The 2008 International Jazz Festival.  We arrived around 8:45 PM.  The first thing to greet our eyes as we entered the festival site at the Eilat Port was a colourful array of tables filled with arts and handicrafts made by Eilati artists.  A long row with niches in between was an aesthetic treat of beautiful handmade items, ranging from soft or carved hard leatherwork, to jewellery, to stained glass, to lampshades from recycled materials, to paintings, to beadwork, to mobiles, and more.  After feasting our eyes on all the wonderful creativity of our local artists (and okay, I treated myself to a funky dangly cat made of onyx and metal and wearing shoes, who can be clipped onto a bag or just about anything), we carried on toward the open area.  Just at its entrance sat the last of the artists, offering caricature portraits as a lifetime memento of one's visit.

Inside the open area, a sort of plaza surrounded on three sides by the containers which constitute the four halls, there were many people present, just enough to give a lively and festive atmosphere but not so many as to be unbearably crowded.  Along the sea side of the port, against a background of berthed boats reminding us that this is indeed a port, ranged several food booths, while a central ‘island' served beer and soft drinks.  Here and there were several vendor stalls, including a winery and a disc shop.

We had hoped to find tourists to interview, being as this is an international festival and indeed a major attraction, but all my wending and wandering between clumps of people and seated groups yielded only Israelis and a few lone Russians.  Ah well, maybe tomorrow...  The fun part of the intervals between performances is running into people one has not seen for ages and briefly catching up before someone else tags you or them and plays the same game. 

Scenarios that I enjoyed seeing included:  Young people sitting with their backs against containers, hearing the performances from outside the walls.  Two young saxophonists who gave a brief impromptu performance on the tarmac for a video photographer to catch.  Young children at the performances, even at late hours.  Groups of youth lining the front rows for the performances and being completely attentive and involved.  Inside the halls, people appeared to be quite good about not smoking and not making noise, something never to be taken for granted in an Israeli audience!  Photography inside was forbidden without a special permit, even for us with our press passes.  Although probably for commercial purposes, it did also serve to prevent the musicians being blinded by a constant assault of flashes, I guess.

The evening was hot and somewhat humid, making me wonder how the musicians in fuller dress and under hot lights, plus the physicality of the performance, coped.  And cope they did, admirably!

We spoke with one performer, Avshalom Ben Shlomo, who had arrived only two hours previously from Arad.  Hence the Eilat heat was not as much of a surprise for him as for most.  A saxophonist who lives partly in Israel and partly in West Africa, he has a quartet.   He is also a composer and arranger, and is presently involved in an innovative approach of experimenting with tonalities that he feels represent the sounds made by the Hebrew letters.  He played in the festival before, many years ago, and was happy to be playing this year as well. 

Young Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda on the Columbian harp was impressive indeed.  I'd never have considered a harp a jazz instrument, but Edmar Castaneda was making his harp jump, plucking and pounding out the notes and chords at an amazing rate.   His ensemble was of instruments unusual when thinking of jazz, including guest artist Joe Locke from New York on the vibraphone.  This, too, was utterly amazing how much music can be drawn out of such a simple instrument.  Both musicians were pure genius, magic!

The last performance I visited was the Ben Riley's Monk Legacy septet, what I (a non-expert) consider ‘classical jazz', playing compositions by Thelonius Monk, one of the all-time greats of jazz.  This, I think, is probably the style people who are not up on jazz would be most familiar with.  The concert was surprisingly sparsely attended, considering that the performers were international famous, including someone who'd played with the great Monk himself, and were playing the kind of jazz that everyone knows and loves composed by one of its most famous founders...  The performance being given simultaneously was by the Avishai Cohen trio.  Had the attendees been less homogenously Israeli, I think the Monk concert would have had a far better turnout.  It is nice, however, to see that Israeli musicians are given support and adulation on their home turf and that familiarity doesn't always breed contempt.