SPAC Nonstop Jazz Is A Fan’s Delight

by Jack Hoffman, Rutland Daily Herald, July 9, 1981

It was billed as an afternoon and evening of the greatest names in jazz.

Weather Report, Mel Torme and his trio, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, the Dizzy Gillespie Quartet, Carmen McRae and her trio, Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority and others appeared on stage at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

They brought to a close two days of non-stop jazz at SPAC’s Jazz Kaleidoscope, which was part of the grand finale for the Kool Jazz Festival that began in New York City on June 26.

In addition to the big-name performers on the main stage, others played in the smaller “Gazebo” on the grounds of the arts center.

With such a line-up of stars, there was a little of something for everyone. With the thousands that thronged to SPAC for the Fourth of July, there were fans aplenty for each set.

Saturday’s line-up was as impressive as Sunday’s. B.B. King, Nancy Wilson and Woody Herman were among those
who appeared on the Fourth.

As it had on Saturday, the music started at noon on Sunday and continued straight through until midnight. Technicians and stagehands, working quickly between sets to rearrange instruments and equipment, kept the breaks short.

Except for an unscheduled cloudburst, which hit at about 9 p.m. and quickly drenched the thousands camped out on the hillside in front of the amphitheater, the production was flawless.

Unfortunately, the only way one can hear so much good music, even in a 12-hour period, is to get the performers on and off the stage fairly quickly.

It was a rare treat to hear, at one sitting, such divergent sounds as Carmen McRae’s singing of “New York State of Mind,” Dave Brubeck’s classic “Take Five” and “Birdland” by the fusion band, Weather Report. But it was clear that everyone was aware of the time limit — each set lasted roughly an hour — and some of the improvisation, so much a part of jazz, was missing.

Some groups did better than others with the time constraint.

Gillespie, his cheeks bulging as he blew his tilted horn, managed to get cooking as soon as he stepped onto the stage. The audience readily responded to the energy he brought to the show.

Brubeck, though he started a bit slower, also got rolling by the end of his set.

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