What to Do on Your Summer
Vacation
 I’ve noticed recently
that the weather has a real effect on the way in which I listen to music. Don’t tell
my editors, but I’ve just lived through an uncomfortable heat wave during which I
never once powered up my stereo. The main reason may well be that I had no interest in
making my home any warmer than it already was. My tube amp’s warmth and glow may be a
nice side effect for nine months of the year, but a room temperature hovering around 90
degrees needs no help. Yes, I know, I could use air-conditioning, but my home was built
way before central air was an option, and window units are too noisy and unsightly.
I’m sure I’ll get by, but it also reminded me that summer is a good time to
visit some live musical events.
If you’re already spending a good deal of money on
audio equipment and discs, nothing could be more appreciated than free live music.
Luckily, many communities offer such free music throughout the summer. New York City’
Central Park SummerStage (www.summerstage.org)
offers plenty of free performances throughout the summer, including some choice jazz
shows, such as Cassandra Wilson and a piano concert featuring Brad Mehldau and Jason
Moran. Anyone with kids (and even some without) will enjoy Dan Zanes and Friends, who will
also make an appearance. If you have kids and don’t know Zanes, then you should do
yourself and your kids a favor and pick up one or two of his albums. It is not so much
kids’ music as music kids can enjoy -- banish those Barney and Wiggles CDs forever!
Trendier free festivals are available courtesy of the print
publications the Village Voice and Arthur. The Voice holds its Siren
festival at Coney Island on July 16, featuring Spoon, VHS or Beta, and the Dears (www.villagevoice.com/specials/siren).
The west coast has Arthur magazine’s two-day festival on Labor Day weekend,
including performances by Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney at the Barnsdall Art Park (www.arthurmag.com/news). The Arthur
show sounds more promising; if I can figure out how to manage a road trip to L.A. in
August, I’ll be there.
Great music isn’t limited to the coasts, of course.
Ravinia, located between Chicago and Milwaukee, has a wonderful open-air pavilion that is
the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (www.ravinia.org). In July you’ll be able to see Marin Alsop
conduct, pianist Emanuel Ax play Mozart, and enjoy such nonclassical fare as The Music
of Woody Allen and a concert featuring Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris. These shows
aren’t free, but college students can receive free lawn passes to all Chicago
Symphony concerts just by presenting their student ID at the box office. That’s a
great cheap date that will help you look cultured as well.
If there’s one one-stop town for music festivals, it
must be Newport, Rhode Island. The Dunkin Donuts Newport Folk Festival takes place the
weekend of August 6 and 7 at the Fort Adams State Park (www.newportfolk.com/2005).
There are too many great acts to list, but highlights will include the Pixies, Richard
Thompson, Patty Griffin, Béla Fleck, and Bright Eyes. I couldn’t have imagined the
Pixies headlining a folk festival; Newport’s interpretation of folk must be
pretty loose. Don’t run home after the folk festival, though, because the Newport JVC
Jazz Festival is held the following weekend, August 13 and 14, also at Fort Adams Park (www.festivalproductions.net/05/jvcjazz/newpsch.php).
Each day will include three stages: one large, one small, and a special guitar stage. The
highlights will include the McCoy Tyner Trio with Ravi Coltrane, Patricia Barber, Medeski
Martin + Woods, and the Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet. Classical junkies needn’t worry --
Newport’s Music Festival takes up most of July (www.newportmusic.org).
I’ve always had a good time at the Newport Jazz
Festival -- it would likely be my top pick from the shows listed here. The festival staff
always seems happy to help, the artists are appreciative of the audience’s
attentions, and Fort Adams State Park is right on the water, which can produce a nice
breeze to cool off the crowd. My advice is to bring a comfortable chair and arrive early.
Bring an umbrella, too. In fact, if you like all kinds of music, it might be worth
investigating summer homes in the area (maybe The Breakers is available to sublet).
If it’s easier for you to get to Ottawa than to
Newport, you’re likely to find another good jazz festival. I’d wanted to include
the Ottawa International Jazz Festival in this overview -- they had a good lineup last
year -- but I’ve tried for days and still can’t access their website (www.ottawajazzfestival.com).
Montreal’s Festival International de Jazz has hundreds of shows spanning all types of
jazz. Their well-produced website has all the details (www.montrealjazzfest.com).
I hope to jump-start my summer music season on July 4 by
attending the Yo La Tengo, Stephen Malkmus, and Laura Cantrell show in Battery Park City,
at the southern tip of Manhattan Island (www.thebattery.org). I don’t look forward to the crowds or to the
heat in the subway stations, but the music and the views of Ellis Island and the Statue of
Liberty will make up for it.
Google makes for easy searching, so I’m sure
you’ll be able to find some outdoor music in your area that will meet your musical
tastes. The outdoors might not provide the best acoustics, and there are likely to be
distractions that wouldn’t exist in the concert hall or at home, but outdoor music
does allow us to enjoy music’s more social aspects, which are always missing when we
listen at home.
But when all of these festivals have come and gone,
we’ll still need our hi-fi kits. This month we review the Tube Audio Design TAD-150
Signature Series preamplifier -- not an inexpensive item, but one that impressed Jeff Van
Dyne enough that we want to share it with you.
…Eric D. Hetherington
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