Nonprofits make beautiful music together

The “festival” part of the usually comes the first week in June – this year it’s June 3 – 12. But artistic director has two primary reasons for bringing jazz to Healdsburg year-round: the organization needs the money, and she loves the music.

“Is there any reason it can’t be both?” responded Felix, when asked which one took priority. “With the support from the HCA [Healdsburg Center for the Arts], we can not only present excellent groups, but it will benefit the Festival as well.”

Next Wednesday, Feb. 23, the first of three benefits for the organization takes place at the , like the Healdsburg Jazz Festival an arts-focused nonprofit. The two are co-presenting the event, a special concert by the Guarneri Double Quartet.

“I knew the jazz festival was in trouble,” said HCA board president Kara Raymond, “and it seemed right for us  to come out in support of another non-profit in the community.”

“One of the things we’re trying to do is share resources with other organizations – and we have this great public space right downtown that works really well for live events.” The Healdsburg Center for the Arts is located half a block off the Plaza, at 130 Plaza St.

The two nonprofits co-presented an event last year, by performance artist Idris Ackamoor in March 2010. There was no admission for that show; this one carries a $25 ticket price, but all ticket sales will go to support the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, which continues efforts to build a sound financial base. (Tickets are available at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts or online at the HJF.)

For its part, not only is the HCA paying the band and hoping to recoup some of the expense from wine and dessert sales, they’ve enlisted volunteers to help convert the gallery space into a café-style venue for the evening. It’s the first of three such benefits they plan in the next three months, the other two coming in April.

Next week’s headliner, Mario Guarneri,  is on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservancy, and is a graduate of the prestigious Julliard School of Music in New York. Earlier in his career, the 68-year old trumpeter played for 15 years with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has explored both classical and jazz in his playing and teaching for decades.

His Guarneri Jazz Quartet -- trumpet, bass, drums, and guitar -- has been a performance outlet for years, through several personnel changes. Recently, he re-configured the group into a new direction, pulling out the guitarist and bringing in a second trumpet.

Musicians include John Witalla on bass and Akira Tana on drums in both configurations, and Randy Vincent on guitar for the more traditional first quartet. Then Randy steps aside and trumpeter Erik Jekabson steps in to create the double-brass quartet, a sound that was popular in the 1950s as “the West Coast sound.”

"I think what makes this group exciting for me, and enjoyable to listen to, is the openness of it," the bandleader-cum-teacher said in an interview with San Francisco Classical Voice. "The fact that there’s implied harmonies, rather than a piano playing changes, gives us a chance to really explore music in a linear way."

The Guarneri Double Quartet – both configurations of the five-member group – will begin their set on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at 7pm. HCA is currently in the midst of their exhibit of animal art in support of the  -- another area non-profit that needs support.

The next Healdsburg Jazz Festival benefit comes on Friday April 1, when percussionist Babatunde Lea will bring a quartet to the gallery. The dreadlocked, charismatic Babatunde (he is best known by his first name) is a whirlwind on drums and an energetic bandleader whose work is familiar to many Healdsburgers from his frequent local gigs. He is also co-founder of the Jazz Festival’s Operation Jazz Band program, which introduces area fifth-graders to the structure and techniques of the jazz band.

Also on the bill is Azar Lawrence, an influential saxophonist since the mid-1960s, when he played in McCoy Tyner’s quartet following the death of the legendary John Coltrane. He too has graced local stages, most recently at the 2009 festival, and he is tentatively scheduled for this year’s festival as well.

The last of the three benefits comes four weeks later, on Saturday April 30. Bay Area trumpeter Khalil Shaheed brings his latest international group to town, Mansa Musa. Musical traditions and styles from Mali are incorporated in the jazz performance – appropriately, since the West African nation is well-known as a font of inspiration for American blues.

The name of the group, Mansa Musa, derives from a legendary king of Mali, who in the 14th century made a hajj to Mecca carrying such enormous quantities of gold and other treasures that threw off the economy of the Middle East for decades.

Presumably, Mansa Musa will bring the treasures of Malian jazz to Healdsburg when they play the Healdsburg Center for the Arts in the third of three concerts to benefit the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

DISCLOSURE: As well as being a Healdsburg Patch contributor, the writer is also a volunteer for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.