Man, what a Jazz Connection!

By Al Hooper
The Beacon

Start that toe tapping!  It’s time to fine-tune your rhythmic impulses before the arrival of world-renowned jazz singer Kevin Mahogany and the Phil Kelly Big Band for the 8th annual Edmonds Jazz Connection on the Memorial Day weekend.

Sponsored by the Edmonds Rotary Daybreakers in concert with the Edmonds Center For The Arts, the “connection” will commence at 10 a.m. and end with a 7:30 p.m. performance by Kevin Mahogany on Saturday, May 24.

The concert, powered by the Phil Kelly Big Band, takes place at the arts center.  Tickets may be purchased online at www.ec4arts.org or by phone at (425) 275-9595; ticket prices are $30 for adults and $15 for students.  Emcee for the event is NPR "Jazz After Hours" host Jim Wilke.

The daylight-to-dusk festival begins with free public performances by high school big bands at the arts center, choirs at the Edmonds Masonic Lodge, and ensembles at the Edmonds Theatre (see the accompanying schedule).

“We started small and keep getting bigger,” says a Rotary spokesman.  “People come from all over to be part of this regional celebration.”

There’s an underlying motivation as well.  The money raised benefits a favorite Rotary charity – the Burned Children Recovery Foundation.

“Every year in the U.S. 250,000 children are seriously burned,” the Rotary spokesman says.  “These injuries are incredibly painful and prolonged.  The Jazz Connection has chosen these wonderful kids as our principal beneficiaries.”

Contributing to this high purpose are 200 young local musicians.  Among them:  the award-winning soloists fresh from the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition in New York City.

Then, as the houselights dim, singing star Kevin Mahogany will take the stage.

While growing up in Kansas City, the acclaimed vocalist says he didn’t expect to become a singer.

But his musical virtuosity was established early and often.  He attended the Charlie Parker Foundation and was teaching clarinet by age 14.  Next came piano studies, and then he became an accomplished baritone saxophonist – performing with three jazz bands while still in high school.

It was at Baker University in Kansas that he discovered his innate singing gift.  And from there, as they say, the rest seems foreordained.

After graduating from college, Kevin established two groups that focused on contemporary R&B, crossover jazz and classic '60s soul music. His self-titled Warner Bros. debut album, released in 1996, earned him fulsome praise from such national taste-setters as Newsweek, the New Yorker and the L.A. Times.

Since then there have been seven more albums, and a film debut in Robert Altman's film “Kansas City.”

Bandleader Phil Kelly, equally revered by jazz aficionados, has spent 40 years composing and arranging for television, film, and orchestras like the Houston and Cincinnati Symphonies.

Now living in Bellingham, he still writes jazz and pop orchestra arrangements for publication.  He’s known locally as a big band coach with the Bud Shank Centrum Jazz camp in Port Townsend.

Another jazz-day highlight:  Paul de Barros will talk about “Roots of Seattle Jazz” at the Edmonds Theatre at 12 noon.

“Seattle has a jazz history that goes back a hundred years,” he says, “thanks to African-American migration to the city.  The scene was supported indirectly by the existence of a corrupt city hall and police department that prohibited – but also profited from – illegal alcohol and gambling.”

One result was an after-hours black nightclub scene along Jackson Street, where jazz flourished.

Some of the better-known players to emerge from Seattle include swing tenor saxophonists Dick Wilson and Corky Corcoran, trumpeter and music producer Quincy Jones, and vocalist Ernestine Anderson.

EDMONDS JAZZ CONNECTION

Clip ‘n save: the all-day program for the 8th annual Edmonds Jazz Connection on Saturday, May 24.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – free continuous performances                                          by 18 award-winning student groups including two    Essentially Ellington big band finalists at three venues:

Big Bands – Edmonds Center For The Arts (410 – 4th Avenue North).

Vocal Jazz – Edmonds Masonic Center (515 Dayton Street).

Jazz Combos – Edmonds Theatre (415 Main Street).

SPECIAL:  Paul de Barros discusses "Roots of Seattle Jazz" at the Edmonds Theatre (live at noon).

EVENING CONCERT – 7:30 p.m. at the Edmonds Center For The Arts: All-Star Evening Concert featuring jazz vocalist Kevin Mahogany with "The Northwest Prevailing Winds Big Band." Emceed by NPR "Jazz After Hours" host Jim Wilke.

Concert tickets are $30 adult/$15 students; purchase by phone at 1-(877)-548-3237 or online @ www.ec4arts.org.

For more information go to www.jazzconnection.org.