Download Sept. 14 2 pm - Flathead Valley Jazz Society

Flathead Valley Jazz Society
PO Box 2627 Kalispell, MT 59903
Sept. 14 2 p.m.
Company Brass at the Eagles
Our monthly jazz parties resume on September
14, with the great musicians known as “The
Company Brass” taking the stage at the Eagles
Ballroom. We tried to schedule our dances on
Friday evenings, but it seems that our jazz
society members and guests prefer to come out in
the afternoons for these parties. So please come
out and support our efforts “to keep LIVE jazz
ALIVE”!
The musicians who will play with the
Company Brass on Sunday, Sept. 14, are Sandy
Sanderson--leader/piano, John Goodrich—
reeds, Eddie Foy—drums, Joel Knadler—
Guitar, and Dave Wright—bass. Many of you
danced to the Company Brass for years every
weekend at the Bigfork Inn. Their music is just
as good as ever so we look forward to hearing
them and seeing all of you for our first jazz party
of the season!
Three-Day Jazz Event
in October!!
As was reported in our newsletter last fall, the
Glacier Jazz Stampede “retired” after 20
wonderful years of Dixieland, Swing, Big Band,
and contemporary jazz. Director Karla West
was thinking of taking some time off from
putting together another jazz event, but it seems
that “time off” isn’t in her vocabulary!
September. 2014 Issue
So….YES, there will be a three-day jazz event in
Kalispell October 3-4-5 at the Eagles Club. See
the schedule on the next page.
GLACIER JAZZ—Dixie, Ragtime, &
MORE!! is the name of the event! The
featured bands include Dave Bennett and the
Memphis Speed Kings. This group plays the
Jerry Lee Lewis-style of the 1950s, and they are
experts at playing the “rockabilly” genre that is
fun music for listening and dancing. In addition
to Jerry Lee Lewis classic rock and roll, you are
likely to hear music by Elvis Presley, Johnny
Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry,
Hank Williams, and many more. Dave Bennett
is the pumpin’ piano man and featured vocalist.
The Memphis Speed
Kings (formerly The
Memphis Boys) will
perform at FVCC on
Thursday evening at
a show/dance that is
open to the public.
The show will be in
the
Arts
and
Technology Building
at FVCC at 7 p.m. A
local band made up
of some talented Whitefish students called “Blue
Avenue” will provide entertainment for the
opening act of the show. The other musicians
who are members of the Memphis Speed Kings
include Joe Jazdzewski on bass, Gino
Mereguillano on guitar, and Hal Smith on drums.
The Fat Babies from Chicago will also be
here for the event! This 7-piece hot group has
very quickly become one of the most popular
bands at jazz festivals across the country.
This is what was recently written about the group
when they performed in Chicago:
Yes, the Fat Babies hark back to sounds that
were popular in Chicago (and New Orleans)
nine decades ago, but their energy and
precision are hard to resist. This astute, erudite
combo—bassist and leader Beau Sample,
cornetist
and
alto
saxophonist
Andy
Schumm, reedist John Otto, trombonist
Dave Bock, pianist Paul Asaro, tenor
banjoist Jake Sanders, and drummer Alex
Hall—sounds utterly sincere; no smirking, no
pomo flourishes, no arch remakes. They cut the
new record at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio,
giving it a beautiful room sound that doubles
down on the old-school vibe of their debut—and
even better is the way it can sweep you away
with its buoyant arrangements, effortless
multilinear improvisation, and brisk rhythms.
We are so excited to have The Fat Babies right
here in Kalispell! None of these great musicians
have ever performed here except for the pianist,
Paul Asaro, who was featured as a soloist some
years ago at the Stampede. You can expect to
hear hot jazz at its best when you listen to The
Fat Babies perform at the Eagles Club next
month!
*******
With the Memphis Speed Kings AND The Fat
Babies, it’s hardly necessary to have anything
more…but wait! There IS more: Also coming
for the GLACIER JAZZ—Dixie, Ragtime, &
More event is the Evergreen Classic Jazz
Band from Seattle! This marvelous group
performed at the Stampede some years ago, much
to the delight of jazz fans and dancers who love
the “old stuff” that leader Tom Jacobus has dug
out of the archives. The band recently re-formed
this past year after
a break of a few
years, and, if it’s
even
possible,
they are better
than ever! It will
be a pleasure to
have the Evergreen Classic on
the stage again in
Kalispell
next
month! Members
of the band who were part of the group in its
early years include Dave Holo—cornet, Dave
Loomis—trombone, and, of course, leader and
founder, Tom Jacobus on bass. In addition,
newer members include Steve Wright—reeds,
Mike Daugherty—drums, Josh Roberts—
banjo, and Ray Skjelbred—piano.
Pianist Ray Skjelbred is a star in his own
right, and we are excited to have him on the stage
in Kalispell for the first time! He has played all
over the world with
many
jazz
groups
during his professional
career including the
Turk Murphy Jazz
Band, Bob Schulz and
the Frisco Jazz band,
and many others. Ray
has his own band in the
Seattle area called “The First Thursday Band.”
We are excited to have this great quartet of fine
musicians as part of our lineup in October. The
other members are Dave Brown—bass, Mike
Daugherty—drums, and Steve Wright—reeds.
A familiar face to many of you will be the great
pianist, Chris Calabrese, who will entertain us
with his outstanding talent on the keyboard.
Chris will be paired with a few other great
players including John Goodrich—reeds, Dave
Brown—banjo, and Dave Wright—bass. A
couple of special two-piano performances will
showcase Chris together with other pianists.
Chris has been the Stampede in years past,
appearing with Big Mama Sue’s Follies, a group
that brought many happy smiles to our
audiences!
A band that we haven’t heard in Kalispell for a
few years is the Last Chance Jazz Band. This
band originated in Helena, MT, and is named
after the famous “Last Chance Gulch.” A group
of miners out of provisions and down on their
luck took one last chance as they swung through
this gulch on July 14, 1864, and they “found
color” as the saying goes. So the name worked
well for this Dixieland band that has been in
existence for 30+ years. You’ll see some
familiar faces: Don West—leader/cornet, Don
Stone—trombone, Doc Lynn—reeds, Chuck
Hurt—guitar, Jim Andler—drums, and new
faces are Rex Rieke—piano, and Dave
Wright—bass.
Where does the “ragtime” portion of this event
show up? Well….every pianist worth his/her salt
knows a few ragtime pieces, and our illustrious
piano players will, no doubt, play some familiar
tunes from this genre next month. However, the
featured ragtime performance will be showcased
on Saturday evening, Oct. 4. Concert violinist,
Wai Mizutani, will perform a program of classic
ragtime consisting of
music by Scott Joplin
and
other
great
composers. Mizutani
has been the featured
soloist with symphonies around the
world and recently
retired from the
concert circuit to
settle down in the
Flathead Valley. He currently teaches strings at
FVCC and performs frequently in the area and
beyond. The Ragtime Concert will also feature
pianist Karla West and clarinetist John
Goodrich. We are thrilled to have a violinist of
this caliber in our midst, and it will be a pleasure
to showcase his talents at the Ragtime Concert!
In addition to the abovementioned groups and guest
artists, we have some other
local talent that will be part of
the GLACIER JAZZ—
Dixie, Ragtime, and More
event. Two of our great
female
vocalists,
Linda
Ensign and Dianne Dunne,
will be singing with the Rocky Mountain
Rhythm Kings and the Good Tyme Jazz Band.
Linda will also join Rex
Rieke for a couple of
performances.
These
two musicians have
worked together before
at the Stampede, and
their
easy-listening
renditions of swing
tunes have been very
popular
with
our
audiences.
A NEW EVENT this year will be an AFTER
GLOW party and dance at the Kalispell Hilton
Garden Inn. This party will begin at 5 p.m. on
Sunday, Oct. 5. A buffet supper will be served,
and the music will be provided by two different
groups. The Glacier Jazz All-Star band will
play for listening and dancing. This dynamite
group will be comprised of great musicians from
the visiting bands. Andy Schumm—cornet,
Steve Wright and John Goodrich—reeds, Don
Stone—trombone, Chris Calabres—piano,
Dave Brown—banjo, Dave Wright—bass, and
Hal Smith—drums. The other group to perform
at the AfterGlow will be Ray Skjelbred’s First
Thursday Band. The AfterGlow party is sure to
be a marvelous finale to this weekend of
spectacular jazz! NOTE: The admission price
for the AfterGlow Party is $25.
Flathead Valley Jazz Society
PO Box 2627
Kalispell, MT 59903
Keeping live jazz ALIVE!
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit #121
Kalispell, MT
59901