Jazz Port Townsend was back on a limited scale the last week of July after a year's hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions last year. The Jazz Workshop was virtual, and there were two outdoor concerts by the jazz faculty on Saturday afternoon.
For these concerts, the large doors of the McCurdy Pavilion at Fort Worden were open with the musicians on stage and the audience of several hundred was seated on the grass outside on Littlefield Green to allow for social distancing. There were two sets with essentially the same instrumentation but different personnel. In the first set to be broadcast this Sunday, the musicians include René Marie, vocal, Dick Oatts, alto sax, Terell Stafford, trumpet, Wycliffe Gordon, trombone & vocal, Miles Okazaki, guitar, Dawn Clement, piano, Marion Hayden, bass, and Carl Allen, drums. Jazz Port Towsend Artistic Director John Clayton also plays bass on several songs.
Thanks to all the musicians, John Clayton, Centrum's Jazz Program Manager Gregg Miller, and Neville Pearsall for technical assistance.
Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced by host Jim Wilke and airs Sundays at 2 p.m. Listeners may also subscribe to the podcast at KNKX, NPR, Apple, or Google.
