Tanglewood Jazz Festival: Blend of Jazz & Classical

By Ken Franckling
Another Tanglewood season is in the books, winding down over Labor Day Weekend with a festival that blended jazz with a touch of the classical genre that dominates the bucolic venue all summer.

It makes great senses to bring classical links to a jazz event at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It has happened several times in recent years here in Lenox, Mass., in the heart of the Berkshires, where the Tanglewood Jazz Festival marked its 23rd year last weekend.

The festival showcased emerging artists, celebrated tradition and presented quality headliners in interesting combinations amid chilly air, spits of drizzle and lots of wind. The only thing missing: the traditional Friday night Latin jazz opener, which was scrapped this year due to the economy. Hopefully it will be back next year.

Here’s a rundown of some highlights:

Donal Fox
Two years after presenting his “Scarlatti Jazz Suite Project” blending jazz and the classics, pianist Donal Fox was back with his quartet (with vibes player Warren Wolf, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Dafnis Prieto). This time, Fox closed the festival Sunday night with a “Piazzolla to Bach” program that was as strong as its predecessor. Fox takes memorable segments of works from the classical canon for the band to use as crackling improvisational fuel. The program also included Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango” and "Milonga del Angel." Cellist Maya Beiser made her first serious foray into jazz this night as a special guest for five of the set’s 10 pieces.

The pianist premiered his own “Fire Fly,” based on Bach’s “Two Part Invention in G Minor,” and “Partita Romp,” which is based on the Bach “Partita No. 5 in G Major.” His program included a straight take on J.S. Bach’s “Two-Part Invention in F Major” without improvisation and “Air on a G String.” No improv was needed on the former tune, Fox told the crowd. “Man, he (Bach) was a swinging cat,” Fox said. He closed with the hard-driving “Le Cuocuo and the Funky Chicken,” which he based on “Le Cuocuo” (the coo-coo) from Louis-Claude Daquin’s 1735 harpsichord suite.

Eddie Daniels & Bob James Broadway Boogie Project
Earlier in the day, “Air on a G String” made its first appearance as the intimate encore for clarinetist Eddie Daniels and pianist Bob James after their quartet’s Broadway Boogie Project performance with drummer Peter Erskine and bassist James Genus. The quartet’s material included a light, romantic interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Pretty Woman” from Sweeney Todd, Hoagy Carmichael’s “New Orleans,” Daniels’ “Tangonova” and James’s “Broadway Boogie.”

John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey
Guitarist John Pizzarelli and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey, taped a Tanglewood version of their satellite radio show Radio Deluxe to open the festival Saturday afternoon with singer Jane Monheit as special guest. Last year, daughter Madeleine Pizzarelli spent the hour with her nose in the last Harry Potter book. This year, she was an integral part of the conversation. The musical highlights: Pizzarelli and Molaskey’s alternating lyrics - a line from one song, then the other, of “My Guitar Gently Weeps” (John) and “Killing Me Softly” (Jessica); a mash-up of “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” to the melody of “East St. Louis Toodle-o”; and Bucky Pizzarelli’s spirited interplay with drummer Tony Tedesco on a Benny Goodman medley.
 
Complete on  >>  http://jazztimes.com/sections/concerts/articles/26550-tanglewood-jazz-festival-blend-of-jazz-classical