The greater St. John/Endicot metro area

The whole of the jazz program at PLU gathered outside the Mary Baker Russell music building on campus sometime around 11am. Unfortunately (fortunate for those who would be late) the bus was delayed by about an hour so we were all forced to relax for that time and get to know one another before our competitive trip to the 2001 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.

Gavin and I already started to preserve snapshots of the trip on our digital cameras even before our tardy bus pulled up. But once it did we were all anxious to start the trip. We loaded up our belongings and started the drive. Since we ran a bit late we only made one brief stop at a rest area along the way. After this, and a few candid shots of the folks on the bus, we pulled up to St. John High School (the same building as the elementary school) for a gym gig hosted by one of Wayne's old friends. We warmed up for a few minutes and sat around for a time while the jazz band did took the shiny floor to blow a few. One of the local women had prepared for us a glorious (especially in light of us spending multiple hours on a bus) meal of spaghetti, bread, salad and brownies for dessert. It was a home-town meal that settled well and helped give us energy for the remainder of the evening.

The St. John/Endicot jazz/stage band took the floor first and cruised through, among other peppy charts, a rendition of Ricky Martin's Living La Vida Loca. The group that consisted of kids from two cities separated by 15 miles of rolling Palouse hills did a great job considering the short, not for credit practice sessions they attend each week. Next came us and we sang through the four charts we'll perform tomorrow at the festival. We chalked this gym gig up to the "dump on ourselves" category. We sang somewhat less than par for any number of reasons (e.g. singing in a gym without monitors, doing so after a day-long bus ride, etc.) but were still received really well by the audience strewn out on the bleachers in front of us. The jazz band then took the "stage" and blew for a bit. The finale of the evening came when the high-schoolers and the PLU Jazz Ensemble both swung through Route 66. The mere sight of about 15 saxes made me laugh but the younger students took some decent solos.

With many a thanks for the performance and us thanking them the same the bus gathered us up and wound its way to Pullman, WA - our home away from PLU from now until Saturday. We're getting up tomorrow at 6am for a 8am departure to Moscow, ID and the University of Idaho. It'll be a crazy/busy day but I'm ready to enjoy every minute of it. Now to memorize my solo piece...

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