Where is this Festival vanishing to?  Somewhere between bliss and exhaustion.  Last night, Monday, we had big plans that somehow got sidetracked.  Alfredo Rodriguez Trio at 6 at Kilbourn was the first stumbling block.  We couldn’t leave our seats.  We didn’t stop moving, couldn’t actually, but there was no way we were leaving while they were playing.  His take on Cuban music and his use of electronics and the drummer and bassist were all captivating.  The music was certainly not traditional Jazz, but it was clearly in the modern Jazz idiom with lots of interchange among the musicians and experimentation with new sounds along with really solid musicianship.  The drummer was among the best we can remember.  We are planning to hear Rodriguez solo tonight at Hatch at 5:45. By the time we got out of the hall it was 7:20 and too late for Max.

We really felt we needed to continue with high energy music so after a stop on Jazz Street for fuel we went on to Abilene for Chris O’Leary on Harmonica with two saxaphones, drums, guitar and bass.  The music was Blues and . . .  and answered our need for high energy.  We left there by 9 and knew that we wanted to hear Eric Alexander-Harold Mabern Quartet at Montage at 10 so we went to get on line.  We got in early and got seats near the front.  Carol really wanted to hear Michael Mwenso at Christ Church so she left me holding a seat for her.  When she returned she found me with Roz and John Goldman and John’s brother and sister-in-law Jim and Carol.  It was a nice party while we waited for the performance.  I will skip over the Goldberg/Goldman/Goldstein stories and get to the music.  It was wonderful classic Jazz with Alexander on sax, mostly, and Harold Mabern on piano, mostly.  Mabern must be 80 and his piano playing was wonderful.  He got to the mic and told a few stories before singing some blues while Alexander took the keyboard.  Then they returned to their original arrangement and entertained us until past closing.  I must not finish before mentioning the drummer who, in one ride, switched between sticks and brushes every measure for many measures.  It was quite a feat and he did it while keeping the beat and the thought intact.

It was over, almost.  We stopped by the apartment for a snack before heading across the river to State Street Grill and the late night jam session.  There we finally heard John Sneider, trumpet, playing with his brother Bob who leads the Jam session and who we know from various venues in Rochester.  Harold Mabern found his way to the keyboard and seemed content to sit in with whatever was happening with the group on stage.  John Nugent took the stage for a while and there was another trumpet who we could not identify, but who had the chops to be in there.  As the music was ramping up at 1 AM Carol I called it quits.  The only way to stay up later is to sleep until noon, not in our book of tricks this year.

Tonight we have laid out an easier program, maybe.  Hatch to begin with to hear more of Rodriguez, then maybe a stop at Lutheran Church for Eero Koivistoinen Quartet before going to Xerox Auditorium for Anat Cohen and finishing at Max with Michael Wollny.  No late night Jam as I made a plan to have breakfast at 7:30 AM.