Richmond Jazz Festival preview, part 1

Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.

1. Pace In Yo Face on August 11, 2010 11:47 AM said:

   ………………….
2. .:. on August 11, 2010 12:51 PM said:

   Heavy conceptual sh!t here. I’m going to try to wrap my head around it. It may be a while before I can effectively organize these thoughts into a concise theory, but I hope this might spawn a discussion that will help me materialize a formal idea:

   It seems as if some of these artists may be asking something of their audience that could create a mind-blowing paradoxical association.

   By presenting meteorology music outdoors, in the conditions that meteorology itself studies, some of these musicians are effectively creating a psychological wrinkle in the fabric of consciousness of their audience. A potentially uncomfortable and unidentifiable emotion, similar to the discomfort of familiarity mixed with equal part confusion.

   Are they essentially turning their backs on the 24/7 cable feed that so loyally presented their music for so many years, in favor of playing in support of real weather? Biting the hand that has so lovingly fed them since inception?

   Are these musicians taking a stand for the actual weather elements, rather than the reliable monitoring, recording, and presentation of the elements provided by TWC (formally The Weather Channel)? Is this a metaphor for a larger umbrella of media coverage and broadcast entertainment, or a precisely aimed shot across the bow of television weather reporting?

   Might this be a protest festival against the over-powering wave of reality television in the past 15 years? Could this be seen as artists taking a stand against the homogenization of the entertainment industry?

   Perhaps this is a large-scale, and extremely thought-provoking art installation, rife with social commentary and disdain toward, not just television’s effect on live arts, but cable television’s effect on human inactivity and acceptance of the presentation of reality rather than reality itself.

   Go! Go and experience meteorology music and real weather together! Your television set is not the only place to experience these two things!

   Paradigm explosion. I have not even yet attended the protest and my mind is splintering off into an exponential amount of idea factions that seem to become autonomous, no longer requiring my mental capacity. They do what they will. They, themselves, debate the question of free will versus determinism, and choose… CHOOSE! free will! These ideas just leave their incubator behind without hesitation, just as meteorology music seems to be doing to TWC.
3. Pace In Yo Face on August 11, 2010 1:32 PM said:

   Amazing!
4. Bryan H. on August 11, 2010 5:12 PM said:

   amazing
5. Jason on August 11, 2010 6:41 PM said:

   The Richmond Jazz “Muzak” festival!! …I should say, it looks pretty entertaining.
6. Weather Dan on August 11, 2010 9:38 PM said:

   Did someone say meteorology? I wish I was in town this weekend.
7. Dean Christesen on August 11, 2010 9:41 PM said:

   Haha!
8. DHood on August 12, 2010 4:28 AM said:

   Quick first impressions:

   1. George Duke is killin’ in the jazziest* of jazz* ways in that Chaka Kahn Clip! And Ronald Bruner Jr.’s first trade is crazy/funny and the second is kind of incredible.

   2. In that Stanley Clarke clip, imagine if the jazz* guitar and piano were replaced by super huge sounding metal shred guitars….

   3. I think Poncho Sanchez should bill himself as Poncho Sanchez and the Incredible Beard Band.

   4. Two(ish) words about the Sam’s Funky Nation clip: Trombone Auto-tune! You wouldn’t have to even think about slide positions; that’s unexplored territory right there!

   5. I’m convinced BK Jackson is sax-syncing in that Fox-13 clip!

   6. And that Maestro J clip brings me back…to this past UR basketball season where the UR Pep band played that song at just about every game! Hey Maestro J you know you’re welcome to come sit in anytime, man; that song usually doesn’t have a solo section but an exception can be made for you!

   *=(*shutter*)
9. Ms_Luc on August 15, 2010 10:26 AM said:

   I attended the first day of the event and plan to attend the 2nd. I love the concept of a local Jazz Festival given that Richmonders often have to travel to Hampton or even New Orleans for this type of line-up. The effort gets an A-plus. However, a few housekeeping items should be worked out before the next Festival.

   1). There should be more signage in both Maymont and Byrd parks to direct attendees to parking and to the satelite lot that provides shuttle service.

   2). The Saturday concerts ended after 11pm. Given that parking was so suspect, sparse, and random, the park should be more well lit. I would hate for someone to be abducted, attacked, or robbed while going back to their vehicle when this is an easy, proactive fix.

   3). I only saw one row of bathrooms which I suppose are to be centered betweent the two stages. Additionally, food vendors are also in one location. I wonder if the placement of these facilities might be better navigated if they were split closer to each of the stages. Attendees seem to have difficulty cutting across the grounds once it got dark.

   4). I love the idea of the large screens, however, during the Chaka Khan show, they were barely functional (not clear, not in HD, random). This seems like an easily correctable thing.

   With the magnitude of the event, the items I have mentioned are minor. The performances were outstanding! Having two separate stages without overlapping some of the more featured artists was ingenius. I anticipate the next Jazz Festival being an even bigger better event!