Main Stage Sunday, July 3

Chris Merz X-Tet (2 pm). An Assistant Professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa since 2002, alto saxophonist Chris Merz also taught at the University of Wyoming, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa. As a member of Dave Brubeck’s ensembles and with other members of the Brubeck family, he has toured four continents. Merz also played lead alto saxophone with the Cecil Bridgewater Big Band. His own projects include Equilateral and the X-tet, a 12-piece big band that will perform in Iowa City. Of his most recent recording, Mystery Is My Story, Dave Brubeck wrote, "I am very pleased with this wonderful band. Naturally, I would admire a group…that, to me, is a grand extension of what we were doing...when we were the ‘new thing’."

Henry Threadgill’s Zooid (4 pm). Zooid features some of the most important and interesting new music in jazz today under the leadership of the imaginative multi-instrumentalist, Henry Threadgill. Firmly rooted in America's Great Black Music tradition, Threadgill also integrates forms and instruments historically associated with chamber or orchestral music. Threadgill was named Best Composer in Down Beat's International Jazz Critics Poll for three consecutive years (1988-90), and by Down Beat’s Readers Poll in 1988-89.

This Chicago native started out on piano, switching to saxophone in high school and learning first tenor, then alto. He later earned a degree in flute and composition from the American Conservatory of Music. An early mentor was Muhal Richard Abrams, whose Experimental Band of the early '60s evolved into the American Academy of Creative Musicians (AACM). After a tour in Viet Nam with the Army, Threadgill worked with Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill and members of the Black Artists Group (B.A.G.). He moved back to Chicago after being discharged, and formed the group AIR with Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall. Moving to New York in the mid 70s, Threadgill became an important part of the “downtown scene” in the arts, composing for dance and theater as well as for his trio and subsequent bands.

Among his music ensembles, Air was followed by a septet that he called The Sextet, then Very Very Circus which expanded to include up to ten members as Very Very Circus Plus. Paring back to a quintet, Make A Move, Threadgill then created his current ensemble, a sextet named Zooid. Noted All About Jazz, “The harmonies reveal detail to the microscopic level. Henry has found new land and he is mining it to its core. It is the experience of the order in chaos. What seems random resolves perfectly… The pairing of artists in the rhythm section is unlike any playing today with Stomu Takeshi and Dafnis Prieto; the harmonic platform is interpreted by two of the most sensitive performers, Brandon on Ross and Bryan Carrott, and of course, Henry, the consummate story teller.”

Photo by Andrea Canter

Wrote Ted Panken in his liner notes for the 2003 recording, Nightlife in Tokyo, “[Alexander] plays with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of inspiration, uncorking a series of immaculately executed statements of considerable invention and tonal authority… he creates clear melodic lines, slaloms through the gnarliest harmonic sequences, deftly manipulates timbre, and swings incessantly.” Alexander comes to Iowa City with his hot quintet, which recently has included the great Mike LaDonne on organ and frenetic Joe Farnsworth on drums.

Conrad Herwig and the Latin Side of Miles (8 pm). Trombone king Herwig and his Latin-drenched big band will close out the festival in grand style. The band’s recent recording, Another Kind of Blue--The Latin Side of Miles Davis (Half Note Records) was nominated for a 2005 Grammy, a worthy successor to their 1998 Grammy- nominated CD, The Latin Side of John Coltrane, recorded live at the Blue Note in New York City. Herwig’s recent solo recording Heart of Darkness (Criss Cross) received 4 1/2 stars from Down Beat, which voted him #1 Jazz Trombonist—Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in 2002.

Herwig launched his career in 1980 as a member of the Clark Terry Big Band (said Terry, “Be on the lookout for a new giant”), later touring with the Buddy Rich Orchestra, Slide Hampton's World of Trombones, Mario Bauza's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Mingus Big Band, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and the orchestras of Toshiko Akiyoshi, Mel Lewis, Bob Mintzer, Henry Threadgill, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Eddie Palmieri. With smaller ensembles he has performed and/or recorded with Joe Henderson, Tom Harrell, Joe Lovano, Red Garland, Dave Liebman, Max Roach (Sacred Drums Concerts), Danilo Perez, and David Sanchez; and in his own groups, he has worked with Randy and Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Richie Beirach, Stefon Harris, Bill Charlap, Jack DeJohnette, and Jeff "Tain" Watts. Herwig has received performance and teaching grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and currently is Professor of Jazz Trombone, Jazz Improvisation, and Jazz Composition and Arranging at Rutgers.

Said Eddie Palmieri, Herwig is, "In my opinion, the best trombonist on the planet."

Other Stages and Workshops

There’s more music downtown. The side stages—Local and All-College-- will once again be on Clinton and Iowa Avenues across from the Pentacrest Main Stage. The Youth Stage will be down the block on Iowa Av at Dubuque Street, by the Atlas World Grill, and will feature 13 different groups performing during breaks from the main stage. These ensembles include the talented young jazz musicians from local junior high and high school music programs. This year there will be larger areas for audience seating at these stages.

With the University of Iowa, the Festival will offer an instructional program for high school jazz students. The Washington High School (Cedar Rapids) jazz combo and a high school group from St. Louis (sponsored by the Jazz Bistro) have been invited to perform on the Youth Stage and attend a workshop held in the Voxman Music building on Saturday. This year’s free, public workshop will be hosted by alto saxophonist Kim Richmond, trumpeter Clay Jenkins, and pianist Reggie Thomas (see above).

Fifteen Years and Going Strong

The Iowa City Jazz Festival is now in its 15^th year, all under the directorship of guitarist and U of Iowa faculty member Steve Grismore. Attendance over the past three years has averaged about 25,000—-quite a lot in a town of about 60,000. In 2000, National Public Radio recorded much of the festival for airing on Branford Marsalis’ “Jazz Set.” Primary sponsors (again) are the Cedar Rapids Gazette and TV station KCRG, as well as the city of Iowa City and a host of other businesses, including Jazz Times.

Iowa City has much to offer between sets of music. Be sure to check out the Prairie Lights Bookstore on Dubuque Street, one of the last of the great independent bookstores in the Midwest. For the best in original arts and crafts, visit the Iowa Artisans Gallery at Dubuque and Washington Streets. And you are never far from food and drink downtown; for lunch or dinner, try the Atlas Grill right on the main drag (Iowa Ave at Dubuque Street) as an escape from the sun and concession stands.

Look for the Jazz police at the ICJF

The Iowa City Jazz Festival will be held July 1-3, with the Main Stage events getting underway at 2 pm on Saturday, July 2. For hotel reservations, call the Sheraton Iowa City Hotel at 319-337-4058 or 1-800-848-1335 and ask for the special "jazz" package. More information about this year’s line-up, directions, and activities can be found at www.iowacityjazzfestival.com