MARCUS MILLER BAND

Last night, after the Michel Camilo concert, Marcus Miller, the Afro American bassist already well known for having accompanied the master Miles Davis, performed at the Turreno Theatre as leader of his present sestet featuring a collection of highly skilled musicians.
They played original Miller compositions and the band leader proved to be a true jazz musician with a repertoire which showcased his skill at performing, creating a sound composed of electric bass tunes, fascinating themes and dashing solos.

(a cura di Giovanni Serrazanetti )

MICHEL CAMILO 

Last night, the pianist Michel Camilo took the stage at the Turreno Theatre accompanied by his current Trio, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez on drums and Anthony Jackson on electric bass. They played original pieces by the talented Camilo, a mix of amorous ballads filled with rhythmic and emotional tension.
Michel Camilo is the top Central American pianist of his generation. He plays in a unique and personal style, created from a mix of Caribbean and classical jazz influences.

BEBO FERRA QUARTET 

On Sunday 21 July, the talented guitarist and composer Bebo Ferra, accompanied by saxophonist Javier Girotto, bassist Paolino Dalla Porta and percussionist Roberto Dani Ferra, took a noon-time audience at the Oratorio Santa Cecilia on a sonic voyage with a delightful concert that followed the route of Isole, his new recording on Egea Records. Inspired by the various island cultures that provide the Mediterranean region with its multi-faceted character, the program is a colourful musical mosaic in which Ferra uses melody, harmony and rhythm to bring the wind, sea, beaches and mountains to life.

CHARLIE HADEN & PAT METHENY BRING THE MISSOURI SKY TO UMBRIA
Bassist Charlie Haden and guitarist Pat Metheny were only supposed to appear twice at UJ 2002 but the demand to hear these two master improvisers play together in concert was so great that a third performance at the Morlacchi 
Theatre was scheduled the night before their originally planned engagements at the Sala Podiani of the Galleria Nazionale dell´Umbria, recently reopened to the public after renovations to repair the damage it sustained during the terrible earthquake of 1997 on 20 and 21 July. While the Morlacchi audience got a sneak preview of Haden and Metheny´s program, those who were fortunate enough to have tickets to their set at the gallery on Saturday afternoon were treated to one of those memorable musical moments people cherish for a lifetime. 

The acoustically perfect room - notable for its high vaulted, wood-beamed ceiling and 12 large, arched windows - provided a remarkably intimate setting for the two virtuoso string players artistry and the curator who had the creative idea to display "Santa Cecilia Playing A Dulcimer," a 17th century masterpiece by Orazio Gentileschi, to the right of the stage of should be praised for adding a simple yet creative touch to the ambience that subtly underscored the unique combination of Perugia´s fine arts patrimony and contemporary jazz that makes the Umbria Jazz Festival a special and unique event.
Before being joined by Haden, Metheny played solo for 15 minutes and conjured up a quarter of an hour of heavenly music from a custom-made six-string acoustic guitar that at times recalled an Indian sitar and at others like a rushing river and a 24-string double-necked custom guitar with an extension at its base that has the qualities of the Japanese koto and the Celtic harp and is capable of creating wave upon wave of sound. Then Haden and Metheny, close friends since the 1970s who were both raised in small towns in Missouri, performed selections from Beyond the Missouri Sky, the moving and impressionistic duo album of musical short stories inspired by their home state that they recorded in 1996. One wonders if the reason these two artists collaborate so fluently and effortlessly together might not have something to do with the similarity of their formative years in which they each found solace in music. Their sojourn at UJ 2002, which will conclude with a second performance at the Sala Podiani of the Galleria Nazionale dell´Umbria on Sunday 21 July at 16:00 will certainly be remembered as a highlight of this edition of the festival if not its first 29 years.

(a cura di Mitchell Feldman)