Airto Moreira

There’s an expanded schedule Friday evening to get the fun underway, with Brazilian legend Airto Moriera on the main stage with Eyedentity; Saturday and Sunday offer nonstop music from 2 pm til after dark, closing Sunday with the amazing Derek Trucks Band. Jams at the nearby Sheraton Hotel and area music bars ensure many hours of jazz for those who just can not get enough. Concessions across from the Pentacrest will keep the crowds fueled throughout the weekend, and feature such nonstandard Iowa fare as gourmet delights from the cuisines of India, Africa, Greece and Asia, along with “state fair” staples like corn dogs and ice cream.

The festival schedule for 2007:

Friday, June 29^th

On the Main Stage on the Pentacrest, Clinton Street side:

5:00 pm, United Jazz Ensemble.For over a decade the combined forces of City High and West High have “united” as an award-winning jazz band to help kick-off the festival.

Main Stage 2006, UI Faculty Jazz Ensemble © Andrea Canter

8:30 pm, Airto Moreira and Eyedentity. A child prodigy in his native Brazil, Airto Moreira was singing and playing percussion by age 6 and soon had his own radio show. He became a professional musician at 13, moving to Sao Paulo at 16 to work in nightclubs and television as a percussionist, drummer and singer. He followed singer Flora Purim to New York, where he worked with Reggie Workman, JJ Johnson, Cedar Walton and bassist Walter Booker, who connected him to gigs Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond and Joe Zawinul. Airto worked for two years with Miles Davis, including the Bitches Brew sessions in the early 70s; he went on to co-lead Weather Report and work with Chick Corea’s Return to Forever. He founded Fingers with Flora Purim and later performed with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, George Duke, Paul Simon, Santana and Chicago and appears on numerous movie soundtracks. Since 1973 he has won Downbeat’s readers and critics polls 20 times. The trio Eyedentity has been playing for ten years, the teaming of Moriera and Purim’s daughter Diana and Walter Booker’s son/Wayne Shorter’s nephew Krishna Booker with George Duke’s son Rashid Duke. The resulting music is an eclectic mélange of Afro-Brazilian, hip hop, acid jazz and funk.

Side Stages (on Clinton Street and Iowa Avenue):

• 4:00 pm, Krewe Osgood (pre-fest performance)

• 6 & 8 pm, Midwest Youth Jazz Quintet (Youth Stage)

• 6 & 8 pm, New Beat Society (Local Stage)

• 6 & 8 pm, Latin Jazz Ensemble (College Stage)

Saturday, June 30^th

Main Stage

Corey Christiansen © Mary Kay Gaydos

4:00 pm, Cuong Vu Trio. On of the unique voices of modern jazz, Saigon native Cuong Vu emigrated to Seattle at age six, began trumpet studies at age 11, and enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music with a full scholarship. His performance credits include work with such innovators as Pat Metheny, Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Dave Douglas, Myra Melford, Cibo Matto, Mitchell Froom and Chris Speed. With the Pat Metheny Group, he has received two Grammies for Best Contemporary Jazz Album (2002 and 2006). Also in 2006 he was named Best International Jazz Artist by the Italian Jazz Critics Society. A New York resident since 1994, Vu leads his own ensembles and has released four acclaimed recordings. He was recently appointed to the faculty of the University of Washington’s School of Music—back in Seattle. As noted in the New York Times, “There are few trumpeters in downtown music who play with as much authority as Cuong Vu. His compositions…with their skillfully written sequential episodes through patches of wooliness and calm, are fast gaining pace with his strong tone and improvisational skill.”

Stanton Moore

6:00 pm, Stanton Moore Trio. One of the most explosive drummers of his generation, New Orleans native Stanton Moore has been piling up accolades, awards and “best of year” honors. Since the early 90s, he has been recording and touring with the funk band Galactic. By the late 90s he was fully launched on a solo career, as well as the Garage à Trois ensemble. Today Moore is busy not only performing but also with educational projects—private lessons and clinics, as well as writing for Drum! and Modern Drummer magazines. He plays at home in Crescent City as well as around the globe with such artists as Karl Denson; Charlie Hunter; John Medeski and John Wood (of Medeski, Martin and Wood); Donald Harrison Jr.; Robert Walter; the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars; the Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Corrosion of Conformity; and Irma Thomas. His standing trio includes organist Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard. Noted Robyn Rubinstein (Jam Base), “This unassuming man with Buddy Holly glasses is a juggernaut of rhythm. He re-invents himself every time he sits behind his kit to bring a sound that is fresh and unique. Maybe nothing is original, but Stanton Moore is inimitable.”

Don Byron

Side Stages

• 1:30 & 3:30 pm, Jazz Camp Combos (Youth Stage)

• 1:30 & 3:30 pm, Dr. Z’s Experiment (Local Stage)

• 1:30 & 3:30 pm, Bobby Domsic (College Stage)

• 5:30 & 7:30 pm, Jazz Camp Combos (Youth Stage)

• 5:30 & 7:30 pm, The Diplomats (Local Stage)

• 5:30 & 7:30 pm. Chuck and the All Nighters (College Stage)

Sunday, July 1^st

Main Stage

Public Property Band

Rebecca Martin

4:00 pm, Rebecca Martin.

Ben Allison © Jimmy Katz

over 100 concerts and special events, national and international tours, a Collective residency at the Museum of Modern Art, and an annual "Jazz Composers Collective Festival" at the Jazz Standard; he has received commissioning, performing, and recording grants from a number of organizations including Chamber Music America, the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum. Allison’s quartet released Cowboy Justice (Palmetto) to wide acclaim in 2006, and features Ron Horton (trumpet), Steve Cardenas (guitar) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Noted George Kanzler (Hot House), “Allison’s new quartet may well have one of the most original sounds and conceptions in 21st century jazz.”

Derek Trucks

The core of the DTB has been together since the beginning. At 15, Trucks met bassist/vocalist Todd Smallie, and a year later connected with drummer Yonrico Scott. A few years later, the band expanded to include Kofi Burbridge on flute, keyboard and vocals; in 2002, lead vocalist Mike Mattison joined the DTB. The band sometimes includes a sixth musician, Count M’Butu, on percussion and congas. Still in his 20s, Trucks has been described in the Wall Street Journal as "the most awe-inspiring electric slide guitar player performing today."

Side Stages

• 1:30 & 3:30 pm, Ignition (Youth Stage)

• 1:30 & 3:30 pm, Radio Improved (Local Stage)

• 1:30 and 3:30 pm, Three Page Fives (College Stage)

• 5:30 and 7:30 pm, North Scott High School (Youth Stage)

• 5:30 & 7:30 pm, The Tornados (Local Stage)

• 5:30 & 7:30 pm, Group X (College Stage)

Celebrating 15 Years

North Scott HS, Drew and Seth Thompson © Andera Canter

JazzSet (National Public Radio) has recognized the Iowa City Jazz Festival by recording the festival four times in the past eight years, and recently featuring ICJF broadcasts for three consecutive weekly shows nationwide. Each year, the festival focuses on jazz education through its “Keyhole” program, inviting young musicians from area schools to perform and learn from such noted educators like T.S. Monk, Jr., Kenny Werner, Curtis Fuller, Geri Allen, David Berkman and Dick Oatts through workshops. Further, the festival supports local youth jazz groups by collaborating with both the City High and West High jazz bands.

Named among the “Top 10 Festivals in the Nation” by Downbeat magazine, the festival often features “cutting-edge” musicians—and perhaps never as many genre-stretching innovators as the line up for 2007. Check your map—Iowa City is located in eastern Iowa right on Interstate 80, about half way between Minneapolis and St. Louis, Omaha and Chicago. Lodging is inexpensive and the music is free. And it’s among the best collection of national talents you’ll find at any free festival this summer. Don’t wait til the Fourth. The fireworks are on the Pentacrest in Iowa City, June 29-July 1.

For more information about the Iowa City Jazz Festival, visit https://www.summerofthearts.org/JazzFest. And while you’re listening, watch for Jazz Police administrator Don Berryman!