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News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 09.03.09 edition.
Jazz in the Pines survives fire
By J.P. Crumrine, News
Editor
The 16th-annual Jazz in the Pines finished
well after 6 p.m. Sunday. That was when the Henry Franklin Quartet
finally satiated an ardent and avid audience in the Stephens Recital
Hall.
Besides the pure pleasure and joy of music, its healing powers were
revealed during Yve Evans’ introduction of her accompanists. Bradley
Austin Bobo, the bass player, sat in front of her piano strumming and
smiling rather than standing and tapping. He has been performing with
Evans for 20 years.
On Tuesday, he had lung surgery, which Evans shared with the audience.
By Wednesday, he was walking the hospital corridors, he said.
“I told the doctors, Lord I want one more gig under the parachutes in
the trees of Idyllwild,” said Bobo, 58, who has been a professional
musician for more than 40 years. Just three weeks earlier, his wife had
to call an ambulance to rush him to the UCLA Medical Center because he
could not breathe.
Playing the bass does not require the lungpower of a horn or reed
instrument. “The trumpet was my first instrument,” he said.
Though he loves the bass, he confided that most musicians did not
consider it a real instrument when he entered the professional
marketplace. Nevertheless his talent was apparent, because he earned
scholarships to Chicago State University and the American Conservatory
of Music.
“I guess they put Humpty back together,” was Bobo’s thought about
making it to the festival. Festival Music Director Marshall Hawkins
said, “Miracles. He’s an amazing person — a musician’s musician.”
The purpose of the festival is to raise scholarship money for Idyllwild
Arts students. And Executive Producer, Jeff Hocker thinks the numbers
are looking “really, really good” despite the obstacles this year.
Food and drink sales seem up and one of the new conveniences, an ATM
machine, was quite popular. Somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 was
withdrawn this weekend and the festival reaps 50 cents per transaction.
“Every percentage adds up,” Hocker said. “It’s my responsibility to
find ways to create revenue stream where it didn’t exist before.”
“Jazz in the Pines was a success just having it,” said Associates
President Jorgine Brause. Almost 24 hours before the luxurious Patron’s
Dinner, the Cottonwood Fire ignited.
From that moment until the festival ended, the two were inextricably
bound. Much of Friday was spent listening and awaiting the Forest
Service fire status reports.
Idyllwild Fire Chief Steve Kunkle made it clear he was making the “go
or no-go” decision since he signed the festival’s special use permit.
While Idyllwild Arts and festival officials announced the “show would
go on,” Kunkle, as late as 3 p.m. Friday, insisted he was still
monitoring the fire’s movement along its eastern perimeter.
If the fire approached Fisherman’s Point about 1.5 miles west of
Idyllwild and Pine Cove, fire officials were prepared to unleash
evacuation procedures. Kunkle wanted more time and set his “trigger
point” further west of the North Fork of the San Jacinto River.
Fortunately, the fire’s movement did not necessitate the festival’s
cancellation or closure. However, Highway 74 from Hemet to Mountain
Center was closed from Thursday night until Sunday morning. Many
believe this affected jazz attendance.
Vendors and long-time jazz fans both felt the number of visitors was
“light” or less than prior years.
“Our business was down,” said Crystal and Mack McBride from Honey Bee’s
booth. “Our regular customers must be from Hemet because they’re not
here.”
Yet, Judy Aussenhofer, owner of the AussenWolf Designs, said this year
was much better for her than 2008.
“I did have a very good weekend. It may have been the location,” she
said. “Last year was horrible, but I’m very pleased this year and think
next year will be better.”
On Saturday, none of a small sampling of attendees was from Hemet. They
were all from the San Diego area or Los Angeles. They came to Idyllwild
via Highway 371 through Anza, or Interstate 10 to Banning and Highway
243 south to Idyllwild.
Harry Clark and Karen Farina came from Temecula but drove to Interstate
10 and then took Highway 243 to Idyllwild.
Everyone was aware of the Cottonwood Fire, but not necessarily its
proximity to Idyllwild. Some, such as Budriya Naheiri of San Diego,
researched the fire conditions and location on the Internet.
“My mom was worried, but I checked the reports,” she said.
Brause admitted that the will-call ticket pick-ups were down
substantially. Consequently, the Associates honored Saturday tickets on
Sunday, too. But even the Saturday barbecue did not fill Nelson Dining
Hall as in previous years.
With a weak economy, the proximity of the fire and restricted access to
Idyllwild, organizers were still pleased with this year’s results.
“I haven’t hear one negative comment,” Brause said. “Everybody seemed
happy and said they plan to return next year.”
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