The Cork Jazz Festival

Last weekend the Cork Jazz Festival took place, bringing a massive influx of visitors to the city. My friend Sky and I decided that although the tickets were expensive, we absolutely had to see the Chick Corea & John McLaughlin All Star Band play. John and Chick were the original founders of the legendary (possibly first) fusion band Return to Forever. Both John and Chick also played with Miles Davis. Chick Corea & John McLaughlin were the star act of the Jazz Festival, and tickets sold out. Luckily, Sky and I had bought ours a month earlier :). They were playing at the Opera House, Cork's nicest venue.

We showed up at 8:00 pm absolutely pumped to see Chick & John play. Another perk was the fact that we had secured balcony seats, so we had the best view in the house. We had a few pints of Guinness (the sponsor of the Jazz Fest) before the music started. I have to say that now that I live in Ireland I have an appreciation for stout that I had never anticipated.

The opening band was a very traditional group called the Cindy Blackman Quartet. The group was from NYC, and they were headed by Cindy Blackman, a super-funky chick drummer with a massive fro. She was accompanied by a stand-up acoustic bass, tenor sax, and keys/piano player. I was blown away by Cindy's skill on the drumset. She was hands down the best female drummer I've ever seen. She had the jazz beats down to a science, and would leave them frequently to explore eccentric jazz solos on the toms and cymbals. The guy playing the keys was incredible as well. He played one piece on the traditional piano that was extremely beautiful, probably my favorite piece they played. They finished with a loud applause from the audience. It was a great way to start the evening and it got all of us in jazz mode.

There was a short break while the bands changed over, and we decided to have some coffee since it was going to be a late night. We journeyed back to our seats after a while and got ready to see what we had come for. After a while Chick & John walked out, met by enthusiastic appluase, and did a cool little experimental, spacey improv piece together that they made up right on the spot. The rest of the band came out once Chick & John finished jamming together. This was the line-up:

Chick Corea (keyboards)
John McLaughlin (electric guitar)
Kenny Garrett (alto sax)
Christian McBride (Bass) *MY FAVORITE BASS PLAYER*
Vinnie Colaiuta (Drums)

The group opened up with a screaming tune that put us all in shock. McLaughlin's tone was unbelieveable. He hardly used any effects while he played, just a little bit of overdrive. That's the sign of a truly good guitar player- he didn't need cool sounds to sound cool! I couldn't tell what type of guitar he was playing but I'm sure it was something he designed himself. One of the coolest things he kept doing, aside from heart-stopping, lighting fast jazz guitar solos flying all over the fretboard, was that he kept plucking these really high harmonics and then cutting them off by slamming down the whammy bar. It was impressive.

Chick was something else. In addition to the incredible drummer, Colaiuta, Chick provided the foundation for every groove, and he found plenty of room to solo and show us his skill with his spacey synth style. On one song he played a long intro on a traditional piano and then McBride came in using a stand up acoustic bass and a BOW. I had never seen a bass player use a bow before. It sounded awesome. The groove evolved from a very smooth feel to a super funky jam. It was one of their best tunes they played that night.

Let me take a minute to tell you a little bit about Christian McBride, because he was so amazing that I would have paid 50 Euro just to see him play alone. Throughout the night he switched back and forth between a custom, fretless electric bass (extremely badass), and his stand up acoustic bass. One solo of McBride's that stands out in my mind was an impressive measure he did on the stand up acoustic bass. This occurred right after McLaughlin tore off one of his characteristic solos. In order to keep the tempo, McBride simply didn't slow down. He played a solo on the stand up bass at the same speed McLaughlin had. It was out of this world. I've never heard a stand up bass solo that was so fast, so awesome, and so on key. His fingers were completely blurry as they flew up and down the neck. On the other end of the spectrum, the grooves that he established on the electric fretless were funkier, and they packed a powerful punch. He just stood in the back the entire time smiling while he played, hardly able to believe that he was playing with Chick & John, but they couldn't have drafted a better bass player. He was one of the best parts of the show.

The drummer was a inspiration to say the least. Being a beginning drummer myself, I couldn't believe this guy. He had a much tighter, "rockier" style than Cindy Blackman, but it worked perfectly with the group. He was definitely a fusion, as opposed to strictly jazz drummer. He laid down the funkiest beats, and like Blackman, left the beat he established with ease in order to provide powerful offbeat kicks and solos. He was probably twice as good as Blackman in my opinion. Like all of the other musicians, he got a standing ovation at the end of the show.

The songs just kept better and better as they played for about two hours. Some of the tunes evolved into near 15 minute long jams. Towards the end of the show I just started laughing in disbelief the music was so good. It was hands down the BEST jazz performance I have EVER SEEN.

Here's a clip from the concert on YouTube.