PORT ANGELES — There’s still time to catch performances by nine different Dixieland jazz bands today, as the annual Jazz in the Olympics Festival ends its three-day run.
There is a full line-up of bands performing at “Jazz Central,” the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., starting at 9 a.m. with the Olympic Dixielanders.
Bands also will perform at two of the smaller venues: the Eagles Club at 110 Penn St., and the Port Angeles City Council chambers at Fourth and Peabody streets.
Attendance was expected to decline this year, but tickets sales were projected on Saturday to be the same or even up slightly, said Russ Veenema, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce executive director.
“We had budgeted a slight decline from last year to this year,” he said, “because this event has been losing people every year for the past several years.”
“We will be about flat this year, which I’m very pleased with.”
Veenema estimated that ticket sales will end up somewhere between 2,200 and 2,500 tickets.
No performances are scheduled today at the Elks Naval Lodge, which hosted a full complement of performances Friday and Saturday.
The three-day jazz festival had a Thursday-night preview at 7 Cedars Casino, with a free performance by the Titanic Jazz Band.
Ten bands performed at four venues throughout Port Angeles during the festival.
Jazz Central
The opening act at Jazz Central today, the Olympic Dixielanders, is comprised of young local musicians who are carrying on the tradition of Dixieland Jazz.
They are supported by the Jazz in the Olympics Society, which works to preserve traditional jazz.
Youth program director Bud Critchfield said the program has been around for nine years, with members rotating in and out.
Members range in age from 13 to 18, and play 20 to 30 public performances a year.
This is their only performance of the weekend.
Critchfield said the band gives students a unique opportunity to learn to play and appreciate traditional jazz.
“Our hope of course is that these kids will continue to perform traditional jazz after they leave school,” he said.
After they perform, they will pass the hat to solicit donations for tuition for the annual summer jazz camp at Camp David Jr., held in July.
Through donations, the Jazz in the Olympics Society is able to sponsor about three dozen local jazz campers, of the 70 total from around the Northwest.
They will be warming up for an appearance by the Grand Dominion Jazz Band, who will perform an hour of gospel music beginning at 9:30 a.m.
This is the 10th appearance at the festival for the band from Camano Island.
They are said to have a “British flavor” and are favorites on jazz cruises and at festivals across the Northwest.
They will be followed at 10:45 a.m. by the New Orleans Ale Stars from Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Ale Stars bring a young and vibrant tone to the festival and bill themselves as “hot jazz played by serious musicians who don’t take themselves too seriously.”
Following them at noon will be the High Sierra Jazz Band, from Three Rivers, Calif., billed as “a high energy band with great ensemble work and magnificent solos.”
Hot on their heels at 1:15 p.m. will be the Wolverine Jazz Band, from Boston, playing traditional jazz with a little swing thrown in.
At 2:30 p.m., the Big Bang Jazz Band from Vancouver takes the stage, intent on playing “jazz from the time it was created.”
The shows at Jazz Central wrap up at 3:45 p.m. with the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band, from Bellevue.
The band focuses on the music more than on “show biz,” with a straight up set of no-nonsense trad jazz.
The festival closes with an “Afterglow” performance by the Bub Schulz Frisco Band at the Eagles Club, 110S. Penn St., at 7:15 p.m.
Tickets for the final day of Jazz in the Olympics are $20 general admission, $10 for students, available at the Vern Burton Center.
Other venues
Other venues with performances today are:
City council chambers, adjacent to the Vern Burton Center
10:45 a.m. — High Sierra Jazz Band.
Noon — Grand Dominion Jazz Band.
1:15 p.m. — Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band.
Eagles Club, 110 S. Penn St.
10:45 a.m. –Dixieland Express.
Noon — Big Bang Jazz Band.
1:15 p.m. — New Orleans Ale Stars.
2:30 p.m. — Bob Schulz Frisco Jazz Band.
3:45 p.m. — Wolverine Jazz Band.
To see photos of these bands and to read our earlier story from Friday’s Peninsula Spotlight, click here: https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010304239999
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Reporter Tom Callis contributed to this report.
Features Editor Marcie Miller can be reached at 360-417-3550 or marcie.miller@peninsuladailynews.com.