It's Only Bakersfield...

[GoodSpeak]

....but the good news is they're playing Jazz down there!

This past Friday my Dad invited me to a Jazz festival where he lives in Bakersfield.

As luck would have it, my childhood friend, Gordon Goodwin [winner of a Grammy this year for his composition on The Incredibles] and as a junior high member of my Dad's sunday school class, it was a great opportunity to see him play.

He was the closer and, as per usual, his Big Phat Band just put on a clinic. They got to have the tightest horn section and rythm section in Jazz right now. These guys just played their asses off for us. All original charts, too. Go Gordon!

The bad news....it's only Bakersfield.

Folks there just don't seem to get how to act in a Jazz setting. As an example, we sat right behind the Ritalin Family who, at various irritatingly random and painfully frequent intervals, would get up and stand in front of us, talk loud enough for the back rows to hear and allow their [early] teenaged kids run amok; throwing things and what not. When we asked them to help us better enjoy the concert by being a bit more courteous, the good ol' boy father got all up in my Dad's face. Big mistake. Even at 84 he could have kicked his cowboy ass into the next row.

Fortunately, I got them to calm down and relax, but I have never had to do this at a Jazz performance before....ever. To his credit, the good ol' boy apologized to me [I think when he saw me get up to use the local facilities, he being 5'9" and 190 pounds and me 6' 2" and 235 pounds], because he probably figured it might be a good idea

The good news....it used to be strictly a Latino venue but now they are bringing in bonafide Jazz acts. There were a few smoothie acts scheduled as well, but, hey, ya gotta start someplace, right? [Note: Joyce Cooling wasn't half that bad, to be perfectly honest with you; way too damned loud, but pretty good anyhow]

At any rate, it appears Jazz is making some real headway in the Lower San Joaquin Valley and in Fresno, too.


Any other stories about your travels in Jazz?

Post them here.

TimMc

[John P. Cooper]

Was it a free event?

[gonzo]

1. it was never a latino venue as we have had everything from straght ahead to hard fusion to latin at the festival.
2.the line up for the first seven or eight festivals was really good, everyone from benny wallace to tribal tech, berg and stern,patitucci, yellow jackets, poncho,wallace roney,scofield, and many excellent local acts. sorry to say that i, a bakersfieldian, have not gone to the last three to four festivals as the line ups have moved rapidly towards smooth jazz. i know the main purpose of the festival is to sell seats but there is no way i'm going to plop down money to see mindi abair of joyce cooling.
3.the incident with the young punk and your father is the norm and pushes myself and others away. its an excuse to partry not a jazz festival.
these are the reasons i have not spoken of said festival on our bbs as i don't feel that it is of value to speak of. i am embaressed as to what it has become
especially as it was a high point of my year for awhile, but not lately.
this is the 20th anniversary of the festival by the way!!

[clinthopson]

Geez, I thought all they had is Bakersfield was shitkick.

We saw the Goodwin band at the West Coast Jazz Party last year, that is one helluva band. Goodwin produces some really original sounding arrangements.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by John P. Cooper

Was it a free event?

Nope.

$35 bucks to get in.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by gonzo

1. it was never a latino venue as we have had everything from straght ahead to hard fusion to latin at the festival.

Really?

I must be thinking of another event then.

Originally Posted by gonzo

2.the line up for the first seven or eight festivals was really good, everyone from benny wallace to tribal tech, berg and stern,patitucci, yellow jackets, poncho,wallace roney,scofield, and many excellent local acts. sorry to say that i, a bakersfieldian, have not gone to the last three to four festivals as the line ups have moved rapidly towards smooth jazz. i know the main purpose of the festival is to sell seats but there is no way i'm going to plop down money to see mindi abair of joyce cooling.

Bill Waltrous was there with the opening act on Friday...always a treat to hear him play.

Originally Posted by gonzo

3.the incident with the young punk and your father is the norm and pushes myself and others away. its an excuse to partry not a jazz festival.
these are the reasons i have not spoken of said festival on our bbs as i don't feel that it is of value to speak of. i am embaressed as to what it has become
especially as it was a high point of my year for awhile, but not lately.
this is the 20th anniversary of the festival by the way!!

It's too bad, too.

They also had some local yay-hoo weatherman come on stage to do his "Hellooooo Bakersfield!" schtick. Ack

Chances are very good I won't be back next year...and for the same reasons [that and they allow smoking in the amphitheater]. But it has some real potential....

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

But it has some real potential....

One would hope that the "potential" would have been realized after 20 years.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

One would hope that the "potential" would have been realized after 20 years.

In Bakersfield?

You are aware, I hope, that this is hard core Buck Owens and Merle Haggard country. Folks in these parts take a great long while to warm up to anything that's not country or rock.

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

In Bakersfield?

You are aware, I hope, that this is hard core Buck Owens and Merle Haggard country. Folks in these parts take a great long while to warm up to anything that's not country or rock.

Also the home of Prussian Blue

[GoodSpeak]

And it's home to the band Korn.

My point is it will take more time before Jazz is a universally acceptable art form in the Great Central Valley...but the potential for it is there and it seems to be catching on a bit more, too.


That is exciting news to me.

[steve(thelil)]

I thought your charecterization of the douchebags as the "Ritalin family" was very funny.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by steve(thelil)

I thought your charecterization of the douchebags as the "Ritalin family" was very funny.

Thanks for getting that one, [thelil].