Randy Sabien

Yet another concert taped on the street -- literally -- as jazz violinist Randy Sabien and his quartet play about 60 minutes of music at the Independence Day Weekend Main Street Jazz Festival in Minneapolis, MN. Though there is staging, the crowd can be seen walking around the musicians for most of this segment until dusk falls and the band is set apart from the audience by the darkness. Sabien looks like a youthful and hip John Denver (there's even a song titled "John Denver Meets the Rhythm Section" that seems to play up on that) working his instrument with precision. The quartet catches a definite spirit despite the minstrel-style atmosphere of the "open door" concert. Taped in August of 1986, the program begins with "Good Queen Bess" sounding very country -- a flavor that remains through most of the set. Jazz, yes, but mixed in with clear Southern influences. The concert concludes with jamming that might as well be a hoedown. Pat Donahue's guitar borders on rock toward the end of this segment -- all quite entertaining and a treat for fans of this artist concluding the first segment of the DVD. The disc also contains a 27-minute featurette, Jazz: What It Is -- A Primer with Randy Sabien. Sabien plays in what looks like a public access TV studio -- separate from the material recorded at the festival. He also walks around the city, a football field, a playground, and on to yet another performance. They explain this as the use of "visual metaphors" to describe what jazz "really is" -- Sabien talking while he's skipping rope at the playground and other such exercises. Rather unusual -- the success of which is left up to you, the viewer, to determine. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide