Grass roots jazz grows with the Valley
By JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter
MAT-SU -- The legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk once said that jazz is beyond definition, you know it when you hear it.
Until recently there wasn't much jazz to listen to, let alone attempt to define, in the Mat-Su Borough. Isolated from urban centers where jazz traditionally thrives, the Valley scene was, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent. A handful of musicians played for weddings and special occasions but they were few and far between and opportunities were sparse.
The Mat-Su is still nowhere near being a hot spot for jazz, but the music scene is beginning to warm up a little. With a growing population and more musicians in general, jazz has built some momentum in the Valley.
By most accounts, a quiet jazz movement began about five years ago, when the Motherlode Lodge started hosting the Hatcher Pass Jazz Club on the last Sunday of each month.
Jill Reese, owner of the Motherlode, said she thought it would be fun to help create a jazz scene in the Valley. The jazz club was the first public venue where jazz musicians could regularly come together and jam in the Valley. In the last few years, word of the jazz club spread, and now 10 to 12 musicians are regularly on hand at a typical Sunday gig.
"I hire a group of professional musicians to lead the jam and then other folks come in to play with them," Reese said. "We've seen a lot of young people really come along too. It's a chance for them to play with professionals."
Along with an increased number of musicians, the fan base has also grown. At last month's gathering, more than 40 people were in attendance, tapping their feet, swaying in their seats and dancing as they sipped beer and wine or grabbed a bite to eat. According to Reese, people are increasingly driving out from Anchorage to listen to jazz.
Bringing professional
jazz to the people
It didn't take long for musicians to find out what was happening in Hatcher Pass, and the jazz club soon become a connection point for various musicians.
Younger musicians who moved to the Valley from the Lower 48 began playing at the Motherlode along with more established local players like Palmer attorney Bill Tull, who also has his own Big Cabbage Swing Band.
"It's definitely growing, especially this year," said Joel Stamoolis, an upright-bass player and regular performer at the Motherlode. "Originally it was just the jazz club and the Big Cabbage Swing Band but now jazz club has grown and more Anchorage musicians are coming out."
Regular performers in the Valley consist mostly of recent college graduates and seasoned veterans whose bands formed within the last few years.
Jazzology is a four-piece band of younger musicians in their late 20s. Several of its members lived in Chicago and played music there before moving to Alaska, and they add a level of quality and experience that is rare in the local scene.
Jazzology plays frequently at various venues around the Valley, including occasional performances at Vagabond Blues, Great Bear Brewing Company and the Grand View Hotel. Some members of the band also play during jazz club at the Motherlode Lodge and the band's bassist performs regularly with longtime Palmer musician Al Plisousky in his Candlelite Jazz band.
Plisousky said he used to play country and classic rock but, as the population changed in the Valley, he saw a growing hunger for jazz and began studying jazz at Mat-Su College. Plisousky now plays the vibraharp with his three-piece band at the Colony Inn in Palmer, every Friday night.
Bill Tull is perhaps the most established local jazz musician, and his seven-member Big Cabbage Swing Band is still going strong after 10 years. Tull said his group performs a lot of Dixieland jazz and swing and plays mostly for hotels and dances.
Tull said his band primarily plays in Anchorage because opportunities are better there, but it has performed occasionally at Schwabenhof, Evangelo's and a few other Valley venues. He also puts together trios for smaller gigs and occasionally plays at the Hatcher Pass Jazz Club.
The jazz club will continue performances on the last Sunday of each month but Reese said there are plans to add a performance on the second Sunday of every month. Reese's band, Jilly and the Love Tones, will perform jazz on those days.
"The crowds have been growing up here," Reese said, "and people are starting to feel like they are part of a jazz club."
A growing jazz community
Shortly after jazz club began, several other developments occurred, helping strengthen and expand the Valley jazz scene from the ground up.
In 2001, Hank Hartman, owner of Matanuska Music, started a jazz band, Just Playin' Jazz, for high-school and middle-school students. Hartman's mission was to provide opportunities for young musicians to practice and play together.
"We try to play a little bit of everything," Hartman said. "This is a learning band and we have home-school kids, private-school kids and kids from the public schools. These guys are all good friends now."
There are roughly 20 kids in the band -- the maximum limit, according to Hartman.
"It's going full steam right now," he said. "A lot of people have gotten used to us."
The average age of musicians in Just Playin' Jazz is 17 but Hartman said the youths play at a college level and have a repertoire of more than 80 charts. Just recently the band members received black and white tuxedo uniforms, compliments of Arctic Rose, in Wasilla.
"I started four years ago with all eighth-graders and now many are seniors," he said. "This is our year."
Just Playin' Jazz performs as a group about once a month for school dances, sporting events, school open houses and other community events, including the Willow Winter Carnival and the University of Fairbanks Jazz Festival. Several members of the group also play separately in their own jazz band called Soundhole.
While there are not many jazz venues now, Hartman said he sees more and more opening up.
"We're still right at the beginning of all this and it's really exciting," he said.
Stan Harris is another jazz mentor in the Valley who works hard with a growing generation of musicians. Harris is the music instructor at Palmer High School and, along with his other duties, teaches jazz band and jazz chorus to several dozen kids who either come to school early or stay late to practice their music.
Harris is currently organizing the fourth-annual Jazz Fest at Palmer High School for next month. He expects more than 200 students from Valley high schools and middle schools to attend the event. The popular Air Force Band will be on hand to perform and dish out wisdom for the young musicians.
"We set this as the kickoff for our jazz groups," Harris said. "All the high schools and middle schools in the core area now have jazz bands and they are growing and increasing and taking on a life of their own."
Contact Joel Davidson at
joel.davidson@frontiersman.com
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