Provincetown Magazine

30^th Anniversary

The Many Shades of Jazz

By Rebecca M. Alvin

August 14, 2008

Four years ago, Bart Weisman set out to create Cape Cod’s only three-day jazz festival and donate some of the proceeds to local charities because, “I just felt like it was the place and the time for it to be done, and Provincetown is so welcoming for things, especially those that benefit the town.”

Here we are in year four, with an eclectic group of musicians slated to perform at the Provincetown High School auditorium, August 15 -17. This year, we have almost the full spectrum of what is called “jazz” represented. There’s the folksy, pop jazz of Zoe Lewis; the polyrhythmic Latin flavor of Afro Bop Alliance; be-bop mastery from Greg Abate; and the early pre-bop and Dixieland jazz of Joe Muranyi. Vocalists include Mercedes Hall, Dane Vannatter, the bluesy Charlie Harris, and Marcelle Gauvin.

Jazz itself is not easily defined and so it makes sense that a jazz festival would capitalize on this fact and offer folks the various shades of this quintessentially American art form.

The early perception of jazz in this country was of freedom for others. As the new music increased in popularity, spilling over into the mainstream, its texture changed and the form split into what was considered acceptable for polite society on the one hand, and what was too wild, too radical, too free for them, on the other. Although this split has sometimes been characterized as a racial divide - and there is something to that – it can also be seen as more of a cultural and aesthetic divide, with musicians of all racial backgrounds playing for both camps. Eventually, many threads spread out, all referred to as jazz – free jazz, bebop, cool jazz, avant garde jazz, Dixieland, blues-jazz, pop jazz, jazz rock or “fusion”, and so on.

“Jazz used to be huge on the Cape and in Provincetown,” Weisman says, citing performances by big name jazzers of the past, Miles Davis and Billie Holiday, who both played at the A-House back in the day.

The Provincetown Jazz Festival kicks off Friday, August 15th with a double bill: Afro Bop Alliance and Zoe Lewis. This is the first year Afro Bop will perform at the festival, and it is the first time the festival has had a Latin jazz group perform. In a nice local twist, the Maryland-based seven-piece band is led by Joe McCarthy, whose sister just happens to be our own Christine McCarthy, director of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. She will be the emcee for Friday night, as well. Lewis, whose new CD is called A Cure for the Hiccups, is a returning favorite with a pop jazz flavor.

Saturday, August 16th, the experience continues with another pair of shows: Greg Abate and Dane Vannatter, both accompanied by Weisman on drums, Chris Rathbun on bass and John Harrison III on the piano. Abate is a bebop saxophonist who comes to us fresh from a tour of Europe. Although he plays soprano, alto, and tenor sax, as well as the flute, alto is his main axe, and you can hear the Charlie Parker influence in his music. He is perhaps best known for having played in the Ray Charles Orchestra. Singer Dane Vannatter may be less seasoned than Abate, but he brings a fresh energy to his brand of jazz. As Weisman says, “he grabs you [with his voice] and just doesn’t let you go.”

The Festival wraps up on Sunday, August 17th with a 1 p.m. all-star concert featuring vocalists Mercedes Hall, Charlie Harris, and Marcelle Gauvin; clarinetist Joe Muranyi; and instrumentalist Steve Ahern, who plays both Trumpet and flute. Weisman describes Gauvin as “a singer’s singer,” who can sing in a range of styles, with jazz as her specialty. Hall is an excellent vocalist from New York, who also happens to be the mother of actor Anthony Michael Hall. Weisman says Harris “comes out of the Joe Williams school of singing. He’s just an elder statesman of singing blues and jazz…and he’s is very dapper.” Ahern has performed with luminaries like Aretha Franklin, Manhattan Transfer, Tito Puente, and others. Last but not least, Muranyi is another great performer who adds yet another chapter in jazz history to the festival, having played for five years in Louis Armstrong’s final All Stars Band. Once again, Weisman, Rathbun, and Harrison will back up the featured performers.