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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bound For Dixie Shake And Boogie At The Dixieland Jazz Festival This Weekend At The Masonic Temple

William Berry Correspondent

The Spokane Dixieland Jazz Festival is back for its second year Friday through Sunday at the Masonic Temple.

Traditional jazz fans will certainly want to catch this array of some of the top bands around. Returning bands from last year are the South Frisco Jazz Band, Uptown Lowdown, Hume Street No. 405 and Spokane’s Planet Lounge Orchestra. New to the Festival for 1996 are Grand Dominion, Wooden Nickel Jass Band, Black Swan, Evergreen Classic and Last Chance.

The music begins with a prefestival party tonight at 7:30 in the Masonic Temple Ballroom. Bellevue’s Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band will provide the entertainment.

Uptown Lowdown, one of my favorites, has been around since 1972 with very little turnover in personnel. They have consistently strived to maintain the sound of the early bands of the 1920s, adding their own style, but forgoing the developments in jazz of the most recent 70 years.

Uptown Lowdown will also play at the opening ceremony at noon on Friday. This event, at the Wall Street Mall in downtown Spokane, is free.

Things really get hot at 4 o’clock on Friday, when all the bands start cooking simultaneously at the Masonic Temple and play until midnight. Four rooms in the Temple will have stages, and the bands will play in hour and a half sets. This means you can sit still, sip your drink and wait for all of them to come to you, or you can wander and catch a different group right away.

Saturday’s festivities get cranking at 10:30 a.m. and continue to midnight or so, and Sunday the music can be heard from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. A free gospel service will also be held Sunday morning at 9:30 in the Masonic Temple auditorium. The Grand Dominion Jazz Band will perform at that event.

The director of the Spokane Dixieland Jazz Festival, Dean Martin, says of Grand Dominion: “I think they’re the top traditional band in the country right now. You really want to hear them play Jelly Bean Blues.”

Martin says that last year, the Festival’s first, drew an audience of 1,200 or 2,400, depending on how you count the repeat customers. He is expecting at least double that turnout for this year’s happening.

In any event, unless something drastic happens, he plans to make the Dixieland Jazz Festival an annual Spokane occurrence and has the future dates booked through 1999.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Jazz Fest The Spokane Dixieland Jazz Festival will be held at the Masonic Temple Friday through Sunday. Tickets are $15 for all day Friday or Sunday, $25 for Saturday or $15 for Saturday night after 8 p.m. Weekend passes are $45. Admission to tonight’s pre-festival party is $5. For details, call 235-4401.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Jazz Fest The Spokane Dixieland Jazz Festival will be held at the Masonic Temple Friday through Sunday. Tickets are $15 for all day Friday or Sunday, $25 for Saturday or $15 for Saturday night after 8 p.m. Weekend passes are $45. Admission to tonight’s pre-festival party is $5. For details, call 235-4401.