E h Notes.
iL,AAT
.
T
s it something about the sound of the shofar that has
led secular Jews to pick up the soprano saxophone?
Jane Ira Bloom can only speculate about her choice
of instrument, but she finds it something of a phe-
nomenon that the handful of soprano saxophonists she
knows are Jewish.
Bloom and her quartet are among the 105 performances
on tap this weekend at the 17th annual Ford Montreux
Detroit Jazz Festival, which runs through Monday at Hart
Plaza in downtown Detroit. She'll appear on the main-
stage at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Bloom, who records on the Arabesque Jazz label and
has lived in New York City for 20 years, was reared out-
side of Boston in a home with a "relaxed" attitude about
Judaism.
Even more than to the mournful sweetness of the sho-
far that embedded itself in her memory, Bloom connects
hel- love of music to the singing of the cantor when she was
a girl.
JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER
As for her music, she won't or can't shoehorn
it into a particular tradition. But the casual lis-
tener would agree it's compelling and original.
"I think it's joyous music. There's a lot of
rhythmic joy in it. It's hard to talk about your
own music, but I guess you could say there's a
wide spectrum of emotional areas the music
covers," Bloom says.
Montreux, the largest free jazz festival in the
world, features bluesy, hard, swinging, con-
temporary and way out jazz on four stages
throughout Hart Plaza. Performers like gui-
tarist Kenny Burrell, a native Detroiter; sax-
ophonist Stanley Turrentine; organist Jimmy
Smith; and harmonicist Toots Thielemans will
be joined by local artists Francisco Mora, John-
nie Bassett and his band, and guitarist Spencer
Barefield. Children can groove at "Jazz for a
New Generation," a daily musical program on
the Pepsi Jam Academy Stage
with noted jazz pianist Harold
McKinney.
Although open festivals like
this one usually mean having to
ingest corn dogs and elephant's
ears, Montreux is distinguished
by fine cuisine. Intermezzo has set
up a riverside bistro and 22 De-
troit-area restaurants are serving up every-
thing from Vietnamese to barbecued
spareribs.
Then there's the sophistication of the
crowd, which was estimated
Jane Ira Bloom
at 800,000 last year.
connects her
"This festival by far attracts
love of music
the
most multicultural audi-
to childhood
ence," says festival director
memories of
the singing of Jim Dulzo. "It's really quite an
the cantor and extraordinary blend, chiefly of
the sound of
black and white, but of every-
the shofar.
body else, too. I think that's
rare in this country, except at sports events. The row-
dies don't show up."
Jazz artists like playing Hart Plaza for the same rea-
son, Dul.zo noted.
"'Me artists come off the stage very struck by the qual-
ity of the audience," he says. "It listens closely and very in-
telligently to themusic."
The Ford Montreux Det-roit Jazz Festival, a Music
Hall production, began at noon today and runs through
Monday, Sept. 2, in Detroit's Hart Plaza on the De-
troit River. The first performances of the day begin at
noon; the last at 9:45 p.m. (313) 963-7622.
This Week's Best Bets
State Fair
No, not the musical; this one's
got real pigs, cows, Midway
rides and pie-baking contests,
plus live music every night.
Exposition Center, Detroit.
(313) 369-8250.
Fri.-Mon.,
10 a.m.-10 p.m.
- /ktg6 kfoM., Z 1V r
f
Art On The Green
Have an artsy Labor Day — 75
artists from seven states will
spotlight their works. The fair is
kicked off with a parade at
noon. Franklin Village.
(810) 626-9666.
Mon., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Jewish Foods
Class
AH Weinzweig, co-owner of
Zingerman's Deli, will host a
class on the culinary history
of Jewish cooking and its
role in Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur. Zingerman's,
Next Door Cafe, Ann Arbor.
(313) 663-3400.
Thurs., 7 p.m.
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