When it comes to jazz festivals that last only one day — or, in this case, only 10 hours — it’s hard to beat the NYC Winter Jazzfest for ambition or star power.
The 2009 edition of this one-night bash, as in past years, is timed to coincide with the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference. The conference, which draws presenters, promoters, talent buyers, educators, and musicians from around the word, runs from Jan. 9-13 in Manhattan. The Jazzfest, designed as a showcase for underexposed (if not necessarily unknown) jazz and experimental musicians, runs from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the night of Jan. 10.
Since it began in 2005, the festival has been held at the Knitting Factory in TriBeCa. The Knitting Factory is moving to Brooklyn, but the festival is not following. Rather, it is moving from TriBeCa a few blocks north to Greenwich Village and expanding from one venue to three, all within easy walking distance: Le Poisson Rouge (the site of the old Village Gate, once one of the city’s top jazz rooms), Kenny’s Castaways and Sullivan Hall.
The featured attraction is a quartet led by drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts, which will be previewing material from his forthcoming CD, “Watts.” (The title is a reference both to the leader’s name and to the area of Los Angeles that famously was the site of rioting in the sixties, and that presumably served as inspiration for the music.) According to the official announcement, Watts will be accompanied by trumpeter Terence Blanchard, bassist Christian McBride, and someone named Prometheus Jenkins, although there is reason to believe that “Jenkins” is actually Branford Marsalis.
Watts’s group will perform at midnight at Le Poisson Rouge, but otherwise the festival schedule has not yet been posted, so it’s not known who will be performing when or where. What is known is that it will be a hell of a bill. Among the other acts are: pianist Jason Moran, who will be leading his own quartet and performing with saxophonist-clarinetist Don Byron’s Ivey Divey Trio; saxophonist Gary Bartz; pianists Marco Benevento and Robert Glasper; the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey; and about a dozen others.
Attendees of the Arts Presenters conference can receive an all-club past by e-mailing rsvp@winterjazzfest.com. That pass will not, however, get them into the Watts show, which will cost them $25 (e-mail brice@winterjazzfest.com for more details). Everyone else can buy a ticket to the whole event, including the Watts show, for $45 — or an all-club pass, for everything but that show, for $25 — at lprnyc.com. More information (including a full schedule, whenever it’s posted) can be found at winterjazzfest.com.
