As with all things New Orleans, the incomparable New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been in steady recovery mode.  If the second ’08 weekend is any example, at least that very important part of the New Orleans jazz, culture, and social calendar is all the way back.  Duties at our own excellent Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland (TCJF) (see the Plain Dealer daily newspaper web site for several laudatory reviews of the proceedings) prevented attendance at NOJ&HF weekend #1, which generally overlaps TCJF weekend #2; the weather gods weren’t kind that weekend anyway, thoroughly drenching the first Saturday.

So our return to the Crescent City from TCJF was spiced with eager anticipation for NOJ&HF weekend #2, including the return of Thursdays to the schedule.  Thursday has long been unofficially designated as a big day for "locals" to invade the Fairgrounds and sample Jazzfest; the legions of Jazzfest visitors generally arrive for Friday-Sunday.  This year also brought a new view of Jazzfest as I eagerly volunteered for stage announcement duties in the WWOZ Jazz Tent and for WWOZ broadcast stints, which began with the Thursday proceedings.

After catching some lunch at the Louisiana foodfest that accompanies Jazzfest (yes folks, when you’re at Jazzfest the eats are a major part of the fun) — in this case a de rigeur soft shell crab po’boy washed down with the ever-refreshing strawberry lemonade and followed by some red velvet cake that was unfortunately a bit on the dry side (scratch that one for the weekend), I ambled over to the WWOZ Jazz Tent to catch the second half of NOLA diva Topsy Chapman’s tribute to Dinah Washington, then intro’ed Phillip Manuel’s potent tribute to Nat King Cole and headed over to the broadcast tent.  Via broadcast headphones I got a big earful of trumpeter Maurice Brown Effect’s set followed by Big Chief Donald Harrison’s Mardi Gras Indian-funk & bop informed brand of alto madness to close the day.

Getting to the Fairgrounds, which due to post-Katrina construction doesn’t offer general parking facilities, is a tad adventurous by car.  The parking matter was solved by the many enterprising neighbors and businesses in the vacinity of the Fairgrounds who are more than willing to sell you a parking spot on their property.  Arriving on Friday in time for the (Dirty Dozen Brass Band veteran) Kirk Joseph Tuba Woodshed set featuring fellow tubist Matt Perrine, was an exceptional immersion into the low end of New Orleans’ rich brass tradition.  Later that day we broadcast The Bad Plus, who remain much more rewarding live than on record where their dry humor is not the same as they explore their unusual repertoire.  One thing I’ve always appreciated about The Bad Plus is how they bring a new audience element to what is in essence a standard acoustic piano trio landscape.

Friday’s closing sets offered tough choices — broadcast responsibilities aside; one had to choose between Stevie Wonder on the big Acura stage, John Prine on the Gentilly Stage, Michael Franti & Spearheard on the Congo Square stage, Terence Blanchard & the Louisiana Philharmonic in the Jazz Tent, NOLA’s blues queen Marva Wright (who WWOZ broadcasted) in the Blues Tent, a tribute to Clifton Chenier on the Fais Do Do Stage, "All a Part of God’s Family" in the Gospel Tent, the Soul Rebels Brass Band on the Jazz Heritage Stage… you get the idea.  A late afternoon rain shower simplified my choice: remain in the ‘OZ broadcast tent; a quick dash over to the Acura Stage, where the audience is uncovered, proved less than satisfying as the Stevie hordes had spilled onto the track in a sea of umbrellas.  From most reports Stevie didn’t disappoint.

With no broadast responsibilities, Saturday Jazz Tent highlights included the lush-voiced Stephanie Jordan (daughter of free jazz saxman Edward "Kidd" Jordan, sister of flutist Kent, trumpeter Marlon, and violinist Rachel, one of NOLA’s most gifted musical families), a brilliant and well-produced tribute to Max Roach delivered by drummers Herlin Riley, Jason Marsalis, Shannon Powell + band, big fun Bobby McFerrin/Chick Corea duo, and closing with trumpeter Irvin Mayfield (see our @ Home piece in the current issue of JazzTimes) and his New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.  Among the many NOJO delights of their NOLA-proud set was the revelatory and joyous clarinet playing of Evan Christopher.  They closed the Jazz Tent with actor Jude Law eagerly joining a second line onstage.

The festival closed on Sunday with all manner of musical delights, topped by Dianne Reeves on fire in the Jazz Tent.  At one point when I eased away from the Jazz Tent for one of the weekend’s highlight eats — luscious banana bread pudding (other weekend gastronomic delights included the duck po’boy, and the succulent crochon du lait — I hope I got that right — po’boy, chicken & tasso over creole rice) — as I crossed the grounds lazily lingering at several stages inhaling my treat, there was the unique experience of hearing Big Chief Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians chanting out "Iko Iko OBAMA" over the blistering trumpet solo of Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, at the same time the Derek Trucks Band was wailing Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s anthem "Volunteered Slavery" in the Blues Tent.  The weekend happily proved once again that there ain’t nothin’ like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival!

Peace,

Willard Jenkins

The Independent Ear

Now that the deed has been done and the International Association for Jazz Education has seemingly folded it’s tent and significantly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection — a filing quite different from the more familiar Chapter 11 which would at least leave the door ajar for some form of organizational recovery as Ricky Schultz pleads in his intelligent Comment left on this site — the big question is what’s next. 

From the many Comments posted in response to our original Woe is IAJE rant from April 7, one surmises that there is abundant energy out there in the jazz community for the formation of some kind of national organization designed to fill the percieved void…  But what exactly? Who out there is willing to at least lead the discussion?  What’s the next step(s)?  Can/will the Jazz Improv convention fill the cavernous void left by the demise of the annual IAJE conference?

One key element of Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is a state appointed investigation into the causal factors behind the organization’s demise.  That should be an interesting process if the many ills and examples of malfeasance that have been suggested by IAJE intimates is true.  I was struck — dumbstruck might be a more apt description — by two recent examples of questionable journalism.  A few weeks ago the New York Times and the Chronicle of Philanthropy separately reported on the IAJE endgame.  I can’t for the life of me figure how NYT writer Ben Ratliff considered it anywhere close to good journalism to allow former IAJE director Bill McFarlin to get away scott free (again!) with his breathless declaration to the effect that if only I had known the depths of IAJE’s fiscal problems I wouldn’t have left (bailed is more like it) and would have remained to right the ship… or words to that effect.  Mr. Ratliff allowed that ludicrous statement to stand; no challenge, no follow-up question, no shocked exclamation along the lines of how is it humanly possible that after serving the organization for 24 years as its executive director, you could have the stones to tell me and my readers that if only you had known… if you didn’t KNOW, who the hell did???

In the Chronicle of Philanthropy IAJE legal counsel Alan Bergman, himself a wannabe drummer, amazingly blamed the demise of IAJE on the organization’s musician leadership; cavalierly dismissing the causal factors as if to say, what could you expect from an organization led by mere jazz musicians.  I for one found that to be extremely insulting to the many brilliant and capable jazz musicians it has been my good fortune to be around for my forty years writing about jazz, volunteer broadcasting jazz, producing jazz concerts and festivals, running jazz organizations, and consulting with countless jazz musicians.  To impugn jazz musicians in this way is specious at best coming from someone who held both IAJE board positions, was the organization’s legal counsel, and continues to represent jazz musicians for goodness sakes!

We can only hope the court-appointed independent investigator will at last bring some transparency to the sad demise of IAJE.  One can dream…  In the meantime, what next…?  Your Comments, questions, suggestions, ideas, etc. are more than welcomed they are encouraged on this site.  Please weigh in with your take since all this stuff hit the fan.

Peace,

Willard Jenkins

The Independent Ear

Well folks the deed is done.  With yesterday’s anticipated announcement from International Association for Jazz Education president Chuck Owen, the doors have been officially closed on IAJE’s offices in Manhattan, KS, the 2009 Seattle conference has been cancelled, and the whole shebang is about to be turned over to receivership.  The one hopeful note in that avalanche of bad and disappointing news is that an independent investigator will now be assigned to determine how this all transpired.  I for one remain astounded that fiscal malfeasance of this magnitude could only have been revealed in the full light of day to the IAJE board just last Fall — as characterized in an earlier ‘we’re as surprised and dismayed as you’ memo from the board.  How could that be?  How could this level of incompetence have gone on so long, so thoroughly unchecked.  As a 25-year NAJE/IAJE member I for one want some answers — not a pound of flesh mind you — just some legitimate answers as to how the membership and volunteer support of so many of us in the jazz community could have been so thoroughly betrayed.  Have the chickens come home to roost?  WHAT’S YOUR TAKE?

If there are any readers out there who still think The Independent Ear has some manner of axe to grind where it concerns the current critical state of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) with our original editorial rant Woe is IAJE (if you’re not hip to it, scroll down to just below the Transparent Productions interview — and don’t sleep on the Nicole Mitchell interview or Transparent piece in between — and read for yourself), then you are humbly advised to read the extensive list of comments readers have left in the wake of that piece.  And please pay particular attention to comment #26 from a former IAJE staffer.  As they say in the old country… ’nuff said!

Peace,

Willard Jenkins

The Independent Ear

P.S. Does anyone out here have any substantive solutions to this mess?