‘Right at the cutting edge of jazz music’: Night of jazz music honors life of crooner Bing Crosby, including performance by grandson
Long before the Bing Crosby Theater was renamed in honor of one of the greatest entertainers of all time, Spokane’s own superstar Bing Crosby was finding his footing in a bustling downtown jazz scene.
Although born in Tacoma, Crosby and his family soon moved to Spokane where he would also grow up to attend Gonzaga University in 1920. It was during his time at Gonzaga that Crosby joined a band of high school students, including a fellow future star of his time, Alton “Al” Rinker, who happens to be the younger brother of jazz great Mildred Bailey.
Known as the Musicaladers, the group would perform at birthday parties, wedding receptions, country clubs and at a few downtown jazz clubs. The band learned to play popular tunes by going to Bailey’s Music Store, once found on West Riverside Avenue.
Downtown Spokane was also a hub for silent movie theaters at the time. After the Musicaladers disbanded, Crosby and Rinker landed a job performing between film showings at the Clemmer Theater – now known as the Bing Crosby Theater. Not too long after, in October 1925, the two left to seek their fame and fortune in Los Angeles.
Now, 100 years later, a celebration of Crosby’s career will be held on the very stage that his career began with Bing’s Spokane Has Jazz on Saturday.
The Bing Crosby Advocates, the nonprofit dedicated to preserving the life and legacy of Crosby that actually sought the theater’s name change in 2006, knew they needed to pull out all the stops for such a milestone anniversary. So far, two blocks of West Sprague have been honorarily renamed Bing Crosby Way, and a plaque has been dedicated on the side of the Symons Building – which was once home to Spokane’s first radio station.
Saturday’s event will continue the festivities with performances from Spokane’s MasterClass Big Band as well as the Zonky Jazz Band.
The Zonky Jazz Band, led by Garrin Hertel, has done previous tributes to Crosby, Rinker, and Bailey, but this special performance will feature Crosby’s grandson himself, Phil Crosby Jr.
Crosby Jr. has continued the family tradition as a third-generation performer who continues to sing jazz, swing and big band music across the world.
“He’s a crooner in his own right,” said Dave Reynolds, board president of the Bing Crosby Advocates.
The Bing Crosby Advocates hope to capture a glimpse of what Crosby’s time at the theater and within the Spokane jazz district once looked and felt like – a bustling scene filled with the wails of brass and his now signature voice, the very same that inspired the likes of Frank Sinatra, echoing from within Clemmer Theater’s walls.
“These guys were right at the cutting edge of jazz music,” Reynolds said. “When people think of Bing they think of ‘White Christmas,’ well yeah, but he really cut his teeth on jazz in the jazz district in Spokane.”
Throughout Crosby’s career, even after his Oscar win and release of the highest selling single of all time in “White Christmas,” he continued to return to Spokane, often in conjunction with a fundraiser of some kind. Crosby often spoke of his love for Spokane and the personal qualities given to him by way of growing up in the Lilac City – hard-working, dedicated and a focus on one’s character instead.
Crosby’s love for his hometown is exactly why the Bing Crosby Advocates continue to celebrate his historic career and keep his local legacy alive.
“We hope to draw the community’s attention to Bing Crosby and not only the fact that he was from here and took with him a lot of the values from Spokane, but also to have some pride in that,” Reynolds said.