TWO DAY JAZZ FESTIVAL IS ALL FROM THE HEART FOR HURT TROOPS

AUCTIONS AND WINE TASTING BRING IN MORE THAN $30,000

Vail Lake Resort, CA – Hosting the fourth Annual Temecula Wine and Music Festival for the first time at this location, Michael Paulo, both as producer and performer, pulled out all the stops in putting this local (and only jazz music) festival on an international scale. This was also my first time at the jazz fest and I was drawn to it because of one group, the Average White Band, whose funky hits of the 70’s I was familiar with. Donning an appropriate cap, one that my BFF gave me that says ‘Old Guys Rock’, I went to the fest to see if that slogan applied to other guys besides me. What I found was both gratifying and impressive because I found a ‘cool’ scene outside the youth panorama that I’m used to and normally write about here. Once again, original music united people from different neighborhoods, even different countries, like the colors of Benetton. It was a blast!

Day 1 – Starting around noon was the Air Force Reserve Jazz Band complete with fly-by during the National Anthem. Next up was the Indonesian Jazz super star, Dwiki Dharmawan, playing an original Bali instrument (finger cymbals) and wearing a blangkon, which is a fancy formal bandana while seated on the stage. After telling the relaxed uptown audience some travelogue points about Indonesia, like the fact that it is made up of 17,000 islands, “all are beautiful, like (the) Vail Lake (Resort)”, he was then joined by The World Peace Orchestra featuring Jimmy Haslip, Russell Ferrante, Walfredo Reyes, Steve Forman, Roger Burns, and Andy Suzuki. Dwiki rocked on a three keyboard set-up and put in some vocal chops to boot. “By default, this has become an international jazz festival,” spouted co-host Michael Paulo in reference to Dwiki, Marc Antoine who flew in from Spain, and Japanese saxophonist Kanzaki. “Welcome, in the Spirit of Music,” he shouted from the stage as the crowd cheered. Next it was guitarist Marc Antoine’s turn to dazzle the diversity and show why he is nominated for Latin Jazz Album of the year. Then it was time for the day’s auction, driven by the vocal fistitude of co-host Timmy d. (Daniels), a slightly toned down ‘Don King’ sans the lightning struck white afro. Timmy d. Productions is a household name in local music shows held above the underground and has been a mainstay in T-town for years. After the auction it was time for the coolness to turn hot, and Jody Watley provided the gas, accompanied by Brian Simpson guesting on keyboards and Michael, whose funky sax riffs lit the match. Before you could say, “Golly gee, Shazam” Timmy d. was shaking his, er, butt to Jody’s ‘I Want Your Love’ dance number, igniting the crowd that had continued to swell to maximum up to that point, and the party was on. The smooth jazz joint was jumpin’ as people starting dancing in the aisles, dancing at their seats, and dancing right down in front of the stage, pausing only to shake the band’s hands at song’s end. Slowing things down a bit with a sexier than Madonna version of ‘Borderline’, the crowd roared back to rocking life with the encore song ‘Real Love’ as Jody jumped from the stage to dance with the multitude down front. Now that’s real entertainment, and it was right then that this festival touched my heart the way the youth scene had when it was happening here, not long ago. Jody’s latest stuff can be found on iTunes and Amazon.com. Then the moment arrived that I had been waiting for, the appearance of the Average White Band, who is anything but. Thumping out a 5-string bass line (as opposed to the usual four string rock and roll bass version, but common to almost all the bands doing jazz at the festival), AWB, as tight as a certain hatband, turned up the heat further. Surprisingly the crowd recognized more of the songs than I did, slow dancing to the first few numbers before striking the groove that also got me dancing down front with a sweet-eyed caramel, a tall dark roast, and a vanilla latte, all of us swept up by the truly funky sounds being put out by Alan Gorrie, Onnie McIntyre, Klyde Jones, ‘Freddie V’ Vigdor, all doing vocal and instrument harmonies with Rocky Bryant providing drums/percussion. AWB tunes have been sampled by everyone from the Beasty Boys to Ice Cube to Chris Rock to Janet Jackson to Big Daddy Kane. Having my just purchased latest AWB CD signed by the band and getting a ‘thumbs up’ comment on my hat from Onnie was the icing on my R&B cake, now cut into my memories.

Day 2 – With the start of the day beginning with Buddy Ebsen’s youngest daughter, Kiki, doing a set on the stage singing and playing keyboards to some of her own original compositions, you knew you were in for some special treats. Antonio Pontarelli, a local music wunderkind who Timmy d. said he had ‘been introducing this guy to audiences since he was 8 years old’ followed, played a traditional looking violin, did a couple of his own works with an older keyboardist, an accompanying acoustic guitarist close to his own age and capped off his set with a Dylan piece made famous by Hendrix, ‘All Along The Watchtower’. Both performers would return to sit in on later sets with Antonio proving that he is a future ‘big dog’ able to run with his more established musical jazz peers. The applauding crowd agreed with that assessment. After Timmy d. assured everyone that all the proceeds from the wine sales and auctions would go to the charity, ‘All From The Heart’, the same foundation started by Timothy C. Kuzelka that provided a returning vet given a prosthetic arm and leg with a specially equipped Chevy Tahoe last Christmas, the show moved on with keyboardist Allen Hewitt and his band, with Michael popping in for some sax licks on ‘Swinging On Sunset’. Next up was Chieli (pronounced Kelly) Minucci who had flown in from the ‘Big Apple’ to play his black guitar with gold fittings and give the crowd a kind of Wes Montgomery-ish jazz sound. With his back-up members providing ‘a burning band’ and a scorching drum-percussion breakdown with excellently miked congas, it was time once again from Michael to ‘sit in’ on a brand new number entitled, ‘Mystical’. This set also brought in another guest artist who would perform later, Steve Oliver, a man who not only made vocal special effects but also got resonance from his guitar that reminded you of a symphony orchestra. It was truly an amazing feat. As Peter Gontha, who was in attendance as was the aforementioned vet, celebrated his birthday at Bill & Tish Johnson’s 10,000 acre spread with security provided by the people who guarded Al Gore, CC member Chuck Washington joined the jazz fray, proving that while ‘the city doesn’t do cool’, at least he knows what ‘cool’ is. Meanwhile guitarist Paul Brown and Philippe Saisse on keys were joined by Marc Antoine and others from previous sets to play songs with a cha-cha beat that had many couples dancing. The introduction to the song ‘What About Bob’ got a few chuckles from those with a ‘420’ past, hey, this is jazz! Finally for me, Steve Oliver’s set opened and Antonio joined in with Kiki and hung tough for the jam again with Michael and his sax. When Steve and Antonio left, Japanese saxophonist Kanzaki came aboard and together, he and Michael played a duet on a song never before played live from an upcoming joint effort that left them both on their backsides with their saxophones held high,  providing a photo opportunity that is sure to make the jazz magazines. As I walked back through the crowd who was waiting for James Ingram and the Perri Sisters to catch my ride home with Ivan (of Ivan Promotions), but after catching some Everette Harp on baritone sax, I paused to reflect on just how cool this older ‘scene’ had been, and the quote I was saving for a special occasion came to mind.

‘Between us,

By the peace of God,

Such truth can now be told;

Yes, there is strength in striking root,

And good in growing old.’ – Gilbert Keith Chesterton

This entry was posted on May 5, 2008 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Family Attractions, Food, Music, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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