Jacofest runs through Sunday at Iridium in New York.
Jon Regen reports from opening night:

Jacofest, a rousing all-star tribute to the late genre-bending, electric bass phenom Jaco Pastorius, found that artful balance between legacy and longing, delicate mixing history and mystery. Expertly directed by longtime Pastorius bandmate and collaborator, drummer Kenwood Dennard, Jacofest was a spirited celebration of the life and music of a true musical innovator. 
A venerable who’s who of New York session aces brought Pastorious’ funk-infused furor back into fashion. Dennard kicked off the concert with “The Chicken,” a longtime Pastorius favorite by former James Brown saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis. “Saturday Night Live” band alum Alex Foster, (who worked with Pastorius in the early 80’s), rode Dennard’s deep-pocketed groove on his sax, prodding the rhythm section throughout his soul-infused solo.
Bassist Matt Garrison captured the frenetic funk of the honoree’s bass wizardry, walking the fine line between groove and gumption. Garrison would wow the crowd again during a full band version of Charlie Parker’s bebop classic “Donna Lee,” made famous by Pastorius on his 1976 eponymous debut recording.
Other performances of note included guitarist David Gilmore’s gritty solo on the Weather Report classic “Havona” and a chorded, polytonal tuba romp by Dave Bargeron that defied the engineering limits of the brass beast.
It’s hard to believe that Pastorius, who rose to worldwide acclaim anchoring the seminal jazz-rock collective Weather Report, died more than 20 years ago.
A bit of Pastorius' biography:
Jaco would have turned 57 on Dec. 1. He died Sept. 21, 1987.
Pastorius was “discovered” by Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer Bobby Columby, who produced Jaco’s landmark self-titled debut for Epic Records in late 1975. He joined Weather Report in April of 1976 and remained with the band for six years, appearing on a string of acclaimed recordings.Pastorius’ second recording as a leader, 1981’s "Word of Mouth" on Warner Bros., introduced such ambitious Jaco compositions as “Liberty City” and “John and Mary.” Jaco’s 1983 album, Invitation, documented his Word of Mouth Big Band on tour in Japan. He subsequently toured in a scaled-down sextet version of Word of Mouth and with the PDB trio-featuring guitarist Hiram Bullock and drummer Kenwood Dennard.

And then, of course, there's this brilliant bass line.

Leave it to someone who is not a native of the States to understand the value of preserving our history, in this case the pre-1950 Negro Leagues of baseball.
Lee donated 200 baseballs autographed by former Negro Leaguers to the fabulous Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City, Mo.  The Kansas City Star has video here.
His impression is much like mine - and I have been there three times: It's  unique and fascinatingly educational. In spots, the hall strives a little too hard to connect the pre-Jackie Robinson legacy with modern ballplayers, but otherwise the collections and displays are superb and at times awe-inspiring.
There is a jazz museum next door.

Bo Diddley, the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer whose name is synonymous with a five-note beat and whose boastful story-songs were a precursor to rap, died Monday of heart failure. He was 79.
Yet as much as that beat came to define Diddley for the general public, it was only a small portion of his contributions to rock 'n' roll. When MCA issued its first Diddley boxed set, it revealed his talents as a songwriter, and his ability to work within the realms of do-wop and smoother forms of blues singing. As thoise early boxed sets went, it was probably the one that felt the most incomplete; his importance, unlike his peers, could not be captured in a  collection of hits. 
Diddley,who was born Ellas Otha Bates, had a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. He had been living at home in Archer, Fla., outside Gainesville, where he had been recovering.
One of the original voices of rock ‘n’ roll, Diddley’s music influence multiple generations of rock acts — Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen among them. He played a unique guitar with a rectangular body and was among the first musicians to incorporate distortion and reverb in his personal style. That aspect of the Diddley sound would influence hard rock in the 1970s; his use of a rhythmic pulse — created in a swell of guitar, drums and maracas — would also become a bedrock of funk.
The “Bo Diddley” beat is a syncopated 5/4 pattern that parallels the hambone rhythm of West Africa. It has also been defined as a “shave and a haircut two-bits.” Diddley told various stories about the genesis of his use of the beat: he had said it came from church music; from playing Gene Autry’s “Jingle Jangle”; and from his attempts to play the guitar like a drum.
It has been used for decades, forming the core of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” the Who’s “Magic Bus,” Bruce Springsteen’s “She’s the One” and George Michael’s “Faith.” George Thorogood has based the bulk of oeuvre on the Diddley sound.
Many of his songs have become staples of the rock canon, among them “I’m a Man,” “Who Do You Love,” “Bo Diddley” and “Roadrunner.” In 1955’s “I’m a Man” and 1959’s “Say Man,” Diddley created a rhyming the braggadocio that 20 years later would be employed in rap; in “Who Do You Love,” his line “just 22 and I don’t mind dying” brought an element of carefree danger and fearlessness that had never been heard in popular music.
His music was raw and adult-oriented, unlike that of his labelmate Chuck Berry, who chronicled the concerns of teenagers. Berry’s commercial success overshadowed Diddley on the rock front, particularly in terms of being able to sell music to American whites. Diddley’s only top 40 pop hit was “Say Man” although he had seven top 30 R&B singles between 1955 and 1959 and three more in the 1960s.
Diddley’s importance to rock ‘n’ roll became apparent when the harder-edged bands in the British invasion — the Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Animals and the Who — sited him as an influence. John Lennon, on the Beatles first visit to the States, said meeting Diddley was at the top of his wish list of activities.
In his later years, he embarked on anti-drug campaigns and was a fervent gardener.

The eulogy Bruce Springsteen delivered at the funeral of E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici and a video tribute have been posted at Springsteen's Website.
Part of the Boss' speech at the April 21 funeral:
There was the time Danny quit the band during a rough period at Max's Kansas City, explaining to me that he was leaving to fix televisions. I asked him to think about that and come back later.
Or Danny, in the band rental car, bouncing off several parked cars after a night of entertainment, smashing out the windshield with his head but saved from severe injury by the huge hard cowboy hat he bought in Texas on our last Western swing.
Or Danny, leaving a large marijuana plant on the front seat of his car in a tow away zone. The car was promptly towed. He said, "Bruce, I'm going to go down and report that it was stolen." I said, "I'm not sure that's a good idea." Down he went and straight into the slammer without passing go.
Or Danny, the only member of the E Street Band to be physically thrown out of the Stone Pony. Considering all the money we made them, that wasn't easy to do.
Or Danny receiving and surviving a "cautionary assault" from an enraged but restrained "Big Man" Clarence Clemons while they were living together and Danny finally drove the "Big Man" over the big top.
Or Danny assisting me in removing my foot from his stereo speaker after being the only band member ever to drive me into a violent rage.
And through it all, Danny played his beautiful, soulful B3 organ for me and our love grew. And continued to grow. Life is funny like that. He was my homeboy, and great, and for that you make considerations... And he was much more tolerant of my failures than I was of his.
... Offstage, Danny couldn't recite a lyric or a chord progression for one of my songs. Onstage, his ears opened up. He listened, he felt, he played, finding the perfect hole and placement for a chord or a flurry of notes. This style created a tremendous feeling of spontaneity in our ensemble playing."
... A few weeks back we ended up onstage in Indianapolis for what would be the last time. Before we went on I asked him what he wanted to play and he said, "Sandy." He wanted to strap on the accordion and revisit the boardwalk of our youth during the summer nights when we'd walk along the boards with all the time in the world.

Celebrations of the 50th anniversaries of two landmark jazz albums, John Coltrane's “Giant Steps” and Miles Davis' “Kind of Blue” are among the thousands of events planned for the 2008-09 Jazz at Lincoln Center season.

That's part the news. JALC has come up with yet another extraordinary schedule to fill their halls, three of the finest venues in this country for listening. This schedule, along with Jets home games, often determines my visits to New York.

The calendar is being circled for Nov. 20-22 (Music of Monk and Danilo Perez Plays Monk); Jan. 9 and 10 for Roy Hargrove and Cedar Walton; March 6 and 7 for the SFJAZZ Collective performing works by Horace Silver; and Kenny Barron making his Allen Room debut March 19 and 21.
The real potential for a mind-blower is the band featuring Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta on April 23-25.

The full performance schedule is after the jump 

Some acts you never forget their concerts. Nick Lowe is one of them. He may be best known for penning "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding" and "Beast in Me," producing Elvis Costello's early albums, recording "Cruel to Be Kind" and/or his position in Rockpile, but he always delivers a killer show. And as time has passed, those shows have only grown increasingly graceful.
Fortunate enough to see - and appreciate - Rockpile during my college years, it wasn't until 1985, on my birthday no less, that I got to see the Jesus of Cool a second time. That band included Martin Belmont on guitar and Paul Carrack on keyboards; years later, at the El Rey, he was on a  great double bill with Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham.
Plenty of bands share a similar affinity and the weekend of Feb. 22 and 23 will find a number of acts paying tribute to Mr. Lowe. The celebration is in conjunction with the Feb. 19 release of the 30th anniversary edition of "Jesus of Cool."
Declaring Lowe as their"spiritual co-pilot," those words come from the folks at Yep Roc, the North Carolina label that issues his recordings, during the weekend's concerts will be:
The Lowe Beats led by Scott McCaughey of the Minus Five/Young Fresh Fellows at Tractor Tavern in Seattle (Feb. 22);
The Lowlies led by Brent Lyles along with Eric Hisaw and Elizabeth McQueen at Austin's Hole in the Wall
(Feb. 22);
The Lowe Beats at Dante's in Portland, Ore. (Feb. 23);
Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom),Tony Goddess (Papas Fritas) and Ed Valauskas (Graham Parker) at Lizard Lounge in Boston (Feb. 23);
and the Lowe Numbers led by Bill Lloyd with Steve Allen (20/20) and Tom Peterson (Cheap Trick) at the Basement in Nashville (Feb. 23).

Saxophonist Thomas Chapin was onto something back in the late 1970s.
When we were in college he stood out from just about everyone else. An easygoing guy with a gentle laugh, he used the saxophone to express his soul with authority. He was an astute technician playing with the jazz band at Rutgers University and when he returned with Lionel Hampton's outfit. He was a fiery and inventive performer in his own bands, like Machine Gun, and within  two decades after graduation - at which he played a mean "Pomp and Circumstance"  - he was one of the most compelling forces in the downtown New York jazz scene. I was fortunate enough to catch a performance with one of his bands that included William Hooker at the Knitting Factory during a Gotham Visit. One piece, one hour, indescribable intensity.
That was shortly before his death from leukemia in 1998. He was 40.
To celebrate his life, two NYC concerts under the umbrella of "Lift Off! Remembering Thomas Chapin" will take place Feb. 13 and 15.

On a Radiohead website, Thom Yorke quotes Robert Wyatt in explaining the way he works. "I love pop music to death..... Most great composers rely on folk music. I rely on pop music."
Wyatt, a brilliant art-rock singer whose drumming career ended after a fall out a window left him paralyzed from the waist down, has never received his due, even when he created the U.K. chart-topper, "Shipbuilding," which Elvis Costello wrote for him in the early '80s. One of the most convincing alchemists in the world of musicians whose gentle and warm pop music features bits of jazz and improvisation and sparse instrumentation, he's the rare artist capable of creating solo works - his 2003 album "Cuckooland" continues to amaze - 30-plus years after making career-defining works ("Rock Bottom," "Ruth is Stranger Than Richard"). He is in the small club - maybe the only member? - of people who have collaborated with two of England's guitar greats, Fred Frith and David Gilmour.
Steve Hochman wrote an interesting interview/review hybrid for the L.A. Times last week on Wyatt and his latest album, "Comicopera."

Spain will join the growing collection of acts reaching back into the catalog to devote an entire night to a single album. Uniquely, Spain will be performing their 1995 classic, "The Blue Moods Of Spain," in its entirety only in Spain and their hometown of Los Angeles.
The first shows in six years from Josh Haden, Tom Gladders, Randy Kirk and Matt Mayhall will take place  Nov. 1 in Castellón, Spain at the Tanned Tin Festival and Nov. 29 in L.A. at the Echoplex.

Django Reinhardt's grandson David will be appearing at the eighth annual Django Reinhardt Festival at New York's Birdland, running Nov. 6-11, and appearing at a handful of shows across the country.
David Reinhardt will be making his first trip to the U.S.  (One hopes that, unlike his esteemed grandfather, he brings a guitar). He will perform with guitarists Dorado Schmitt, his son Samson and Kruno, who have made a career playing the hot jazz that Reinhardt pioneered in France in the 1930s and '40s.
Playing Stephane Grappelli parts will be violinist Florin Nicuescu, a Romanian who lives  in Paris.
Bassist Brian Torf serves as musical director.
Each night will feature a guest artist: Saxophonist Houston Person on Nov. 6; harmonica player Howard Levy on Nov. 7; saxophonist Joel Frahm on the eighth and 11th; Itallian singer Roberta Gambarini on Nov. 9; and Colombian jazz harpist Edmar Castaneda on Nov. 10.
The Django Festival also has dates beyond Gotham: Oct. 26 at Chicago Symphony Hall; Nov. 2 at Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; Nov. 3 at the Napa Opera House in Napa, Calif.; Nov. 4 at the SF Jazz Festival in Herbst Hall; and Nov. 16 and 17 at D.C.'s Kennedy Center.
The real deal:

If this tribute band is good enough for Dubai, Malaysia and Turkey, it must be perfect for the Kodak Theater.
“Queen – It’s A Kinda Magic,” a stage show that features 30 Queen tunes but apparently no story, comes to Los Angeles Oct. 5 and Orange County on Oct. 6. Show also stops at towns where Buck Owens tribute bands usually play: Sacramento, Fresno Bakersfield and San Diego
Not to be confused with “We Will Rock You,” the futuristic all-Queen tuner that played London and Las Vegas, this vaguely described show is a “theatrical event (that) creates the 1986 world tour of Freddie Mercury and Queen, taking audiences back in time to experience the passion of Freddie Mercury, the amazing guitar solos of Brian May, the thundering rhythms of Roger Taylor and all those unbelievable Queen harmonies.” (John Deacon apparently gets little love).
The Toronto Sun called QIAKM “flawless.” Show has the approval of Mercury’s former personal assistant, Peter Freestone.
Craig Pesco plays Freddie.