There’s gonna be a jazz party goin’ on

Young Chang

At last year’s Newport Beach Jazz Party, bassist Chuck Berghofer went

up to organizer Joe Rothman and said, “You gotta put me with Lewis Nash.”

Berghofer, who’d performed with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Barbara

Streisand, had always wanted to jam with drummer Nash. He got his chance.

Moments like that make the annual Newport Beach Jazz Party, which

starts Friday at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel, as much of a party for

the people performing as it is for the people listening.

“You’ll see [musicians] on stage together and it’s something you

wouldn’t see anywhere else,” said Rothman, co-organizer of the second

annual event.

The party, which ends Feb. 17, will feature mostly straight-ahead jazz

-- a style of jazz that originated from bebop, has a more predictable

rhythm and a melody that is easily recognizable, said Costa Mesa

trombonist Dan Barrett.

Some of the greatest practitioners of the genre were Charlie Parker

and Miles Davis.

Featured artists next weekend include the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz

Orchestra, the Clayton Brothers, Ann Hampton Callaway, the Maiden Voyage

Big Band, the Jeff Hamilton Trio, the Lewis Nash Trio, the Holly

Hofmann/Bill Cunliffe Duo, the Houston Person Quartet and a long roster

of soloists.

John McClure, co-organizer with Rothman, calls the jazz weekend a

series of mini-concerts spread out in the Marriott’s different ballrooms

and lounges.

Past musical pairings, during an equivalent event put on by Rothman

and McClure in Irvine, included clarinetist Buddy De Franco, saxophonist

Red Halloway, and trumpeters Stacy Rowles with Ingrid Jensen, who will

also perform together this year.

“They have two very different styles and are equally well-known

between the East and West Coast,” McClure said. “Stacy Rowles does more

traditional trumpet stylings and there’s Ingrid Jensen, and she’s going

to be a little more progressive in style. That’s gonna be interesting.”

Barrett, a five-time participant in McClure and Rothman’s jazz

parties, will perform standards by George Gershwin, Duke Ellington,

Jerome Kern and others.

“I like New Orleans jazz, you could say,” he said. “Small group

swing.”

Personal highlights for Barrett will be hearing performances by his

friends and colleagues pianist Gerry Wiggins and clarinetist and

saxophonist Ken Peplowski.

“It’s a great social event because many of us who are constantly

traveling get a chance that weekend to meet with each other and perform

with musicians we would not ordinarily have the chance to perform with,”

Barrett said.

FYI

* What: Newport Beach Jazz Party

* When: Friday through Feb. 17. 2 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m.

to 12:30 a.m. Feb. 16 and 17.

* Where: Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club, 900 Newport

Center Drive, Newport Beach

* Cost: $40-$275

* Call: (949) 759-5003