The Jazz Scene: Conference Calls, Brass Bands, Free Thinkers

Will Friedwald, The Wall Street Journal

January 13, 2013

The musical offerings at the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference (and at this week’s concurrent events, Winter JazzFest and GlobalFest) show that in 2013, jazz means everything from pianist Monty Alexander’s Harlem-Kingston jazz-reggae hybrid to saxophonist Igor Butman, one of the best “traditional” American-style big-band leaders, although he happens to be Russian. The APAP event, headquartered at the Hilton and featuring some 1,000 showcases by artists in various genres and formats, bills itself as a “global performing-arts martketplace and conference,” with more than 3,000 presenters and a huge expo presentation serving the worldwide performing-arts industry. But its reach across the city is even wider, with Mr. Butman’s conference events, for one example, taking place both at the Hilton (Friday and Saturday) and at Iridium (Sunday).