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Shawn Stecker |
Paul Knight |
ten minutes until showtime |
Andrew, Nick & Steve |
Phantoms of Soul |
Ron Shea |
Don, Eric, Jeff &
Ron |
Mike & Rosario |
Guy Quintino |
Bill & Linda |
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VICTORY
HEIGHTS JOKUM FEST 2011
The ninth annual Victory Heights Jokum Fest for 2011 was on Saturday, August 20th this year.
The event once again took place at Schudie's Grotto in the Victory Heights neighborhood of North Seattle (Home of the Orb).
Jokermania alumnus Gary Schudie graciously opened up his backyard to welcome an all age crowd between the hours of 4:00 and 10:00pm.
This year's event was co-organized by Don Buss and Shawn Stecker,
both performers in the show. The festival featured live music, Manny's
Pale Ale (Georgetown Brewery), roasted turkey, ham, barbeque pork,
brisket and plenty of side dishes. Steve Branca, Phantom of Soul and
Jokum Alumnus, provided a more than adequate sound system. The entire
show was filmed by Ruffle Your Feathers Productions and a DVD of highlights
will certainly be available soon on special order.
This year Paul Knight from Kennewick treated early arrivals from
2:00-4:00 in the grotto with some old time banjo tunes. He was accompanied
by Eric Nelson and later Shawn Stecker on guitars. In 2009 Paul
released a CD titled "Uncle Joe's Banjo Band". It features
Paul and his band on 15 songs.
A new and much larger stage & tent was built and assembled this year
days before the event. The Al Farlow Trio opened the show with plenty
of elbow room, performing a set of their own hybrid swing/bebop/blues.
The leader and clarinetist Al Farlow introduced each song with a related
story about the piece and/or its composer. AFT started of with "Cool"
by Howard McGhee. Later in the set they laid into a solid version
of "Cake"(the flip side). The coffeehouse bossa "On The Skids" was
written by Al Farlow and guitarist Jack Cook, featuring a vocal by
Jack Cook. Other Al Farlow originals in the set included "Odd Dog"
and "Strictly Plutonic" with lead vocals on "Professor Bop" (Babs
Gonzales) and "Twisted" (Wardell Gray & Annie Ross). Bassist Guy Quintino
rounded off the trio adding background vocals on "Indiana" and "Red
Top".
The second set featured the return of Andrew Larsen, pianist for the current Phantoms of Soul lineup.
Andrew was accompanied by Phantoms rhythm section: Steve Branca (bass) and Nick Morrison (drums).
Hurricane, as he is sometimes called, opened his set with Java, an Alan Toussaint instrumental.
"Let The Good Times Roll" was next and the first of a series of vocals by the pianist.
The Ernie K Doe hit "Mother In Law" also featured the bass vocal of Steve Branca. The band grooved
on another New Orleans classic: Lipstick Traces by Benny Spellman. The trio closed the set with "Southern Nights", another Alan Toussaint composition.
The Phantoms of Soul took center set again this year. The band's lineup of current Phantoms includes: Jack Cook on vocals/guitar,
Al Farlow on clarinet/saxes, Andrew Larsen on piano/vocals, Steve Branca on bass and Nick Morrison on drums.
"Keep A Dollar In Your Pocket" started off the set and stayed in step with a timeless economic crisis.
Earl King's "Do Re Mi" followed, giving a Phantoms' tip of the hat to the Crescent City and her R & B heritage.
Andrew Larsen contributed his vocals to the set with "Busted", "It Should Have Been Me" by Ray Charles,
"Milneberg Joys" by Jelly Roll Morton and "Lovey Dovey".
Nick Morrison stepped in for Don Buss to introduce the fourth
set. Jokers Wild is Shawn Stecker on vocals/guitar, Ron Shea on
guitar/vocals, Don Buss on electric bass and the Reverend Matt Fogdall
on drums. Jokers Wild was put together in part for this year's Jokum
Fest. They opened with "Yellowstone", a song written by
Shawn's brother Steven. Shawn's other vocals included four of his
own originals: "Lonesome Wind", "Clear For Landing", "Another Rainy
Day" and "Road To Heaven". Ron Shea managed to sneak one self penned
double entendre vocal titled "Whipped Cream". Jeff Herzog of the
Jet City Fliers sat in on harmonica for a good part of the set and
was a welcomed addition to the lineup. Eric Nelson made his Jokum
big stage debut singing "Walking By Myself" by Jimmy Rogers.
The final set was with 420 Flight (sometimes referred to as the family
band). 420 Flight members this year were Jack Cook, Shawn Stecker,
Don Buss and the Deacon Matt Fogdall. A very nicely manicured set
was kicked off with the King Curtis instrumental "Feel All Right".
Next Jack sang a jive vocal and played some swingin' guitar to a Slim
Gaillard tune titled "Palm Springs Jump". Shawn contributed two vocals:
"Bad Things" and "You've Been So Good Up Until Now but you can't be
that good all the time and you really haven't but you could or at
least you might try to be nice once in a while". A request for "Hydromatic
Woman" brought Steve Branca back up to the stage to play bass. The
quartet ended the night with the traditional Jokum closer "Through
For The Night".
Axel, the highjacker
NW Resonator Correspondent
Photos by Raymond Barrow & Johnnie Shay
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