It is the crack of 1 p.m. and I am sitting in the ballroom of the Saltsjöbad resort (Ystad Saltsjöbad), the Baltic’s gently lapping presence a football field away. Through the lingering brain blur of jetlag, I was being pulled magnetically into the four-day Ystad Jazz Festival , which officially kicked off with a duo concert by Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson and Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer. The music was sturdy and fine, but a comment by the wry pianist seemed to lay out some unintended festival mandate: “You know, the heart is halfway between your head and your butt.”
I had never pondered the math or body-geometry equation of those three power spots before, but the concept kept creeping into my mind over the next few music-packed days. As that festival day proceeded, the head factor was pinging mightily during a dazzling set by Kismet — Dave Holland, the ever-astounding (and best-of-festival candidate) saxist Chris Potter, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Butts were set in motion, metaphorically and literally, with post-fusion guitar hero Mike Stern — but who can also be called a blower with heart.
