Jazz Port Townsend: a touch of New Orleans and the Caribbean

Tonight, in a former blimp hangar on the grounds of Fort Worden State Park, a rite of the Crescent City will be performed when New Orleans trombonist Wycliffe Gordon leads his band in a set of dance music from his hometown, bringing the second line to Jazz Port Townsend for the first time.

"Dances have always been popular at the festival," said Jordan Hartt of Centrum, the local arts organization presenting the annual jazz festival. "We've done blues and jazz, but this is the first time we've had New Orleans dancing."

Playing with Gordon's band is guest trombonist Andre Hayward, a Houston native. Chairs will be moved and a large space cleared in front of the stage in McCurdy Pavilion for dancing that is part of the jazz tradition in New Orleans.

If there is an overarching theme to this summer's Jazz Port Townsend, the state's largest jazz festival, it is the musical idioms of warmer latitudes. Headlining Saturday night's show on the main stage is legendary Cuban saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, who will be accompanied by pianist Alex Brown. D'Rivera, one of the great emissaries of Latin jazz, will play Port Townsend for the first time.

Taylor Eigsti, a 24-year-old pianist, is also on tonight, opening for Gordon with his trio. Because of his youth, Eigsti has been one of the jazz world's most scrutinized players. Famous for having opened for smooth-jazz artist David Benoit at the age of 8, Eigsti has only recently shed his label as a prodigy. As a teenager, he played with Dave Brubeck and opened for the likes of Diana Krall and Hank Jones. The Eigsti trio, as the first marquee act, will bring the festival to full speed.

Jazz Port Townsend officially started Thursday with performances at four local clubs. Those shows sold out more than three weeks ago, an unexpected and unprecedented surprise for festival organizers.

"We don't know how to account for it," Hartt said. "We've never sold out our Thursday shows before. Historically it's been Friday or Saturday night that sells out. In general, tickets are selling faster than usual and people are buying them further in advance."

The clubs participating in the jazz festival can accommodate a total of about 600 people. Twice that many fit in McCurdy Pavilion, a World War I-era structure built when the park was still a military base. Fort Worden now serves as Centrum's headquarters, as well as housing for musicians during the festival.

Buses will transport concertgoers both nights from the park to downtown Port Townsend for the club shows, which start at 10 p.m. and end around 1 a.m.

"For an entire weekend, jazz spills out in the street," Hartt said. "The best way I've heard it described is that every summer Port Townsend turns into New York City. That's how good the arts are here in the summer. It's a true urban environment without the hassles of the big city."

This weekend's club shows, while perhaps not as festive as those on the big McCurdy stage, are opportunities to see and hear some of the same musicians in a much more intimate setting. For example, tenor sax player Eric Alexander and his quintet-mate, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, will lead a group playing in the Public House tonight and in the Rose Theater Saturday (Alexander and his quintet play the main stage Saturday afternoon); and Benny Green — one-time Oscar Peterson protégé and festival regular — will play both alone and with a large combo tonight at the Rose Theater.

One of the most anticipated club sets will feature Gordon and Hayward Saturday night at the Public House. The trombonists will be joined by trumpeter Terrell Stafford, Jeff Clayton on alto sax and Green on piano.

The clubs will also feature many well-known musicians from the Northwest, including Port Townsend resident Rickey Kelly on vibraphone. His quartet, which includes Matt Jorgensen on drums and Phil Sparks on bass, plays the Uptown Pub both nights.

Guitarist Dan Balmer; pianists Tamir Hendelman, George Cables, John Hansen and Randy Halberstadt; drummers Clarence Acox and Greg Williamson; and bassists Chuck Deardorf are among some of the other artists playing the clubs.