A lot of people at the Winter Jazzfest this weekend will be ticking off names on a mental checklist, or filing them away for later. This two-day festival, now in its sixth year, is expressly made for them: the prowlers and perusers, many seeking talent for hire. But tickets are also available to the public, at $25 a night or $30 for both, which gives the Winter Jazzfest another, more fascinating purpose. It is for the moment the only real mainstream jazz festival in New York, and its lineup amounts to a temperature reading of the scene at ground level, where it’s most vibrant and volatile.
Vijay Iyer is to perform with his trio on Saturday night at Le Poisson Rouge as part of Winter Jazzfest. More Photos »
What then does the festival’s roster say about jazz at the start of this new decade? Mostly that the aesthetic center of the music has broadened and loosened, yielding to many different strategies of rhythm, harmony and texture. A dozen years ago it might have made sense to call this a cross-genre approach, but that very notion now feels quaint.
“When you look at the history of jazz,” the pianist Vijay Iyer said recently, “everybody who made significant contributions to that music never really saw it as a kind of music.” Mr. Iyer, who played the inaugural Winter Jazzfest, is back again with his superb trio, whose “Historicity” (ACT) was the consensus pick among critics for best jazz album of 2009. “Historicity” imposes no hierarchies where style is concerned, absorbing protocols from myriad sources. A similar openness illuminates the music of Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, an ultramodern big band, and the Claudia Quintet, an improvising chamber group, and, really, most of the others here, from Lionel Loueke, a guitarist from Benin, to the Northern California-raised violinist Jenny Scheinman. Hybridism is the new norm.
What about swing? There’s still staunch representation in the form of the soul-jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, who will perform at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday at Sullivan Hall, and in a handful of bright inheritors, like the boppish alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, who holds down roughly the same time slot on Friday at Zinc Bar. But that feeling will also proliferate in sets by the Matt Wilson Quartet, the William Parker Quartet and the J. D. Allen Trio, excellent bands working freely within what everyone can recognize, broadly, as the jazz tradition. And there’s no disputing the jazz credentials of the effervescent young vocalists Gretchen Parlato and Sachal Vasandani, musical omnivores who appear in back-to-back slots (7:30 and 8:30) on Saturday night at Sullivan Hall.
So the old argument has proved false: open borders don’t necessarily spell calamity for the music’s foundations. Consider the trumpeter Nicholas Payton, who appears on at 9:20 p.m. Friday at Le Poisson Rouge with a group he unwisely calls SeXXXtet. His major appearances on record last year were on a traditional New Orleans jazz project (Allen Toussaint’s “Bright Mississippi”) and a hard-bop repertory band (the Blue Note 7’s “Mosaic”). However explicitly funky his intentions with the new group, he has roots.
You’ll find many more roots, tangled and gnarled, among this year’s festivities, spread out across five Greenwich Village clubs (up from three last year). The itinerary below is a flexible guide: pick and choose from these options, or create your own from a full schedule at winterjazzfest.com. And bring a notepad, if you’re feeling ambitious. You’ll probably want to book some of these artists on a calendar of your own. (A list of club addresses appears below.)
Friday
6:20 P.M. DARCY JAMES ARGUE’S SECRET SOCIETY “Infernal Machines” (New Amsterdam), this big band’s studio debut, was one of last year’s strongest jazz releases, stamped by resolute logic as well as brazen conviction. (Le Poisson Rouge)
7 P.M. BEN WILLIAMS AND SOUND EFFECT Mr. Williams, the bassist who won last year’s Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, squares his own groups on a solid core, with a willingness to swing against any groove. (Zinc Bar)
8:20 P.M. ELEW Eric Lewis, formerly the pianist with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, now spends his time covering Coldplay and Linkin Park. This should be no one’s idea of progress, but it holds the tireless allure of camp. (Le Poisson Rouge)
9 P.M. JALEEL SHAW An alto saxophonist long apprenticed to the immortal Roy Haynes, Mr. Shaw pursues a smart and streamlined ideal, with partners like the bassist Ben Williams (also found above) and the pianist Aaron Goldberg. (Zinc Bar)
9:40 P.M. MATT WILSON QUARTET The drummer Matt Wilson is an ambassador of good feeling, and with “That’s Gonna Leave a Mark” (Palmetto), he doubled down on this band’s commitment to rugged post-bop populism. (Kenny’s Castaways)
12:40 A.M. JAMIE SAFT’S WHOOPIE PIE You’ve heard it said that jazz is metal. This band, led by Mr. Saft, a keyboardist, takes that claim seriously. Or half-seriously. Either way, this set will be wicked enough to dispel all doubt. (Kenny’s Castaways)
Saturday