‘Doc’ Handy Jazz Band to Headline 16th Annual Jazz-By-the-Bay Festival
The 16th Annual Jazz By The Bay Festival will be held at Oaks-By-the-Bay Park in St. Andrews on Oct. 7th and 8th, featuring ten hours of jazz over two days played by six jazz bands playing a variety of jazz styles. The Jazz By The Bay festival has been an annual production of the Gulf Jazz Society since its initial staging in 2001. The festival, as usual, is free and open to the public.
Headlining the festival will be Terry ”Doc“ Handy and his seven-piece mainstream jazz ensemble from Jacksonville, Florida. Handy has played percussion for over 30 years in a diverse array of genres including rhythm & blues, jazz and latin jazz. Other jazz bands appearing in the scenic waterfront park at the foot of Beck Street in St. Andrews are the George Petropolis Quartet; Walkers’ Downbeat Jazz Orchestra; The Sean Dietrich Quartet; Stephanie Pettis Latin Ensemble, and the Walker Jazz and Vocal Quintet.
Handy has performed globally in Europe, Korea and Panama and has opened festival performances for many greats including James Brown, Aaron Neville, Macy Gray, Kool and the Gang, Kirk Whalum, Brain Culberson and El Gran Combo. Last April, the jazz ensemble was one of the featured groups at the Pensacola Jazz festival. Handy’s uniqueness as a conga drum musician is his captivating ability to fuse Afro-Cuban percussion with Jazz to create an “infectious swing that leaves his audiences in a spell-bounding groove.”
Fort Walton musicians Gina and Michael Walker will head two of the festival performances on Saturday: The Downbeat Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Michael Walker will feature music from the song book of the great American Big Band Era. In addition to appearances at jazz venues in the Destin–Ft. Walton region, the band performed recently at the Pensacola “Jazz Fest Goes On” celebration. In a second festival appearance both Michael and Gina Walker will head a quintet of all-star players in a session of vocal and trumpet arrangements of straight-ahead and familiar jazz mainstream standards, rooted in jazz but also embracing blues and jazzy pop tunes.
Jazz flautist and vocalist Stephanie Pettis and “Rio” returns to Jazz By The Bay with its exciting brand of Latin jazz that translates American music into dynamic Latin beats. Her six member band "RIO" delivers a combination of Latin American, reggae, and Brazilian jazz. Her band has traveled all over the world including England, Europe, Greece, Turkey, Germany and the Sinai Desert.
Popular Destin pianist and vocalist Sean Dietrich will lead his jazz quartet in a full range of jazz standards with verve and style reminiscent of New Orleans vocalist Harry Connick Jr. His ensemble has appeared at previous Gulf Jazz Society functions, the Jazz By The Bay Festival and music venues throughout the Florida Panhandle, delighting audiences with jazz-inspired piano and vocal work drawing from the collection of great American pop songs.
The music begins on Friday, October 7th from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. and continues on Saturday, October 8thfrom 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Oaks-By-The-Bay Park, St. Andrews, 10th and Beck Avenue. Visitors should bring lawn chairs for their own comfort. Vending is available.
Photos From The 2015 Jazz By The Bay Festival
Here are a few photos from the 2015 Jazz By The Bay festival.
If you have any you'd like to share, we'd love to add them to this slideshow, so please send them our way!
If you have any you'd like to share, we'd love to add them to this slideshow, so please send them our way!
JAZZ FEST 2014 WAS A WONDERFUL TIME!
Well, the 2014 Jazz By The Bay is over and it was quite possibly our best yet! Below is a slideshow of photos from the festival, please feel free to send us yours if you took some. We'll be adding more as we get them. Thank you to everyone who came out and enjoyed the music. A special thank you to the family of Dr. Ralph Peterson, this year's festival was dedicated to him! His spirit will always be with the Gulf Jazz Society.
