SFJAZZ Collective - Tonight!

THE VOICE OF THE COLLECTIVE
Plays the songs of Stevie Wonder

It's hard to make a dent in the world alone. Get some like-minded people together however and all of a sudden... doors open and if it lasts the test of time, it becomes an idea stronger than any one individual. That is what the SFJAZZ Collective has become. Fueled by the idea of putting together an all-star ensemble of eight musicians and collaborating on a unique program for the year, the group works out their repertoire in a residency in San Francisco, followed by world-wide touring.

Wow... that's a mouthful. Then again, it is not an easy thing - to identify a clear goal and then execute it. Collectives however are not a new or rare concept. There are collectives such as the New York based Jazz Composers Collective that was a staple of the Downtown Jazz Scene, Brooklyn Jazz Underground, the Boston Microtonal Society, a number of European-based collectives, and one cannot talk about collectives without mensioning the oldest running collective, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) which supported groups such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Anthony Braxton.

The strength is always in numbers and therefore reaching many more people. What seems to be unique about SFJAZZ Collective is that they are a specific group of musicians every year that tour. Where as most of the above mentioned are localized scenes of musicians, SFJAZZ is mobile in essence. The significance of this is tremendous. First of all the collective is an international collaboration of musicians that originate from the countries like the US, Israel, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Bringing together musicians in a long lasting edeavour such as this makes for many new ideas.
In fact one of the qualities that come across in most collectives that I have heard, is that everyone is equally invested in the project and therefore everyone gives more of themselves. There is no leader - sideman feel.

The band this year is nothing nothing short of amazing. MacArthur Grantee Miguel Zenon on alto saxophone; one of the tenor sax voices of his generation, Mark Turner; the Israeli trumpeter Avishai Cohen; Robin Eubanks, the trombonist known for his part in the great Dave Holland Quintet; one of the hottest drummers today Eric Harland; bassist Matt Penman, also a member of the group James Farm; Stefon Harris, the brilliant vibraphonist; and favored sideman, pianist Edward Simon. Tonight Eric Harland will be replaced by none other then equally virtuosic drummer Kendrick Scott.

The show tonight starts at 8pm at Centerpointe Theater in Nepean. For more info please visit the jazz festival website.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/