Music, food and wine share the stage at Sonoma's jazz fest
Posted: 31 May 2005, 16:21while we are waiting for imnoangel1975`s official review... 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_2769143
Music, food and wine share the stage at Sonoma's jazz fest
SONOMA and jazz turned out to be as exquisite a pairing as champagne and oysters.
By seemingly all accounts and measures, the inaugural Sonoma Jazz + was a smash success that set a firm foundation for what should be one of the nation's top music festivals for years to come.
"This festival will be on the map for a long time," said Jim Horowitz, the event's executive producer. "Sonoma Jazz + is here to stay."
The four-day festival, which ran Thursday through Sunday, absolutely bubbled with the type of excitement that goes along with the creation of a major new event. But that's the only thing about the occasion that felt brand spanking new.
The event ran so smoothly and at such a high level of professionalism that one would be excused for thinking Sonoma Jazz + had just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Credit that both to city officials and business leaders, who truly got behind this project, and to the organizers, who also run the vastly successful Jazz Aspen Snowmass.
Sonoma Jazz + certainly offered a plethora of entertainment options for its patrons. The main draw was the evening concert series that featured such A-list entertainers as Tony Bennett, Isaac Hayes, Diana Krall, Boz Scaggs and Steve Winwood. Three of the four 3,400-capacity nighttime shows sold out in advance, which is a remarkable achievement for a new festival.
These nightly concerts were complemented on Saturday and Sunday afternoons by the Wine and Song series, which paired many of the Bay Area's best musicians with some of Sonoma Valley's finest wines.
Wine and Song, for obvious reasons, was an ingenious way to differentiate Sonoma Jazz + from other music festivals. Plus, it made great use of the historic setting. All seven of the Wine and Song stages were located in intimate spots around the historic square in the city's downtown, near such landmarks as the Sebastiani Theatre and Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma.
Patrons literally sipped their way around the square. They could duck into the Harmony Club at the Ledson Hotel for some "Piano and Pinot" and have a glass of Ledson wine while grooving to Jimmer Bolden and Friends. For "Sax and Syrah," folks might venture over to the Swiss Hotel to taste the offerings by Buena Vista and Kaz wineries and tap their toes to Mad & Eddie Duran. The Terry Disley Experience set the soundtrack for sampling Ravenswood, Moon Mountain and Imagery wines at Meritage Martini Oyster Bar and Grill.
After the Wine and Song sessions ended at 5 p.m. each day, many people would stroll around the shops or dine at the numerous wonderful restaurants before taking the short walk to the main festival tent. That translated to big business for downtown merchants.
The main stage entertainment kicked off on Thursday night with the great crooner Tony Bennett and continued on Friday with the stellar pairing of R&B-gospel legend Mavis Staples and soul sensation Isaac Hayes, the man who gave the world "Shaft."
Saturday's show was a magnificent evening of jazz as violinist Regina Carter and vocalist-pianist Diana Krall took turns wowing the capacity crowd.
The Grammy-nominated Carter was a ball of fire as she led her quintet through the percussion-heavy, Latin-flavored "Mandingo Street." She swung like Basie on the classic "Five O'Clock Whistle" and then made her violin sing like Ella Fitzgerald on the old Ellington piece "Imagine My Frustration."
The Canadian-born Krall, the rock star of the jazz world, simply couldn't make a wrong move on this night. Her million-dollar voice — which, honestly, would be a low bid on eBay — was equally strong whether racing like a hare on upbeat numbers such as "'Deed I Do" or moving like a tortoise on slow beauties such as Irving Berlin's "Let's Face the Music and Dance."
It was a gutsy performance by the 40-year-old vocalist-pianist. She confidently tackled the tender "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," a song perhaps best known as performed by Thursday's headliner, Tony Bennett. She also rearranged the usually carefree and bright "On the Sunny Side of the Street" into a moody, cloudy piece that unfolded new layers of meaning to the lyrics.
Following that superb night of jazz, Sunday was a classic-rock doubleheader as Boz Scaggs and Steve Winwood both managed to hit home runs.
Scaggs, one of the most reliable performers in the music business, delivered a stellar set of big hits that included "Breakdown Dead Ahead," "Lowdown," "Jojo," "Georgia" and, of course, "Lido Shuffle." Winwood, who seems to have more lives than a cat, was equally enjoyable as he rocked the house with a sampling of his storied career, moving from the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic to Blind Faith and his solo material.
Jazz purists would balk at the inclusion of such pop acts as Winwood and Scaggs. They would also bemoan the fact that only one of the four evening concerts could be called, without reservation, jazz.
But that's where the "+" factors in Sonoma Jazz +. This isn't a pure jazz festival like the ones in Monterey or San Francisco — and it doesn't claim to be. It's just a great music festival, and one that raised roughly $250,000 for local charities.
And that's a pretty big plus for Sonoma Jazz.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_2769143
Music, food and wine share the stage at Sonoma's jazz fest
SONOMA and jazz turned out to be as exquisite a pairing as champagne and oysters.
By seemingly all accounts and measures, the inaugural Sonoma Jazz + was a smash success that set a firm foundation for what should be one of the nation's top music festivals for years to come.
"This festival will be on the map for a long time," said Jim Horowitz, the event's executive producer. "Sonoma Jazz + is here to stay."
The four-day festival, which ran Thursday through Sunday, absolutely bubbled with the type of excitement that goes along with the creation of a major new event. But that's the only thing about the occasion that felt brand spanking new.
The event ran so smoothly and at such a high level of professionalism that one would be excused for thinking Sonoma Jazz + had just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Credit that both to city officials and business leaders, who truly got behind this project, and to the organizers, who also run the vastly successful Jazz Aspen Snowmass.
Sonoma Jazz + certainly offered a plethora of entertainment options for its patrons. The main draw was the evening concert series that featured such A-list entertainers as Tony Bennett, Isaac Hayes, Diana Krall, Boz Scaggs and Steve Winwood. Three of the four 3,400-capacity nighttime shows sold out in advance, which is a remarkable achievement for a new festival.
These nightly concerts were complemented on Saturday and Sunday afternoons by the Wine and Song series, which paired many of the Bay Area's best musicians with some of Sonoma Valley's finest wines.
Wine and Song, for obvious reasons, was an ingenious way to differentiate Sonoma Jazz + from other music festivals. Plus, it made great use of the historic setting. All seven of the Wine and Song stages were located in intimate spots around the historic square in the city's downtown, near such landmarks as the Sebastiani Theatre and Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma.
Patrons literally sipped their way around the square. They could duck into the Harmony Club at the Ledson Hotel for some "Piano and Pinot" and have a glass of Ledson wine while grooving to Jimmer Bolden and Friends. For "Sax and Syrah," folks might venture over to the Swiss Hotel to taste the offerings by Buena Vista and Kaz wineries and tap their toes to Mad & Eddie Duran. The Terry Disley Experience set the soundtrack for sampling Ravenswood, Moon Mountain and Imagery wines at Meritage Martini Oyster Bar and Grill.
After the Wine and Song sessions ended at 5 p.m. each day, many people would stroll around the shops or dine at the numerous wonderful restaurants before taking the short walk to the main festival tent. That translated to big business for downtown merchants.
The main stage entertainment kicked off on Thursday night with the great crooner Tony Bennett and continued on Friday with the stellar pairing of R&B-gospel legend Mavis Staples and soul sensation Isaac Hayes, the man who gave the world "Shaft."
Saturday's show was a magnificent evening of jazz as violinist Regina Carter and vocalist-pianist Diana Krall took turns wowing the capacity crowd.
The Grammy-nominated Carter was a ball of fire as she led her quintet through the percussion-heavy, Latin-flavored "Mandingo Street." She swung like Basie on the classic "Five O'Clock Whistle" and then made her violin sing like Ella Fitzgerald on the old Ellington piece "Imagine My Frustration."
The Canadian-born Krall, the rock star of the jazz world, simply couldn't make a wrong move on this night. Her million-dollar voice — which, honestly, would be a low bid on eBay — was equally strong whether racing like a hare on upbeat numbers such as "'Deed I Do" or moving like a tortoise on slow beauties such as Irving Berlin's "Let's Face the Music and Dance."
It was a gutsy performance by the 40-year-old vocalist-pianist. She confidently tackled the tender "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," a song perhaps best known as performed by Thursday's headliner, Tony Bennett. She also rearranged the usually carefree and bright "On the Sunny Side of the Street" into a moody, cloudy piece that unfolded new layers of meaning to the lyrics.
Following that superb night of jazz, Sunday was a classic-rock doubleheader as Boz Scaggs and Steve Winwood both managed to hit home runs.
Scaggs, one of the most reliable performers in the music business, delivered a stellar set of big hits that included "Breakdown Dead Ahead," "Lowdown," "Jojo," "Georgia" and, of course, "Lido Shuffle." Winwood, who seems to have more lives than a cat, was equally enjoyable as he rocked the house with a sampling of his storied career, moving from the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic to Blind Faith and his solo material.
Jazz purists would balk at the inclusion of such pop acts as Winwood and Scaggs. They would also bemoan the fact that only one of the four evening concerts could be called, without reservation, jazz.
But that's where the "+" factors in Sonoma Jazz +. This isn't a pure jazz festival like the ones in Monterey or San Francisco — and it doesn't claim to be. It's just a great music festival, and one that raised roughly $250,000 for local charities.
And that's a pretty big plus for Sonoma Jazz.