It wasn't long ago that it was easy to find a jazz festival in Pittsburgh.

No more. This year, there will be none. All four festivals of recent history have disappeared.

While there never were more than two festivals in any one year, there were four events claiming part of the audience over past few years. They all were different and offered jazz fans individual ways of focusing on their music.

The latest to disappear is Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Jazz at the Nemacolin Resort and Spa in Fayette County. That event has been shelved this year after starting in 2001.

The Mellon Jazz Festival obviously was the biggest departure when it finished its last concert in 2002. It has left a huge cultural and entertainment hole in the Pittsburgh summer.

Jazz at Seven Springs was a striking alternative by providing a weekend at the Somerset County resort as opposed to Mellon's city-oriented celebration. After beginning in 1988 at nearby Hidden Valley as Jazz in the Mountains, it moved to Seven Springs in 1994.

Then, of course, there was the Winter Jazz Fest, held for one weekend in 2003 at the Holiday Inn Select-University Center in Oakland. It was canceled this year. Tony Mowod, president of the Pittsburgh Jazz Society, which sponsored the event, says it will return in 2005.

He's trying to sell the importance of jazz events -- and this one in particular -- to corporate sponsors.

So, we'll see.

Maybe filmmaker Rick Sebak could do a "Festivals That Aren't Here Anymore" feature. If he teamed it up with some of the other disappearing events in this area, he could have a movie that would make the "Lord of the Rings" films seem short.

Taking sight of the music

DVD releases are broadening the jazz experience in the same way independently produced compact discs do.

Music Video Distributors and Inakustic DVDs have opened viewers to performers such as drummer Charly Antolini, trombonist Chris Barber and clarinetist-singer Andy Cooper, all performing at the Europapark in Rust, Germany.

Antolini's "Jazz Power," "The Big Chris Barber Band" and "Andy Cooper's Euro Top 8" all are enjoyable sessions. The drummer's is in a classic hard-bop format, Barber's is in a traditional jazz setting and Cooper's is an energetic mix.

The company also has released the Go Jazz All Stars in a disc of that title recorded in Baden-Baden, Germany. It features keyboardist Ben Sidran leading an American-European group.

Officials from Music Video say they want to try to produce about one release a month. While these sessions might not be classics that will force their way into every collection, they open viewers to places and performers perhaps not seen before.

Music Video also has released "The 1962 Newport Jazz Festival," put together by Quantum Leap productions. The effort is in the grainy black-and-white of the time but is full of classic performers such as a young Joe Williams with the Count Basie Band and Pittsburgh's Ray Brown with Oscar Peterson.

DVDs also are bringing some better-known, and current, players into the home. BET Jazz, the cable TV jazz channel, and Image Entertainment have released "The Jazz Channel Presents Herbie Hancock" and "Randy Weston: Live in St. Lucia."

The Hancock disc is recorded in a studio in front of an audience, while the Weston recording is at a festival in 2002. Both are good looks at the work of the two pianists, and both have the energy live performances provide.

Album reviews

"Trumpets Eleven" (Hip-Bone Music) Michael Davis. Eleven trumpeters, including Randy Brecker and Tom Harrell, join trombonist Davis on 10 original tunes. The playing is great, and the songs are accessible but challenging. Three stars (out of four)

"Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein" (Blue Note) Bill Charlap. Pianist Charlap leads bassist Kenny Washington and drummer Peter Washington through 12 Bernstein songs including great versions of "Ohio," "Some Other Time" and "America." Three stars

"Storm Zone" (Blue Note) Takashi Matsunaga. This 17-year-old pianist, who goes by only his first name, is a solid performer and decent composer. But his work is rather predictable and his tunes sound like take-offs on jazz standards. Two stars

"To Music" (Whaling City) Jim Robitaille. While Robitaille does a fine job with his guitar on this album, sax wiz Dave Liebman steals the show. That is not a bad fate by any means. The album is dominated by originals, but even the version of "Yesterdays" is highly fresh. Three stars

"One Special Night" (Whaling City) Shawnn Monteiro with Clark Terrry. Monteiro is a fine singer, but nothing special. But having Terry on this live recording, along with drummer Jimmy Cobb, makes the album a delight. Three stars

"The Fred Hersch Trio + 2" (Palmetto) Fred Hersch Trio. The tremendous pianist adds trumpeter Ralph Alessi and sax player Tony Malaby to create this collection of originals. Arrangements are sophisticated but allow enough room for solos. Three stars

"Fountain of Youth" (Dreyfus Jazz) Roy Haynes. This soon-to-be-76-year-old drummer doesn't need this fountain. He drives a quartet through a lively session at New York City's Birdland in a collection of tunes played creatively and with a lot of energy. Three stars

"I Can't Be New" (Koch) Susan Werner. This singer is nowhere near Cassandra Wilson or Tierney Sutton in freshness, but she has a good sense of song. All the tunes are her own, so she gets high marks in creativity. Two and 1/2 stars

"Raison D'etre" (Wombat) Frank Gambale. Like other efforts of this guitarist, this album is a display of his incredible ability. Driven by drummer Billy Cobham, Gambale and two sidemen roar through his rock-rooted music that has classical melodic touches. Three stars

"The Passage" (Heads Up) Andy Narell. Steel drum wiz Narell combines with a group of pan players and jazz soloists Paquito D'Rivera, Michael Brecker and Hugh Masakela. The result is a lively album of steel drum music that sounds like the local school steel drum bands lifted to their highest level. Three stars

Bob Karlovits covers jazz for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at bkarlovits@tribweb.com or (412) 320 7852.