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The San Jose Jazz Festival has always showcased a variety of jazz on its stages. This year, the festival expands even further with Jazz Beyond, a new stage that offers some of the newest sounds in jazz--or any musical genre.
The Jazz Beyond stage features performances Aug. 12-13 at the San José Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo de San Antonio.
The stage presents a lineup of artists who fuse jazz with influences from electronic music and other contemporary genres, or use technology in making their music.
"At first we were thinking [the stage] was a jazz-tech kind of thing, but it's not really the electronics that are pushing the boundaries of jazz, it's the artists," says Michelle Amador, artistic director of Jazz Beyond. "And so we began to say 'Which artists are pushing the boundaries of jazz, no matter what they're using?' "
In fact, some of the sounds on this stage are so new, they're literally unheard of. When Kosmic Renaissance performs on Aug. 12, it will be the U.S. premiere of a new electronic instrument developed by one of the band members. Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, (performing Aug. 12) have used electronic techniques like sampling (incorporating sounds or segments from other songs) as well as more "traditional" techniques like unusual rhythms.
The Jazz Beyond lineup also includes Amador and her band, the True Believers (Aug. 12), who use a DJ and sampling and some guitar and vocal effects; and local drummer/composer Wally Schnalle and the acoustic jazz trio the Bad Plus plays jazz with pop and rock influences (Aug 13).
It's not just the music that promises to go "beyond" the usual on this stage. For one thing, the stage's hours, beginning at 8 p.m., with the last act at midnight, are a departure from the festival's daytime shows.
Audiences will be treated to some unique sights, as well as sounds.
An artist will be doing improvised painting via laptop during the first acts of each night. The painting, inspired by the music, will be projected on a screen behind the stage.
The Jazz Beyond stage is living up to its name, offering something different from anything audiences have experienced at the festival before. But that's not actually so unusual for the San Jose Jazz Festival, Amador says.
"I think that the sprit of the festival is what's making this opportunity possible. It has always been a very community-based festival. It's there for the public, it's free. Nobody else is really doing that on this scale," she says.
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