burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yesterday was the first day of the festival at Oak Hollow Lake Park, here in High Point, NC. We're headed across the lake to it in an hour or so for the second day. Although they don't allow cameras inside the gate unless you are a working member of the media, cell phones are okay. I took this yesterday afternoon. It's just a grab shot, but it shows the venue.

About 10,000 people attended last year's festival over the two day period. The crowd looked even bigger yesterday.

https://coltranejazzfest.com

This is an annual Labor Day Weekend event. We went last year, and it was so good, we had to go again. It's a BIG DEAL for our small city, and for the Jazz Community in general. Last night's finale was Dave Koz and the Summer Horns, featuring Dutch sax player Candy Dulfer and Eric Darius, with vocalist, Maysa. They are all great showpeople! All the acts were great, even the local student band.

Tonight features the Yellowjackets and many other artists.

John Coltrane grew up in High Point. My twins went to the same high school he did. Coltrane's daughter, Michelle, performs tonight.

Norman Brown and band

(Download)

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

Cool. Sounds like fun. My kind of music.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Today was 6° hotter — 90°F and humid. The crowd was smaller.

John Coltrane's daughter performed one of her Mom's creations with Terri Lyne Carrington's weird band. Terri is a drummer, and a Grammy Award winning music instructor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Her set was marred by bad audio mixing until some guy behind us yelled, "Can't hear in the back!" and the sound guy suddenly got religion about mixing... Terri was visibly pi$$ed, but kept her cool. It's too bad, since she had a harpist, a stand-up bass player, a flutist, keyboards, guitar, and two other vocalists.

The highlight for me was The Yellowjackets. They are old and gray and have been around in some form or another for over 40 years. Their music was lush and layered. My wife said they make four guys sound like eight or ten. Keyboards, tenor sax, electric clarinet, bass, drums... and great arrangements can do that.

Keb' Mo' played last. He's an L.A. blues guy with a very tight band and a comedic twist. We were both fried and exhausted, and my wife's not much of a blues fan (I am), so we left in the middle of his set, before the crowd did.

This was a great two days in the park with food trucks, an open bar, and great music... If you ever want to attend a jazz festival, come to High Point on Labor Day weekend.

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Great music and fun venue

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL