Jazz at Centrum

May 10 Swing Dance at the JFK Building

Get ready for some jump blues, western swing, and classical jazz standards from the 1930s and 1940s on Saturday, May 10!

Join us at 7:30 pm, as Fort Worden State Park’s newly renovated JFK Building comes alive with rock-steps, twirls, and dips. The cost is $10; tickets are available at the door or by calling 360.385.3102, x117. Tickets are also available online.

Leading the swing dance are Grammy-winning guitarist Mike Dowling, violinist Paul Anastasio, sensational Canadian vocalist/pianist Jennifer Scott and bassist Cary Black.

The dance is the public capstone to an intensive weekend workshop for swing musicians and vocalists, some of whom will join the band onstage.

Before embarking on a solo career, Mike Dowling worked and recorded with jazz great Joe Venuti, mandolinist Jethro Burns, and Nashville swing fiddler Buddy Spicher. Dowling is a popular swing instructor throughout the country. He has been called by Vassar Clements "one of the finest guitarists there is, anywhere."

Paul Anastasio studied jazz violin with the great Joe Venuti. His first job on the road was with Merle Haggard’s band, The Strangers. In 1992, a chance encounter with Mexican violinist Juan Reynoso turned his life upside down. He began to travel to southwestern Mexico to study Reynoso’s regional fiddling style, leading to a distinctive and virtuoso style.

Jennifer Scott is a Vancouver-born vocalist and jazz pianist specializing in jazz, blues, and world music. From sold-out concerts in San Francisco to exclusive local club performances, Scott’s performance experiences have been varied. Jennifer has appeared at Jazz Festivals all across Canada and in several of the United States.

Cary Black, a bassist, teacher, vocalist, and producer from Olympia, taught music theory and improvisation for six years at the Evergreen State College. He has made numerous radio appearances including the Grand Ole Opry and A Prairie Home Companion.

Kim Nazarian: Inspiring Life Through Music

Vocalist, teacher, lyricist, Grammy-nominated arranger, and Grammy Award-winning ensemble singer...try and fit a ball of positive energy into a category and you will break the box!

Kim Nazarian, who will be teaching voice at the 2008 Jazz Port Townsend workshop, is the soprano of the New York Voices, the only vocal group to win two Grammys for live concert recordings (including one of Brazilian music with Paquito D'Rivera, who will also be in residence in Port Townsend this summer.)

Always passionate about Latin music, Nazarian performs and records with the Boston-based band El Eco, whose CD "Two Worlds" was recently featured on NPR's JazzSet. Other collaborations include her work performing and recording with Mark Shilansky. Her vocals are featured extensively on his most recent recording: "Join The Club". She also is featured on Bobby McFerrin's upcoming 2009 release.

Nazarian has worked with and conducted choirs around the world, including the New York State Vocal Jazz Ensemble and the Arizona All-State Jazz Choir. She is known as one of the most popular voice teachers in the nation, and is eagerly anticipated at this year's Festival.

Entertaining Spirit: The Music of Drummer Matt Wilson

Drummer, composer, producer, and bandleader Matt Wilson is considered one of the most creative, talented, and entertaining spirits in jazz today. He has won multiple awards for his work, has appeared on more than 170 recordings and has performed throughout the world.

[Matt Wilson onstage]

His most recent CD, "The Scenic Route", was released in February, 2007, and was recognized as one of the top jazz recordings of that year.

Wilson will be in residence at the 2008 Jazz Port Townsend festival, teaching, jamming, and giving performances. His mainstage performance will be dedicated to the memory of Dennis Irwin, who passed away March 10, 2008.

Jamming With Wycliffe Gordon

[Wycliffe Gordon onstage]

Trombone legend Wycliffe Gordon will be in residence at Jazz Port Townsend in 2008, teaching, jamming, and giving a mainstage performance with his Quartet.

Gordon has enjoyed an extraordinary career as a performer, conductor, composer, arranger, and educator. He tours the world, performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz with his trombone.

In addition to a thriving solo career, he tours regularly leading the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet, headlining at legendary jazz venues throughout the world. Gordon is a former veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and The Gully Low Jazz Band, and has been a featured guest artist on Billy Taylor's "Jazz at The Kennedy Center" Series. Gordon’s extensive performance experience includes work with many of the most renowned jazz performers of the past and present.

The Music of Benny Green

Jazz pianist Benny Green, one of the most popular performers and teachers in the country, will be returning to Jazz Port Townsend in 2008!

Born in New York in 1963, Benny Green grew up in Berkeley, California, and began classical piano studies at the age of seven. His attention, however, soon turned into jazz.

"I began trying to improvise on the piano, imitating the records I'd been hearing from my father's collection, which included a lot of Monk and Bird… it was a gradual process of teaching myself," Green says. He played in school bands before hooking up with singer Fay Carroll, saying, "That was good training for me in terms of accompaniment and learning about the blues, and she also gave me a chance to play trio, opening for her every night."

As a teenager, Green worked with Eddie Henderson, and got some big band experience with a twelve-piece group led by Chuck Israels. Back in the Big Apple, he met veteran pianist Walter Bishop Jr. "I began studying with him and he helped point me in the direction of developing my own sound," Green says. "He also encouraged me to check out and study the whole scope of jazz piano history, so I could get a sense of how I was to fit in".

After a short stint with Bobby Watson, Green worked with Betty Carter between 1983 and 1987, the year he joined Art Blakey's band. He later worked with Freddie Hubbard's quintet.

[Benny Green on piano]

Are You Ready to Swing?

At Jazz Port Townsend, we focus on the 'straight-ahead' part of the jazz spectrum. We wanted to let you jazzoids know, however, about a special weekend workshop taking place in May that lives in the "vintage-swing" part of the spectrum.

We've invited Mike Dowling, Paul Anastasio, Jennifer Scott, and Rene Worst to conduct a Swing Intensive, May 8-11, 2008. If you play guitar, fiddle, acoustic bass, or sing at an intermediate and above level, this weekend could be for you.

The world of swing is a big one, but with this intensive long weekend the focus will be on "vintage swing", classics from the 30's and 40's that will include jump blues, and western swing, instrumentals as well as vocals. Morning sessions will be devoted to technique, while afternoons will include a faculty-led band lab that will demonstrate how to "put it all together."

Please visit the Swing Intensive page on our Fiddle Tunes site to learn more and to register--space is very limited in this special weekend. Hope to see you there!

At Jazz Port Townsend, we focus on the 'straight-ahead' part of the jazz spectrum. We wanted to let you jazzoids know, however, about a special weekend workshop taking place in May that lives in the "vintage-swing" part of the spectrum.

We've invited Mike Dowling, Paul Anastasio, Jennifer Scott, and Rene Worst to conduct a Swing Intensive, May 8-11, 2008. If you play guitar, fiddle, acoustic bass, or sing at an intermediate and above level, this weekend could be for you.

The world of swing is a big one, but with this intensive long weekend the focus will be on "vintage swing", classics from the 30's and 40's that will include jump blues, and western swing, instrumentals as well as vocals. Morning sessions will be devoted to technique, while afternoons will include a faculty-led band lab that will demonstrate how to "put it all together."

Please visit the Swing Intensive page on our Fiddle Tunes site to learn more and to register--space is very limited in this special weekend. Hope to see you there!

Grammy Congratulations to John Clayton and Paquito D'Rivera

Last night was a strong night for jazz at the Grammys. Herbie Hancock took honors for Album of the Year, and two Jazz Port Townsend artists took home statues as well.

Congratulations to artistic director John Clayton, who won a Grammy for Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die," John Clayton, arranger (Queen Latifah).

...and kudos to Paquito D'Rivera, whose quintet scored a Grammy for Latin Jazz Album: 'Funk Tango.'