Music
I will be the first person to admit that, when it comes to jazz music, I’m a little out of my depth. This is not for want of trying—I’ve been attempting to figure out what the deal is with jazz for many years. I have (thanks in large part to Ken Burns) learned enough about the subject to have an endless fascination with and deep respect for the culture and tradition of jazz and its practitioners. And I can understand and appreciate the push-pull of trying to preserve and protect those traditions in what is an ever-evolving and forward-thinking musical medium.
All that, I get. It’s the music itself that leaves me stymied. But, much like other things I’m pretty sure I should love but don’t understand (jazz, ketchup, The Big Lebowski), I’ll keep trying it on with the hope that one day it will fit.
One of the things that keeps jazz—especially the homegrown variety—firmly on my radar is my long acquaintance with people who make jazz their business, both personally and professionally. One of those people is, of course, the Jazz Project’s Jud Sherwood. And the other is drummer Julian MacDonough.
Over the years, I have learned that if Julian isn’t currently playing with someone, he has in the past or probably plans to in the future. And when someone worthy comes along that he can’t/won’t/doesn’t share a stage with, there’s a decent chance he’ll be talking about them. So, by keeping tabs on Julian’s whatdoings, I can actually keep tabs on much of Bellingham’s current jazz scene. This is why when he seeks me out to tell me about an event, I tend to pay attention.
Which is how we’ve now arrived at the Midwinter Jazz Festival, which will take place from Tues., Feb. 28-Thurs., March 1 at the Blue Horse Gallery. The purpose of the festival is twofold: 1. to help mitigate those winter blahs with some world-class jazz and 2. to help benefit the Bellingham Youth Jazz Band, which is a program that has been part of the Jazz Project for nearly 15 years (see how this all comes full circle?).
As for the aforementioned “world-class jazz,” that will come in three different forms. The first arrives Tues., Feb. 28 in the form of virtuoso guitarist Peter Bernstein. Classically trained but with contemporary sensibilities, Bernstein has spent the past three-plus decades collaborating with everyone from Joshua Redman and Diana Krall to Melvin Rhyne and Bill Stewart.
The next day, Wed., Feb. 29, MacDonough and the rest of the WWU Faculty Jazz Collective—Mike Allen (tenor sax), Miles Black (piano), and Adam Thomas (bass and voice)—will make the most of the Leap Year with their own performance at the festival. The Midwinter Jazz Festival closes out Thurs., March 1 with saxophonist Vincent Herring, who has had a career most easily described as both “distinguished” and “impressive.” He’s been playing, studying and teaching jazz for a long time, and along the way has played with nearly every well-known jazz musician you can think of. Dizzy Gillespie? Yes. Art Blakey? You know it. The Mingus Big Band? Yep. Wynton Marsalis? Sure thing. And, after the festival, he’ll be able to add Chuck Kistler, Miles Black, and MacDonough to that list.
Perhaps the Midwinter Jazz Festival is just the thing I need to finally grasp jazz music once and for all. Either way, it certainly can’t hurt to try it on.
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