Date: 10.01.2007
Publication: Boston Globe
Author: Kevin Lowenthal
Friday night, at Symphony Hall, the BeanTown Jazz Festival opened with an all-star offering that came within at least shouting distance of its advance billing as “concert of the century.” Titled “A Celebration of Jazz and Joyce,” the concert’s personnel was lovingly assembled by jazz impresario George Wein, the proceeds benefiting the Berklee scholarship fund named in honor of his late wife, Joyce Alexander Wein.
The show opened with rousing quintet versions of Thelonious Monk’s “I Mean You” and Tadd Dameron’s “Hot House.” Bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Jimmy Cobb were a Rolls-Royce of a rhythm section. Saxophonist Lew Tabackin and trumpeter Jon Faddis blended beautifully and soloed commandingly. On the second tune, Cobb traded whirlwind eight-bar solos with the other four.
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