Tom Fairlie and the organizers of the 19th Annual Temple Jazz Festival finally succeeded in finding a suitable venue for the traditional Friday night jam session on the enclosed patio of
Las Casas Mexican Restaurant in Temple. The great food, ample space and large bar accommodated an exceptional crowd who stayed past midnight to hear local musicians jam with visiting stars.
The highlight of the evening was the much-anticipated duet by trumpeter
Randy Brecker and trombonist
Bill Watrous, who performed two jazz standards, “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” (Romberg/Hammerstein), and “Stella By Starlight” (Victor Young/Ned Washington), backed by Ben Irom on keyboard, Vincent Bryce on bass, Michael Morris on drums and Reese Liles on guitar.
The evening's tunes came fast and loose, with myriad line changes which included students and professionals alike, so I made no attempt to track the songs played. But here are a few shots of the musicians and the crowd:
Dave Wild (keys), Vince Bryce (bass) and Mike Brumbaugh (trombone):
Reese Liles takes a turn from Watrous and Brecker:
Ben Irom on keys and Vincent Bryce on bass:
Bassist Utah Hamrick:
Utah Hamrick, trumpeter Tim Cates and saxophonist DJ Eisenhart groove along while Alonzo Ellison (Yoe High School student and TC Jazz Ensemble lead trumpet) takes a solo:
All of this great music was engineered by The Hardest Working Man at the Temple Jazz Festival, Technical Director Tim Kidder:
In case anyone was wondering who was having the most fun, it was festival organizer and TJO Director Tom Fairlie. Most of us dream about one day meeting our musical heroes and maybe getting to hang out with them; Tom gets to do it at least once a year! Tom poses here with Brecker and Watrous:
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