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Napa Valley Jazz Festival,
1995
This was from the Napa
Valley Jazz Festival, where I was the music director for seven
years. This was the only festival that highlighted the San
Francisco jazz history with musicians who contributed to San
Francisco's reputation. This line-up should have been a part of
all the Bay Area jazz festivals. Musicians featured were John Markham, who was with
Red Norvo, Frank Sinatra, and was in the movie Oceans Eleven with
Sinatra, and was also with Benny Goodman. Trumpeter Allen Smith,
formerly with Benny Goodman, Gil Evans and Duke Ellington was
one of the regulars at the festival. Some other great players like
Vince Cattolica, Pete Escovedo, Jeff Chambers, Vince Delgado,
and Omar Clay were there. Tenor players such as Noel Jewkes,
Vince Wallace, Chuck Travis and Pee Wee Claybrook were some of
the regulars. Jazz organist Dave Matthews was
Allen Smith (trumpet)
Pee Wee Claybrook
(tenor sax)
Jules Broussard (alto sax) |
there too, and so was Sweetie
Mitchell, one of the great San Francisco singers who sounded like
Ella. Jules (Broussard) of course was there. Other vocalists
like Jackie Ryan, Steve Situm, and Paula West sang there, and so did my wife Sanna.
Napa, of course, is wine country. The food and wine in these places
were beautiful. In this three day festival, Friday would sometimes
be held in a wine cellar. It was a nice festival.
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