by Christopher Hess

When you've dug yourself into a comfortable little hole, adjusted your surroundings until they meet the exact specifications required for a peaceable existence, hung your pictures on the walls and laid the mat outside the front door, any slight disturbance can feel like an earthquake. Any upset in the balance of the "way things ought to be" can have an immediate impact, and can shake what you thought was a steady foundation, sending misplaced notions knick-knacks crashing to the floor without warning.

When I found out Fred Sanders was leaving town, I was shocked. Not shocked, really, but dismayed to say the least. I mean, when you look at a talent like Sanders has, the completely natural ease with which he attends to any musical piece he undertakes in any combo he's in, you expectthat talent to continue to seek new inspiration and grow. Growth requires space, though, and for many the ceiling here is somewhat low. As it applies to jazz specifically, that ceiling is made up of the number of people who play here on a regular, rotational basis, as well as the distance from any major metropolis where the huge touring acts pass through. Dallas gets 'em, sure, but not all of them, not all the time.

It's not as if you need to be surrounded by masters in anything to be able to do it well, but doing it well is not the point. As Elias Haslanger told me, "You need people from all over the world bringing new ideas to the table all the time, and we don't have that here." To be world-class, you have to know what's going on out there, to know what you're up against. Haslanger will, in time, move as well. New York, New Orleans, somewhere in the jazz-fanatical cities of Europe, who knows.

So, these walls that are crumbling are of a little local jazz world that I've built around myself over the past few years. After seeing the same people appearing in the combos that I saw the most, and after identifying styles and sounds as they apply to individuals and how they mesh with those of others, I thought I had an idea of what the state of Austin jazz was. The ground beneath this order has shifted, and will soon enough shift again.

The fleeting nature of everything (no nihilism, I swear) leads one to look for solid ground, and I think that, for this month at least, solid ground can be found. Look East. As you will read elsewhere in this mag, June is Jazz in Austin, largely because of the Austin Jazz and Arts Festival. Over the past nine years this annual event has been called the Clarksville/West End Jazz Festival, and while Pease Park is a very nice spot and the participating venues were always gracious enough, it just didn't seem to make as much sense as this new setup. Localization, centralization, and a definitive move eastward have all entered into the equation, and the effects will surely be a more cohesive feel to the full week-long festival. All but one of the evening shows will be at the Victory Grill this year. In the past they've alternated venues, and while variation is nice, it can also be confusing and can dilute a passive spectator's sense of the festival.

And also, the daytime/weekend segment of the festival, on June 13th and 14th, will be held at Waterloo Park. The number of musical and festival events being held at this park has been increasing over the past couple years, and with good reason. The park is downtown, facilities are easily imported and exported, parking is easier than in Clarksville, and it's a more enclosed setting.

The Austin Jazz and Arts Festival is carving out a new niche for itself, since the home of its first nine years has become an impossibility. An earthquake, sure, but the relocation may be what spurs the fest into unprecedented growth. This festival should be the time when the world class players come through town; when amazing new ideas and insights are brought to the table until it flows; when those who have moved on come back to visit; when artists from all over can get together and benefit from each others' experiences and styles.

Ray Barretto and New World Spirit will bring world-class Latin flavor, Jason Marsalis brings his family's New Orleans tradition; guitarist Mark Whitfield comes from the jazz capital New York; and Bobby Bradford and his trumpet will make-up the show he missed a few months ago. And with local talent like Haslanger, Sanders, Martin Banks, and much more, it's gonna be a hell of a week.