This past Wednesday marked the opening of the Montreal Jazz Festival. It is one monster of a fest with over 400 shows (including ticketed and free shows) over the course of 12 days. The daily performances start at noon and the late evening/post concert jam sessions often last till 4 AM. This is the 19 edition of the festival and it features a solid if unexceptional lineup. This will be my 18th time attending the fest and my second since moving to the Bay Area in 1996. Each year I buy a pass that allows me to see about 20 concerts at heavily discounted prices. The pass entitles me to choose two concerts from 10 series, which are organized (somewhat)thematically and by venue. The end result is that I get to see a rather eclectic mix of genres and styles-much more so than if I could freely pick and choose the concerts I would like to see.

The first day of the Fest was marked by intermittent rain and cool temperatures and the outdoor crowds were somewhat smaller. Though the festivities heated up as the weathered improved in the evening. There appears to be a heavy dose of Latin Jazz this year with performances by Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barrreto, Compay Segundo, and many other notables. My first two concerts on Wednesday evening, David Sanchez and Roy Haynes (with Danilo Perez), had a distinct Latin flavor to them. The jazz fest provided the Puerto Rican born Sanchez with a very high profile gig-opening the fest in a large concert venue. This was suprising to me, since I didn't think he had quite the stature to draw a large audience. As it turned out, the 1500 seats in the hall were about 75% full (a very good turnout). The concert featured him in three different contexts: 1) in duet with Chucho Valdes, 2) accompanied by a 12 piece orchestra (plus his quintet), and with his quintet. In short, it was a superb concert!

The opening set featured the duet with the great Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes (best known for leading Irakere). The two musicians are something of a study in contrast. Valdes is the enormous figure maybe 6'5 and 260 pounds of muscle and is a rather imposing figure hulking over the piano. Sanchez is comparatively short and slight of build. This was the first time that they had the opportunity to play together and I think they only rehearsed briefly before the show. Sanchez and Valdes have complementary styles and both musicians are steeped in Latin sounds as well as bebop and beyond. If you've never heard Valdes play jazz (which is actually an important ingredient in Irakere's music), you would be surprised at his remarkable fluency in the genre. The opening number was a mid to uptempo modally inspired and Salsa-inflected number that allowed each musician ample space to stretch (Sanchez more than Valdes). I really love Sanchez's deep rich slightly throaty sound on tenor. He plays with great passion and incredible energy, yet he never sounds overwrought or out of control. There are few wasted notes or extramusical effects in his playing. He is an inspired and inventive improviser, eventhough his solos never stray too far from the melody. Sanchez draws equally on the vocabulary of the post-bop mainstream and Latin music. The 60 minute set consisted of mostly Sanchez originals (I think) and also included a very nice rendition of the Gershwin standard "Someone to Watch Over Me". The performance was occasionally marked by a lack of musical dialogue and a few dull patches. But these are minor quibbles in an otherwise fine set.

The second set featured his quintet and a 12 piece orchestra (string, brass and woodwinds). I was a little bit wary of this part of the concert because the orchestral treatment is not often to my liking. However, this was an excellent set and my fears of excessive sweetening or lushness were completely unfounded. The orchestra was used to very good effect, if somewhat sparingly. Sanchez's excellent quintet carried most of the musical burden. The group consists of the very fine Edsel Gomez (from Don Byron's Six Instruments group) on piano, John Benitez on bass, Antonio Sanchez (no relation) on drums and the great Pernell Saturnino on congas, timbales, and assorted percussive implements. The second set featured compositions by Latin American composers including Carlos Jobim, Bobby Capo, and Rafael Hernandez. Capo and Hernandez are from Sanchez's native Puerto Rico. The group also performed a splendid version of Ray Bryant's Cuban Fantasy (a truly great song). Another highlight was Jobim's Omorro nao tem vez. The orchestra played an integral role in both of these songs, effectively blending with the Quintet. The set ended with a Brazilian tune (I don't know the name) that featured a spectacular solo by Saturnino on congas and whistle, which playing conjured up images and rhythms of a Brazilian street scene. These songs are all featured on Sanchez's new album Obsesion--a collection devoted mostly to Puerto-Rican composers, but also includes Cuban and Brazilian selections as well Bryant's Cuban Fantasy. I just picked it up and it sounds mighty fine.

After a very brief intermission, the quintet returned (without orchestra) to more or less continue where they left off. This was perhaps the best of the three sets. Sanchez, Gomez, and Saturnino were all in excellent form. They were able to really stretch out in both their individual solos and jointly in a kind of collective improvisation. Benitez, on bass, was effective in a supporting role. The drummer, A. Sanchez, was largely invisible. I believe he was a last minute replacement for Adam Cruz, who regularly plays (played?) with this quintet. The highlight of this set was a performance of Street Scenes (the title track of his last album and the only song I recognized) which is something of a heavy duty funk workout. This is really an excellent group that creates a somewhat unique synthesis of Latin sounds and hardbop with something of a modernist sensibility. I don't think any of Sanchez's albums quite prepare you for how good he can be in a live setting. This was an excellent 3 hours of music.

The next show on our schedule was the Roy Haynes Trio with John Pattituci on bass, abd Danilo Perez on piano. I had heard an excellent live performance Hayne's Septet broadcast from last years Chicago Jazz Fest. This concert was enjoyable, but it wasn't nearly as good as the Chicago show. The first set was a little ragged, but was redeemed by some sparkling piano work by Perez whose enthusiasm was infectious. Like David Sanchez, he is equally steeped in Latin music and mainstream jazz. Perez is a very animated performer and is in perpetual motion. His feet were dancing up a storm, even when he was not playing. I don't much like Patittuci (although I am somewhat prejudiced by his work with Corea's less than stellar Elektric and Akoustic Bands). He is undoubtedly a very skilled musician and really did not exhibit his customary excesses in this context. However, I don't care for his sound, which I find somewhat thin, especially in the bottom end. Roy Haynes's drumming was not very prominent in the mix for the first set, at least until the very last song. This song began with Haynes, using mallets, and playing a surprisingly loud hyper aggressive solo. This got a real charge of the audience. The second set was considerably more satisfying with the group sounding more together and with Haynes being much more of presence. The musicians were really loose and were clearly having a great time. After a brief Hayne's solo, Perez would shout out, "ROY HAYNES! ROY HAYNES!", and Haynes would respond in kind. After a solo the musicians would walk over and shakes hand with each other in a congratulatory fashion (for a momemt, I thought I was watching the Maynard Ferguson's Big Band). At age 72, Haynes is still a masterful drummer whether playing behind a Perez solo or driving the group in an uptempo number.

After exiting the concert, we were able to catch the last 10 minutes of Liquid Soul's (an acid jazz group from Chicago) set on an outdoor stage. They were playing absolutely scorching, horn-driven white hot funk and sounded just phenomenal.