Like a vintage wine, some things age to perfection, and the pair of 3 score anniversaries from 2 famous concerts celebrated timeless aspects of jazz.
The famous Massey Hall concert that cemented the fiundarion of bebop was revisited by having Jon Faddis, Jesse Davis, Bill Charlap, Peter Washington and Kenny Washington run through the exact same set made iconic by Gillespie, Parker, Powell, Mingus and Roach respectively. Rather than mere imitations, versions of “Salt Peanuts”, “Hot House” and “A Night In Tunisia” were delivered with a fresh zeal rhat seems to be absent in this era of cacophony for its own sake.
The second half consisted of Anat Cohen/cl-ts , Karrin Allyson/voc-p, Randy Brecker/tp, Mark Whitfield/g, Peter Martin/p, Ben Allison/b and Clarence Penn/dr giving an exciting tribute to the Newport Jazz Fest with sizzling instrumentals such as “Blues Connotation” and “Brakes Sake/Teo” which mixed fervent solos by Brecker, Cohen and Penn, while Allyson and Allison entranced with a haunting “‘Round Midnight” and a tender “La Vie en Rose” had Cohen’ clarinet and Allyson’s voice create a sublime ecstasy.
While there were no formal renewal of vows, as is the custom with such anniversaries, the commitment to remaining faithful was in plain awareness to all of the guests that attended the gala.