Some cats can only dream of jammin' at Switzerland's famed Montreux Jazz Festival, but as for the Columbia Jazz Band, well, "I wouldn't exactly say that it fell into our lap, but in the end that's kind of what happened," says Peter BarenBregge, the group's director.

Normally there's a lengthy process to get accepted to perform at Montreaux, even at the free outdoor venues, and that's what the neighboring Olney Jazz Band had gone through to get their festival gig last month. But when they couldn't fulfill a post-festival performance tour to Opatija, Croatia; Bled, Slovenia and Amerika Haus Vienna, Olney's director Rip Rice (also a member of Columbia's band) suggested that the Howard County group substitute. A call to the Montreux powers that be, with Rice's referral, uncovered an opening there, too.

When band members arrived near the end of the 16-day extravaganza, now featuring musical forms in addition to jazz, the small city (population: 23,000) on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps "was non-stop music," BarenBregge recalls. "The whole town was rockin' with energy and music."

It was amazing to know that artists such as Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, whose music they cover, were right there performing themselves, bass trombonist Bob Frantz says.

They heard other groups -- an all-female Australian jazz group, a college group from Minnesota and sister group Olney Big Band -- which, like the Columbia Jazz Band, played on outdoor stages. At $100 a pop they couldn't afford to attend the indoor headline performances of such artists as Erykah Badu, Paul Simon, Joan Baez, Buddy Guy, Deep Purple and Tower of Power, says sax player Maurice Feldman. No free passes forthcoming, either, just (still pretty darn cool) "Performer" T-shirts.

On the open promenade along the lake, a half-dozen smaller venues (in the midst of which was their hotel) offered ethnic music, both traditional and jazzily played on traditional instruments.

"You could pick up something to eat, sit and enjoy listening for 45 minutes, then wander on for dessert and hear something else, then get coffee," says Frantz, sounding regretful that their stay there was, alas, only three out of the 16 days of festivities. The group's entire trip was 10 days.

The band played two different concerts at Montreux's outdoor Parc Vernex stage as well as the three tour dates, and kept getting better each time, says BarenBregge, just returned from a frame shop picking up the poster advertising the band's Opatija performance, which included his name as director.

At Bled, they bopped on from 9 p.m. to midnight for a crowd of 4,000 or 5,000, and instead of being exhausted, "the adrenaline was flowing so fast it was unbelievable. We could have gone on for another three hours," Feldman maintains.

Easy for him to say. Bass trombone player Frantz had a feature solo (and how often does that happen?) in the next-to-last number, "Sweet Lorraine," for which he had to be sure to save something to make it through, as he had so readily done in two of the other, 75-minute sessions.

July is turnover time when new embassy staffers arrive and others leave for home, so in the U.S.-owned Amerika Haus facility, the band played its best gig of all in an intimate indoor setting for both the homesick and the soon-to-return-home.

As for the performers, they would have been happy for the music to go on, says Frantz, but on the other hand, reaching their limits living out of a suitcase, most were ready to head home.

Having now crossed the pond, though, band members are all enthused about travel, reports Feldman, especially when the half-dozen or so who hadn't gone heard that the trip went as smooth as silk.

"Nothing went wrong," BarenBregge says, still sounding surprised. "We had a lot of Plan Bs but didn't have to use any of them."

He and Feldman have contacted an agent who said that, with Montreux on its résumé, the band would be candidates for the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, after which they could tour elsewhere in the British Isles, in 2010.

In the meantime, back home, the Columbia Jazz Band performs a dozen or more times a year, including at the Kittamaqundi lakefront, in Baltimore-area venues and occasionally for the proverbial weddings and bar mitzvahs. The next performance will be Oct. 19 as part of Catonsville Presbyterian Church's concert series. On Nov. 8, the group will perform together with the Olney Jazz Band and others from River Hill and Eubie Blake high schools.

No wonder Frantz says, "This group is never dull, sometimes just less hectic."

Rehearsals take place at River Hill High School, in Clarksville, on Mondays, 6:30-7:30 p.m. For more information, call Roger Lark at 410-465-7862 or see thejazzband.com, where info about the band's CD, "Live and Swinging," can also be found.

user comments (3)

user mauricefeldman says...

To: Lane Page
Thank you for the great article on the Columbia JAzz Band trip to Montreux, your writing is wonderful and the article is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

MAurice Feldman - Manager - Columbia JAzz Band

Posted 12:34 PM, 08.29.08

• Permalink

user grahame says...

Great article..Hey that guy on the left playing the trombone just above the lady looks a lot like my Cousin. By Golly IT IS my cousin!!
Regards from Grahame & Kate
Mudgee NSW, Australia

Posted 5:22 PM, 08.29.08

• Permalink

user grahame says...

OOoops did I say cousin. Too much chardonnay lst night Im afraid. Meant brother in law not cousin. Sorry John ..must get a copy of you guy's CD

Posted 6:06 PM, 08.29.08

• Permalink