The 47 th Annual Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz festival was held this weekend, and another array of varied
artists graced the stage over the course of the events two days. I will admit that I had only planned to
go on Sunday this year, as the lineup for Saturday did not seem to hold much interest for me. But, I
have been surprised and blown away by acts I was not familiar with in the past. As I teetered on
whether or not to go, Mother Nature made my decision to not attend Saturday, it was pouring for most
of the day.
Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, and the high temperature was around 80 degrees. Sunday for me
was a stellar lineup, but for me it was all about Stanley Clarke, more on that later. The Terence
Blanchard Sextet kicked the day off at 12:30 on the main stage, and once again I was caught off guard.
Blanchard has a string quartet on stage to perform songs from his 2005 release Flow. His guitarist
Charles Altura really caught my ear, and is someone I hope to hear more of. The trumpeter composes a
lot of film scores, a number of them for Spike Lee. It was a terrific way to start off the day. If you ever
attend the event, don’t forget about the small stage where smaller acts perform in between sets from
the main stage, you’ll hear some great music here as well. Former Snarky Puppy member Cory Henry
came out and his mission was to get people up and dancing. This was an energetic, party-inducing set
from Henry. The third act of the day “Laufey” drew the biggest applause of the day. I think she gave
Norah Jones a run for her money in terms of applause. Her style is to me that old-fashioned crooner
sound. She interacted frequently with the audience, and I have to admit she has a captivating voice.
The act of the day for me was the legend Stanley Clarke and his N*4Ever band. The band was on fire, and Stanley’s bass rattled and rumbled for his hour or so set. His guitarist Colin Cook was so good; I could not take my eyes off his fingers. Clarke also played the acoustic bass on a few songs; I loved the contrast of the electric and acoustic. Clarke played Return To Forever’s “No Mystery” and his most known song “School Days”. The best surprise was that on this day, Stanley Clarke was celebrating his 73rd birthday, and the crew brought out a cake and asked the audience to sing him Happy Birthday. As the crowd began, both Al DiMeola and Lenny White came out to surprise him. If only they had played, but it was a great moment.
Norah Jones closed out the day with a set of her vocal oriented pop. Jones played her most known songs “Don’t Know Why” and “Come Away With Me”. It seemed there may have been a number of people who came just to see her, as the lawn seemed to fill up during her set.
This event has become a “must do” every year, and they never fail in making it a special weekend. The Festival will have a new sponsor (GE Vernova) taking over, and they have committed to 5 years. Many legends have graced the stage here at SPAC, and the festival continues to bring top-notch acts from the world of Jazz every year.
Eric Porter
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