Saturday night. Downtown. I found the sweet spot. It was roughly at Main and Gibbs and how sweet it was. Standing there arms outstretched, eyes heavenward, I took in the music of Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Rusted Root, The Soul Rebels, and Shooter Jennings all at the same time. Didn't make a whole lotta sense but it was beautiful all the same; all different styles of music making a joyful noise on a beautiful night. People were everywhere, bouncing like pinballs from venue to venue, stage to stage. It was the short-attention span mambo in 4/4 time. Even the flummoxed flatfoot posted almost equal distance between the two East Avenue stages didn't know which beat to dance to.

Whereas at Jazz Fests past I would Padre Pio all over the map, this year I decided to focus on things I really wanted or needed to see. Yeah, I missed a few things this way, but Nugent had this year's fest so jammed, it was physically impossible to be everywhere. Last night was no exception, and I just focused on several shows. Besides once I got in front of Cowboy Mouth there was no going anywhere. Frontman drummer Fred Le Blanc worked --- or rather, taunted --- the crowd into a frenzy. This was a full bore rock 'n' roll party that had the crowd's hands in the air (like they just didn't care) and a red-headed bass player who was very, very easy on the eyes.

I had the pleasure of introducing the band as well as headliner Shooter Jennings. There ain't nothin' like shouting "Marco" to thousands of people and getting back a resounding "Polo" in return. Shooter seemed to be edging a little more country (real country) this time. I saw him last year and it was decidedly Southern rock. It still is --- the man sports a leather upholstered Gibson Firebird with the stars and bars hammered into it --- but there was a little more of that outlaw twang I love so much. Dale, Hank III, Shooter... the "o" is slowly creeping its way back into the country, by God.

Walter "Wolfman" Washington's threads were so red you could practically taste 'em. His blues were tasty too, with plenty of soul and r&b (he used to roll with Lee Dorsey, after all). I guess you could just say that Washington plays New Orleans music. I know that's pretty broad, but folks down there don't differentiate or discriminate, they wanna hear it all. These Jazz Fests keep up this way and you'll be able to say that about Rochester too someday...maybe even in my lifetime.

Ended my nine-day tour of duty with Bill Frisell at Kilbourn. He has got to have one of the best guitar tones around, but it's not always predominant when the electronic effects start to fly. It's interesting and all, but sometimes it takes away from the pretty, more melodic sounds. It's sorta like having a juicy steak and then drowning it in catsup. I'm sure some of the fans of Frisell's trips to the outer fringe consider his straight guitar stuff the catsup. And you know what? We'd both be right. That is the beauty of jazz, the beauty of music, and the beauty of the Rochester International Jazz Fest. See ya next year.