Photos by Andrea Canter

Festival Diary

I grew up in Iowa City. In the early –mid 60s, it was a relatively quiet town with a Big Ten university known for football and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Music of all sorts was also a big part of the community’s culture, and even in that era my high school had a small jazz band. By the end of the decade, the ramifications of the “Great Society” and Viet Nam War had collided on campuses nationwide; my quiet hometown turned to National Guard vigilance in the wake of Kent State and Cambodia; interstate 80 brought more drug than truck traffic. But, despite—or because of—the challenges of new generations of students, faculty, and the general community, Iowa City grew and music of all sorts continued to play a major role in defining this cultural mecca of the upper Midwest. University graduates of the Opera Workshop found fame on American and European stages; symphony soloists became headliners of larger symphonies; the local high school music programs repeatedly won national honors. And in 1991, Steve Grismore and Mark Ginsburg produced the first annual summer jazz festival in the heart of downtown.

I haven’t lived in Iowa City in over 30 years but, aside from family visits, I am committed to an annual pilgrimage in early July for one of the fastest growing outdoor jazz festivals in the nation. Dubbed in the “top ten” American festivals by no less than Down Beat, the 13^th Annual Iowa City Jazz Festival seemed well deserving of this distinction, featuring 9 sets by national artists and a number of workshops and side stage performances by local and student musicians as young as middle schoolers. And where else but in Iowa City would the concessions include Smoked Fish Curry, Falafel, and Gazpacho as well as the obligatory roasted corn and fresh lemonade?

I think the festival has finally found the perfect venue—the “Pentacrest,” the historic administrative plaza of the University of Iowa on the west edge of an increasingly urbane downtown. The 2003 festival held on hot asphalt at a downtown intersection was a major meltdown; in contrast, the 2004 festival enjoyed considerable options for shade, a grassy cushion for blankets and lawn chairs, and a park-like ambience. It helped that it was also about 10 degrees cooler and breezy enough to keep the mosquitoes at bay. The weather was not entirely cooperative, however, with some activities rained out totally on Friday night and an hour-long delay to the start of David Berkman’s set on Saturday afternoon; the remainder of Saturday proved that jazz fans are not just fair-weather patrons!

Unlike larger festivals, it is possible to attend every featured set in Iowa City, with only one stage going at a time. In between sets on the main stage, there were several side stages of performances by public school, college, and alumni bands on the streets leading to the Pentacrest. From Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening, I managed to attend at least parts of 8 of the 9 main stage performances, and I would not hesitate to repeat at least six; those with a more avant garde bent would probably opt for at least one more. The following “highlights” may say more about the reviewer than the music, but I’ll take that risk.