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Jazz Liège Festival 2014

By Jean-Pierre Goffin
June 26, 2014
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Jazz Liège Festival
Brussels, Belgium
May 8-10, 2014

The International Jazz Festival in Liège was created twenty-four years ago. The city was known for decades as the Belgian capital of jazz, with musicians such as

Bobby Jaspar

flute
b.1926

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Jaspar ( who played with

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis,

Janice "Ms. JJ" Johnson

vocals
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Janice "Ms. JJ" Johnson,

Donald Byrd

trumpet
1932 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Donald Byrd and many others), René Thomas (

Stan Getz

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Getz,

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins,

Chet Baker

trumpet and vocals
1929 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Chet Baker, J.R. Monterose), or Jacques Pelzer (

Chet Baker

trumpet and vocals
1929 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Chet Baker,

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry). Thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of one of the founders of the legendary "Festival Comblain -la-Tour," Jean -Marie Peterken , Liège has hosted great stars from the beginning such as Sonny Rollins,

Lionel Hampton

vibraphone
1908 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Lionel Hampton,

Gerry Mulligan

saxophone, baritone
1927 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Mulligan,

Chick Corea

piano
1941 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Chick Corea,

Benny Carter

saxophone, alto
1907 - 2003

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Carter,

Benny Golson

saxophone, tenor
1929 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Golson,

Elvin Jones

drums
1927 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Elvin Jones,

Brad Mehldau

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Brad Mehldau and many others. One expected the worst when the RTBF (Belgian Television and Radio) left its studios at the Congress Palace—this meant the lack of audio material for the festival. Nevertheless the festival went on, with difficulty, until the arrival of a new sponsor, the pharmaceutical company, Mithra .

This revival was marked by a three-day festival. As a great fan of the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Jean-Marie Peterken organized Jazz à Liège as a multi-room event with five different auditoriums where all jazz streams are represented, from swing to free jazz, from solos to big bands, from young Belgian musicians to international figures. People like or dislike this concept: leaving a concert to attend another one can be quite disturbing for the audience and the musicians, so this year I neglected a lot of interesting things to attend full concerts.

Day 1

A single concert, that of

Paolo Conte

composer / conductor
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Paolo Conte. The Italian singer hasn't been in Liège for so many years that the concert was sold out long before the concert date, and his fans quickly filled the largest room of the Palais des Congrès. The audience was overwhelmed with joy at the end of the first song; it seemed to be an "encore" as the atmosphere was warm. Although he was feeling run-down by a severe cold, Paolo Conte sang almost all his successful tunes, which overjoyed his audience, thanks to ten multi-instrumentalist musicians flying high during the 90-minute show with the former lawyer.

Day 2

With pianist

Kenny Barron

piano
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Barron and bassist

Dave Holland

bass
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Holland, Friday evening began with two magicians of today's jazz (although Kenny Barron recorded his first album in 1961!) Playing personal compositions (the superb " Waltz KW " in tribute to

Kenny Wheeler

flugelhorn
1930 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Wheeler, the funky "Pass It On" (for

Ed Blackwell

drums
1929 - 1992

" data-original-title="" title="">Ed Blackwell) and jazz standards (including

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker 's the seldom played " Segment ," with a delightful version of Monk's "In Walked Bud" as an encore), the dialogue between the two men let one almost forget the technical virtuosity used to subjugate us by complicity, invention, feeling and shared lyricism. If the expression "to be in heaven " had a reason to be somewhere that night , it sure was in this crowded room.

She is still unknown to the general public, but believe me, it will soon change!

Cecile McLorin Salvant

vocals
b.1989

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecile McLorin Salvant has everything required of a great singer: an exceptional voice that goes from low to high notes with astonishing ease , a sense of pace , swing ( swinging jazz still exists!), sensitivity, a pulse in the tradition , and a play list rarely sung by her peers (" John Henry ," " Nobody," the list is endless). With the wonderful

Aaron Diehl

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Aaron Diehl on piano, the audience understood and gave her an enthusiastic welcome.

Kenny Garrett

saxophone, alto
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Garrett also filled the large room. The former

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis's saxophonist has earned a reputation over the last few years: technique, power, pace made him the biggest alto sax in contemporary jazz. The American has everything to heat a room and tonight the leader was at his best. A Coltrane rhythm to start an incredible bravura twenty-minute piece conquered the public. Keeping such a pace reaches the supernatural, so Kenny Garrett caught his breath on a few more anecdotal pieces.

Day 3

Set in the early evening,

Archie Shepp

saxophone, tenor
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Archie Shepp's concert was expected to be the biggest event of the festival by aficionados. In 2012, the great tenor saxophonist resumed his legendary album Attica Blues(Impulse!, 1972) with a large orchestra of 29 musicians (rhythm section, blowers, strings and choir). The album related the drama of the Attica prison of September 13, 1971, and represents a major milestone in his career as a musician and activist for the black cause in the United States. With two former figures of Great Black Music (percussionist

Famoudou Don Moye

drums
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Famoudou Don Moye and pianist

Amina Claudine Myers

piano
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Amina Claudine Myers) plus a great funky bassist in recent years (

Reggie Washington

bass
b.1962

" data-original-title="" title="">Reggie Washington ) and a handful of French musicians (among others, saxophonist

Francois Theberge

" data-original-title="" title="">Francois Theberge and the colorful guitarist

Pierre Durand

" data-original-title="" title="">Pierre Durand), the " Attica Blues Orchestra " playlist included the original album , but also pieces from The Cry of My People (Impulse!, 1972) or Mama Too Tight ( Impulse!, 1966), a composition from Amina Claudine Myers, and

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" completed the playlist of a concert in the most beautiful vein of the blues tradition . In exceptional form (77 years anyway) , Archie Shepp gave inspiration to completely relaxed musicians. We can't count the highlights of a concert with dramatic accents, but also very bright moments.

If there was a revelation out of these performance (but it's a little unfair for the quality of all the musicians) , we noted the discovery of the voice of Marion Rampal , who was completely invested in this fabulous project. Like the members of the orchestra, Archie Shepp received a standing ovation by the audience. During these three days, we felt the Liège festival was relaunched on new bases, as well as for the quality of the program. For the sake of public's interest in the festival, let's hope for the best for the 25th edition in 2015!

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