Vicky Samselski

Those of you who missed the incredible Jazz Festival this weekend can still enjoy a few minutes of splendor: watch our video of roughly half of the great acts that assembled all over town. This is even useful for those of you who went to the Fest but didn't cover as much ground as I did; you can catch at least a few seconds of every single show on Saturday night! (While you sat comfortably enjoying a cocktail and two or three shows, I was running all over town trying to catch them all!) At least this way, you can see what people were talking about on Sunday.

One big theme that emerged from this fest's "New Wave" offering of stalwart Jazz pros mixing it up with the new talent was how beautifully it all went together. It was hard to leave one great gig and head out for the unknown, but I have to stress the point that I wasn't disappointed with a single venue. It's rare you can say "every gig I walked into was fantastic" but I can say it and mean it, as I think the video shows. The youngsters were wildly gifted and so obviously happy to be there playing in such talented company. The more established faves were generous, and visibly offered great guidance on a jam after jam. All in all, I think this was the best Jazz Fest I've attended in all the years I've been going - and I don't get paid any extra to say that, so it must be true...

A word about the video: I must apologize for the quality of some of the images, as the dim light made it difficult to capture some of the speaker's faces... Pianist Courtney Brian is difficult to see behind trumpet player Christian Scott at Carney's Other Room, volunteer Ed Banks is almost invisible as he describes how impressed he was with the young kids (only the Jazz Fest logo of his shirt shines through; but since his voice sounds so much like a certain famous movie star, we do get that vicarious thrill of celebrity until you realize it's just a coincidence). Trumpet player/SUNY Purchase student Maximilien (talking about playing with Christian Scott at Aleathea's) is almost blue! Many mea culpas on that score. Soon, we at the Herald will be able to put such problems behind us: a new camera and editing equipment are on their way, and we certainly hope to constantly offer improved quality as we grow.

One other thing about the Festival itself, which I feel is worth mentioning as you hopefully get a feel for the atmosphere: this was the most fun I've seen at a Fest! They're perennially great, but I've never seen quite the amount of dancing and hijinks from the crowd as at this one. The energy was contagious and unstoppable; perhaps that's a side-effect of all that youth on stage. I prefer to think that after 15 years, the Festival as a whole has zeroed in on the talent, the fan base, and the scheduling that makes the entire city swing. That's the benefit of experience right there, now let's see how they top it in November.