cassandra wilson @ the charlie parker jazz festival. death's gonna spare none...

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:35:51 GMT

cassandra wilson @ the charlie parker jazz festival.

death's gonna spare none of us. still, as i smoke my life away, i'd like to believe there's a little extra time for us true believers.

2 yrs ago was my first cpjf. was lovely, got there late (a trend that hasn't ended unfortunately). couple pics from that here. after the festival, wandered into the meat and ligament of the village, and in the (outdoor) park with the awesome sculpture on 6 and A (pics maybe to come/be linked), heard music. stopped in. another jazz show. tho it felt invite-onlyish, ingratiated myself to the front and ended up takin pics (first summer of the d50). saw some nifty music. when i walked in, the garden was dark, save for torches and some battery powered whatever, and there was a woman onstage (liz diamond) (http://www.23hq.com/insky/liz%20diamond )singing. sounded eerily like billie holiday channeled thru snapped up equalizers (and please..i don't make that comparison lightly, ever). and she sang. weird thing was, she was sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen tube up her nose. and i fell in love. after her (at this tiny little garden, with like 55 people there) evelyn blakey http://www.23hq.com/insky/evelyn%20blakey is introduced to raucous applause. daughter of art, she put on a fun, very swinging and bluesy set. went up to both of them after the show and chatted a bit - two of the sweetest ladies. sigh.
a year later i passed a homemade memorial for liz diamond stating she'd died, and there'd be a memorial at 6 and b (http://www.23hq.com/insky/photo/419797) . couldn't make it (hadda work) but i snapped a pic and moved on. a year later i see dewey redman standing in as headliner for the sick chico hamilton at the festival. he was, in a word amazing.
later, at the bar, who sidles in for a drink alone - dewey.
had to go up and talk to him and he ended up telling me a lot of his life story and the dynamics between him and his son joshua.
a week later i went to see a show at the jazz standard and a.goldberg told me his good friend joshua's dad had died.
hit me hard.
this year, went to the fest (laaaate), caught todd williams and it was epiphinal, and after the show the announcer (from the public jazz station here) wanted to commemorate a death in jazz.
max roach.
as the crowd applauded/was silent (there was both at the same time-it was weird), he went on to mention some other 'notable' deaths this year.
when he mentioned evelyn blakey, i went numb.
had to get a drink.
and since chico hamilton was due up next, before abby, and since i had missed him before, it seemed like a good time to have a beer.
went to the same bar i met dewey, and had one for him while doing the sunday xword.
overheard the jackass convo to my right ('yeah the music is good, but no one you know') and to the left ('one more car bomb then we're going to shea') - the guy on the right said he was waiting for cassandra wilson.
'idiot', i thought, 'abby lincoln's playing- what is he talkin about.?' soon forgot.

later, as the crowd gathered in front of the stage, i was there. then the mc announced, "abby had to cancel, the hot weather yesterday made her sick'. 'but we've got a fine replacement'. thinking oh no and 'what?' at the same time - a minute later he introduces cassandra wilson.

now, abby lincoln may be my favorite living jazz singer of all time, but dammit, kayson runs a close second. if you've read this far and don't know her, immediately put 'blue light 'til dawn' on your list and buy it - anon (now!!!). one of the only nearly perfect records of our generation, and tho this show didn't showcase that, she was there. and rocked.

i just pray the 'curse' ended already

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