Jumpin' to Jazz

Wingin' tunes.

The rhythm of a strumming   bass.

Tapping feet and clapping hands.

Piano fills that make the heart beat faster.

It's all part of a body-and-soul experience wrapped up in a one-of-a-kind genre of American music.

And it can all be heard, next weekend, as world-class musicians continue a longstanding tradition of jazz celebration in West Texas.

Started in 1967 as the Odessa Jazz Party, the West Texas Jazz Party Collaboration lives on in its 42nd year, as the country's longest continually running event of its kind. The festival alternates each year between Odessa and Midland venues.

Improvisation prevails at the annual festival, but a very special induction is ensuring that all of the musical stylings are preserved long after the live performance.

The West Texas Jazz Society has donated its boxes of reel-to-reel audiotape, LP record albums, cassettes and photographs to the Rutgers University's Institute of Jazz Studies for mastering and safekeeping. The institute is the world's largest archival collection of jazz materials.

"It's very gratifying that the people involved thought of donating these materials to a permanent repository because they're subject to deterioration," Grammy Award-winning director Dan Morgenstern said. "It's a marvelous collection of great music."

In a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment, the history of the West Texas jazz performances will be protected at the New Jersey institute and made available for generations of students to come.

"The Odessa party is known to us as one of the very first jazz parties, which eventually became a sort of national phenomenon," Morgenstern said. "It's still going on, which is wonderful."

Margaret Gillham, president of the West Texas Jazz Society, said she's thrilled to have Rutgers archive the recording library of performances.

"The musicians will have access to them, and it's for educators," she said. "We wanted to keep them for posterity and for the students to listen to and learn from."

Boogie, cadence and plenty of syncopation will keep the music alive at this year's Odessa event, Gillham said, with a full lineup of jazz performers to get listeners moving.

"I think people learn to love jazz by dancing to it, and so we're going to have a dance floor this year," she said. "We have a lot of people who love to come to these parties year after year."

Four student bands will also participate in an afternoon competition with the headliner musicians as judges.

Gillham, who fell in love with jazz while attending the University of Arkansas, said the Odessa jazz party was an exclusive event at one time, with invitations required for the weeklong performances. The policy's changed, but the music is at great as ever.

"I can remember wanting an invitation, and I couldn't get one," Gillham said. "For years it was a private party, and so people think it's still the same - but it's not.

"We want local people to come enjoy the music," she said.

WANT TO GO?
>> The 42nd annual West Texas Jazz Party is from May 16 to May 18 at the MCM Eleganté Hotel, 5200 E. University Blvd.
>> Patron tickets are $175 for reserved seating at the three-day party, patron's brunch and hospitality suite. General admission tickets for each session are $45 and can be purchased at the door.
>> Call 550-0996 or 683-2026.

WHO'S PLAYING?
>> Piano: John Bunch, Rosanno Sportiello and Johnny Varro.
>> Guitar: Howard Alden and Bucky Pizzarelli.
>> Bass: Frank Tate, Chuck Berghofer, Nicki Parrott and Jay Leonhart.
>> Trombone: George Masso and Dan Barrett.
>> Reeds: Harry Allen, Ken Peplowski, Jim Galloway and Houston Person.
>> Trumpet: Warren Vache and Randy Sandke.
>> Percussion: Butch Miles, Joe Ascione and Jake Hanna.
>> Vibes and Percussion: Chuck Redd.