Where the jazz is always young – di Ted Gioia
For a half-century, the most celebrated artists in jazz have made a summer pilgrimage to Pescara on the Adriatic Coast. In this setting, audiences have had the privilege of witnessing a living history of the music that could never be repeated again. The innovators of every generation have taken the stage here, from early jazz masters Earl Hines and Red Norvo all the way to futuristic experimenters Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor. Pescara Jazz has encompassed all of jazz.
A list of performers who have come to Pescara reads like a membership roster of a jazz hall of fame. They include Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, and dozens of other legendary figures who have redefined the musical parameters of the modern world. But Pescara Jazz is also a vibrant center of contemporary jazz.
In fact, almost every leading jazz star of the current day has made memorable music in Pescara. In recent years, the festival has hosted luminaries such as Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Jan Garbarek, Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin, Stefano Bollani, Maria Schneider, Brad Mehldau, Enrico Rava, and Pat Metheny, among others. No matter what style of jazz you enjoy, you will hear it played brilliantly at Pescara by the living masters of the art form.
Jazz fans often argue about whether the music should celebrate the past or move boldly into the future. But at Pescara, past, present and future always seem to converge. Audiences here have been enriched by the music’s multifaceted traditions, but also get to taste what’s new on the horizon. And that interaction between the familiar and the unexpected is what jazz has always been about. Many things have changed in music over the last fifty years. Vinyl albums have gotten replaced by compact disks, and those are now being superseded by online streaming. Nowadays people listen to songs on their phones or other devices. But that’s all the more reason to celebrate the magnificence of Pescara Jazz. Even in a high tech digital age, there are some experiences that are far too big to be contained by a smartphone or laptop. Those experiences take place every summer at Pescara, where magical things always seem to happen and the music never gets old.
