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Matt and his “Trio” perform at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival on June 29, 2007 Matt and his Trio had the great pleasure of performing at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival in Canada on June 29th. But the fun didn’t end there! Matt and Diane arrived in Ottawa on June 28th, early enough in the evening to get some dinner and then enjoy that evening’s “Artist Jam”. For those of you not familiar with how Jazz Festivals work, attendees get a bonus when they enjoy the festival. Actually, the ARTISTS get a bonus also. At the end of the day (and night’s) events, all the artists are invited to get together to jam at a specified time and location. This particular jam session was scheduled to start at 10:30 PM. The end time of the jam is never specified and it will continue into the night…until 1 or 2 AM (or even later). You never know which artist will show up at the jam or at what time, so you get some really terrific combinations of musicians all spontaneously performing together. It is music at its finest, and is often the most enjoyed part of the festival for both the artists and musicians.
Matt did not have a performance on the 28th, but as a scheduled artist on the 29th, he was invited to play at the nightly jazz jam. He had a blast, listening to a terrific mix of musicians, young and old. And then he performed with a bass player and drummer. The energy at these jazz jams is just amazing. They called Matt up to play around midnight or so. He was cooking, and just gave a smoking performance, beaming at the spontaneous fun he was having with the other musicians. The crowd went wild, and gave Matt a standing ovation. He was asked to perform THREE songs instead of the usual TWO. Afterwards, he needed to take a bathroom break and get some water, so we briefly left the jam. On our way out, Matt was called over to a table at the entrance to the jazz jam. On this table, there was a 2007 Ottawa International Jazz Festival Shirt covered with autographs. The festival organizers asked Matt if he would please add his autograph the shirt. Matt was honored, and looked at all the other autographs already on the shirt, excitedly exclaiming who had autographed… He then looked for a space where he could sign, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a space just above BILL EVANS’ name! Obviously this was another Bill Evans, but STILL...JUST THINKING of Bill Evans was cool. What a special way to remember the artists who have played at the nightly jams at a festival during a particular year! The shirt was REALLY cool. I even photographed it. We called it a night around 1 AM so Matt could get rest before his performance the next day.
Matt was scheduled to perform at this festival with his “other” sidemen. Matt has historically performed with bassist John Funkhouser and drummer Steve Silverstein. But it is very difficult to juggle three musicians’ schedules sometimes when they are all performing both solo and with other groups. So Matt now has a SECOND set of sidemen. They are bassist Dave Robaire and drummer Joe Saylor. At different gigs he will have different sidemen. And sometimes even that plan goes awry (as on this occasion). Dave and Joe were also scheduled to arrive in Ottawa on the 28th of June from NY. Well, the weather was terrible all along the east coast, and none of the musicians flying out of the NY area could get flights out of NY. Dr. Lonnie Smith’s bass player, Peter Bernstein, was scheduled to fly on OUR flight (which stopped briefly in Newark), and the airline kicked him off the plane…so HE never made it to Ottawa either. Bass players were dumped from planes for three days, as airlines tried to accommodate stranded passengers and would not allow oversized baggage (such as a bass). Joe was somehow able to finagle a flight to Toronto and then from there to Ottawa, arriving very late at night on the 28th. There was no hope for Dave. He did not make it to Ottawa at all. So, Matt had his drummer and no bass player and a play list of mostly original songs. Well, if you are at a Jazz Festival, there is no shortage of jazz musicians. Fortunately, Dave Robaire happened to know a bass player at the festival…the bass player for none other than jazz legend Roy Haynes. He called David Wong, and David graciously agreed to be Matt’s bassist for the evening. Now this was extremely nice of him…especially since Matt’s 1½ hour gig at the National Library of Archives of Canada from 5-6:30 was followed by (who else?), Roy Haynes. David Wong had to perform TWO gigs with minimal rest in between…and that did not include the extra sound check time he spent learning Matt’s songs. Matt and Joe arrived at the venue during Roy Haynes’ sound check, so we all had the joy of listening to a pre-concert concert of the great Roy Haynes and his terrific sidemen. When their check was complete and their equipment was being moved so things could be set up for Matt’s Trio, Matt and Joe met Roy Haynes and hung out with him and his band (including David Wong). As EVERYONE knows, Roy Haynes is an amazing drummer. He is arguably the best drummer out there. He is in his 80s age-wise, but plays his music and lives his life like a 20-year-old. He is quick and funny and interesting and someone who walks (actually strides) into a room and everyone notices. Both Joe (Matt’s DRUMMER) and Matt were kind of tongue-tied and in awe of spending time with Roy and his band. Of course, Joe knew David Wong and had performed with him before, but still we completely understood the enormity of the opportunity we had to talk with Roy and the rest of his band members.
(r-l) Joe Saylor (drums), Matt Savage (piano), David Wong (bass) Then it was time for Matt and Joe and David to do THEIR sound check in preparation for the concert, and then they hung out in the green room, waiting for the audience to be seated. But, as is ALWAYS the case with jazz musicians…fill-in sidemen? No problem. Playing songs one’s never before seen? No problem. The guys did an awesome job and had a rapt audience and LOTS of cheering and applause. What was truly amazing was that the date on which the band performed was the night before Canada Day (equivalent to Independence Day in the US). It is a big holiday and we saw people rushing around to prepare for the weekend of celebration. But no one left Matt’s concert early to prepare for the weekend. We were told by a “local” that this was a major indication of how much people enjoyed the concert. And the sound technicians at the venue said that Matt and his Trio were one of the BEST acts he had ever seen. What wonderful and supportive and truly appreciated comments! Honestly? EVERYONE in Ottawa was so wonderful and we felt very much honored to not only be a part of the jazz festival but also to get to know the wonderful people and city. After the concert, there was just over an hour for Matt and his band members (including David Wong) to grab a bite to eat. We invited David to eat with us, as we knew he needed both rest and FOOD to perform a second concert. As it was, we were all invited to eat by the gentleman who manages the performing venue at the National Library. I pray that he can forgive me for drawing a complete BLANK on his name at the moment. (I HAVE hit that time in my life when I recognize a face and completely forget the name associated with it!). He took us all around the corner to a diner where we could order quickly created food that wasn’t fast food…salads, sandwiches, soup, etc.- the restaurant was great. But he was so generous and kind to escort us and buy dinner for us so David could make it back in time for concert prep with Roy and the band and WE could make it back to LISTEN to Roy and the band. If he reads this and contacts me, I will update this info in a second. He most definitely deserves our thanks and recognition!
The Roy Haynes concert was phenomenal. It was one of the most energetic and musically fantastic and memorable concerts we have EVER seen…EVER! At one point, Roy even jumped off the stage (remember, he’s in his 80s), and walked among the audience members, keeping rhythm by playing his drumsticks one against the other. The adrenaline was pumping as everyone sat transfixed and delighted. And then he made his way back to the stage and LEAPT (I mean smoothly and gracefully!) back onto the stage from the floor. There are a lot of TEENAGERS who couldn’t do that! And Roy never missed a beat. Not once! As you might imagine, the crowd went wild!
We went backstage after the concert to congratulate him and the band for a flawless and exhilarating performance. And then we floated back to the nightly Artist Jam. On this night, both Matt and Joe participated in the Artist Jam (at different times). Joe played earlier in the night with a group of musicians, but unfortunately had a bad injury that cut short his night. He was performing on a set of unfamiliar drums with unfamiliar spacing, and he accidentally got his hand/fingers caught between his drumstick and the cymbal he was hitting. He cut his finger and part of his hand pretty badly and had to leave and clean up his injury. We were in the audience but didn’t see it happen. We just saw that he left quickly and never returned to the jam. We didn’t find out until we caught up with him later that he had been injured. FORTUNATELY, he is fine now, and it hasn’t affected his playing. Matt played LATE in the evening on this night. We were told by someone that when he had performed the first night at the jam that he “scared off” other musicians. He brought down the house and got multiple ovations, and no one wanted to perform after him. So, we were very content to hang out and enjoy the other musicians and Matt didn’t mind playing late, although he DID start getting tired. Even then, he was engrossed in everyone’s music and different styles and the free flow of the jam and didn’t want to go to sleep. He didn’t perform until around 1 AM and had a blast. If you ever have the opportunity to attend the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, you most definitely should! The music is GREAT! The people who run the festival are not only some of the nicest people ever, but they are professional and take everything in stride. They just did a phenomenal job of organizing a VERY long festival and millions of details while smiling and caring for their artists. Ottawa itself is a gorgeous city…or as Matt calls it… “A city that doesn’t feel like a city.” The capital of Canada is filled with greenery and beautiful views and gorgeous buildings and has a FARM right in the center of it. Of course, the PEOPLE in Ottawa are as special as the “city” in which they live. We are blessed to travel all over the world and meet wonderful, caring people. But some of our adventures are especially memorable and we leave that location looking forward to our return to visit our newly made friends and spend more time exploring the area. Ottawa is very high on our list of places to which we plan to return! |
