Swing’n Dixie Jazz Jamboree, Sun Valley, Idaho
San Diego, Sacramento and of course New Orleans are all on the jazz map for UK travellers to America; less familiar is Sun Valley, Idaho, where the Swing’n Dixie Jazz Jamboree is held in October. www.sunvalleyjazz.com
The hub of the event is the luxurious Sun Valley Lodge. Built in 1935 on a site of over 4000 acres, this was America’s first purpose-built ski resort. In the ensuing years developments on the main site have provided self-catering accommodation, skating rinks, restaurants, shops and large function rooms. Further afield are the opulent ski chalets served by the festival shuttle buses and giving an opportunity to see some of the wonderful scenery.
Most of the bands and soloists are not familiar to UK audiences but one name that stands out is that of Bill Allred, veteran trombonist who leads a superb 9-piece band which includes his son John, also a world-class trombonist formerly with Woody Herman
Guitarist and banjoist Eddie Erickson and drummer Ed Metz Jr are frequent visitors to Europe. At Sun Valley they appeared with Professors Lite, a highly professional outfit led by Bill Dendle on banjo and trombone. Bill’s wife, Shelley Burns is an accomplished, entertaining singer and a great favourite with the audience. Lee Westenhofer on bass and tuba completes this fine team of musicians whose wonderful humour never compromises the quality of their music.
The US Coast Guard Dixieland Jazz Band is a group of six musicians taken from the 50 or so who make up the full US Coast Guard Band. In their first set we thought they seemed a little ‘starchy’ (possibly the effect of their immaculate white uniforms), but by the time we saw them again they had relaxed completely and were absolutely brilliant. They also have the distinction of featuring possibly the tallest pianist in the world.
The Midiri Brothers, Joe and Paul, co-lead a sixteen-piece orchestra, but in Sun Valley presented their sextet, with strong echoes of the Benny Goodman small groups, but not unduly restricted in either repertoire or style. Joe plays sax as well as Goodman-style clarinet, while Paul specialises on vibraphone but also shines on drums, piano, trumpet and trombone. Their performances were polished and swung effortlessly – we loved them.
Three names well-known in the UK are Jim Fryer and Jeff and Anne Barnhart. Jim and Jeff first came to the UK fourteen years or so ago with the Hot Cat Jazz band, and have been back every year to play at festivals and clubs. We felt a proprietorial pride to see them playing with other US stars in Jeff’s Titan Hot Seven. This is another band of first class musicians who also have a great sense of fun. Jeff and Anne’s piano and flute duo, Ivory and Gold, is a favourite at Bude and Keswick. Their Sun Valley session was enhanced by drummer Danny Coots and received a well deserved standing ovation.
We particularly enjoyed the nightly live broadcasts hosted by our friend Denny Farrell. It was a great pleasure to see him introducing top bands and ad libbing on one or two occasions to cover the potential silence between numbers while band members found their music! It was so smoothly organised that we wrongly assumed that sessions had been rehearsed and timed. These live broadcasts are a wonderful way of publicising a festival. Maybe we could encourage one of our own festivals to adopt the idea. You might be interested to know that Denny has a regular radio show The Original Big Band Showcase which also features current recordings and can be heard online at www.dennyfarrell.com.
With so many artists to choose from we could only scratch the surface, but three special events gave us a chance to catch up with some of the things we’d missed:
Ladies Sing hosted by Denny Farrel and singer Paulette Pepper, showcased many of the fine female singers at the festival. Yve Evans and Brady McKay gave great performances and we were plesased to have another opportunity to hear Shelley Burns; indeed all the singers did a fine job. One who was not included among the stars was Cheryl Morrell; we thoroughly enjoyed her performances in the Duchin Bar, a local singer with a lovely voice and an easy manner with the audience.
To give as many bands as possible the chance to be heard, there are two finale sessions one traditional and one featuring most of the headline bands. Among others, the “trad” session included numbers from the very popular Uptown Lowdown Band, The Night Blooming Jazzmen and Dixieland Express from Canada. This session was broadcast and the band changeovers were effected very smoothly by substituting band members one at a time.
The main finale session gave us another chance to hear the Midiri Brothers, The Coast Guards and Bill Allred. A band that we hadn’t managed to hear before was Pearl Django playing “Gypsy” music with a great sense of swing. Bringing the session to a rousing finale was The Titan Hot 7, a great band who really should be invited to play in the UK.
This is a big festival with a good mix of traditional jazz, “swing” and “mainstream” For the true addict, music plays for over twelve hours a day, even in some of the dining areas. Most of the venues have dance floors and free classes are offered in a variety of styles, including “Balbao” which is new to us! We’ve been to many festivals but never to one in quite such a splendid location and we thoroughly recommend it.
We flew to Boise (pronounced “boyzee” or “boysee”), the state capital, and hired a car to get to Sun Valley. There is a shuttle bus from Boise to the resort but for two people it was cheaper to hire a car, even though it sat in the hotel car park for the duration of our stay.
Judy Eames and Tony Davis
