[Dixielandjazz] Jazz Bash by the Bay

[Steve Barbone]

Courtesy of Norman Vickers who spotted the article in the Monterey Heralds.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


Bay Bash - Dixieland Monterey celebrates 27 years of jazz -- all kinds of
jazz -- on the Peninsula
By BETH PEERLESS - Herald Correspondent

It hardly seems like 27 years since Monterey's other jazz festival got its
start on the historic waterfront adjacent to Portola Plaza. Once known
primarily as Dixieland Monterey, the nonprofit festival's board members have
turned the tide, so to speak, with the decision to add the subtitle "Jazz
Bash by the Bay" to what they now refer to as the business-only name,
Dixieland Monterey.

"For the most part, the name Dixieland conjures up Shakey's Pizza, striped
vests and straw hats that in and of itself isn't necessarily such an awful
thing," said festival board president and band committee chairperson April
DeShields. "For some reason it has the mental image of being rather hokey.
And so with the name 'Jazz Bash by the Bay,' we've also opened ourselves up
because, as we have for years, we've hired swing bands, blues bands and
bands that aren't traditional Dixieland, but are still jazz bands.

"By introducing that name, what we're doing is putting it out there that we
encompass a lot of classic jazz, and some other elements that are related to
jazz such as blues and country swing."

While there are numerous instances where other festivals of this nature have
had to pare down or fold up and go away, that's certainly not the case here.
The festival is enjoying great popularity and continued growth, but there is
an increased interest to draw a wider demographic to discover the pleasures
of early, classic jazz combos, as well as swing, blues, gospel, and big band
swing music. It's the same deal with the Monterey Jazz Festival, set to
celebrate its 50th year as a presenter of all things jazz, where the
original fan base is shrinking and a new audience is actively being courted
and cultivated. 

People of all ages do come for the three-day event held in venues throughout
the Portola Plaza Hotel and the Monterey Conference Center, and at several
other locations nearby, including Gilbert's on the Wharf restaurant and the
grand Golden State Theatre.

Although many of the bands tend to be repeat favorites that come year after
year, there are opportunities to experience fresh new faces with the youth
bands booked for the weekend and with Saturday's high school jazz band
adjudication event. Several professional all-star bands provide the
opportunity for top players to interact in ways that are unique to the
event. 

"You're looking at people who are each bandleaders in their own right," said
DeShields, who is responsible for booking the festival's artists with input
from the talent committee. "The all-stars have no rehearsal time whatsoever.
So we have to know their strengths and weaknesses. Can they blend in with
certain people? What tunes they have in common is an important element. And
have the players ever worked together?"

Organized bands that reflect the diversity present in the lineup include
headlining blues band Yve Evans & Co., Western Swing and gospel group Igor's
Jazz Cowboys, ragtime and classic jazz duo Ivory and Gold, and boogie-woogie
piano group The Carl Sonny Leyland Trio. A favorite local group booked this
year, heard at venues such as Kuumbwa Jazz Center and its annual co-benefit
event Jazz at the Aquarium, is The Jazz Birds. The all-woman
vocal/instrumental group focuses its repertoire on Boswell Sisters and
Andrew Sisters tunes. Like a number of bands at this colorful event, they
dress in period outfits and entertain not only with their music, but also
with outgoing personalities, humor and insight.

Every year since the passing in 1991 of 10-year festival volunteer and
five-year board chairman Dr. Jake Jacobson, the festival has bestowed a
Musician of the Year award to "honor members of the jazz community in life
rather than memorialize them in death." While the criteria for choosing the
recipient isn't exactly transparent, often times the players chosen are
surprised to hear they are being honored, such as this year's lucky guy,
clarinetist Bob Draga.

"All I can say is, I'm absolutely thrilled to be whatever they have decided
I am for the year," Draga said on the phone from his home in Largo, Fla. "I
just can't understand how they can pass over some of the guys that I think
are better. And I hope this doesn't mean that I'm getting so old...," his
voice trailing off with laughter.

No, Bob. It's because you are one of the guys who are better and the band
you're in, the Titan Hot Seven, is one of the hottest bands in the country
for traditional jazz and a whole lot more. The fact is, he's been a regular
at the festival for what seems the entire time to him. But, he actually
started playing here just 10 years ago.

"This band isn't afraid to do anything," he said about the Titan Hot Seven.
"We do traditional jazz, Chicago-style jazz, big band swing. Sometimes we'll
take a country tune and make it jazz. And we like to do pretty ballads. All
the guys are good; a real mixed band. We can do everything. A lot of the
guys are from Nashville and have recording backgrounds. It's a really
diversified band." 

Draga, who was born in Indianapolis, moved to Florida when he was "a little
kid in 1954, when there were still pink flamingos," he said. "Dad decided I
was going to be a clarinet player before I was born. I didn't have a choice.
At 11, he took me in, and I tried out the trombone. And I really like the
trombone. Thought it was the coolest instrument I'd ever seen. But pop
decided that wouldn't happen. He just loved the clarinet. He loved Artie
Shaw and Pete Fountain, and he liked some Benny Goodman. I grew up listening
mostly to Artie Shaw and Pete Fountain."

Seems he's come to terms with his fate, as playing the clarinet has turned
out to be quite enjoyable for him. Self-taught after the money for lessons
ran out after six months, he continued to play music into adulthood as an
avocation, with a day job as a heating and air conditioning mechanic.

"I'm a lot better at fixing air conditioners and boilers than I am playing
clarinet," he said modestly. "What happened about 1984, the career just sort
of took off and it's never stopped growing musically. It's reached the point
now that the music is more full-time than the other work."

The band has at least 10 CDs out; the most recent is titled "At Home with
the Titans," released about eight months ago. It's available on the band's
Web site, <http://www.titanhotseven.com> , but he said "the bulk of our
sales are at jazz festivals and jazz cruises."

At 59, Draga has no reason to be concerned about being old, even though he
said he's not going there gracefully. What will see him through is his love
of playing music. 

"If you love what you're doing, you don't care if there's five in the
audience or 500, although you want to have 500 so you get paid and keep
doing it.