Jazz Jottings April 2020

At my advanced age, the thing I like about jazz parties is that they are held in a single venue (usually a hotel ballroom with assigned seating at round tables), and the audience for the large part is made up of serious jazz fans who come from all over the country solely to hear quality jazz performed by some of the best musicians in the business today. You get to hear the old pros like Ed Polcer and Houston Person, both in their 80s, who have done and seen it all. There’s “the regulars” around whom most all-star lineups are built. And keeping the flame of classic jazz burning are the Millenials in their 30s like the piano duo of Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi and Canadian import Evan Arntzen, who has come into his own as a top reed player. The 32nd annual San Diego Jazz Party was held at the Hilton Hotel in Del Mar, California, in late February and was once again the setting for a relaxing weekend of great music and fellowship. Just before the Party officially kicked off, a number of the musicians held master classes for area high school students. There’s the lighter side to these events, such as when SDJP music director Dan Barrett put together a “surprise set” that had the musicians playing instruments that they normally don’t play. There was saxman Harry Allen seated at the piano; pianist Rossano Sportiello blowing the slide trombone in the front line; cornet