Concert Review: NYC’s Winter Jazzfest Is A Wonderful MUSIC BONANZA
The NYC’s Winter Jazz Fest rolled through the city like a benevolent storm of music. Hands down! One of the chillest, most relaxing music festivals, this fest reminded you why jazz has been associated with words like, elegant, heartfelt, and smart. Scrolling through its multiple, music offers and venues, you felt like a “sophisticat.”
What is a sophisticat? I have no idea because I just invented the term(lol!). Yet, perusing from venues like, Public Arts, Bowery Ballroom, and Le Poisson Rouge, I felt right about my theory that music turns the grit of life into grace. From Louis Cole Big Band to Makaya McCraven, so many artists splashed across the city to create an underground of jazz that made its participants feel like they were apart of an amazing subculture. Jumping from artists such as, Meshell Ndgeocello to Shai Maestro, every venue felt serene and strangely hidden, despite being popular like Mercury Lounge. Yet, there was an invisible thread of courtliness that bound them all to make the crowd feel, again, like a batch of “sophsticats.” (Really trying to make that word a thing!)
Celebrating 15 years, 2019 had to be the Winter Jazz Fest’s biggest year. It was absolutely cool: for lack of a better term. Each crowd felt easy, casually posh, and made every ambiance welcoming. People were there to dance in body, mind, and soul. Moreover, they were ready to conclude that jazz is the most universally timeless genre, in part, because it never loses its relevance to human pain and romance. Bands like The Ezra Collective and Caroline Davis proved that whether it is the burst of a trumpet or the belt of a human voice, Jazz understands how to turn a soul into sound. It blankets any human construct such as race, class, religion, and gender, though it approaches such themes, and fleshes what it is to be a limitless spirit bound by a world’s limits. The result is a genre that is unbelievably gorgeous, noble, and begging to be fused with everything from Latin sound to Hip Hop.
From Hailey Tuck to Matthew Whittaker, the caliber of artists, whether starting or continuing an accomplished career, was stellar. Bilal, Now Vs Now, Jazze Belle, Georgia Muldrow, and Marcus Strickland are just a few of the artists you came across jumping from venue to venue. Getting tickets or holding marathon passes made the lines very smooth; a simple flash of the wrist and you were in. The leisurely dynamic was so important to keeping smooth a festival that could have been crazy. Various oncerts were happening at neighboring venues, and, for those like myself, you might want to catch the see of another artist in a different locale. Yet, again, it all felt so smooth, which allowed you to absorb the music and made the festival feel like one giant memory/ concert.
Ultimately, what made NYC’s Winter Jazzfest succeed is that it made jazz feel more than a genre. It was a lifestyle choice, which is a word, nowadays, that speaks to a LOT of people. With influencers tossing terms like “wellness” and “positivity,” jazz, actually, sums up what these words mean to people. It is a sonic cure-all for those who know they are so much more than what they wear, what they do, and and where they go. We are music, and jazz is the heartbeat. For More Information On NYC’s Winter Jazzfest Click Here.
