In late October I attended for the first time the Roswell Jazz Festival in Roswell, NM. I tied it in with my plans to attend the Arizona Classic Jazz Festival a week later. I added visits to four national parks in Texas and New Mexico around the two festivals, in keeping with my desire to have more than one reason for flying most or all the way across the country.
Until I happened to check Roswell’s website a week before the event (and the day before I left home) I did not know that there were free music sets in a city park in the afternoons. I had signed up for an all-events ticket but received no information about the “extras” before leaving.
This festival is more accurately described as a party, as there are no organized bands, only individual musicians who are put together in various combinations during the weekend. Other festivals follow this format. There were 32 invited performers and 55 sets in all, including the free ones, thereby producing an almost infinite number of possible musical combinations. A few of the sets overlapped, to my dismay, so it was not possible to take in everything.
Some of the sets were at paid events that included an unstated obligation to buy food and/or drinks at additional cost. One was at a coffee house, two at a winery, and one at a restaurant. I signed up for all of them, figuring that since I had to eat anyway, why not consume some music, too. My experience with these events was mixed. The food selection at each was limited and most venues were not ideally designed for music. A notable exception was The Liberty, about which more below.
The musicians came from across the country; I knew most of those from the East but only a few from the West. There were a few last-minute changes in the lineup. Reedman Ken Peplowski had recently undergone emergency hernia surgery and had to cancel. Bassist Peter Washington did not attend. Drummer Hal Smith was the guest of honor.
The festival took place under somber circumstances. Four days earlier the immediate Roswell area was inundated by six or more inches of rain in just a few hours, producing widespread flash flooding. None of the venues used by the festival were affected, but many local residents lost household belongings and vehicles. I arrived early enough on Wednesday, the opening day, to explore the city on my bike, as I often do, especially cities new to me, like Roswell. I saw very little standing water but many streets were caked in dirt and dust. The damage reminded me of what I had viewed in 1972 from Hurricane Agnes, which displaced several of my relatives in Harrisburg for several months. Many of those uprooted from their homes didn’t have much to begin with, and now have even less. It was impossible not to have empathy for the city’s losses. This is not a high-income area. New Mexico ranks 45th among the states in median household income, and Roswell’s level is even lower than the state’s. I fear that many damaged homes will have to be torn down.
Now about the music. The opening set on Wednesday evening took place at the Stellar Coffee Company, a venue that holds only about 30 people. Despite being advertised as sold out, there were empty seats. It was titled “Acoustic Blues Opener” with a trio of percussion, guitar and vocalist. Not only was it not completely acoustic (the guitar was amped), but the music simply did not strike a chord (pun intended) with me and I only stayed for one set. I noticed that many patrons, including some on the jazz society board, were more or less constantly engaged in conversation with their tablemates while the music was playing. I see this all too often at festivals and concerts and wonder why such people pay to attend and then don’t devote their full attention to the business at hand.
The outdoor free sets were held in a small park downtown on Main Street. Even the 25 or 30 chairs that were set up for attendees were not fully occupied. The park suffered from traffic noise but was shaded virtually all day. The festival officials attributed the low attendance to the flood and lack of publicity in the local newspaper, which is published only three days a week, with no online edition on other days.
Thursday evening’s paid event, “Wine, Dine and Jazz” at the Pecos Flavors Winery opened with a 30-minute solo piano set by Andrew Barrett, son of the well-known trombonist/trumpeter and TST contributor Dan Barrett. I had seen Andrew last year at West Coast Ragtime and was impressed by his command of the 88. He was followed by a rotating roster of groups ranging from three to six pieces. The last set was a bit too modern for my tastes but it was otherwise an enjoyable evening that wrapped up about 9:15. One thing I liked about this festival is that the evening’s events always ended by about 10:15, a nod to us (aging) early risers.
I began my Friday activities with the concert and guest of honor ceremony at noon on the courthouse lawn. Hal Smith and the jazz society’s first scholarship recipient, Marcos Berrones-Basler, a junior clarinetist at the local Robert Goddard High School (named for the astronomer; recall that Roswell’s claim to fame is the site of a reported landing in 1947 of a UFO) were honored. Following an audition, Marcos was able to attend a jazz camp at the University of North Texas this past summer. The city’s mayor spoke about flood recovery efforts and documented some of the losses to public property from the previous weekend’s flood.
I then returned to the small park for one afternoon set, and then “Jazz on the Patio” at Peppers Grill and Bar, also located downtown. There were two 45-minute sets there, each with five musicians. It appeared that the audience included some people who did not attend any other festival events. The main evening event occurred at a recently repurposed auto mechanic and carriage repair shop called The Liberty, a block off Main Street. It worked well for the program, with an ample stage, table seating for perhaps 200, and a kitchen. As at the Pecos Winery, a limited menu was offered. Andrew Barrett again opened with a 30-minute “recital” that included one or two of his own compositions. Because there was a schedule overlap with Peppers, I unfortunately missed most of this set.
The rest of the evening consisted of five half-hour sets. Notably, bassist Erik Unsworth played on several, subbing for Peter Washington, who was on the roster but did not attend. Erik formerly taught at the University of Texas – El Paso, and drummer Ricky Malichi (pronounced Mal-a-KEYE) currently teaches there. Incidentally, at least three other musicians have similar day jobs: pianist Ted Rosenthal and reedman Dan Block, both at Juilliard, and tubist Jim Shearer at New Mexico State.
Then on Saturday morning I attended the two scheduled lectures at The Liberty. Sadly, only about five people were there. The first was by Jim Shearer, about John Philip Sousa’s connection to jazz. The other, which I was not able to stay to its completion, was by Andrew Barrett about stride piano. He also played the piano to supplement his talk.
I next went to the brunch at the Pecos Winery, where a format similar to Thursday evening’s event was followed. The brunch lasted from 10:30 to 2:15, with an opening piano set by Jason Wanner, followed by half-hour sets. Again, some of the sets were a little too modern for my tastes but I cannot fault the musicianship. The food was very good but grossly overpriced, and was on top of the music charge.
I then returned to the small park to catch the final two sets of the weekend there. The first was my first time seeing Barrett father and son perform together, and it was delightful. I’ve known Dan for over 10 years and put him in a class with Teagarden or Dorsey. The second was a quintet with festival director Mike Francis on keyboard. There was a piano on stage but for some reason he did not use it. After that set I filled some of the dead time before the evening show at The Liberty by visiting the library.
Saturday evening’s attraction occurred at The Liberty and included an optional dinner, which most people bought, from the same menu as the previous night. This time Jason Wanner handled the opening piano set, which was followed by five 30-minute band sets. One of the highlights was seeing Johnny Varro sub at the last minute for Ted Rosenthal and Mark Shane, neither of whom could be located in the hall. I knew of Johnny only by reputation, and he amply lived up to it, at age 94.
I skipped the Sunday morning church jazz service as usual. The festival wrapped up in the afternoon at the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, a very unimposing looking building from the outside but beautiful inside. Unlike the finale at most festivals where all participants get in on the act, this one, with two exceptions, only had pianists, but not all of them. They had a beautiful Bosendorfer concert grand to work with. Each musician had about a 10-minute set, although a few ran longer. Yve Evans sang in addition to playing, and Vinny Raniolo soloed on guitar and Chuck Redd on vibes. Chuck also accompanied special guest Johnny Varro on several numbers, to the enjoyment of all. Johnny’s wry sense of humor reminded me of Marty Grosz and Spiegle Willcox.
The afternoon ended with Ted Rosenthal’s Gershwin set that included an abridged but stellar version of “Rhapsody in Blue” that brought the crowd to its feet. I was fortunate to have heard Ted play the entire piece on the 90th anniversary of its premiere, at Town Hall in New York on February 12, 2014, accompanied by Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks. In 1924 Gershwin performed his new opus backed by Paul Whitman’s orchestra at Aeolian Hall, which no longer exists, but was in the same block on 43rd Street as Town Hall.
As for my overall opinion of the festival, I enjoyed it and was glad I came, even though there was more non-traditional jazz than I care for. But I recognize that my tastes in jazz are more narrow than many people’s. As I have previously opined, I prefer festivals with named bands, but this one gave me a more accepting view of jazz parties where individual musicians are invited and then mixed and matched with each other. I saw that this can work well if all the invitees are top-drawer, as they were here. Would I come again? It would depend on who’s on the bill.
Now that I have seen the non-musical attractions in this region, and with the cessation of the Arizona Classic Jazz Festival a week later, it’ll be harder to justify such a long trip for a single purpose. But I will try hard to find a reason to return, as this is a well-run event.
Bill Hoffman is a travel writer, an avid jazz fan and a supporter of musicians keeping traditional jazz alive in performance. He is the concert booker for the Tri-State Jazz Society in greater Philadelphia. Bill lives in Lancaster, PA. He is the author of Going Dutch: A Visitors Guide to the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Unique and Unusual Places in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and The New York Bicycle Touring Guide. Bill lives in Lancaster, PA.
