PORT TOWNSEND — Three songbirds with a full band, an evening of jazz with a live audience: This month’s Candlelight Concert will be an in-person, online and broadcast performance starring a who’s who of musicians from across the region.
“It’s a big, small band,” pianist Linda Dowdell said of the ensemble to play the “All Women, All Jazz” concert at Trinity United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Also an arranger, bandleader and composer, Dowdell will appear alongside singers Jean Lenke, Sarah Shea and Ann Brittain, bassist Elaine Gardner-Morales, trumpet player Marge Rosen and drummer Angie Tabor.
Together they’ve curated a set list to showcase their range of voices. All of the songs, Dowdell noted, were written or co-written by women during the first half of the 20th century.
As always, this Candlelight Concert benefits a local nonprofit. The women chose Dove House Advocacy Services (www.dovehousejc.org), provider of support for survivors of domestic violence and other crimes.
The doors of Trinity United Methodist, 609 Taylor St. in the Uptown neighborhood, will open at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, and capacity will be limited to 50 people who show proof of full vaccination.
For those who want to watch and listen at home, the concert also will be livestreamed free — while a $10 donation is suggested — at www.trinityumcpt.org, and simulcast on KPTZ-FM 91.9, and www.kptz.org/listen.
Each vocalist has picked out a few songs for herself; then all three will sing together, said Lenke, who added that “The Way You Look Tonight” is one of her selections.
Shea will offer Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose,” among other classics, and Brittain will sing an uncommon version of “What a Difference a Day Makes.” She’s doing the song in its earlier form, which was in Spanish: “Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado” is the title of the original by the Mexican composer Maria Grever (1885-1951).
Brittain received coaching from two Spanish speakers as she was polishing her diction.
In assembling the band for Thursday’s concert, Lenke and Dowdell called on players known for their verve and versatility.
Tabor is known for her band Caribe and for her teaching of steel-pan technique. Gardner-Morales is also an educator, leading the vocal jazz ensemble and teaching a course in the history of rock’n’roll. Rosen leads the Port Townsend Summer Band and plays in the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, Port Angeles Symphony and Stardust Big Band.
At least a couple of the Candlelight Concert songs come from “Tin Pan Lady,” the musical revue Dowdell brought to Port Townsend’s Key City Public Theatre in 2010 and 2013.
Also on the menu is a lesser-known gem, “Close Your Eyes.” It was written by Bernice Petkere (1901-2000), whom Irving Berlin dubbed the Queen of Tin Pan Alley.
The 50-minute concert has a few instrumentals mixed in, Dowdell added, including a blend of “How High the Moon” and “Shine On, Harvest Moon.”
Lenke, for her part, said making music has kept her inspired throughout the past two years of unpredictability. This winter, she’s sought to build an online community by establishing the “Jazz on the Olympic & Kitsap Peninsulas” Facebook page. Any concerts and live music venues she can find are posted there.
“Music feeds my soul,” Lenke said.
That may sound cliché, she admitted. But it’s true.
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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
Thursday’s “All Women — All Jazz” Candlelight Concert features a four-piece band including pianist Linda Dowdell of Sequim. The concert — livestreamed, broadcast on KPTZ-FM 91.9 and presented to a small in-person audience — is a fundraiser for Dove House.
