Jazz festival sets Sisters dancing to the music

Last updated 9/19/1995 at Noon

Jazz buffs from all over the west joined enthusiastic local residents to welcome the Fifth Annual High Mountains Dixieland Jazz festival to Sisters this weekend.

With five venues swinging day and night,

there was no shortage of foot-stomping hand-clapping music in a variety of styles ranging from the swing sounds of Bill Allred's Classic Jazz Band to the traditional repertoire of Stumptown Jazz and the earthy down home fun of Blue Street Jazz Band.

Festival chairman Ray Buselli said that the newest venue at Mountain Shadows RV park appeared to be a hit with festival-goers and the shuttle service made it easy for jazz fans to get from one venue to the next.

In past years, some dancers had criticized the dance floors at the big tent venue on the Village Green. Not this year. The jazz festival salvaged the bowling lanes from the old bowling alley which is being converted to a new city hall and used them for dance floor service.

According to Buselli, dancers welcomed the change. He noted that the manager of Stumptown Jazz told him that he was going to mention the new dance floors in the band's newsletter.

A Saturday lightning storm threatened to put a damper on festivities, at least at the Village Green.

"It was a pretty good lightening show," Buselli noted. "If it had come any closer we'd have had to shut down (the Village Green) venue."

Fortunately the storm did no more than add a bit of excitement and the jazz went on late into Saturday evening.

Final figures are not in yet, but it appears that this year's festival was the best-attended yet, with ticket sales running about 30 percent above last year's tally.

Good weather brought many Sisters residents out to hear the jazz and relax on the Village Green. Sunday gospels at the middle/high school and the Village Green drew overflow crowds as did a special finale jam featuring members of several bands.

The finale closed with a rousing rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" which brought the crowd inside the big tent on the green to its feet. The roar of applause at the end of the show could be heard blocks away.

In a ceremony before the Sunday gospel at the Village green, the festival board honored Buselli for his leadership as festival chairman and for keeping the thriving event in Sisters. Buselli in turn thanked the volunteers who make the event happen and acknowledged the quality of the festival board of directors.

"If you have a good board..." Buselli mused. "Well, it's imperative."

The board of directors won't have much time to bask in the success of this year's event. As one festival organizer noted: "Next week we begin planning for next year."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.