Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
On May 5, the day millions of French voters went to the polls to re-elect conservative President Jacques Chirac in a landslide victory that resoundingly rejected the politics of right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen, Bernard Lubat – an eccentric, anarchistic artist who, other than the fact that’s he’s neither Jewish nor an immigrant, represents much of what Le Pen wants to eliminate in France – commanded a stage at the medieval Abbey de l’Épau in Le Mans. A multi-instrumentalist (drums, piano, accordion, voice, pots and pans) and poet who founded an artists colony in the town of Uzeste in his native region of Gascony that each summer produces a free-wheeling event reminiscent of the Burning Man festival in the U.S., Lubat, a modern incarnation of the Beat Generation aesthetic, delivered a marathon five-hour performance that concluded the 23rd edition of the Europa Jazz Festival held in this historic city on the banks of the Sarthe River.
Lubat’s avant garde musical and theatrical tour de force, in which guests including saxophonists François Corneloup, Christophe Monniot and Michel Portal and synthesist Gyorgy Kurtag also participated, made one wonder how a country rightfully proud of an illustrious intellectual heritage and unusually receptive of creative iconoclasts could three weeks earlier have placed a reactionary racist in a run-off for the highest office in the land. The cultural politics of Europe in general and France in particular are complex but while the country has no shortage of left-wing liberal cultural events like the Europa Festival that showcase cutting-edge improvisers and composers who have carried contemporary instrumental music way beyond the comfort zone of blues-based American jazz, it’s clear they represent the minority rather than the mainstream. Yet Europa Festival artistic director Armand Meignan has adapted the theme of the film “Field of Dreams” with a programming philosophy that takes the attitude “if you offer it, they will come” and come they certainly did. Despite the fact that many of the festivals concerts – like the duo of pianist Christine Wodrascka and percussionist Ramon Lopez, bassist Claude Tcahmitchian’s program “In Spirit” dedicated to Charles Mingus, François Couturier’s Wolf Gang Trio, the trio of cellist Vincent Courtois, guitarist Marc Ducret and violinist Dominique Pifarély – were intense, teeth-gritting experiences to sit through, people came in droves attracted perhaps by the ability to see and hear people on stage find an outlet for the tension and anxiety it seemed most of France – or at least 80 percent of the country—was feeling inside.
It’s still remarkable that festivals in Europe can thrive featuring headlining acts like bassist Henri Texier’s Azur Quintet, drummer Daniel Humair’s trio featuring Ducret, bassist Bruno Chevillon and guest saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, pianist Mal Waldron’s quartet with drummer John Betsch, saxophonist Sean Bergin and guest singer Sheila or John Abercrombie’s new quartet with violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron. While certainly far from commercial, the work of these visionary ensembles seemed tame in comparison to what the groups mentioned above played. At this year’s Europa Festival the sounds of the Mingus Big Band, on a tour celebrating what would have been the great bassist’s 80th birthday, Sweden’s Esbjörn Svensson Trio and the Dave Holland Quintet, while hardly simplistic, were the most melodically, harmonically and rhythmically structured music to be found.
By Mitchell Feldman
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
The Century Room in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was born in 2021.
May 21, 2024 12:58 PM
Players got to play. It’s long been a part of jazz history: When there’s a venue vacuum, when there are fewer…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…