2010 in Review

ACCESSING THE HARD DRIVE 2010: After a few decades into my life as a professional music junkie, a few things have become clear. Firstly, it appears that this addiction/affliction isn’t going away after all, any more than this strange, parasitic, and mostly enjoyable vocational road (assuming the blogosphere doesn’t completely vaporize the gig). Secondly, the older hopeless music-ophiles get, the more we believe that music is more than just a diversion, but something akin to the meaning of life. Lastly, despite a dense blur of musical encounters in a given space of time—a year, say—the good and memorable stuff bubbles up to the surface of consciousness, accessible in even an overloaded mental hard drive.

FESTIVAL FOLDER: Of the 250-ish music events I caught in 2010, around the world and around the tri-counties, much has drifted into the margins of memory where mushy data is stored and eventually shredded, but the bright spots remain vivid. Through periodic festival travels—avaricious music-seeking missions—certain shows will live on in memory, including my first concert exposure to the Brazilian genius Caetano Veloso at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and pan-pop visionary Van Dyke Parks (with orchestra!) at the Roskilde festival. Other highlights: a first-time duet with Bill Frisell and trumpeter Arve Henriksen in Germany’s Moers festival big top; vocal mystic Sidsel Endresen in Voss, Norway; Vijay Iyer’s trio in Montreal; The Trio (Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis) at Canada’s Guelph festival; and Chris Potter’s Underground at Monterey. For an all-around mind-soul bending experience, a trip to Morocco’s famed Fez Festival of Sacred World Music rearranged molecules and cultural-spiritual assumptions.

FOLDER 805: But most of my musical travels were around the 805. Once again, the year reminded us of the grand, eclectic pageantry afforded music fans hereabouts. January started out strongly, with mood maestros A.A. Bondy (the rootsy bootgazer whose shows at Muddy Waters and SOhO this year sent me to some magical, melancholic place) and Brad Mehldau’s rapturous and rhapsodic solo piano concert at the Lobero. Sure, jazz fans still feel shorted by skimpy offerings (as usual, less than 10 world-class shows all year), but classical music continues its rich bounty (highlighted by CAMA concerts, the Ojai Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West’s summer fest) and indie rock rocks more than ever.