Bingen! (Running out of punny titles...)

So, last weekend I went to Bingen am Rhein for their annual jazz festival Bingen Swingt. My main reason for deciding to go is because the NDR Big Band was performing, but I'll get to that later.

So as the weekend rolled closer, I decided to book my accomodation. Unfortunately, the only youth hostel in the town was full up - I was too late. A stroke of luck, however -- Heather and Joel were also in Bingen for the festival, and they had 2 beds booked in that hostel. Thus, that problem was taken care of. Thus, on Saturday, I hopped on a train for the 2.5 hour or so ride there.

Upon arrival, I noticed that the town is quite small. It kinda reminded me of Nelson whenever we went there for band festivals in high school. The Rhine valley is as pretty as advertised, though. River, vineyards...very nice.

This dude was kind of interesting. It's a Louisiana band, and there was a washboard player. All well and good, as the washboard is a valid instrument in the genre...but he's wearing his washboard. The guy has freakin' washboard armor. A little awesome, a little confusing...a little disturbing. Amusing nonetheless.

No doubt the highlight of the weekend for me was Saturday night, which was essentially a program of big band music featuring the NDR Big Band, and the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebow, which are among the premier big bands in Germany and the Netherlands, respectively. They played good sets, both of them -- the NDR guys did a large work based on the music of Frank Zappa, which was interesting. It was quite heavy, very rhythm-section-centric. Admittedly, it was a kind of music that is difficult to listen to in an outdoor concert. The Dutch band did a tribute to Ray Brown, with a very good American vocalist, and it was somewhat lighter and more crowd-pleasing. Both bands are really tight and have some killer monsters for soloists. I most enjoyed a set when both bands took the stage, laying down some classic big-band sound. Sure, I guess it's gimmicky and kind of kitsch, but there's no disputing the raw power projected by 2 killer brass sections, and 2 world-class bands' worth of soloists. They were jamming out on this one modified minor blues, and pairs of musicians, one from each band, would alternate choruses during the blowing section. It was actually riveting, especially the two pianists. I have a video of part of it that I should try to upload somewhere, eventually.

All in all, an excellent weekend of great music. Only thing is, I really really need to find a piano to play on now...