Strong lineup should carry jazz festival
It’s simple, according to Al Dowe. If you’re going to have a jazz festival, then have jazz performers. Don’t mix it up with headliners from other music styles such as rhythm and blues, rap or rock.
“That’s the mistake that a lot of jazz festival organizers make,’ said Dowe, who grew up in Uniontown and Monarch. “They start letting all kinds of musicians in and then pretty soon you don’t have a jazz festival.’
And that’s one mistake Dowe certainly didn’t make in booking the schedule for the second annual “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Jazz’ festival scheduled for July 4-7 at the posh Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa on Route 40 in Farmington.
“We were fortunate to get a very strong lineup,’ said Dowe, who uses his connections as the owner of Dowe’s on Ninth, one of the top jazz nightclubs in Pittsburgh, and his experience as a longtime trombone player, in putting the schedule together.
“It should do very well. I’m certain that the attendance will be very good for all the shows. We have some very strong draws lined up.’
Headlining the festival will be Spyro Gyra, celebrating its 25th year together as one of the strongest contemporary jazz groups around. Combining different elements of jazz, including Latin and fusion, the group has its own unique sound.
Sharing top billing will be such jazz legends as trumpet player Maynard Ferguson and pianist Ahmad Jamal, a Pittsburgh native. Also performing will be one a rising star in jazz singer, Karrin Allyson.
Rounding out the schedule will be such top-flight Pittsburgh performers as Harold Betters of Connellsville, Billy Price, Etta Cox, Kenny Blake, Sandy Dowe and Roger Humphries Big Band. And, of course, Dowe will also be performing as well on the trombone in a special concert with Cox and Allyson.
“I’m looking forward to playing myself,’ said Dowe, who has been an opening act for such performers as Ray Charles, Doc Severinson and Donald O’Connor over the years. “I’ll be playing with two of the best vocalists in the world. It should be a lot of fun.’
Dowe said the schedule represents what he considers the ideal in booking a festival. First, he said, there should be a crowd pleaser. That role, he maintains, will be more than filled by Spyro Gyra. Then, he said there should be some jazz legends such as Ferguson and Jamal. Finally, he said, every jazz festival should have a top newcomer such as Allyson.
“She’s really great. She’s one of those singers who you can get one year for $5,000 and then they get popular the next year and you have to pay $100,000 to get them,’ said Dowe. “In a couple of years, she’s really going to be popular. She’ll be another Diana Krall. I’m sure the people are going to love her.’
In addition, Dowe said the festival also has a blues performer in Billy Price, who has been one of the top singers in Southwestern Pennsylvania for more than a generation.
“The blues have always been a part of jazz so you should always have at least one blues musician at a jazz festival. That’s why you see B.B. King playing at a lot of jazz festivals,’ said Dowe. “Billy Price is one of the top blues singers around and he has a really good band with some great jazz players in it. I’m sure he’s going to put on a good show.
Dowe said one thing, the festival has going for itself is that it’s become basically the only game in town for jazz lovers. He noted that the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild’s annual jazz festival at Seven Springs has been cancelled and the Mellon Jazz Festival has been downsized to the point of almost nothing.
“This is the only real jazz festival left in the Pittsburgh area and that’s a shame in a way but it should be good for us,’ said Dowe. “If people want to see jazz then they should come here.’
He noted that the absence of competition should make the festival stronger down the road.
“Without the Mellon Jazz Festival, we’ll have more leverage,’ said Dowe. “In the future, we’ll definitely be able to get the best jazz players coming through Pittsburgh.’
And Dowe definitely feels that the festival will continue to prosper as long is sticks to its jazz roots.
“This festival is going to get better and better every year. Last year we didn’t get started until late and we never did really catch up. This year, we started early and we did a lot better. We’re already starting now to work on next year. The earlier you can book someone the better it is.
“Also now people know how well everyone was treated last year. Musicians go a lot on past reputations and because it was our first year there wasn’t anything to go on,’ said Dowe. “But word gets around among musicians and they know how nice things were up there last year. The musicians were treated very well.
“We made a good mark last year, and now it will be easier in future to attract jazz musicians,’ he added. “We just have to stay with the jazz and not go in different directions. I’m certain if we do that we’ll have one of the finest jazz festivals in the country.’