June is jazz season in New York. Last weekend's Undead Jazzfest made nearly literal the figurative term “jazz marathon." It was sweaty, exhausting, and often exhilarating. Rushing to five gigs at three venues in less than five hours gave me the improvised music spectator's equivalent of runner's high. (Ratliff had an excellent breakdown at the Times. I caught sight of him during the Steve Coleman gig wearing too many layers for the heat and shaking his head vigorously as in “no fucking way!" at the end of one number.)
This week, the festival season continues with the starts of the CareFusion and Vision fests. For a preview, I'll direct you to NYMag.com, which has just posted my write-ups of both festivals. The magazine asked me to highlight about a dozen shows, and I decided I'd list the concerts that intrigued me the most—the ones with the most potential for surprise. The eleven shows I highlighted might not prove to be the best of both festivals, but I highly doubt any of them will be boring.
