February Features
No Musical Turkeys at Thanksgiving Festival
Text by Andy and Kathy Wittenborn
Photos by Andy Wittenborn
The San Diego Thanksgiving Jazz Festival has many repeat bands, but they are good ones, and the festival still ranks as one of the best traditional jazz festivals in America. And, adding to its plusses, this year the festival program was upgraded to a magazine format, making it more attractive as a souvenir as well as easier to use.
Each year there are a couple of bands or combinations of musicians that are especially exciting to hear. This year, we and many others felt that three musicians in particular -- Katie Cavera, Anita Thomas and Carl Sonny Leyland -- were the top attractions at the festival. Each had his/her own group and played in a number of bands as well. They are superb musicians who fit in personally as well as musically with every group they played in. Anita Thomas's session playing reeds with the Grand Dominion Jazz Band made the band members feel as they did when they played 20 years ago. Anita said that if she isn't scheduled for a set with them next year, she'll play with them anyway.
The grand foyer of the convention center is a difficult venue in some respects, because of the traffic and the noise. We listened to three sessions there led by Katie Cavera. Two featured Katie on bass, and in one she played guitar. In all three sessions, Pete Lay (leader of The Gambit Jazzmen, a British band) played drums, and Carl Sonny Leyland played piano. They were joined by other musicians in each set. For two sets, John Cocuzzi was featured on vibraphone. These Cavera/Coccuzi sessions stopped traffic to the point that listeners had to be asked to move closer to allow people to move past. In one of these sets, guest junior artist Chloe Feoranzo, 15, joined the musicians for a couple of numbers.
Anita Thomas led two different kinds of Oz-Chi (Australia-Chicago) groups. One, the Oz-Chi Connection, was a trio with Ray Skjelbred on piano and Mike Earl on bass. The other, Oz-Chi and Friends, added Chris Tyle or Leon Oakley (cornet), Katie Cavera or Clint Baker (guitar), Alan Adams (trombone), Pete Lay (drums) and Butch Thompson (clarinet). The music was outstanding, which was acknowledged by the audience.
We cannot heap enough praise on Carl Sonny Leyland. Not only is he a great solo pianist, he is an asset to any band and amazes other musicians, especially those hearing him for the first time. In addition to playing boogie woogie, stride and ragtime, he also has written a number of songs and creates his own compositions on the spot, seemingly effortlessly. Hal's Angels included Leyland, drummer/festival co-director Hal Smith and bassist Mike Earl. They played one set. In another one-set session, these three musicians were part of the International Sextet which also featured Butch Thompson on clarinet and Clint Baker on bass.
At the other extreme musically were The Hayriders, also created by Hal Smith. This is a Rockabilly band, playing the music of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and the like. There was standing room only for the session we attended. John Gill was in his glory taking the part of Elvis and uniting the two halves of his current career. The pianist, Sue Palmer from San Diego, was a very enthusiastic addition to the band. She also performed several solo sessions during the festival.
February 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag
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