San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Dave Chappelle coming back to Napa after all
Despite last year threatening to “never return” to Napa Valley after getting ticked off by the region’s noise ordinance, comedian Dave Chappelle is set to return as the host of the second installment of the Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley.
The three-day concert is scheduled to take place July 28-30, with Grammy-winning pianist Robert Glasper once again serving as the artist-inresidence, at the Silverado Resort in Napa.
The inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley was held last year at the historic Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, which Chappelle derided as a “dusty ass field” during an onstage tantrum over the venue’s curfew time.
The producers announced last year that they would bring it back, but Chappelle’s involvement was uncertain. “We’re already talking to artists,” Ken Tesler, managing director of Blue Note Napa, told The Chronicle at the time.
Curated by Glasper, the festival boasted a communal atmosphere in which musicians collaborated extemporaneously on the bandstand like an after-hours jam session and many of the 6,000 patrons of the sold-out event mingled as they might at a family reunion.
“This is the Blackest weekend it has ever seen,” Chappelle told the audience, ruminating on the significance of staging a concert with rap, jazz and R&B performers in Northern California’s exclusive Wine Country.
The festival’s winning blend of high-profile headliners (Chaka Khan, Snoop Dogg, Maxwell), recognizable artists (Thundercat, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ledisi) and rapidly rising stars (Butcher Brown, Alex Isley, Isaiah Sharkey) made for a stylistically varied listening experience. That was reflected in the broad range of attendees.
“It’s an eclectic crowd,” Blue Note Records General Manager Justin Seltzer said during the festival. “It’s a younger crowd than I think you see at a traditional jazz festival.”
Blue Note Records is not affiliated with Blue Note Entertainment but was well represented at the festival by artists such as Domi and JD Beck, Hodge and Strickland.
Some notable names were also in attendance, including actors Delroy Lindo, Gabrielle Union and Anthony Anderson, comedians Michelle Wolf and Mark Curry, rapper Nas and NBA great Dwyane Wade, who were seen walking the winery grounds and hanging out backstage in the artist village.
Things only went off the rails when Chappelle insisted each night that the artists continue performing past the venue’s 10 p.m. curfew, which did not go over well with the production crew.
“I’ll never drink a cup of wine from this dusty ass field,” Chappelle said after the musicians were unplugged on the final night of the festival on July 31, 2022. “I’ll drink Italian wines and French wines and South African wines. You cannot shut down Robert Glasper, ever. Let that be known.”
The lineup for this year’s Blue Note festival will be announced at a later date.
A limited number of hotel and ticket packages are currently on sale with the code “NAPA,” via the festival website. The packages include a three-day festival pass and a four-night stay at the Silverado Resort in Napa.