What trip to a jazz festival would be complete without seeing a band that actually has the word jazz in their name? Not being familiar with most of the players on the Sunday schedule, I probably allowed that fact alone to make my decision. The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey sounded a bit edgier than Matt Kirk Jazz with special guest, Margie Boule.
I have read Ms. Boule’s occasional column in the local paper and have seen her on television. She seemed nice. But, and this is totally without ever hearing her sing a note, mind you, just a quick impression etched in my head that I have to let out, I believe that the most improvisation one would witness at that performance would be Ms. Boule scatting a bit at the end of Embraceable You. And, no, I’m not dissing on Margie Boule as a person and she’s probably a perfectly capable singer and those in attendance that evening, I am sure, had the time of their lives. Nor do I know a single thing about Matt Kirk. Not one bit. Nada. But I ain’t no hater.
I’m just saying that I was looking for more of what jazz is supposed to be. The smoky bar, one drink too many or too few kind of riffing and experimenting with the sounds, with a steady beat and rhythm to spare. Hardly any words in the songs I was looking for. More like improvisations on a theme, with the soloists rotating at some random order that was dictated by the music itself. Real jazz, pure and simple.
I got what I was looking for at the Goodfoot Lounge on the last night of the Portland Jazz Festival in the form of Seattle’s Das Vibenbass and The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey.
READ ON for more of AJ’s review of JFJO in Portland…
