May 21, 2006 By Cindy Ekas-Brown 4 min read

FARMINGTON – The cool sound of jazz music and a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon created a recipe for success at the second annual Fayette County Jazz Festival. Mark O’Keefe, executive editor of the Herald-Standard and organizer of the event, estimated that the festival had already attracted about 200 people in the afternoon.

But O’Keefe predicted that even more people would come to see Connellsville’s legendary jazz trombone player Harold Betters who was headlining the event later in the evening.

The eight-hour festival took place from 1 to 9 p.m. at the Woodland Zoo’s Herald-Standard Pavilion, located on Route 40 near Farmington and about 10 miles east of Uniontown. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

“Everyone is having a really good time, and everything is going pretty smoothly,” O’Keefe said. “The attendance is probably already at about 200 people. We’ll see how many people come out this evening. I think all of the rain scared some people off, but it really turned out to be a beautiful day.

“We’re hoping that people will come out later on to see Roger Humphries, Lilly Abreu and Harold Betters,” he added. “I’m sure a lot of people will come out to see Harold Betters. He’s the man. He’s the headliner. He’s the one everyone knows and wants to see. People follow Harold where ever he plays.”

Last year marked the first time Betters performed at the Herald-Standard Pavilion, and he said in a recent interview he was impressed with the facility.

Betters said he also was impressed with the lineup, which included such Pittsburgh jazz stars as saxophonist Kenny Blake and drummer Roger Humphries, as well as local jazz stars such as Jeremy and Jason Kendall and Bob Mascia.

Quiet Storm, a newly formed jazz band that features Fayette County musicians, pumped up the audience when the event began, O’Keefe said.

“Some of the members of Quiet Storm have been playing in different bands for about 30 years,” he said. “They have a lot of experience, and it really shows. The band was formed last August, and they started playing together in January. They are all from Fayette County, and they’re great.”

The Albert Gallatin High School Jazz Band followed Quiet Storm, and did an excellent job, O’Keefe said. The audience also really enjoyed the Kendall Brothers Jazz Jam, featuring Jeremy Kendall on bass guitar, Jason Kendall on saxophone and Bob Mascia on drums.

The festival was held for the first time last year when it attracted about 125 to 150 people.

“We got an earlier start with planning the event this year, and we learned a lot,” O’Keefe said.

“I was telling everyone to buy tickets because it wasn’t going to rain. I was watching the weather forecast. Guy Nestor (the weatherman on News 19 on HSTV) assured me that the rain would be out of here in time for the jazz festival, and he was right. It’s beautiful now. It was cloudy when we first started, and it was a little windy. But I’ll take the wind over the rain any day.”

Sonny Herring, owner of the Woodland Zoo, said the jazz festival attracted a lot of visitors to the zoo.

“We’ve had good attendance for the jazz festival and the zoo today. It’s been great,” Herring said. “I think Harold Betters is the biggest act, and our attendance should increase as the evening goes on.

“I would say that we have sold about 100 walk-in tickets today. Our kitchen has been extremely busy, and the other food vendors have been busy, too. We’ve had a good day at the zoo even without the jazz festival.”