The 2026 Centrum Jazz Port Townsend camp and festival featured sunny skies, smiling participants and high-calibre music.
KNKX was there to capture School of Jazz studio sessions from student groups mentored by the camp's faculty members, including drummer Matt Wilson.
Wilson's student band Discovery Pass got the fun started at Wheeler Theater on the Fort Worden grounds. The band played three original songs, including a pair of tunes by Stephen Morrissey, an ambitious saxophonist.
College-aged pianist Jaden Nakashima's composition "Nostalgia" also impressed the audience, the band's mentor, and the musicians.
Legendary trombonist Julian Priester joined Discovery Pass for a classic by his former bandleader, Sun Ra called "Interplanetary Music." Wilson and the band members wore whimsical tin foil hats in the style of Sun Ra's cosmic Afro-futurism.
The band also brought high energy to songs by jazz greats like Sonny Rollins and Elvin Jones and exemplified the spirit of cross-generational collaboration.
Musicians:
- Sophia Luvisotto Baird - trombone
- Stephen Morrissey - tenor sax
- Sam Harman - alto sax
- Jaden Nakashima - piano
- Chris James - bass
- Sandra Walker - drums
- Caleb Peterson-Hunt - drums
- Julian Priester - trombone on "Interplanetary Music"
- Matt Wilson, mentor - vocals on "Interplanetary Music"
Songs:
- Freedom Suite (Sonny Rollins)
- Pick a Number (S.Morrissey)
- Nostalgia (J.Nakashima)
- Deadline Blues (S.Morrissey)
- Three Card Molly (Elvin Jones)
- Interplanetary Music (Sun Ra)
