Jam night at the Ottawa Jazz Festival 2003

Jam night at the Ottawa Jazz Festival 2003, originally uploaded by anyjazz65. elhawk says: Great shot Jazz. I would have liked to have been there. I have also seen Hassan Hakmoun play live. That was in 1992 at the Reading, Rivermead WOMAD festival (World of Music Arts and Dance). Hassan is a Moroccan and his music is based on the trance music of the Gnawa musicians of his country. Not all sintirs have only one string, some have three. The one he was playing at WOMAD had three and it was amped up. He had a full band at that gig and was playing some crazy kind of dance music, which must have been related to Sufi dervish music. But he was also using feedback techniques with Hendrix style wails and screams. It was an amazing set. It was going on inside one of the big marquees so there was a lot of wild dancing going on. The drum in the picture I believe is a dumbek, an Arabian drum sometimes ceramic sometimes metallic. I used to have a ceramic one but my then small child knocked it off a table and smashed it sadly. Did you notice whether this one had a snare? Commonly they do. The first time I heard a sintir though was in Morocco itself in the Djma El Fna (the famous central square in Marrakech). It was being played there by a cross legged solo musician in traditional style. The sound was very drone like and hypnotic, almost unearthly in nature. anyjazz65 says: Thanks elhawk. I had a feeling you would connect. I attended those sessions 4 years in a row so in my memory they have begun to blur into one long session with too many musicians to remember. The side-men and sometimes the stars of many groups would show up and participate or sometimes just listen. I hosted the Hospitality Room during the day for the festival and got to chat with many of the musicians, and at night I absorbed the free-for-all music. The venue here was a small meeting room in the downtown Ramada Inn in Ottawa, Ontario. There was no stage. It was about 90 people sitting at tables in a semi-circle around the performers. Anyone who could stay up very late could see the musicians who had done their set on one of the three stages during the festival day, but now were just enjoying themselves. I attended every night. The musicians from various bands and groups wandered in and sat in, blending combinations that still make my head numb. Host John Geggie always started things with a trio of himself on bass, Nancy Walker piano and Nick Frazer drums. Then the day’s performers wandered in, some carrying instruments, some just a drink. A half dozen from Sandoval’s band, a couple from the Yellow Jackets or Maria Schneider’s band. Sometimes the room was half musicians. Those that wanted to played. Other years included the Basie band, Jane Bunnett, Lavay Smith, Cleo Lane, Lou Donaldson, Brad Mehldau, Nnenna Freelon, Masekela and heck, too many to remember. The regular concerts went on all day for eight or ten days. Then the jams went on most of the night. One set in particular that blew me away was John Pizzarelli. He was loose and inventive and displayed flawless technique. I was sitting almost knees to knees with him. I don’t remember which year now. I should dig out the pictures from that year I guess. And there was a local teen age girl who played tenor now and then. She was good with three “o’s”. I’ll think of her name eventually. 2007 update: Her name is Alison Young . Anyway, the picture here of Hakmoun is just how it looked. The small room made you feel as if you were IN the music. His music was so hypnotic and gripping I am not sure how I got home. There may have been three strings but I only remember one. I think the drum had a snare, I remember now remarking to someone about it, wondering if it was standard or just something he added. Sorry I don’t remember more right now. When I do, I will add it here.

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