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WEDNESDAY November 26, 2003 - Subscribe - Contact Us Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 13, 2003 For the love of jazz By Tim Bousquet Tidings Correspondent "Jazz, like classical music, doesn't have much of a commercial market," says Ed Dunsavage, a local jazz guitarist. Dunsavage has been promoting Jazz in the Rogue Valley for 15 years, booking bands into the Mark Antony Hotel, now the Ashland Springs Hotel. He has also joined with the Siskiyou Institute, a local non-profit organization promoting music and arts education, to present classical and jazz concerts and workshops. Wanting to further his efforts, last May Dunsavage teamed up with Jacksonville resident and jazz pianist Jana Kolsbun and they discussed their options. "We decided to invite interested people to Jana's home," Dunsavage explains, "thinking we would get maybe 12 or 15 people. But after we sent a press release out there was so much interest we decided to move it to the Jacksonville Library and 30 people showed up." That initial meeting turned into the Jazz Exchange, a monthly meeting of jazz aficionados at the Paschal Winery in Talent. "We get anywhere from 50 to 100 people," says Dunsavage. "I'd say 75 percent are jazz listeners and 25 percent are musicians." "Each meeting has a theme," says Dunsavage, "a presentation on an element of jazz-It could be an artist, or a composer, or an instrument, or a style-swing, bebop, modern jazz, whatever." The first Jazz Exchange meeting in June included a discussion of Dave Brubeck, followed by a performance of the Back Porch Swing Band, which plays Hot Jazz songs by Django Reinhart. At a later meeting, local musician Bill Evans gave a lecture on the history of the saxophone in jazz, bringing in several sax players to demonstrate his point. Last month Dunsavage and Bill Leonhart held a presentation on the 7-string guitar in jazz. "It's different every month," says Dunsavage. "Typically the meetings begin with a 30-minute talk on some subject, then a 15-20 minute social break for conversation and wine tasting, then 30 minutes of live music." Last week at the November Jazz Exchange meeting, Dave Scoggin, a pianist who teaches The History of Jazz at SOU, gave a presentation on Thelonious Monk. "[Monk is] considered one of the greatest jazz composers," Scoggin says. "He only wrote 68 tunes, but they're all gems; there a lot of second lines and unique dissonance. " Besides his teaching work, Scoggin plays with local bands The Crawdads, Moments Notice, Shuffle Barons and The Dave Scoggin Trio. The latter band played at the Jazz Exchange meeting, illustrating Scoggin's points on Monk. Dunsavage invites anyone interested in jazz to attend the meetings. "There's no membership, no dues, no money taken at the door," he says. "Just people who like jazz." The Jazz Exchange meets at the Paschal Winery, in Talent. For more information call Ed Dunsavage at 488-3869. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Road Cams