On April 20th, JazzClubsNW, in partnership with local businesses, will turn downtown North Bend into one big jazz club. Twenty live performances will take place from 5PM to midnight at 14 venues around town, featuring some of the “finest jazz talent in the Pacific Northwest,” according to organizers.
The popular festival will showcase top professionals from the region, like Johnaye Kendrick, Thomas Marriott and Jay Thomas, along with amazing big bands from Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Newport high schools.
Hometown favorite Mt. Si High School Jazz 1—soon headed to New York’s Lincoln Center for its fifth appearance in six years at the prestigious Essentially Ellington competition—will also perform.
One ticket (available at the Umpqua Bank community room on Saturday, or at northbendjazzwalk.com in advance) gives you access to the full menu of performances, each a short walk from the next.
Venues include Snoqualmie Valley Moose Lodge, Pioneer Coffee, Compass Outdoor Adventures, Birches Habitat, North Bend Theatre, Twede’s Café, North Bend Bakery, Valley Center Stage, Pro Ski and Mountain Service, Cook Real Estate, Chang Thai & Pho, North Bend Chevrolet Wildflower Wine Shop, and Umpqua Bank.
The event is produced each year by JazzClubsNW (formerly known as Boxley Music Fund), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that creates jazz performance and education opportunities for students in the region: “Because the bandstand is the best teacher,” says Danny Kolke, who founded the organization in 2009. “We’re a member-supported organization, so this festival is an important fundraiser for us. We have ambitious plans to create more opportunities for more kids to learn and perform this music.”
The organization’s dues-paying members are joined in supporting this year’s Jazz Walk by an amazing list of sponsors: North Bend Theatre, Sno Falls Credit Union, Frost Home Team, Mark Dietrich, Electric Paddle, Edward Jones North Bend, Red Kelly Jazz Fund, Mt. Si Senior Center, Eric J. Opsvig DDS, Snoqualmie Valley Moose Lodge, and The Iron Duck Public House.
All venues are family-friendly.
For more information and to purchase advance tickets, visit northbendjazzwalk.com.
