Home-grown jazz returns to isle

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Darden Burns is upbeat about the down beat.

The moment in time when the gig starts – in the jazz world, the down beat – is, for Burns, the debut season of her music series, First Sundays at the Commons.

The upcoming concert on Feb. 6, the second in the series that opened last month, features Karin Kajita Jazz Quintet.

The series runs the gamut from classical to jazz,and from solo performers to small ensembles. The common thread is a high standard of excellence, Burns says.

“My goal here is to bring the best artists to Bainbridge Island,” Burns said.

Serendipitously, Kajita already has a strong island connection. A 1971 graduate of Bainbridse High School, she was raised on the island, the daughter of long-time Fletcher Bay residents Jack and Sue Christiansen.

Kajita studied classical piano with island music teacher Corinne Berg, but it was only when she attended University of Washington as a piano performance major that she was introduced to jazz.

“I became aware of people around me (playing piano) in adjoining practice rooms who were not reading music,” she said. “I wanted to be one of those people. After 16 years of formal training, I put the books away.”

Kajita “fell out” of the classical music scene.

She taught herself to play by “hanging around in jazz clubs.” She was transfixed, she says, by “the swing.”

“The magic of jazz is in the swing,” she said. “All else can be explained in terms of theory or tradition, but the swing cannot be explained.”

Kajita formed her quintet, drawing together the finest musicians she could. The group played Kajita’s transcriptions of recordings of such artists as Hank Mobley, Horace Silver and Wayne Shorter, jazz greats who played “hard bop,” an idiom popular in the 1950s and early ’60s.

“It was more bluesy and minor than the be-bop it replaced,” Kajita said, “more bluesy, more driving.”

While hard bop remains a large part of the group’s “book,” Kajita and trumpet player Tony Grasso contribute original material, as well.

A pianist herself, Burns is no newcomer to organizing music events; her “Musical Evenings,” held in private homes from 1986-1998, featured island artists and regional luminaries.

While audiences liked the intimacy and the socializing, adequate parking and finding good instruments were problematic – and became more so as the island grew.

The Commons, built in 1996, appeared to be a promising venue but the space would need to house a piano – and not just any battered upright, but an instrument worth playing.

Burns conceived and headed a three-year campaign to purchase the 7-foot Yamaha grand piano now featured in First Sundays. The campaign received support from private citizens, as well as the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council Fund and Rotary.

“This is a very good piano, a very special piano,” Burns said. “It’s the nicest piano in this size and price range that I could find.”

While the upcoming concert is not a fund-raiser, Burns says, any contributions toward the last few thousand dollars of the piano’s $30,000 purchase price would be gratefully received.

Burns formed the Bainbridge Community Piano Association, and now the nonprofit co-sponsors the series with Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council.

“I feel that everything I’ve ever done has come together to put the concerts in place,” Burns said. “Finally having a great place, a great instrument, and knowing how to run these things. Because it’s nice to be able to hear first-rate music like Karin Kajita Jazz Quintet, here.”

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The Jazzin’ Five

First Sundays at the Commons presents the Karin Kajita Jazz Quintet 4 p.m. February 6 at the Bainbridge Commons. The Quintet features Karin Kajita on piano; Tony Grasso on trumpet; Brian Kent on tenor sax; Clipper Anderson on brass; and Ray Davis on drums. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students, available at the door. For more information on the Feb 6 event and upcoming concerts, call 842-3380 or see www.firstsundaysconcerts.org.