Seattle Jazz Party Review
AUTHOR: By Doug Parker
Originally Posted April 2012
fine example of how the saying “Less Is More” can actually be true, for the “Seattle Jazz Party” the weekend of March 16-18 at the Holiday Inn at Sea-Tac airport. There were six bands (or seven, if you count “Double Barrs”, which can be considered a “band within a band,”) all representing various styles of OKOM, all excellent in terms of quality.
The transportation costs were significantly brought down by having each band play only one day of the three-day affair. Also, there were some “interchangeable parts,” one might say, because several musicians were playing in two, or sometimes three bands. Such as: Steve Wright, cornet and reeds, leader of the “Rain City Blue Blowers,” playing also with Ray Skjelbred’s First Thursday Band and the Hume Street Jazz Band; the other members of Ray’s group, who were also members of the Blue Blowers. Pianist, Rose Barr filled in with the Hume Street Jazz Band because Karla West and reed-player hubby John Goodrich couldn’t make it out our way from Montana. Rose also held down the piano bench with Uptown Lowdown and Double Barrs. Reedman Paul Woltz, playing all the saxophones with the Rain City Blue Blowers, as well as appearing with the Lowdown; cornetist/sousaphonist George Oelrich, playing with the “Ain’t No Heaven Seven” and the Hume Street band. And, most of all, “iron man” bass player Dave Brown, slapping that big fiddle with the Blue Blowers, the Skjelbred quartet, and Gerry Green’s “Crescent City Shakers.”
Friday, the party began with the Rain City Blue Blowers, whose personnel has already been listed, with the exception of Candace (Mrs. Dave) Brown, who played good solid “resonator” guitar, (which is a metal-bodied instrument with a built-in amplifier) and banjo, and drummer Mike Daugherty; who shows excellent stage presence in addition to good, solid drumming. They alternated sets with the “Ain’t No Heaven Seven” (who, actually were the “Ain’t No Heaven Seven Plus One,” as there were eight men in the band.) Basically a two-beat band in the Lu Watters-Turk Murphy tradition, except that banjoist Glen Dudley played a solid, metronomic four-beat much like Harry Mordecai of the postwar Watters band. This band is unusual in its use of a bass clarinet, which is normally found only in symphony orchestras (however, the great baritone saxophonist Harry Carney of the Duke Ellington orchestra used it on occasion, as did Bill Napier of the Bob Scobey Frisco Band.) The trombonist, very Murphy-inspired, was Bert Bertram, who we believe was the original trombonist with Uptown Lowdown.
Saturday, three bands rotated: Ray Skjelbred’s four man First Thursday band (Skjelbred, Wright, Brown, and Daugherty), playing what might be described as jazz chamber music. Then, fine reedman Gerry Green’s New Orleans styled “Crescent City Shakers;” the five-man group includes four members of the great Grand Dominion Jazz Band. In addition to Gerry, there are GDJB’s leader-pianist Bob Pelland, Jim Armstrong on trombone and trumpet, plus his always-enjoyable vocals (with that great Irish-tenor voice. Jim could be called the “John McCormack of trad jazz,”) and banjoist Bill Dixon. They were joined by “iron man” Dave Brown on (string) bass, who we mentioned before. Then, presenting their “spin” on the West Coast style of jazz, which they call “Seattle style”, was the inimitable Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band; nuf sed. Is it possible they’ve been in existence for 40 years? Special credit goes to Paul Woltz, who had to be a one-man reed section in the absence of John Goodrich. Needless to say, jazz versions of Irish tunes were heard this day!
Sunday began with a wonderful gospel set by the Crescent City Shakers, preceded with a fine explanation by Green of how gospel music became part of traditional jazz. There were fine Armstrong vocals on this set. (But should that come as any surprise?) They then left to play at PSTJS, as most of you know. The two bands that traded off were the “Double Barrs” and the Hume Street Jazz Band. Of course, the Double Barrs are Bert and Rose; he on cornet and snare drum, and also operating a high-hat cymbal while playing his horn, and she at the piano and narrating an excellent and very interesting program of the music of Irving Berlin. Berlin may not be thought of as a jazz composer, but in his early years, wrote a number of nice ragtime songs. The Hume Street band is an eight-person outfit, using two cornets, in the tradition of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band, but due to the versatility of some of the band members, can turn immediately into a “hot dance” orchestra of the ‘20s, such as the California Ramblers or the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, as lead cornetist Steve Wright switches to alto sax, leader Rob Hilliard to the tenor sax, and sousaphonist excellent vocalist Andy Hall to the alto sax also, with George Oelrich taking Andy’s place on the sousaphone. Great sound!
While attendance was somewhat disappointing, a great time was had by all. Our thanks to the staff of the Holiday Inn for providing lodging and complimentary breakfasts and dinners (particularly the corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day!), and their graciousness (to say nothing of the great view from the top floor of the hotel), and to Diane Cottingham for presenting such a swell affair. Your writer believes she has an EXCELLENT concept in presenting our local bands in a “mini-festival” like this. Let’s hope she can do it again in the future!
