Falling back: New Mexico Jazz Festival later in year
Sep. 16—Falling back
When famed jazz drummer Peter Erskine takes the stage at the 16th annual New Mexico Jazz Festival, it will mark almost exactly 50 years since his first performance in the state.
"That was my first tour, and I was just like, wow, New Mexico is really cool," says Erskine, now 68. That performance was at New Mexico State University. This is his third attempt to perform at the jazz festival; it was canceled in 2020 amid the pandemic, and he came down with COVID-19 shortly before the 2021 event.
The festival moved this year from August to September so more musicians — many of whom tour Europe in the summer — can take part, says event director Tom Guralnick. It's a collaboration between Outpost Performance Space, at 210 Yale Blvd. SE, in Albuquerque, and the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St.
The schedule at the Lensic: Ravi Coltrane Cosmic Music Project with Brandee Younger, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16; A.B. Spellman and Terri Lyne Carrington: Meet the NEA Jazz Master, 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17; Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17; and Tower of Power, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6.
The schedule at Outpost: Doug Lawrence Quintet, featuring Carmen Bradford, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18; The Cookers, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20; Joel Ross Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22; Eric Vloeimans and Will Holshouser, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27; Samara Joy Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28; Peter Erskine Quartet with George Garzone, Alan Pasqua, and Darek Oles, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1; Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7; and a reception for the exhibit 25 Years of Jazz at Outpost and the New Mexico Jazz Festival, featuring photographs by Jim Gale, 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 8.
Also planned are a jazz brunch with the New Mexico Latin Jazz Continuum from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Dave's Jazz Bistro on the campus of the Santa Fe School of Cooking, 125 N. Guadalupe St., and Blues Night on the Albuquerque Civic Plaza at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25.
Erskine certainly will be among the longest-tenured performers at the festival. He has simple advice for new artists.
"I tell my students we could condense a year's worth of study into one sentence," he says. "A lot of musicians play what they think somebody else wants to hear. The secret is just play what you'd like to hear. It's that simple."
Ticket prices vary, 505-988-1234, lensic.org/new-mexico-jazz-festival
— Brian Sandford