Bands Bring Variety To Dixie Fest

Spokane Dixieland Jazz Festival, Friday, May 31, Masonic Temple

The Spokane Dixieland Jazz Festival seems to be in fine shape for its second year. This year’s festivities included nine solid bands battling it out.

Nine bands may seem like small potatoes compared to the number of bands at a few of the big and long-running traditional jazz festivals, but when the bands are all of the caliber that the Spokane Dixieland Fest has drawn, there is no need to apologize.

The resurgent interest in traditional jazz has cultivated tastes for this style that go well beyond your average pizza-parlor band. The top bands specialize by re-creating a very particular sound, unearthing great tunes long laid aside or sticking to a narrow stylistic time frame.

Having laid down this framework, the members then contribute something of themselves to give the band its own sound. As alike as all of these bands are, their differences jump out at you after an evening of comparative listening.

None of the bands were bad when I heard them on Friday night; all inspired toe-tapping and dancing. But the bands that really clicked were the ones that had found their niche and could relax in it.

South Frisco, Uptown Lowdown and Evergreen really were in a groove. Nobody could sit still for Grand Dominion either, even though some of the solos this band took sounded decidedly post-Dixie.

But if all the bands sound too similar, it could get boring for all but the die-hard fans.

South Frisco and Grand Dominion are hot bands with big, thick sounds that brought people to their feet. This is happy, handclapping music at its most infectious.

Evergreen has a low-profile, laid-back swing to its sound that gets you rocking.

Then there’s Uptown Lowdown. This group is to traditional jazz what Mozart is to the classics. Every note they play has a purpose, nothing is out of place, and each player is not only strong but has found a balancing point for his or her place in the mix.

Listening to this band is like watching the pieces of a complex puzzle fall magically into place.

The Planet Lounge Orchestra and the Wooden Nickel Jass Band started where the traditional bands left off. Planet Lounge leaned toward later jazz, and Wooden Nickel pushed the envelope into lounge and rock while still featuring plenty of good improvisation.

There were a few changes on the roster: Grand Dominion apparently was delayed crossing the border from Canada, so it had to trade its first set with Last Chance. And there seemed to be a severe shortage of trumpet/cornet players. Black Swan borrowed Wooden Nickel’s trumpet player, and Bert Barr from Uptown Lowdown had to sit in with Evergreen.

Attendance seemed good for opening night. Four big rooms at the Masonic Temple are a lot to fill.

Early in the evening, things looked a little sparse, but by the 9 o’clock set the place was full, with elbows bumping on the dance floor.

The Blue Room never seemed to draw much. It’s a pity, because this venue seemed to have the best natural sound. Maybe people filtered away from it because there was no dance floor or bar, but maybe it was just too far off the beaten path.

As closing time rolled around, the audience dwindled to a handful of dancers and a few lingering on, unwilling to let go of this wonderful music from the past.