Music,
Music, Music
Interest is building for the upcoming Solvang Jazz Festival Sept. 28
and 29. Early ticket buyers, overwhelmingly from out of town, made their
purchases on line. Local music lovers can also buy them in person at the Corner
Coffee Shop in Los Olivos and The Book Loft in Solvang.
During the last few years Santa Ynez Valley residents have had
increasing opportunities to participate in musical events. For one thing, we
live close to Santa Barbara and UCSB, which both offer jam-packed performing
arts calendars. And now the Chumash Casino brings big name acts practically right
to our door. Several wineries have staged concerts, notably Gainey, in previous
years.
Tales of the Tavern, the popular series featuring
singer-songwriters, gains momentum every year. Maverick Saloon hosts country
groups now and again. Many restaurants regularly add music to their menus.
Valley Wind Ensemble deserves praise for its professionalism, enthusiasm and
free concerts. Dunn School has its Schoolhouse series and the Los Olivos’
Grange often provides a home for bluegrass music, and this is just a partial
list.
Some of us need to be jolted out of our ruts and make plans to
take advantage of the wonderful close-to-home entertainment. The Solvang Jazz
Festival is a prime example. Some of us pre-rock people contend that jazz is
often neglected. Perhaps we can reverse that trend.
Stixx Hooper and the Universal Guild for Jazz & Progressive
Music, in association with Real Eyes Productions, are presenting the Solvang
Jazz Festival with the help of many local volunteers.
For the public there will be several events including a dinner
date with big band jazz at the Vet’s Hall Friday night and later an improv
session at the Royal Scandinavian Inn. On Saturday there will be “Groovin” in
the Solvang Park at 1 p.m. and the evening grand finale at the Solvang Festival
Theater.
Various ticket packages are available. For information telephone
688-0383 or visit www.solvangjazz.com and check the news media.
Time to Savor
Spectacular Jazz
Mr. Hooper and his associates are working with local schools to arrange
opportunities for students to interact with some of the visiting musicians. A
most appropriate newly published book has just arrived and the staff at The
Book Loft cannot resist promoting it as the unofficial book of the first annual
Solvang Jazz Festival.
“Jazz on a Saturday Night” by Leo and Diane Dillon is actually a
children’s book, but one the author-illustrators hopes it will encourage
readers, young and old, to explore jazz and the wealth of recordings and live
performances available.
The richly painted book and accompanying CD are tributes to
America’s classical music−Jazz. Set in the golden age of jazz, (could be
in New Orleans or maybe Kansas City) the book depicts a fantasy concert
performed by a dream team of musicians. Miles Davis blows trumpet. Thelonious
Monk is on piano. Charlie Parker and John Coltrane duke it out on the sax.
Stanley Clarke plucks his bass and the recently deceased Max Roach is much
alive on drums. Ella Fitzgerald scats. The instruments are described and
demonstrated on the CD, which also includes an original song.
Leo and Diane Dillon are an acclaimed husband-wife team, who have
been illustrating books for nearly 50 years. Their work has included fantasy,
myths and folklore, everything from Norse sagas to Native American tales to
science fiction.
They have illustrated textbooks and have become famous for their
more than 25 children’s books. They received a Caldecott medal, the top award
for illustrated children’s books, as well as the Coretta Scott King prize for
“Rap A Tap Tap,” a book about Bojangles. An inter-racial couple−he’s from
Brooklyn and she’s from Glendale, Cailf.; they
met at Parsons School of Design.
It is a joy to recommend Leo and Diane Dillon’s “Jazz on a
Saturday Night” ($16.99 Blue Sky Press) and to invite everyone to come to the
Solvang Festival Theater Sept. 29 and experience live jazz on Saturday night.