OK, it’s time for Day Two. On Friday Saturday (I better get some more sleep before Friday….) there is another smorgasbord of jazz and other music (the Buddahood are a lot of fun) for the first "weekend" day of the 2008 RIJF. Here’s where my initial leanings will take me on Friday Saturday:
- 4:30 pm: More high school jazz bands and a wee bit of beer to start off the weekend (or I may catch the Smugtown Stompers as they cruise the Genesee on the Mary Jemison at 2:30 or 4:00). This choice will be decided by what I decide to do at 6:00 pm.
- 6:00 pm: I think I’ll probably choose the beer and wait in line for the Bad Plus in Kilbourn Hall. This will not be my first time hearing these guys, but their sets have always been different with surprises I wasn’t expecting waiting behind the curtain. The Bad Plus actually are also bloggers and have a great blog, Do the Math. Catch a few cuts, including some from the new album Prog on their MySpace page. You can get your fill of YouTube of them playing through these Google Search results.
- Between the end of Bad Plus and going over to Eastman Theatre, I may try to catch a bit of the Dave Samuels Carribbean Jazz Project over at Harro East or the Kris Davis Quartet at Christ Church.
- 8:00 pm: Dee Dee Bridgewater will be bringing her Malian Journey project to the Eastman Theatre, mixing up a stew of African music and its direct descendant jazz. Dianna and I are both looking forward to this one. You can catch a French TV performance from last year and the Mongo Santamaria tune Afro Blue off the Grammy-nominated Red Earth: A Malian Journey on her MySpace page. Check out Netsky’s profile of Bridgewater in City. Bassist Richard Bona and his band will be opening.
- 10:00 pm: Hope to rush over to catch Robin McKelle at the Montage. Robin is from Rochester and has appeared at the festival and other venues before, but this will be the first time I’ve heard her. I listened to some of her stuff, including her new album Modern Antique (thanks to her label), which is already out on Blue Note in France (and has been the #1 jazz album there) and will be released in the States in August, and would like to hear her live. You can hear her and her band in this Blue Note video with Abracadabra, one of the cuts off the album and, of course, on her MySpace page.
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