Saxman Dave Koz and one of the world’s hippest bands anointed the 20th anniversary Rehoboth Beach Autumn Jazz Festival with a wired performance that had a packed Rehoboth Convention Center crowd cheering madly at the Oct. 16 concert. Koz’s bassman has to be the coolest cat on the face of this planet.
After a fine meal at the Blue moon, Koz rolled into the convention center and burned off twice as many calories as he consumed at the Moon. High energy and high humdity! Afterwards, he and band members wound their way to the back of the hall to sign and sell CDs. “That’s one thing people really like about our festival,” said Delaware Celebration of Jazz President Denny Santangini. “The venue is intimate and the artists always get together with the fans afterwards.”
Unlike most jazz festivals around the country, this year’s Rehoboth event drew great crowds and posted strong numbers. “Our ticket sellers were amazed at how well we did this year,” said Santangini. “They said every other festival is down.”
Santangini is already looking ahead to next year’s event. He and I talked about having people like Alison Krausz or Ricky Skaggs on the stage at Rehoboth. They’re not jazz but the early nights of the festival in the past have included musical acts from other realms. Keb Mo is another name from the world of country, folk and blues that has been mentioned for a return to Rehoboth.
As for Koz, he loves Rehoboth and Rehoboth loves him.
The picture here was taken with an iPhone camera. The resolution isn’t much but the effect captures some of the mood of the night. Lighting and sound were exceptional for this year’s festival as was the overall organization by Delaware Celebration of Jazz. That’s what being professional is all about.
