From the San Diego Jazz Party 2025

The San Diego Jazz Party held its annual event the weekend of February 21st and its 20+ musicians and vocalists made it an extremely memorable one! With tributes to Frank Sinatra, Broadway musicals, the Big Band era, and Composers from the Great American Songbook, the sets were exceptional and well-received. The Hilton Del Mar is a wonderful venue and with the annual Silver Bay Kennel Club Dog Show at the racetrack that same weekend, the presence of adorable pups in various lobbies just adds to the happy atmosphere.

The Jazz Party concept invites individual musicians who bring their special talents together with others they may not have played with before this weekend. It allows for various sets to be unique in their composition so that a bass, drum and saxophone or a guitar/bass/drum with two trombones or two guitars with a bass comprise the newly formed band for that set.

The Master Classes are held on Friday afternoon and students from Mission Bay High School attended the several workshops in separate rooms.

We attended a few of the eight or so classes, the first of which was Danny Coots (dr) and his explanations of the names given to various drum techniques. Without keys or notes, the techniques are described by onomatopoeic words that mimic the sound – moving a paradiddle (right, left, right, right or left, right, left, left) from the end of a verse or a flam (a light stroke with one hand as a lead-in to a full stroke with the other hand), a slide, a shuffle and a swivel mean a particular succession of sticks, mallets and brushes or performing doubles and downbeats, grooves and fills – its a whole other language!

Jon-Erik Kellso (tp) and the announced 2026 San Diego Jazz Legend, spoke of past trumpeters in addition to Louis Armstrong and Joe Oliver. He mentioned the Austin High Gang* (Jon-Erik is a featured performer on the 1992 recorded and 2022 mastered and released One Step to Chicago CD honoring the legacy of Frank Teschemacher and the Austin High Gang) and Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers which had orchestrated arrangements with room for improvisation. He demonstrated shaping the tone of the instrument with mutes (pixie, plunger, bucket, Harmon) and adding a coin (nickel or penny depending on its size) to a plunger mute to create a raspy sound with a pixie mute. He discussed “growling” and “flutter tongue” techniques and shared some examples from Muggsy Spanier, Cootie Williams, Clark Terry and Bubber Miley. (*Author’s note, I attended summer school at Austin High in the early ’60s and always felt the “vibes”!!!)

With just time for one more Master Class, we headed over to Lizzy Shapiro’s group of young women vocalists. Lizzy coached them on “singing the song out” and “landing the ship” emphasizing how the vocalist directs the band to end the song. Tagging it (putting a forefinger in the air with a back and forth or circular motion) or extending one’s arms lets the band know you are about to finish the tune. She encouraged them to always know their keys and to count the song off to get started. Lizzy discussed several musical terms, legato and rubato. Legato, notes are smooth and connected and rubato refers to a flexible tempo, sped up or slowed down to create expressive phrasing. One petite student, Liz Suarez, had a dynamic voice and range ready for any stage—I hope she continues with her music studies.

Some of these Mission Bay High School band members will be off to Yokohama in March as part of their sister-cities program to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the San Diego-Yokohama Sister City Society. It is never too late to donate to their efforts and you can find additional information on their website.

The official beginning of the Party starts at 4:00 pm on Friday with a Meet & Greet in the lobby of the main ballroom. Most all of the musicians are represented with three sets before a dinner break. Duke Heitger (tp) started the evening set “Gettin’ Hot at the Hilton” with Nate Ketner (reeds), Harry Allen (sax), John Allred (tb), Jason Wanner (p), Vinny Raniolo (gtr), Sam Rocha (bs) and Josh Collazo (dr). The Sinatra tribute followed with London performer, Denny Ilett (v/gtr) giving his all the “Sinatra” way. That band had Jon-Erik Kellso (tp), Jason Fabus (reeds) Dan Barrett (tb), Rossano Sportiello (p), Peter Washington (bs) and Danny Coots (dr). At the last moment, Ken Peplowski (cl) was not able to attend this year so Nate and Vinny were added to this set. A Blues set followed with Houston Person (sax), Jason Wanner (p), Richard Simon (bs) and Chuck Redd (dr). The “Sinatra” gang took the stage again for part two of the tribute with Jason Wanner, Sam Rocha and Chuck Redd substituting for Rossano, Peter and Danny. Denny Ilett had a delay in getting his visa and Music Director, Dan Barrett, introduced another vocalist, Jack Wood, who would have substituted for Denny if needed. Jack belted out one of the tunes and did a fine job as a temporary replacement. Rossano ended the evening with some excellent “Stride To Be-Bop” solos.

Saturday began early with a delicious brunch while Dan B., Denny (gtr) and Richard provided some soothing “Morning Glories.” Chuck, Jason F., Vinny, Peter and Josh got the ballroom swinging before Lizzy Shapiro (v) took us to Broadway with songs from Guys & Dolls, Showboat, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, and Anything Goes along with an original composition. With Nate, Jason W., Sam and Danny it was pure entertainment!

Songs from Duke Ellington filled the next set followed by a strictly trad offering with a seven piece band and its strong front line and then some “Swinging Strings” featuring Vinny, Peter and Denny.

Houston Person then took the stage for a Blues set with Rossano, Richard and Josh. The “King of Swing” set paid tribute to Benny Goodman before the evening dinner break.

The food at the Hilton is well presented and reasonable. Stopping in for some lite bar bites, we saw Pieter and Alida Meijers who were guests that day. Pieter is very happy to be coming “out of retirement” and playing his clarinet at both the Jazz Bash by the Bay in Monterey March 7th and Jazzaffair in Three Rivers April 10th. If you can still add it to your calendar, attend the Three Rivers festival and join in their excitement!

Saturday evening brought a “Special Presentation of Popular Songs by Composers from the Great American Songbook.” The Tin Pan Alley Cats set had John Allred (tb) and Jon-Erik, Jason F., Rossano, Richard and Chuck playing many songs that John’s dad, Bill Allred liked. Bill passed away in February last year and was a regular at the San Diego Jazz Party. Next up was Lizzy and her Prohibition Boys with Duke, Nate, Dan B., Vinny, Sam, Jason W. and Josh Collazo. Nate did a clarinet duet with Lizzy’s voice being the 2nd clarinet. You had to be there to hear her mimic the instrument and provide harmony to Nate’s melodies. Houston popped up again to head a Blues set with Rossano, Peter, Danny and Denny. Houston is a master on the tenor and his soulful demonstration is a powerful experience for an audience.

Harry Allen received the 2025 Jazz Legend Award and Board President Russell King spent little time in congratulating Harry so we could pay attention to Harry’s own words. His heartfelt appreciation was evident and the standing ovation said it all.

Maestros Harry, Chuck, Rossano, Richard and Josh played some of Harry’s favorite tunes leading up to another set with Lizzy & The Triggermen featuring Nate, Jason F., Jon-Erik, Dan B., Vinny, Sam, Jason W. and Danny.

Sunday morning started out early, with Jason F. and Dan B. and a relatively “quiet” set. Once Danny hit the stage with Duke, Vinny and Peter, we were all very awake! Richard got the next set going with Harry and Josh so that Lizzy and Friends could entertain us again with some great songs from the past. With Nate, Dan B., Jason W., Sam and Chuck the old tunes became new again!

Peter and Rossano had the next set and it brought back memories of their first meeting in Milan, Italy. Rossano loves to tell the story and he relishes their evolved mutual appreciation of their crafts.

I have decided Dan Barrett is actually one of a set of triplets and only his wife, Laura, knows which one is her husband! He is not only the Music Director of the Party but arranges the sets by musicians, comes up with the clever and appropriate titles and themes for each set, makes sure all the musicians have a leadership role with their band and curates the set lists. He also has his own gigs, travels all over the United States and Europe and is in demand as a musician, arranger, mentor, writer and friend. No one person could accomplish so many tasks so well! Dan was also a musician on the One Step To Chicago CD with Jon-Erik as noted previously.

The Stock Market set referred to Stock Arrangements that various music publishing houses had ready for purchase. The charts gave the instrumentation for multiple reeds and brass. With four saxes, two trumpets, two trombones, drums, bass, guitar and piano, the 12 member band gave an extraordinary performance! It was truly a highlight of the weekend to be in front of a live band playing that Big Band sound. Dan added guest artist, Jim Jedeikin on the bari as he didn’t think it would “sound” right with just 3 saxes! The musicians had no “rehearsals”, had not seen the charts prior to that moment and their site-reading abilities were astonishing! Another standing ovation and lots of verbal “wows” were heard throughout the audience.

What could possibly follow that? Jason Wanner did a solo set with the theme “I Wanner Be Happy” and had all the tunes with the word “happy” in the title. Including “Happy Feet” and “Happy Birthday,” Jason transitioned the audience in an adorable fashion. By coincidence, our table was munching on Happy Heart Trail Mix at the time and we couldn’t have been more happy!

Houston took to the stage again with another Blues set with Rossano, Richard, Chuck and Denny. At 90+ years of age, he is an incredible performer. Dan B. and John had a 76 Trombones set with 74 missing musicians while Vinny, Sam and Danny made up for the rest of the band!

Chuck took over on vibes with Harry, Peter and Josh lending a sometimes Latin “vibe” to several well-known compositions. Sam’s next set included Jon-Erik, Nate, Jason F., John, Jason W. and Danny. Sam made a point of introducing his bandmates and mentioning their influences on him.

The Grand Finale calls everyone back on stage with mile-wide smiles and expressions of satisfaction for a wonderful weekend!

The Musician’s dinner brings together sponsors and patrons for a relaxing and delicious meal and for some, lots of goodbyes for those leaving early.

Jon-Erik Kellso was named the 2026 Jazz Legend and unfortunately he was one of the ones that had to leave to catch his flight! The rest of us adjourned to the main lobby where a true “jam” session took place for the next few hours. It is always fun to see the expression on the hotel guests just signing in and noting a bunch of musicians trading a piano bench for a snare drum and two basses with horns all around. Chuck even got the vibes set up and guest Lenny Kellogg from the Poudre River Irregulars brought his ax to participate in the fray. The more trombones, the merrier!

The next morning, Board Members Russell King, Sandi Joyce, Don Fall and Janet Fall took us to the Preuss School on the campus of UCSD. The only other two Board Members, Jennifer Reid and Debbie Morrison had to leave the prior day. Dan B., Duke, Richard, Jason W., Vinny and Danny gave the students a demonstration of “jazz” and some endearing advice. Richard encouraged them to listen to the local jazz station 88.3 FM, KSDS if only for a week to familiarize themselves with the genre. Richard didn’t devote his life to the bass until he was 30 years old, so yes, it is never too late to begin appreciating music in your life.

Danny mentioned some of his dad’s advice concerning aging and maturity. He said to always seek beauty, learn something new, and love. Wise words indeed.