Jazzing up Seaside
33rd annual festival
brings bounty of
live entertainment
Story by KATHERINE LACAZE
EO Media Group
W
here else on the North
Coast, asked Seaside’s
Ruth Johnson, “can you
go that you have this
much live entertainment?
There’s just not another event like it.”
Under the direction of dynamic duo Johnson
and Judy Shook, the Seaside Jazz Festival tradi-
tion continues thriving and adapting. A changing
demographic and musical tastes, ¿nancing and
the North Coast’s unpredictable weather are all
hurdles overcome as the 33rd year of the festival
brings a wide array of international jazz talent.
This year’s festival will be held Thursday,
Feb. through Sunday, Feb. at ¿ve loca-
tions in Seaside. Three locations are at the Sea-
side Civic and Convention Center the 3aci¿c
Room, the Necanicum Room and the Riverview
Room. The Best Western Ocean View Resort
and the Seaside Elks Lodge are the other two
venues. The bands rotate to the different venues
throughout the festival.
Dixieland roots
The festival started in the 1980s as the Or-
egon Dixieland Jubilee, and it took place in
Astoria, Gearhart and Seaside. Originally the
event was a fundraiser for the Clatsop County
Historical Society.
The Lighthouse Jazz Society, a local non-
pro¿t organization, took ownership of the event
in the early 1990s. It began to be held solely
in Seaside as traf¿c became an obstacle to the
schedule, Shook and Johnson said.
The Oregon Dixieland Jubilee changed its
name to the Seaside Jazz Festival.
After the death of former director Dick
Pearson in October 2007, longtime volunteers
Shook and Johnson became the new festival
directors for the event in 2008. Since taking
the reins that year, “we can’t let go,” Johnson
said.
Together they have addressed the challenge
of sustaining the program, keeping it relevant
and exciting, and introducing new people to
jazz.
“We’re always hoping to grow more,” John-
son said.
Submitted photo
Electrifying violinist and composer Tom Rigney leads some of the
finest musicians on the San Francisco roots music scene to form
the passionate musical group Tom Rigney and Flambeau.
Submitted photo
Paolo Alderighi, from Italy, and Stephanie Trick, from St. Louis,will combine their talents at the Seaside Jazz Festival to perform stride
and ragtime-styled piano.
‘Make it happen’
One challenge is drawing young people
to the festival. Those with a dancing back-
ground often enjoy attending and making
use of the dance floors at four of the five
locations.
“The music really does give them an op-
portunity to dance,” Johnson said.
The organizers diversified the style of
music performed at the festival. It started as
being strictly traditional New Orleans-style
jazz. Now the offerings include jazz-inspired
styles, like doo-wop, bebop and swing, in
addition to some traditional jazz, Cajun and
ragtime music.
This year’s event will feature Rudy’s
Revelers, Rudy being a portmanteau of
Johnson and Shook’s first names. The group
is comprised of various musicians selected
from other groups.
After all, Johnson said, “that’s just the
way jazz is.”
“It allows you to improvise,” she added.
Rudy’s Revelers will give a special per-
formance at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Seaside
Elks Lodge, which has a dance floor. The
public can attend for $10 per person.
Finding groups to perform is never dif-
ficult. The society often gets emails and
messages from groups wanting to be in the
lineup. The organizers have to contend, how-
ever, with issues like unpredictable weather
and travel interruptions, as they bring in the
musicians, many from other states, such as
Florida, Connecticut, Louisiana and Missou-
ri. The directors promote the show with the
caveat that the bands are subject to change
without notice.
As festival directors, Johnson and Shook
travel to other jazz festivals to promote the
Seaside festival and get ideas for how to
keep the event running. They attend about
three or four per year, mostly in the western
states.
Ticket sales do not pay for the event, so
the Lighthouse Jazz Society seeks sponsor-
ships and donations to cover costs. In the
end, Johnson said, “We seem to be able to
make it happen.” Several downtown busi-
nesses have remained dedicated over the
years.
During the festival, they have a raffle
and proceeds are given as scholarships to
high school students to attend jazz camps in
Washington and California. They also help
send students to Music in May at Pacific
University in Forest Grove.
Generally the event brings about 1,700
to 1,800 people — many from the Portland
and Seattle metropolitan areas and Canada
— and they stay in local hotels and eat an
local restaurants.
“I’m a firm believer it’s a good event for
Seaside, and Seaside is the perfect place for
this event,” Johnson said.
The directors said they enjoy seeing peo-
ple having a good time, although, Shook
said, “We like it much better the Monday
afterward.”
A full lineup
Music begins at 3 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.
Saturday and will go until about 11 p.m. both
nights. Two free gospel services at the conven-
tion center will be open to the public at 9:30
a.m. Sunday. They will take a free-will offer-
ing to bene¿t the local Food .ids backpack
program. The closing ceremony will begin at 3
p.m. Sunday.
The Seaside High School Jazz Band and four
or ¿ve other groups will each play a 10-minute
set for the closing ceremony.
This year, the festival features Ivory & Gold;
Blue Street; Cornet Chop Suey; Grand Domin-
ion; Mardi Gras All Stars; Stephanie Trick &
Paolo Alderighi; High Sierra; Tom Rigney &
Flambeau; The Young Bucs; Uptown Low-
down; Rudy’s Revelers; and Bob Draga With
Friends.
Often, festivalgoers will don fringe shimmy
dresses, feather boas, zoot suits and other peri-
od clothing to get into the spirit.
A free shuttle bus, provided by Suzanne
Elise Assisted Living Community, will trans-
port festivalgoers to different venues and most
hotels during festival hours. Food and beverag-
es are available at all sites.
For more information, visit www.jazzsea-
side.com
February 25, 2016 | coastweekend.com | 9