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Jazz Party History
Ever wonder how this party got started? We need to thank Dick and Maddie Gibson.
The Concept of a Jazz Party
The concept of a Jazz Party originated in the 60s when Dick Gibson, a long time jazz aficionado, along with his wife Maddie, created what he called his annual Jazz Party. Gibson ran his Jazz Party for some 30 years, starting in 1963, usually on Labor Day weekend. Each year he brought musicians he liked to Colorado, including Vail, Aspen, Colorado Springs and Denver, along with critics and fans. For three days different formats of musicians played.
Those events pulled together musicians who had not seen one another in years, and the spontaneous nature of the festivities created a casual sort of brilliance, where the musicians were playing for themselves and friends. The parties were also important because they were held during a period in which jazz had fallen out of favor in American culture. While Mr. Gibson strove to break even, bringing in up to 500 paying guests at a time, they were in a sense underground events, where the overlooked idiom of mainstream jazz had its yearly reunion in front of its fans. Out of each party inevitably came other parties, along with recording and club dates.
From The Mississippi Rag on Dick Gibson: “The (jazz party) concept … reinvigorated the jazz scene and led to the creation of jazz parties elsewhere.”
Mr. Gibson had a widely varied career. An expert on Oriental rugs and Cloisonné, he also wrote fiction, worked as an investment banker and made a fortune by forming the Water Pik company, which he sold in 1967. He was also a jazz entrepreneur, having formed the World’s Greatest Jazz Band in 1968. It included Bob Haggart on bass, Yank Lawson on trumpet, Bob Wilber on reeds, Ralph Sutton on piano and Gus Johnson on drums.
The San Diego Jazz Party
In 1988, following the Dick Gibson format, Bill and Beverly Muchnic launched San Diego Jazz Party in Downtown San Diego. Their first festival included such jazz giants as Flip Philips, Buddy Tate, Bob Haggart, Jake Hanna, Ralph Sutton and Milt Hinton.
After Bill’s death some years later, Beverly kept San Diego Jazz Party going until health issues caused her to give it up. It was taken over by Herb Kratze, who moved it to the Hilton in Del Mar. Kratze stopped running the party after 2003, and it was taken over in 2004 by La Jollans Dave and Joanne Cooper, and Poo Wyer and John Amberg.
Wyer and Amberg stepped aside after the 2004 Party and the Coopers continued through 2015. Enter jazz lover, Dan Reid, who took over the leadership of the party in 2016. The current officers and board members are: Sandi Joyce, president, Russell King, vice-president, Deborah Morrison, secretary, Jennifer Reid, volunteer coordinator, Don Fall, treasurer & marketing, and Janet Fall, memberat-large.
The San Diego Jazz Party continues the tradition of presenting classic, mainstream jazz to the public on an annual basis in a weekend-long party featuring outstanding musicians in a relaxed, intimate setting at the Hilton San Diego/Del Mar.
For more details on Dick Gibson and his Jazz Party, please go to YouTube and search. You’ll find a documentary video that explains the Gibson format with music from one of his first Colorado festivals.
Thanks to the New York Times for details on Dick Gibson.
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