News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The weather was a bit chilly, but the music was hot at the eighth annual High Mountains Jazz at Sisters festival Friday-Sunday, September 18-20.
The show was an outstanding artistic success, according to festival director Ray Buselli.
"The bands really enjoyed themselves," he said. "I got complimented by every band. They thought this was one of the best festivals on the West Coast, comparable to Sun Valley and Mammoth. They were really complimentary of the volunteers."
This was the festival's first year under its new name. According to festival officials, the name reflects the eclectic nature of the Sisters festival.
"We've never been just Dixieland," festival official Tom Worcester said.
Buselli noted that swing and other non-traditional sounds have long been a fixture of the festival.
"The name change was to be indicative of the kinds of bands we have been bringing in since 1991," he said.
Still, Buselli, said, the festival will always emphasize and promote traditional jazz. He noted that the festival has made an effort to invite youth bands and educate "the young people of today about the music of yesterday."
The eclectic music and the outreach seem to be working to tap a different demographic.
"We're seeing more younger people here than at previous festivals," Worcester said.
By younger, Worcester said he was referring to 30-50-year-olds, but there was a sprinkling of people in their teens and 20s strutting their stuff on the dance floors.
Bev and Roy Spence were not part of the festival's younger demographic - they were celebrating their 50th anniversary - but they certainly set the pace when it came to cutting the rug.
The couple, avid dancers and long-time jazz aficionados, hail from Woy Woy,
Australia, 50 miles north
of Sydney. They came to Sisters as part of a 3-1/2-month trip that focuses on Dixieland jazz.
They left Sisters on
Monday to board a ship to Hawaii on a Dixieland Jazz at Sea cruise.
Asked how they heard about the Sisters festival, Bev said, "Oh, we know about all of them."
The Spences are indeed deeply involved in the music. Roy has shows on two Australian radio stations, 2CCC and 501+, and Bev is the leader of "Bev's Washboard Band in the Key of B#."
"We started this band for jazz parades and nursing homes," she said. "That's
what we do."
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.
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