A rich sampling of the current generation is on offer Friday and Saturday at Winter Jazzfest. Five Greenwich Village clubs will host 65 bands, ranging from the acclaimed Vijay Iyer Trio to the hip-hop vibes of drummer Jamire Williams to harmonica whiz Gregoire Maret. You get to explore a lot of music for the $45 two-night pass.
Winter Jazzfest feels utterly unlike the now-defunct JVC Jazz Festival, which used to hold court at Carnegie Hall. Legs dangle from the balcony of Kenny’s Castaways and crowds press against the stage at Le Poisson Rouge. Where JVC showcased graying beboppers, Jazzfest is more representative of what you find in the city year-round: inventive offerings that stray far from traditional perceptions of the music.
The word “jazz’’ is its own biggest marketing challenge, says Adam Schatz, festival co-producer. Many sets this weekend won’t swing or channel Dizzy Gillespie, but they are united by improvisation and energy. “Great jazz musicians put their personality forward in a way you can relate to,’’ Schatz says. “There’s nothing to get. It’s almost like meditation: Just let the music flatten you.’’
A Newton native, Schatz, 24, moved to New York in 2006 and runs Search & Restore, a nonprofit that promotes “new jazz and improvised music.’’ Besides working on Winter Jazzfest and spring’s smaller Undead Jazzfest, he recently built a website (searchandrestore.com) to document the community. With a growing library of videos, it allows you to watch artists in various bands and find upcoming shows, a useful portal for newcomers and armchair tourists.
For visitors, the jazz scene is so large and diverse that it is hard to know where to start. Fans here are more loyal to musicians than clubs. I have heard the great pianist Fred Hersch at venues as varied as the Village Vanguard, Chelsea’s Rubin Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn restaurant Korzo, which hosts an excellent Tuesday-night experimental series.
