackson

The Original Pin Stripe Brass Band, a well-traveled fifteen-piece New Orleans marching unit that's been around for twenty years, will perform each afternoon of the Fest.

Illinois Jacquet swings back into Chicago Friday night at 9.
Read the story.