It’s the 34th annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival. MAGNET’s Mitch Myers translates the action.
What’s the name of that old Kraftwerk tune, “Musique Non-Stop”? That’s how it feels in Copenhagen, and I can’t wake up early enough to see even a fraction of the action. Still, the shows I’ve attended continue to be first rate. American tenor titan/Berklee educator George Garzone has been coming to Copenhagen forever and has a great rapport with the Danish musicians in town. Garzone played multiple shows here, and his gig at the Jazz Cup was bold and beautiful. Garzone comes straight out of the Coltrane bag but has his own sound and should be far better known in the U.S. than he is. I also caught him at an awesome late-night jam session with pianist Kenny Werner and drummer Joe Lovano , which was a sight to behold. Check out Garzone’s new CD, 40 Years On The Fringe, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of his band, the Fringe. Can you say veteran?
Ever curious, I went to see the David Murray Infinity Quartet with Macy Gray again, and they were great—way better than their Montreal show last week. The reason for this was that the Copenhagen crowd was much more responsive to Gray, and she returned their affection in kind. Highlights continue to be songs like “Relating To A Psychopath,” Ellington’s “In My Solitude” and the title track of Murray’s new album, Be My Monster Love. Rumor has it Murray got seriously lost in the catacombs of the Royal Theater after the show à la Spinal Tap. But have no fear, all turned out well as Murray, Macy and the band came to the jam session at the Jazzhus Montmarte, much to the excitement of all.
For some local flavor I went to an outdoor gig by Pasborg’s Free Moby Dick, led by drummer Stefan Pasborg who happens to be the godson of Danish drum legend Alex Riel. Pasborg played a killing set of heavy jazz versions of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” a Led Zeppelin medley and even King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man.” The band encored with Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” and everybody loved it, including myself.
I finally wound up hanging with my old buddies Medeski Martin & Wood, and their show last night at The Royal Theater was a solid success. I love these guys, and all three of them are masters of their respective instruments. Even though they don’t tour as much as they used to, they have great individual projects going at all times. Keyboardist Medeski is headed off to play some European dates with John Zorn, and drummer Billy Martin has his band Wicked Knee and is doing some film soundtracks. Bassist Chris Wood is busting out all over with his brother Oliver in the Wood Brothers—watch for their new CD, The Muse, produced by Buddy Miller. Anyways, that’s MMW, a band you can trust.
