Ten jazz bands plus four venues and three days is the equation for a weekend of jazz-loving fun, as the 11th annual Jazz in the Olympics festival takes place this weekend in Port Angeles, hosted by the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Russ Veenema, chamber of commerce executive director and jazz festival director, said this year’s festival is pretty much the same as in previous years, and that’s the way people like it.
“We try to keep it similar so people know what to expect,” he said.
What people can expect is a wide variety of bands playing traditional, or Dixieland-style, jazz.
Miles Davis fans would be disappointed.
Veenema said organizers have never tried to combine traditional jazz and modern jazz at the festival.
“We’ve been told it’s tough to try to blend the two styles. It’s a different demographic,” he said.
“It’s lively, fun listening and good swing dancing music.”
Three of the four venues will have dance floors to exercise tapping toes.
Venues are the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., the Port Angeles City Council chambers (with no dance floor), adjacent to the Vern Burton center, the Eagles Club, 110 S. Penn St. and the Elks Naval Lodge, 131 E. First St.,
From all over
The bands come from as far away as Louisville, Ky., and include both first-timers and returning performers.
Bands slated to attend are The Big Bang Jazz Band from Vancouver, British Columbia; The Climax Jazz Band from Toronto; The Dixieland Express from Victoria; The Grand Dominion Jazz Band from Camano Island; The High Sierra Jazz Band from Three Rivers, Calif.;
The New Orleans Ale Stars, Vancouver, British Columbia; Bob Schulz Frisco Jazz Band from San Franscisco; The Titanic Jazz Band from Los Angeles; The Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band from San Francisco and The Wolverines Jazz Band from Boston.
The festival began with a special performance by the Titanic Jazz Band at 7 Cedars Casino on Thursday night, continues at 2 p.m. today and wraps up with final performances at 3:45 p.m. Sunday — except for the after-festival concert.
Performances run 10:30 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Sunday.
“Afterglow” takes place at the Eagles Club, with Wolverine Jazz Band at 6 p.m. Sunday, followed by the Bob Schulz Frisco Band at 7:15 p.m.
Special sets
An annual highlight of the festival is the series of “special sets,” dedicated to jazz luminaries.
On Friday at 5:45 p.m. in the city council chambers, the Bob Schulz Frisco Jazz Band plays a tribute to Bob Scobey.
Five of the special sets take place Saturday at the Vern Burton Community Center:
• 2:15 p.m. — The High Sierra Jazz Band plays a tribute to King Oliver and Louis Armstrong.
• 3:30 p.m. — The High Sierra Jazz Band plays a “Reeds A Plenty” concert with an emphasis on clarinets.
• 6 p.m. — The High Sierra Jazz Band will again take the stage, this time in a tribute to Sidney Bechet.
• 7:15 p.m. — The Grand Dominion Jazz Band plays Uptown New Orleans.
• 8:30 p.m. — The Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band performs San Francisco-style jazz.
And at 8:30 p.m. across town at the Eagles Club, the Bob Schulz Jazz Band performs 1920s jazz.
There will also be the popular jazz gospel set Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Vern Burton Community Center.
The festival is a boon to the local economy at a time of year when tourism has not yet kicked into high gear.
While it may not attract Twi-hards, it does draw 2,000 to 3,000 festival-goers, many of them from out of town.
All booked up
Veenema said local lodging is expected to fill up for the weekend.
“The hotels do extremely well,” he said. “Many of them will be booked up.”
There will also be a free cross-town shuttle for festival-goers, linking many hotels to the venues.
Pick-up points are the Red Lion Hotel, the MV Coho ferry terminal, Quality Inn Uptown Motel and Port Angeles Inn, the Olympic Lodge, Super 8 Motel and Days Inn.
There are several ticketing options for attending the festival.
A three-day, all-event badge for adults is $80; Friday-only badges are $35 each; Saturday-only are $45 each and Sunday-only are $20 each.
Students ages 13 through high school with student ID pay $10 for the entire weekend, while children 12 and younger are free.
“After 7 p.m. admission” is $15 Friday and $20 Saturday.
Badges are available at “Jazz Central,” at the Vern Burton Community Center starting at 10 a.m. today and at each venue.
For information on the bands and a complete schedule, visit www.jazzolympics.org.
Paper schedules can be picked up at locations around town, including the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center, 121 E. Railroad Ave., and the Peninsula Daily News plant at 305 W. First St.
