Edited By Mike Breen

By Jymi Bolden

The Indy Jazz Fest attracts an impressively diverse crowd.

· With Cincy's annual street music festival Jammin' on Main shifting management recently (from Cincinnati Arts Festival, Inc. to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, see "Symphony Is Jammin'," issue of June 21. 2001), the new proprietors needed to travel only a couple of hours west on I-74 on July 14-15 to see how to do a music festival right. The Indy Jazz Fest (a week of concerts culminating in the weekend Bank One Jazz and Roots Fair) in Indianapolis is only 3 years old, but it already has the makings of the finest music festival in the entire Midwest.

The festival's user-friendliness and attention to detail is encompassed in one item: IJF beverage cozies. With July temperatures being, you know, "hot" and all, the organizers foresight to offer the $2 drink-cooler is just one example of how remarkably accommodating the whole event was. The layout of the festival spanned two main stages and a couple of smaller ones, stretched across the spacious Military Park grounds next to the Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis campus. The location couldn't have been more perfect: yards and yards of green space all within a short walk from downtown Indy and its hotels and restaurants. Even if the music lineup would have been second rate (like, say, the last Jammin' on Main or Taste of Cincinnati or Chili Fest), the experience of attending the event was like a day in the park, laid-back with everything you could desire (food, drink, mist tents, porto-potties ­ porto-sinks!) within a few minutes walk. (And, while I can't remember the last time I saw a friendly-looking Cincinnati police officer, the entire cop-stocked security force at the Indy fest was -- almost eerily -- all smiles, all day.)

But the music lineup was equally fantastic. On the opening day, one could witness Roots music from The Jayhawks, Los Lobos and Lucinda Williams, followed by headliner James Brown (playing a full revue-style set). And that was on one stage, in a row.

By Jymi Bolden

The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, headlines the mainstage of the Indy Jazz Fest on July 14.

True to its name, the festival spotlighted Jazz on its other stages, paying special attention to the current local Jazz scene as well as the scene's pioneers. Other performers throughout the diverse weekend included The Isley Brothers, Ramsey Lewis, Ohio Players, Chuck Mangione, Diane Schuur, The Neville Brothers and Poncho Sanchez.

Unfortunately, until something like the riverfront "Banks" project is completed, the chance of staging an event as successful and enjoyable as this in the Queen City seems way off. And one has to strongly doubt that you could get 1,000-plus people to sit in a field and listen to Jazz music in Cincinnati. The well-intentioned but not well-attended World Jam festival (now cancelled indefinitely) showed that the city's apathy is probably the biggest barrier to staging such a family-friendly, musically diverse music festival in Cincy. Let's hope someone can figure out a way to make it happen in the not-too-distant future. (MB)

· At 43, Kenny Neal has the voice of a Bluesman twice his age. Clean, subtle and highly gifted in the art of backwater juke joint jam, this Baton Rouge, La., native took the stage of P&G Pavilion at Sawyer Point on July 7, rousing the crowd with his gravelly-sweet vocals, confident guitar playing and an adroit command of his harmonica. Despite Neal's Blues prowess, he couldn't overcome technical difficulties. Halfway into the first tune, Neal's mic cut out, forcing him to improvise. With his band behind him and not missing a beat, he set down his well-worn mid-'60s Fender Telecaster, strolled over to a backup mic with mouth harp in hand and blew some crazy deep-fried solos while stagehands replaced the faulty microphone.

By Jymi Bolden

Ramsey Lewis plays the main Jazz stage at the Indy Jazz Fest

I normally avoid clichés, but I'll say it anyway: My jaw dropped when I first heard Neal's voice -- a blend of hurt and healing. To look at him, you'd never guess what comes out of that mouth full of pearly white teeth. But it's that hardened, whiskey-tempered voice that has kept Neal from becoming a full-blown crossover phenomenon. Thirty years of playing in nightclubs and backing the likes of Swamp Blues legend Lazy Lester, his father Raful Neal and Buddy Guy have taken the boy out of Neal's voice and replaced it with the chords of a salty, world-weary journeyman. But the crowd cared little for his crossover appeal. They were there to mainline Neal's soulful essence. Skilled at working the crowd, Neal often looked over to the sing-along throng and encouraged them to keep digging the groove he was laying down for them. Cincinnati's got problems when it comes to black and white, but not when it comes to the Blues. (John Stoehr)

E-mail Mike Breen

Spill It (July 19, 2001)
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Short Takes (July 5, 2001)
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