Best Movie We Never Saw

Kid's room at Lutheran Church, one of the venues for the Rochester International Jazz Fest
Kid’s room at Lutheran Church, one of the venues for the Rochester International Jazz Fest

Funny how no two people hear the same thing. We are so lucky this is the case. After Terje Rypdal’s performance last night we were talking to a friend who was disappointed he didn’t hear more Terje Rypdal solos (he only takes two in his score for “Crime Scene”) and then a comment to yesterday’s post about the abundance of solos. The beautiful bass solo at the end was one of our favorite parts in the score.

We checked out the lineup for last night before leaving the house and Peggi said, “When the choice is between music that transports you and music that doesn’t, there really is no choice.” So like a broken record, there we were in the front row for performance number three by Terje Rypdal and the Bergen Big Band. It sort of amazing to watch them virtually clear a house. No more than fifth of the people in attendance make it to the end.

A true crime buff, Peggi had scripted all the parts of this masterpiece in her head. She knew when the crime happened, when the getaway occurred, when the crowd was just standing around gawking and then of course when the crime was eventually solved. The Jazz Festival pulled out all the stops in booking this incredible band.

We were talking to the band leader after the forth show and he told us how they had played with Joe Henderson and Maria Schnieder and so many others but they absolutely loved touring Europe playing the non-traditional arrangements Terje had written. There were no sax solos, only parts with plenty of room for movement, and then sections that heaved and dug deep into Terje melancholia. This gets our vote for best movie we never saw.

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