Music and
mollusks on
the menu
Jazz & Oysters festival
returns on Saturday
BY PATRICK WEBB
For jazz fans, four bands will be on offer.
For oyster fans, there are thousands being
brought in. Jazz & Oysters is ready with
both at the Port of Peninsula on Saturday.
And that’s pure pleasure for organizer
Diana Thompson, getting back to event
planning after two years of cancellations
and postponements. “We are absolutely
excited,” she said.
Ilwaco High School’s jazz band will kick
off festivities at noon, followed by Ranger
and the Re-Arrangers at 1 p.m. The Ellen
Whyte Ensemble will play at 3 p.m., and
to top off the evening, the Mel Brown B3
Quartet will play at 5 p.m.
Taylor Shellfish Farms, of Shelton,
Washington, which also has an opera-
tion in Ocean Park, will provide the sea-
food. “Most will be grilled, but some can be
served raw,” Thompson said. Mid-August,
she added, isn’t the best time for oysters,
but the festival is still a beloved event.
Support
Submitted photo
The Water Music Festival’s Jazz & Oysters
event serves up Willapa Bay oysters as well as
fruit and cheese plates and desserts.
Held at the Port of Peninsula in Nah-
cotta, Jazz & Oysters is organized by the
Water Music Society, whose annual rotation
of events began with activities and home
concerts in 1984.
The group, whose co-presidents are
Thompson and Susan Spence, exists to
bring musicians to the Long Beach Pen-
insula while supporting Ocean Beach and
Naselle school music programs.
Its main slate of classical concerts is in
October; the group also added an annual
Christmas show in 2001. It funds artist
appearances, in part, through summer gar-
den tours.
Jazz & Oysters
Thrilled
Jazz & Oysters began in 1986. Thomp-
son recalled attending after her move from
Portland in 1999. She watched Ellen Whyte
perform at the Oysterville Schoolhouse in
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Port of Peninsula, 3311 275th St.,
Nahcotta, Wash.
11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday
Admission is $25
www.watermusicfestival.com
Seattle-based jazz band Ranger and the Re-Arrangers will perform at Jazz & Oysters.