I had heard good things about America’s Classic Jazz Festival in Lacey, WA, but living on the other side of the country, I had never made the trek to the Left Coast to see and hear for myself. That is, until this year, when enough stars aligned that I was able to work the festival into my travels.
The site--St. Martin’s University--offers four separate venues, each no more than a two-minute walk apart. Other than a tent, all are indoors, and far enough apart that sounds from one do not bleed into the other. Depending upon which band was playing, the Student Union’s and Worthington Center’s seating capacities were over-taxed. The fourth venue, the Marcus Pavilion (a gymnasium) had plenty of seats but its acoustics were like, what else, a gymnasium. The food and merchandise concessions were also in this hall, the sounds from which further compromised the music. This was probably unavoidable, though.
Bands played one-hour sets with 15 minutes in between. There were 15 bands, with most playing six to eight sets. One exception (unfortunately, in my opinion) was the Graystone Monarchs, a ten-piece band led by drummer Josh Duffee, which only had three sets of its own. However, all members of this band, including Josh, also played in other bands. I’ve enjoyed the Monarchs at the Bix Beiderbecke festival, where it’s comprised entirely of Davenport-area musicians. Josh is the
