Be-bop in P-Town

July 2011

Boston Blogger - Matt Robinson

As one of the easternmost points in the US, Provincetown gets to see things before many others do. That is one of the reasons why the annual Provincetown Jazz Festival (provincetownjazzfestival. org) is so exciting, as there are few places where so many emerging and established artists get together in such a beautiful venue.
This year, the Festival will be held in the equally beautiful (and recently renovated) Provincetown Town Hall, and also at the Cotuit Center for the Arts.

Among the musicians to be featured are such acclaimed and award-winning artists as the dynamic duo of Adrienne and Josh Hindmarsh, songbook sorcerer Dane Vannatter, the Big Band Stage Door Canteen, and vocalist Holli Ross in both a solo set and as part of the trio String of Pearls.
According to musician and Festival organizer Bart Weisman, the Festival (and its charitable outreach to the surrounding community) has consistently grown over the years and now attracts fans from around New England and even across the Pond. “We even get people from Europe and Japan,” Weisman says.


The Festival has proven so popular, in fact, that it now lingers throughout the year in the form of the monthly Jazz Jam which takes place the third Sunday of every month. “On our second year of the Festival,” Weisman recalls, “we had a Sunday Jazz Jam and 40 musicians… participated. When I saw the 40 musicians would come to P-town on a Sunday in August, I decided that we can do this… So , the festival helped create a year-round event, which now helps feed the festival!”
While the music is the primary draw (and rightfully so), Weisman also touts the setting as a reason to come to his Festival. “Spending the weekend in beautiful P-town is a treat,” he says, noting that the city by the sea is the oldest arts colony in the country and therefore a draw for visual artists as well. “We present musicians people may not have a chance to see anywhere else.”
In addition to fans coming from far and wide to Provincetown, many of the artists who make a point of putting it on their calendars come from far away as well.
“Josh and I are both from New Zealand,” explains Adrienne Hindmarsh, who will perform with her husband as part of the Festival, having met Weisman in New York a few years ago. . “We have never been to P-town but are very much looking forward to performing there.”


Other P-town Jazz artists are already faves in town (and far beyond). Among them is Dane Vannatter.
“Bart Weisman…has been booking me on the Cape for a few years now,” Vannatter explains, thanking his “friend” and sometime drummer. As for what keeps him coming back, Vannatter says, ”I love the collaboration of great jazz musicians who also love what they are doing. There’s a vibrant energy on stage and everyone plugs into it.”
Among these “pluggers” is Holli Ross who has been vacationing on the Cape with her family for 20 years and performing with her trio String Of Pearls at various other festivals in the region for many years as well. “After reading how nice the P-town Festival sounded,” Ross recalls, “I thought we’d be a nice fit out there.”
Like Vannatter, Ross also credits and thanks Weisman for making the Festival all that it is. “[It] always comes back to the ingenious ways Bart continues to promote jazz and create performance opportunities all up and down the Cape,” she says, noting that she will be performing both with SOP and also as a solo artist during the Festival and also promoting her forthcoming album through it as well. “I’m very grateful and excited about that!”
As she has performed at other festivals, Ross has a good feel for audiences and says that the Ptown crowds are always among her favorites. “The audience at this festival seems to be a very warm, enthusiastic cross section of jazz and all around music lovers,” she observes, noting how far some fans travel to hear her and the other artists. “You can really feel their energy from the stage.”
Ross also notes that many fans come back year after year. “Members of the audience come up to us after shows to tell us that they saw us the previous year and this time brought their mother or friend,” she recalls. “They’re so responsive, which always inspires us to put on our most fun shows!”
In addition to the great music, P-town Jazz also offers great food, wine, and the views and people that have made the Cape a favorite getaway for generations.
“It’s better than other events,” Vannatter suggests, “because its Provincetown and its fun and its summer!”