8.27.2008

Jazz @ Bumbershoot

It's a rare thing!

"The outdoor stage upon which tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman and his group will play Sunday at the Bumbershoot music and arts festival is among the more intimate at the event, a cozy nook with room for about 800, surrounded by exhibit rooms, sheltered from the rock-thirsty crowds the event is known for.

One of the oldest and most revered performers at the festival, the semiretired Caliman, 76, is among a relative handful of acts that comprise jazz at Bumbershoot this year. Most, if not all, of them (depending on your definition of jazz) will perform Sunday on the Wells Fargo Stage in the Northwest Court, the traditional venue for jazz at Bumbershoot.

While jazz is not the main reason that thousands mob the Seattle Center every Labor Day weekend, Caliman and musicians like him are what make Bumbershoot the unique event that it is, a true mix of forms, genres and interpretations.

Opportunities to hear Caliman play live are precious and becoming more so in the autumn of his career. His local shows, like those at Tula's, typically sell out. He is about as old as the art form itself, coming of age in the era of big bands, when jazz music was the popular music of its time...."

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