Grand jam
For four decades, a little jazz gathering on the Palouse has prompted the following annual question: Is anybody left to play in Greenwich Village’s jazz clubs?
It seems like half of the jazz musicians in the country head to Moscow in February for the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho. This year, about 50 jazz pros will be jamming the stage over the course of four days.
And what pros. Check out some of the previous names from the festival’s 40-year history:
•Ella Fitzgerald
•Dizzy Gillespie
•Wynton Marsalis
•Stan Getz
•Sarah Vaughan
•Bobby McFerrin
•Lou Rawls
•Diana Krall
•Nancy Wilson
•Dianne Reeves
•Marian McPartland
•George Shearing
The roster of jazz legends goes even deeper, including Clark Terry, Elvin Jones, Branford Marsalis, Randy Brecker, Carmen McRae, Gerry Mulligan, Toots Thielemans, Doc Severinsen, Art Farmer, Joe Lovano, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Roy Hargrove, Herb Ellis, Bill Watrous, Bud Shank, Brian Bromberg, Arturo Sandoval, Hank Jones, Joshua Redman, Slide Hampton and David “Fathead” Newman.
From 1985 to 2002, it was natural to assume that these big names were lured out to Moscow every year by the biggest name of them all – Lionel Hampton. Yet since Hampton’s death in 2002, the pilgrimage has continued unabated. This year’s lineup includes Freddy Cole, John Pizzarelli, Roberta Gambarini, Dee Daniels, The Four Freshmen, Jane Monheit, Benny Green and John Clayton.
Top talent has been the festival’s trademark since at least 1981, when festival director Lynn “Doc” Skinner talked Ella Fitzgerald into performing in Moscow.
In another sense, however, the Hampton Festival is not about big names. It’s about the 14,000 students, elementary through college age, who show up to compete, perform and learn from the assembled jazz masters. It’s also about the jazz groups brought in from Russia and, at last count, 30 other countries.
“It’s a big event, really, for the world,” said Clayton, a bass player who has performed at the festival since 1995.
He arrives in Moscow this year not just as a performer, but as the new artistic director of the festival. He takes the reins from a pair of legendary figures: Hampton himself, and Doc Skinner. Skinner, a UI music professor, retired as executive director this year after running the show since 1977 (he was co-director beginning in 1972).
Clayton, an L.A.-based performer, arranger, composer and bandleader, said he wants to make what already is a big event into an even bigger event.
“The guiding word for me would be ‘expansion,’ ” said Clayton. “How can I expand on the things that they have so brilliantly established? Rather than change the artist roster, how can I expand it and bring new names to this party? They already have a wonderful ‘Jazz in the Schools Program’ (in which musicians visit local schools). How can I expand on that?”
Expansion has been nearly continuous since 1967, when trumpeter Buddy Brisbois performed at what was then called the University of Idaho Jazz Festival. Hampton, one of the world’s leading vibraphonists, first lent his name and energies to the festival in 1985. It went to its present four-night format in 1989. By 1992, attendance topped 22,000. In 2006 the word “International” was added to the title to reflect the worldwide scope.
The international theme was introduced as early as 1989, when a group of Soviet jazz musicians jammed onstage with Hampton. This year’s festival will include a number of Russian musicians performing at Wednesday’s Pepsi International Jazz Concert.
The Hampton Festival has been a must-see for local jazz lovers not only for the big names but for the new discoveries. Back in 1996, Skinner was touting a new, young singer from British Columbia who had a voice like Peggy Lee and “the kind of talent that is a rarity.” Onstage that year, the audience demanded her back for an encore when she turned out to be an outstanding jazz pianist as well as singer.
Her name was Diana Krall. She came back for three straight years and is now one of the best-selling jazz musicians in the world.
Krall is certainly no stranger to Clayton, who is now one of her key musical collaborators. Clayton’s big band, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, backs Krall on her latest Grammy-nominated CD, “From This Moment On.” Clayton arranged seven of the 11 songs on the CD.
He began his career in L.A. by studying with Ray Brown, the late, great bassist and longtime Hampton Festival fixture. Clayton calls Brown his “father figure.”
Clayton went on to become a bassist for the Count Basie Orchestra and Henry Mancini, among many others. On the classical side, Clayton was the principal bass in the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He served as Los Angeles Philharmonic’s director of jazz and has been the director of several jazz festivals around the U.S.
The lineup for this year’s festival looks like this:
• Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Pepsi International Jazz Concert: “Nat King Cole Tribute” by Freddy Cole (Nat’s brother), with Monty Alexander, Jeff Hamilton, Christian McBride, Russell Malone and others.
• Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Horizon Air Ray Brown Special Guest Concert: Tribute to Ray Brown, with Alexander, Malone, and Clayton; The Alexander-Clayton-Hamilton Trio 30-year reunion; vocalists Jane Monheit and Roberta Gambarini.
• Friday, 8 p.m., Zions Bank All-Star Jazz Concert: Featuring Wycliffe Gordon, James Morrison, Benny Green, Christian McBride, The Four Freshmen, Dee Daniels, Igor Butman, Bill Watrous and others.
• Saturday, 8 p.m., Avista Giants of Jazz Concert: Featuring the Lionel Hampton New York Big Band, with special guest vocalists John Pizzarelli (doing a Frank Sinatra tribute), Daniels, Gambarini, the Roy Hargrove Quintet and the Clayton Brothers Quintet.
Young Artists concerts, showcasing the student winners from adjudicated competitions, are also scheduled on Wednesday at 4 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 4:45 p.m.
For complete schedules go to www.jazz.uidaho.edu.
Meanwhile, expect to see another set of tributes as well.
“I’m really looking forward to honoring Doc Skinner,” said Clayton. “We have some surprises planned for him.”