By Jenna Luginbill, for the Chippewa Valley Post
Who: All ages.
What: 60 groups in 20 different venues, performing various styles of music.
When: Friday night, from 5 p.m. and on to 2 a.m. Saturday.
Where: Various downtown venues on S. Barstow Street and Galloway Street.
Why: To celebrate what Eau Claire is known for . . . music!
How: A $10 wristband purchased on Barstow Street and for admission to every venue that was part of the “52nd Street” portion of Eau Claire’s Jazz Festival.
From restaurants, to record stores, to cafes and bars, “52nd Street” had a musical group for everyone last night.
I tried to take in as many of them as I could for this review. To start out, I stopped by the downtown cinema to listen to the Eau Claire Memorial jazz combo, an ensemble comprised of my fellow band mates and friends. . . so I will note only that the group featured a wonderful singer, UW-EC’s Jazz Ensemble 1 vocalist Kathryn Rhutasel.
The next stop was Eau Claire Stream to listen to The Flying Monkeys. Here there was swing dancing in the street to the incredible music, with many T-shirt cannons shooting free T-shirts into the crowd. This venue was a perfect location to enjoy the (finally!) nice weather listening to high quality jazz.
Later, I heard the Sue Orfield Trio at the Acoustic Cafe. The room was so packed there was barely enough room to look over the ice cream cooler, but I got my cone. It was delicious! The Trio is a group of professional musicians who know how to perform, make music, and keep an audience satisfied and engaged.
While the main focus of “52nd Street” is jazz, there were various other music genres among the 60 different ensembles performing last night. There was classic rock at Revival Records and later on in the night The Forward Brass Band performed pop tunes at the Eau Claire Stream. For the $10 wristband price, the “52nd Street” events provided a great time for music aficionados from all walks of life.
My Friday night highlight, however, was attending the headline concert at the State Theatre featuring UW-Eau Claire’s Jazz Ensemble 1 and the guest artists for this year’s Jazz Festival, Bob Mintzer and Bobby Sanabria. The concert started off with three tunes from the UW-EC ensemble, an honoree in the Downbeat Best Live Performance of 2018 awards. If the audience wasn’t having a good night before the performance, it was by the end of the group’s first song, “Fanfare Questions and Answers”.
Jazz 1’s various sets contained classical arrangements, upbeat swing, and Latin American charts to feature the many strengths of Bobby Sanabria, a Puerto Rican percussionist from the Bronx. Bob Mintzer wore all three of his hats last night, improvising and playing incredible music, directing the Jazz Ensemble 1, and performing a few of his own compositions. Mintzer also brought out pianist Matt Harris to perform a ballad during his set with Jazz 1, which was an absolute pleasure to hear.
The concert wound up with Sanabria leading the Jazz 1 ensemble through “Afro Cuban Suite,” an arrangement featuring various Duke Ellington charts. This had the audience on its feet pleading for more.
For those who didn’t get to experience the musical genius of these artists there, another headline concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tonight Mintzer, Sanabria Jazz Ensemble 1, and many others. Ticket information is available at www.eauclairejazz.com.
Jenna Luginbill is a senior at Eau Claire Memorial High School, where she has spent four years playing in various music ensembles. She was the featured vocalist for the school’s Jazz Ensemble One, which took top honors in the High School AA division at last year’s Jazz Festival. Luginbill grew up in a family with two musicians for parents and has been surrounded by music her entire life. She has been admitted to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Honors Program, and will enter the Nursing program there in September, with an anticipated minor in Spanish for Health Professions.