Jazz breaking news: Marcus Miller and Chick Corea electrify Jazz a Vienne
Monday, July 1, 2013
The 33rd Jazz a Vienne festival got off to an electrifying start thanks to a brilliant Saturday evening show from Marcus Miller (pictured above) that shook the Theatre Antique into life.
Playing songs mostly from his new album Renaissance this young band featuring Sean Jones (trumpet), Alex Han (sax), Adam Agati (guitar), Brett Williams (keys) and Louis Cato on drums really enjoyed the atmosphere and buzz of this Roman amphitheatre, and the capacity 8,000 crowd, storming through a set of jazz rock that had plenty of contrasts.
From the very lyrical and uplifting ‘Goree’ (about the former slave Island) to the bump and grind of ‘Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde’, Miller led the band but never dominated – taking I think only three extended solos – leaving the young guns and in particular, Han and Jones to take the lead. An incredible show topped by the encore where support act Keziah Jones (and band) – an excellent blues rock outfit all piled back on stage for a jam version of the Beatles ‘Come together’ and of course the inevitable ‘Tutu’ which brought the house down!
The festival opened on Friday night with the traditional free show Victoires of Jazz, a celebration of jazz from young and newer stars on the French scene featuring performances from Cécile McLorin Salvant, Andre Ceccarelli and Eric Legnini among many others.
Saturday night also saw the first shows in the Club de Minuit, and the Jazz Mix both after midnight free shows. The club de Minuit featured a big band the ‘Orchestra de Jazz de la Musicque de l’Armee de l’Air’ led by pianist Stan Laferriere and at Club Mix Chris Dave and the Drumhedz kept the festival going till 3am. 
Rounding the opening weekend off was an excellent double bill featuring the brilliant French/Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf (playing songs from his recently released CD, Wind) and the Chick Corea Vigil show, featuring our very own Tim Garland (sax), Charles Altura (guitar), Christian McBride (bass) and Marcus Gilmore on the drums (Roy Haines grandson – Haines drummed with Corea on ‘Now he sings, now he sobs’ released around 40 years ago!)
Maalouf (pictured above) is the hottest thing currently in French Jazz (he was presented with best Jazz Act 2013 at the end of his show) and mixes jazz and middle eastern influences with ease, making for a really interesting sound – and playing with such seasoned players as Larry Grenadier, Clarence Penn and Mark Turner only adds a real gloss to his already polished sound. He will make a huge impact on the global jazz scene very soon.
Chick Corea wrapped up the weekend and showed why, at 72, much like Miller did the night before, is still a man at the top of his game. His lengthy career, full of impressive and innovative music shows no sign of waning. The current tour and CD picks up from Return to Forever’s ashes and re-invents their sound with a new generation of players (along with a couple of older wiser heads) and brings their sound right up to date. Opening with a Bud Powell tune, ‘Tempus Fugit’, the set mostly featured music from their forthcoming Vigil CD – ‘Portals to Forever’ and ‘Outside of Space’ already sounding like classics in the making.
An excellent end to a great opening weekend to this 14-night festival – with the likes of Roberto Fonseca, Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite, Robert Cray & Johnny Winter, Charles Lloyd, Chucho Valdes, Carlos Santana, George Benson, David Sanborn, Bob James, and Snarky Puppy still to come – and if you’re quick, you can see Phronesis next Saturday night for free.
– Tim Dickeson (story and photos)
For more info go to www.jazzavienne.com