First Weekend of Healdsburg Jazz Festival an Honor and a Privilege

Healdsburg’s music fans are already tuning up their air guitars, getting their virtual reeds wet and blowing the spit out of their imaginary horns in preparation for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, which starts Friday.

Now in its 15th year, the annual immersion in what HJF calls “an indigenous American art form” has helped put the town on the cultural map, underscoring the culinary fame and oenological notoriety.

This year’s line-up is being called “the best yet,” just as last year’s was. It’s possible both statements were true – artistic director Jessica Felix has managed to confound doubters and supporters alike with a steadily improving line-up of jazz talent.

Sure, there’s an emphasis on the “legends” – Charlie Haden and Charles Lloyd are both 75, one of the talents in the June 1 Charlie Haden Tribute  is 84-year old Lee Konitz, and guitarist Eddie Duran is 88.

But you could argue that age is less of a disadvantage to a jazz musician (or a classical musician) that a rock star, and talents like Fred Hersch, Geri Allen, Ravi Coltrane are in the full flush of their careers.

Meanwhile rising talents like Marcus Shelby, Will Bernard and Sylvia Cuenca are on the bill too, as well as several Latin Jazz artists at one point or another during the 16 events spread over 10 days of the Festival.

Personally speaking, it’s this variety – in age, style, venue – that is the signature of a great music festival, and that’s what we’ve got here in Healdsburg. I was roped into volunteering for the second, or was it the third Healdsburg Jazz Festival, by my son who was in the HHS jazz band. Since then I’ve seen the festival through harmony and discord, sometimes on the sidelines but for the past several years doing newsletters and web content for healdsburgjazzfestival.org. 

So if you were to ask me – and some of you have – what to see in the coming 10 day festival, it obviously comes down to what you like, but not just in music.

Maybe you want a “jazz club” experience, as the funky soul jazz of the  Will Barnard Quartet at Spoonbar (June 5), or the two Latin jazz artists at Partake by KJ on June 4 (Carlitos Medarno, Cuban) or June 7 (Carlos Henrique Pereira, Brazilian). If so you hopefully have your reservations to those clubs already, word on the street is seating will be hard to come by.

If on the other hand you want a concert experience, with comfort and the high probability of some truly magic moments in music, you can’t go wrong this weekend with either day of the Charlie Haden Tribute, June 1 and June 2 at the Jackson Theater.

Built on the grounds of the Sonoma Country Day School as if money were no object, and perhaps it wasn’t, the 774-seat theater is easily  one of the best concert venues in the county, comfortable and well-appointed and acoustically terrific.

The Festival has used it several times before, notably for the late Dave Brubeck’s 2009 appearance, and concert-goers have always been mighty pleased.

The two-day Charlie Haden Tribute is bursting with talent and history, but as Felix warns, you should “Get your city groove on”:  The music starts at 7 both evenings, and continues to 11 p.m. over three full sets by celebrated talents. This isn’t just a “bottlerock” style smorgasbord of big names, but a carefully constructed tour-de-force of Haden’s prodigious abilities and influence.

You may not know all the names on the bill, or you may have heard of organizations such as the Liberation Music Orchestra, with Haden’s original colleague Carla Bley on hand; or Quartet West, with jazz scion Ravi Coltrane. These are the sorts of ensembles that play New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco; to have them in Healdsburg is an honor and a privilege.

The Festivals’ opening night is Friday, and both events – at the new Healdsburg Shed and Costeaux Bakery – sold out in just a couple weeks. But there are still seats at the Jackson Theater, and you can bet it will be a world-class music experience that you can only find in Healdsburg.  

The complete schedule for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival is on their website, along with artist, venue and vendor information and ticket links.