Jazz Notes: Aussie Jazz Fest Bounces Back

Last month, the city of Melbourne, Australia, hosted a multiday, multivenue jazz festival (May 5-15) that was impressive on several fronts. After earlier incarnations that were ultimately sunk by the slowdown of international travel in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, the festival rebounded this year under the artistic direction of Italian impresario Carlo Pagnotta, who imported his Umbria Jazz Festival brand to the Down Under jazz hotbed.

Featuring a balanced lineup of Aussies, Italians and Americans, Umbria Jazz-Melbourne 2005 called itself the largest jazz festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Indigenous revelations included pianist Paul Grabowsky, whose refined, and at times atonal, repertoire was on display in quintet and solo performances. Also, eclectic pianist/bandleader Mike Nock delivered delightful groove and dissonance in his surprising arrangements with both a trio and his hip Big Small Band octet.

The Italians were well-represented by trumpeter Paolo Fresu, pianist Danilo Rea and bassist Giovanni Tommaso. But the hardest-working, most dynamic performer of the festival was 15-year-old saxophone phenom Francesco Cafiso. He has been championed by the Umbria godfathers, who are nurturing him. He has yet to record a studio album, but in his omnipresent appearances he displayed a depth of jazz knowledge and improvisational brio.

Working nightly in the Melbourne club Bennetts Lane with an American backup band led by tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and guitarist Joe Cohn, Cafiso showed he has come a long way since his introduction to the New York jazz scene early last year. But it remains to be seen how big an impact he will have when he hooks up with a band of peers and begins developing his own compositions in lieu of feasting on Charlie Parker classics.

While vocalist Karrin Allyson and guitarist John Scofield turned in strong double-headers, the true Wizard of Oz was Wayne Shorter, who brought the festival to its climax with a pair of brilliant journey-like shows on the last two nights. He performed with his quartet stalwarts John Pattitucci (bass) and Brian Blade (drums). Pianist Jason Moran, in his first appearance with Shorter, filled in for regular band member Danilo Perez.

During the opening night Moran began tentatively but strengthened during the set with his fast, hard rhythmic pounces. The next day Pattitucci noted, "The band is family. You don't just bring someone in to substitute. We're accommodating. We opened the door to Jason and invited him to the table."

The next evening, with Moran's nerves settled and the onstage sound monitors adjusted, the quartet went into improvisational orbit with one of the strongest sets I've seen in years.

In the mix of both evenings were jaunts through "Joy Rider," "As Far As the Eye Can See" and "Smilin' Through." Those tunes appear on Shorter's new live quartet album, "Beyond the Sound Barrier," that streets June 14 on Verve. Three days later, the quartet will play New York's JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall.



DANILO LIVE: In related news, Danilo Perez is not skipping a beat in the aftermath of being dropped by Verve. He has hooked up with ArtistShare for his new CD, "Live at the Jazz Showcase," recently released exclusively on his Web site, daniloperez.com. His trio mates are bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz.

The artistic director for the Mellon Jazz Up Close series at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and the founder of the Panama Jazz Festival, Perez includes on the disc reworked versions of his originals as well as tunes by fellow Panamanian Ruben Blades and Cuban songwriter Silvio Rodriguez.



THREE DOT LOUNGE: Eddie Palmieri celebrates his 50th anniversary as a maestro of Latin jazz piano June 14 with his new Concord Picante CD, "Listen Here," featuring guests David Sánchez, Regina Carter, John Scofield and Michael Brecker . . . The third annual bash of "The Spirit of Django Reinhardt," a concert of hot swing paying homage to the French gypsy guitarist, will take place July 27 in New York at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. Special guests are Latin jazz clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera and France-based guitarist Dorado Schmitt and violinist Florin Niculescu. ••••