I wandered into a packed coffeehouse in the shadow of Oregon's capitol building last Thursday. For a few intoxicating minutes, I thought I'd stumbled across a vibrant jazz scene. A student big band from a nearby university had just played and I was convinced that the jovial crowd was primed to hear a professional band play a headlining set.
The low turnout in Kansas City for the one of the most celebrated artists in jazz was still fresh in my mind. Although he's pictured on the cover of the current issue of Downbeat, was featured in a 6-minute segment on NPR the previous day and was spotlighted in The Star's jazz column, Miguel Zenón attracted just a few dozen people to the Blue Room last Monday. (Here are my notes.)
Yet Salem turned out in equal numbers for a superb regional ensemble. Alas, half the audience fled after 15 minutes of this. Ten people remained after 30 minutes. The deliberate evacuation was one of the most discouraging refutations of jazz I've witnessed.
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I featured Sara Swenson on KCUR's Local Listen segment.
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Making Movies appear in a Tiny Desk Concert.
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Manitas de Plata has died.
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Call me a Maggot. Slipknot's Slipknot- .5: The Gray Chapter rings true to me. RIYL: rage, Slayer, frustration.
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Cat Stevens is the comeback artist of the year.
(Original image of the Salem jazz debacle by There Stands the Glass.)
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