Review: Savion Glover at the JVC Jazz Festival - Newport

Savion Glover was the second act on a successful main stage bill during Sunday's portion of the JVC Jazz Festival - Newport.  He followed The Bad Plus and immediately preceded jazz legend, Dave Brubeck.

A special stage was set upon the main stage.  The boards had microphones in them and extra artists speakers were set up so Savion could hear the music his feet were making.

The band that backed him up, The Otherz, rarely took their eyes off the dancer, who also filled the part of band leader.  Glover, dressed in light, baggy trousers and a JVC Jazz Festival tee-shirt, held a terry cloth towel in on hand to wipe the sweat that would pour down his face during the performance.

Glover danced to 6 pieces of music, each of them improvisations on a theme.  Savion's feet were the percussion piece of the band, beating out time-steps, call and response themes, and occasionally, solos.  

His style is so unique that it is difficult to capture with words. Glover made hundreds of clean, distinct, sharp, taps every minute that he was on stage.  He wove in and out of the sounds his band was making, creating a distinct flow of music with his feet and achieving seemingly impossible sounds.

The style that he and the Otherz portray is one of easy improvisation, though I would have to think that as the acknowledged leader in his field he practices and hones each routine for hours on end.

Glover is not new to the jazz festival circuit.  The audience may not know what to expect from him when he walks on the stage, but, by the time he finishes, there is no doubt that he belongs there.

I was happy to know that most of the acts that performed at the 2006 JVC Jazz Festival - Newport agreed to have their performance filmed, to be aired on public television later this year.

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