Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Summer Taking Shape

If you live in a winter-bound place like me, the concept of summer begins to look very good just about now. Even with a long weekend approaching, the cold days stretch out ahead without much relief in sight.

Best, then, to think of warmer days and summer jazz festivals.

From this vantage point, it looks like this summer is shaping up to be a decent one for the North American festival circuit. The Maria Schneider Orchestra is hitting the road, which is always a good thing, and the band has already announced dates in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Sonny Rollins will be around, as will Wayne Shorter. Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani will be playing duets in a number of cities, including Montreal, and Gary Burton has announced a tour for his "Reunion Quartet" with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow and Antonio Sanchez.

As far as younger players, like The Bad Plus, Brian Blade, Kurt Rosenwinkle, et.al., no solid word, but that's the stuff that winter dreams are made of.

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