6 B
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017
No one’s ‘Undecided:’
Siuslaw Jam rocked with jazz
Siuslaw Jam 2017
Review
B Y B URNEY G ARELICK
“First you say you do and then
you don’t, and then you say you
will and then you won’t. You’re
undecided now, so what are you
gonna do?”
“Undecided,” written by Sid
Robin and Charlie Shavers, is a
standard tune in the Great
American Songbook. On July 8, at
the Florence Events Center on the
second evening of the first annual
Siuslaw Jam Music Celebration, it
aired its argument — and with the
confluence of exuberant clarinet,
sultry alto sax, percolating percus-
sion, pulsating string bass and
clairvoyant vocals, no one was
undecided.
Florence is definitely on the
cusp of becoming a jazz destina-
tion.
Impressed by the Siletz Bay
Music Festival in Lincoln City,
Florence’s Joshua Greene worked
with Siletz Bay Artistic Director
Yaacov Bergman and organizing
board members to direct and pro-
duce the Florence event.
Perhaps Oregon salmon tastes
so good because it has spawned in
rivers of jazz.
The Siuslaw Jam featured
world-class jazz musicians: Ken
Peplowski, clarinet and tenor sax;
Aaron Johnson, alto sax and clar-
inet; Ehud Asherie, piano; Dave
Captein, acoustic bass; and
Clairdee, peerless vocalist.
While great jazz swings with
wit, complementary comedy can
add to the fun. That must have
been the organizing thought for
booking standup comedian Pete
Barbutti, a longtime jazz aficiona-
do who plays piano, trumpet and
accordion.
We didn’t hear him play any of
those instruments, even though
the big bellowing beast sat on
stage waiting to be squeezed.
However, on Saturday evening,
Barbutti did play the broom, a
regular long-handled bushy
broom that Halloween witches fly.
With a little help from the band,
the comedian swept the scales of
Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get
Around Much Anymore.”
Of course, Barbutti has been
around plenty. An octogenarian,
he is a veteran of television a half
century ago, including Arthur
Godfrey’s show, Garry Moore’s
tenure, Steve Allen’s alley, and
Johnny Carson’s corner. Barbutti
is an old-school comedian, ram-
pant with silly puns on silly situa-
tions — the dog that walked into a
bar, opposing World War I pilots
commiserating over a dustup in
the wild blue yonder, and
Ellington being Canadian because
of his song, “Take the Train, eh.”
Barbutti was fun, although the
Siuslaw Jam jazz did not need
comic relief. We were already
dizzy with joy on Saturday when
the band swung out with “A Night
in Tunisia.” It was called “An
Afternoon in Akron,” Peplowski
quipped of Dizzy Gillespie’s tune.
Peplowski, an affable emcee
with a penchant for cracking wise,
is a supremely gifted clarinetist,
particularly on the lovely roman-
tic ballad, “The Single Petal on A
Rose,” written by Ellington as a
piano solo after he was presented
to Queen Elizabeth in 1958.
Jazz diva Clairdee dazzled with
a sumptuous arrangement of
Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch
over Me,” a zany take on “Yes,
Sir, That’s My Baby” by Gus
Kahn and Walter Donaldson, and
a poignant and ironic “The End of
a Beautiful Friendship” by Nat
King Cole.
Other tunes by these sterling
musicians included Thelonious
Monk’s “Round Midnight” featur-
ing pianist Asherie, a rocket-pro-
pelled “Air Mail Special” by
Benny Goodman, and Johnny
Green’s “Body and Soul” that sold
us on the joy of jazz — at least
those of us who weren’t already
sold.
From all reports, the Friday
evening concert was equally
enchanting with its living room
informality and buoyant perform-
ances. Certainly the joy must have
been palpable and blowing in the
Florence wind because Saturday
evening attendance increased sub-
stantially.
The Saturday afternoon free
concert was another matter.
Nevertheless, the small crowd
rocked with enthusiasm and
applause for a thoroughly delight-
ful hour.
The musicians were generous,
explaining improvisation and
melody and encouraging the kids
to clap along. Clairdee sang “The
Alphabet Song” straight, then
scrambled the rhythm for a deli-
cious soup of swinging letters.
Peplowski invited a half dozen
little kids and one big kid on stage
to share their talents and to illus-
trate stride piano. While Asherie
played the piano, the kids fol-
lowed the man with the licorice
stick in a lively walk around the
stage. Then the kids were asked to
perform.
Young Rhianna didn’t hesitate
to claim her guitar and play and
sing her own song, “Rain,” a wor-
thy composition, Peplowski
allowed, to which the band impro-
vised backup.
The big kid, estimable ukulele
lady Janet Wellington, strummed
the 12-bar blues with clarinet
tootling on top.
Ella Fitzgerald was the Queen
of Scat Singing, and Clairdee
demonstrated the vocalise-make
up words and nonsense syllables
to swing with the rhythm.
Florence young lady Nyah
Vollmar’s scatting ability amazed
the professional singer who
engaged her in a remarkable scat-
ting duet.
Meanwhile, pint-sized Connor
was so fascinated by the drums
that drummer Hobbs let the boy
take a whack at all facets of the
drum kit and presented him a pair
of sticks.
When asked by a gentleman in
the audience what he wanted to
play when he grew up, Connor
didn’t hesitate to say he wanted to
play jazz.
There you have it — from the
mouth of babes. Jazz is here to
stay, right here on the Siuslaw.
It’s been decided.
See you next year!
EMERGENCY
Living on Shaky Ground:
Prepare-Survive-Recover
PREPAREDNESS
A WLEOG Public Outreach Program
Sponsored by West Lane Emergency Operations Group
Web address: www.wleog.org
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS | ELECTRICITY
NOW YOU CAN LEARN
HOW TO PREPARE FOR
EMERGENCIES AND DISASTERS -
ON YOUR COMPUTER,
PHONE OR TABLET!
Go to WLEOG.ORG and click on
PREPAREDNESS CLASSES for a menu
of disaster prep subjects. Each has short
videos on different topics that you can
watch when it is convenient for you and
your family.
**SAFE WATER, SAFE SANITATION
**EMERGENCY FOOD PLANNING
AND PREPARATION
**PET CARE PLANNING
FOR DISASTERS
**ARE YOU READY?
**SENIOR CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS
**DOCUMENTATION AND
INSURANCE
Blackout!
W
e often think of tornadoes, earthquakes and fires when
devising our emergency preparedness plans. But what
about blackouts?
A loss of power can accompany
many major storms and can often
be the most dangerous part of the
situation. Blackouts can downright
cripple your living situation during
the cold weather and can cause
heat issues during the summer
because they usually cut off power
to heating and cooling systems.
• Keep your car’s gas tank at least
half full.
• Know the location and operat-
ing specifications of your electric
garage door’s manual release lever.
• Use flashlights for emergency
lighting instead of candles or other
open flames, which can pose a
great risk of fire.
BEFORE A BLACKOUT
DURING A BLACKOUT
To prepare for a blackout, the
American Red Cross recommends
you do the following:
• Build an emergency kit and
share communications plans with
family members.
• Keep refrigerator and freezer
doors closed to keep your food as
fresh as possible. If you must eat
food that was refrigerated or fro-
zen, check it for spoilage. The
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention states that food can last
four to six hours in case of a power
outage.
• Leave on one light so that you’ll
know when your power returns.
• Turn off or disconnect appli-
ances and electronics that were in
use when the power went out.
When power returns, it can do so
in surges that can cause serious
damage.
• Never run a generator inside a
home or garage.
• Listen to local stations on your
battery-operated radio for updated
information.
In addition to the classes, the WLEOG.ORG web-
site has extremely useful information on NATURAL
HAZARDS and EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.
Each of these has videos on various topics that
explain the hazards the Pacifi c Northwest faces, and
how to prepare for them.
For more information, visit these websites:
A MERICAN R ED C ROSS — WWW . REDCROSS . ORG
C ITY OF F LORENCE — WWW . CI . FLORENCE . OR . US
FEMA — WWW . READY . GOV
L ANE C OUNTY — WWW . LANECOUNTY . ORG
S IUSLAW V ALLEY F IRE AND R ESCUE — WWW . SVFR . ORG
WLEOG — WWW . WLEOG . ORG
Sponsored by
C ENTRAL
L INCOLN PUD
966 Highway 101, Florence • 541-997-3414
S TREETS I NSURANCE
Mon - Fri 8am to 5pm
1234 Rhododendron Dr. Florence 541-997-8574