All that Jazz: Traverse JAZZ Festival Offers a Weeklong Celebration of Sound

Jazz! It is all about jazz, jazz, jazz and more jazz. For area enthusiast of this music invented in America the upcoming Traverse JAZZ Festival July 25-30 has been a long time in the making. The festival is unique and the only one of its kind in the country by bringing over 20 venues and area cultural organizations together to create a “progressive” festival with more then 30 performances at 10 different locations in Northern Michigan during six days.
For Piper Goldson, director of the Suttons Bay JazzFest Foundation this special week marks a great way to celebrate the 10th annual Suttons Bay Jazzfest on Saturday, July 27. The Suttons Bay fest is the anchor event to the Traverse JAZZ Festival and could draw close to 5,000 people to see jazz legend Ramsey Lewis.
“We are pleased to have Ramsey Lewis close out our 10th festival,” said Goldson. “His music crosses many generations by appealing to youngsters and old alike. It is going to make for a great day of jazz we are very pleased with our strong and talented lineup.”
Goldson started the festival with her husband Harry, an accomplished jazz musician in his own right. The Harry Goldson Quintet has become a popular band in the area as well as across the country and will be among the groups performing at the Suttons Bay festival.
“When we moved to Suttons Bay several years ago and Harry would continue to go back to Chicago for performances and our friends here would say how it would be nice to see those performances,” said Goldson. “We started talking about doing a concert and the next thing I know I am organizing a festival. The first year we had 500 and each year it keeps getting bigger with 3,000 last year and who knows how many this year.”

FULL-TIME JOB
Goldson used to start organizing the festival in March but now begins at the conclusion of each festival in order to get it all done.
“It has become a full-time job and there are nights when I wake up worrying about getting it all done,” said Goldson. “Each year is a learning experience and it really is a lot of fun.”
While Piper Goldson works long hours and diligently at all the details to insure a perfect festival, she isn’t in it for the money, in fact she doesn’t make any money because for her and the others that help it is all about the music and raising money for the community and creating scholarships for area musicians.
“All the proceeds go to benefit non-profit community projects like the local library and music scholarships at Interlochen and Central Michigan University,” said Goldson.
Another aspect of the festival that Goldson is proud of is the lack of commercialism and the strict focus to classic and contemporary jazz and swing music.
“We don’t sell t-shirts, trinkets and cotton candy,” said Goldson. “Our focus is on the music and offering quality local wines and foods. We keep it simple and non-commercial and those who attend compliment us on that.”
The price is right as well. Tickets are $20 in advance to see five bands and eight hours of music.
“Certainly Ramsey Lewis commands more then $20 a ticket and when you add in Jeff Haas, Marcus Belgrave, Harry, the Slabtown Marching Society, the CMU Jazz Combo # 1 and all the other talented musicians this is a real value,” said Goldson. “We couldn’t afford to do this if it wasn’t for the many sponsors, they make it financially viable.”

HAPPENING SOUNDS
Musician, long time promoter of jazz in the area and Traverse JAZZ Festival committee member Jeff Haas echoes Goldson enthusiasm for jazz in the area. Haas has become a well-known player on the national jazz scene and travels the country performing but is especially pleased to see the rising popularity of jazz in the area.
“This just didn’t happen all of a sudden,” said Haas. “In many ways the Traverse JAZZ Festival is possible because of the many deeply talented local jazz musicians who have played in the trenches for years.”
Haas said the real credit goes to people like Dave Sporny whose big band played every Sunday night during the ‘70s and ‘80s at the Holiday Inn. Pete Asch, Steve Sandner and John Knight played every Thursday night during that era at the top of the Waterfront. Players like Bill and Laurie Sears, Mike Hunter, Ron Getz, John Lindenau and others all have played a role in the past 30 years to create a very popular jazz scene throughout Northern Michigan.
“It is important to credit all those cats,” said Haas.
While modest in leaving his name off the list, Haas has played an instrumental role in bringing national and international jazz acts to the area and also has spent many nights working low paying gigs in the area to help create the current popularity in Northern Michigan for jazz.
“We have seen the community really come to appreciate high quality jazz,” said Haas. “This is a very supportive community and while many of us travel for gigs we love the quality of life the area offers so no one talks about leaving the area. There is a lot of support and appreciation for what we are doing here.”

TUNED IN
Eric Hines, general manager of WNMC and one of Traverse JAZZ Festival organizers, agrees with Haas about the support of jazz music in the area. WNMC continues to grow in listeners and its jazz programs are among the favorites with those who tune into the community-based station located on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.
“Certainly the local jazz scene has helped to increase interest in the music both at our station and with the attendance at live shows in the area,” said Hines. “We have people who are serious jazz musicians living here, not people who just play jazz music. These players easily could make a very good living in New York but fortunately for us they choose to live here and that gives us a lot of great live jazz in the area almost nightly.”
The local musician aspect of the festival is something that Hines feels is an important part of the event.
“I am pleased with the amount of local performers we have this first year,” said Hines. “Our local players deserve to be showcased with those who have national recognition.”
Brenda Nienhouse, Executive Director of the Traverse Arts Council helped to develop the concept of the Traverse JAZZ Festival as a way to bring several cultural organizations together to promote the area.
“The nice thing about this event is so many of us are working together and we get a chance to show off several organizations as well as the beauty and diversity of our area by having it in different locations,” said Nienhouse.

PROGRESSIVE
The idea of a progressive festival at various venues versus a six-day festival in one location appeals to Piper Goldson and she believes it will be popular with others as well.
“First logistically trying this for six straight days in one location would be a nightmare and hard on one community,” said Goldson. “The way the festival is structured it will give people an ala carte approach to attending. You can pick and choose what works for you instead of being obligated to do everything.”
Haas feels that it is important that people participate this year and not wait till next year.
“If our audiences find themselves saying ‘maybe we won‘t come out this time because there‘s always next year‘ - then we are all in trouble,” said Haas. “While there is good support for jazz in our community, the audience base is limited, to some extent, by our population base. If enough people choose to sit in front of their home entertainment centers instead of coming out to check out live music, it will definitely affect the future of the festival.”
Haas is confident that the community will come out and support the festival in a big way.
“To some extent, this community is a microcosm of what the future holds for the arts on a regional and even national scale. The energy and support that the arts generate in our community are a remarkable reflection of the quality of life that, in part, we create for ourselves and that is why we are blessed up here. The future of this festival will be dependent on immediate support.”

LOCATIONS
Festival happenings take place on the Interlochen campus, the NMC campus, downtown Traverse City, Suttons Bay, Crystal Mountain, the Grand Traverse Resort, the Leelanau School and the Old Town Playhouse.
Besides Ramsey Lewis, 81-year old jazz legend Dave Brubeck will close out the festival with a performance July 30 at Interlochen. The Dave Brubeck Quartet remains popular today with hits “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk” which are considered among the best jazz instrumental compositions ever.
Flute player Alexander Zonjic from Windsor, a local favorite, will also help to anchor the festival with a Friday night performance at the Dennos Museum. Zonjic and friends will take the stage at 9 pm following several street performances by local musicians in downtown Traverse City for the popular Friday Night Live series.
Another festival highlight will be Traverse City’s Women of Jazz featuring Claudia Schmidt, Janice Keegan and Dawn Campbell. The three will perform Sunday night at the Grand Traverse Resort to benefit the Women’s Resource Center.
If you love jazz this is your week. If you have ever thought about experiencing jazz this is your week. Events vary in price with some free and everything else way below big city prices. For further information or tickets call the Dennos Museum Box Office (231) 995-1553 or the Traverse Area Arts Council (231) 947-2282.

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