Savannah festival celebrates music

A harbinger of spring in Savannah is that glorious city's annual music festival. Running Thursday through April 3, the Savannah Music Festival, a dynamic, comprehensive amalgamation of all types of music, will provide about as much ear candy as one can stand.

Typically, genres represented include European classical, blues, bluegrass, Cajun, jazz, Tin Pan Alley, country/Americana, rock 'n' roll, Latino/timba, world music, African, Old Time, Swedish, Southern traditional folk and more.

Headliners this year should cause no drop-off in the festival's outstanding international reputation. How can you miss with acts such as Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, classical pianist Lang Lang and Americana guitarist Derek Trucks.

The festival stages original, one-of-a-kind productions. This year's roster has numerous one-time-only pairings with particular emphasis on vocalists and string players. Singers Patty Loveless and Kathy Mattea share a bill on

opening weekend, as do Ruthie Foster and Kristina Train. They will be followed by two prodigies, Canadian Sierra Noble and Texan Sarah Jarosz.

Brazilian guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad are matched with violin virtuoso Roby Lakatos and his Sextet, while French bassist extraordinaire Renaud Garcia-Fons' trio is paired with fiddlemaster Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio, and Malian Ngoni superstar Bassekou Kouyate's family band halves a concert with American guitarist Bill Frisell's Trio.

Original productions include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Chinese piano sensation Lang Lang, the fifth annual Piano Showdown, the 17th annual American Traditions Competition, the All-Star Swing Summit/Swing Central Finale and SMF's originally conceived chamber music series, Sensations, which combines many of the finest European and American musicians under the curatorial direction of associate artistic director Daniel Hope.

Premieres include Mike Marshall's commissioned "Suite Savannah" and the debut of Trucks' new band with his wife, Susan Tedeschi.

Trucks said in a recent interview, "Susan and I had been talking for a while about starting up a new project, and we finally have the opportunity to work on a new band together this year. It's the first time we've had time to start something from scratch like this, and we're excited to keep writing and trying things out throughout the year.

"We've got some great musicians lined up to play with us in April and plan to experiment with different chemistry as we go along. It will be great to gig some of these original tunes we've been writing, so we're excited about the Savannah show."

The guiding hand behind the SMF is Rob Gibson, executive and artistic director.

"While we always have big-name artists such as the Atlanta Symphony, Wynton Marsalis, Derek Trucks, Lang Lang or Wilco, it's really the overall breadth of our programming and the emphasis on musical and aesthetic quality, instead of popular names, that continues to make the festival fresh," Gibson said.

"People are hungry for first-class artistry and intimate musical experiences, and I believe that's what continues to draw more tourists each year as well," he said.

The festival will have 96 artists performing in 15 series at 11 venues. Shows will be held at churches, theaters, schools, museums and plazas, some of the most interesting locations in the Lowcountry.

Jack McCray is a freelance writer in Charleston. Reach him at jmccray@aol.com.