Fairfield jazz band to perform Thursday in Washington

WASHINGTON — Washington residents can look forward to an evening of free, world-class music Thursday night in the city’s Central Park.

The Fairfield All-Star Jazz Band will perform at 6 p.m. in the bandstand as part of Thursday Night Live, a concert series held every Thursday during the summer in Washington’s Central Park. After about an hour break, the Washington Municipal Band will hold its weekly concert at 8 p.m. It’s a great time for residents to take in dinner and a show, with vendors from the Washington Farmers Market selling their food and crafts from 5-7 p.m. in the park.

The Fairfield All-Star Jazz Band features performers mostly from Fairfield but a few from surrounding towns, too. Jason Edwards, who teaches in the music department at Iowa Wesleyan University, plays saxophone in the band. He’s joined by fellow saxophone player David Kunz, who teaches band at Mid-Prairie High School in Wellman.

Washington resident Paul Towner plays trombone in the band. In fact, he’ll have a busy night, because he will perform later that evening in the Washington Municipal Band, which he is the president of and has played in for 25 years. Towner is responsible for bringing the trailer full of equipment for the municipal band and describes himself as its “chief roadie.”

The Fairfield All-Star Jazz Band formed a little more than 10 years ago thanks to a collaboration between Fairfield musician Rodger Gillaspie and the Rev. Joe Phipps of the First Presbyterian Church in Fairfield. Phipps wanted to have a band perform during church services, so he asked Gillaspie, a parishioner of the church, to put one together.

Gillaspie was a 30-year member of the 34th Army Band in Fairfield and is one of four charter members of the Fairfield Municipal Band who have been playing in that band since it began in 1988. With his years of experience as a musician, Gillaspie knew plenty of performers and assembled a 17-piece band to play at the church. The band plays at the church whenever a month has a fifth Sunday, so it just performed in May and will do so again in August and October.

The band is directed by Jim Edgeton, who also directs the Fairfield Municipal Band and who just retired as band director at the Fairfield High School. In addition to their fifth Sunday performances, the band usually performs once a year before a Fairfield Municipal Band concert and has played at festivals such as FAIRfest and a fundraiser in Bentonsport.

Gillaspie said one of the things he enjoys most of playing in the jazz band is the camaraderie with the “good bunch of folks” who comprise the band. He has played saxophone ever since he was a fifth-grader, and enjoys it to this day.

During the pandemic, the jazz band, like a lot of bands, did not hold any concerts. But that didn’t stop Gillaspie from playing. He and fellow jazz band member Gary Roth got together about once every other week to play saxophone duets.

“For me to sit by myself and play scales, it’s not much fun after awhile,” Gillaspie said. “When Gary and I got together, we picked music that stretched us, that kept our muscle memory sharp.”

Last fall, the jazz band got together for a few outdoor rehearsals where they sat far apart from each other to observe social distancing guidelines. Their family members came to listen, and band members said it felt good to play in front of an audience again, even if it was small.

Towner joined the Fairfield All-Star Jazz Band shortly after it formed a decade ago.

“It’s a nice way to get out of the ordinary and do something fun,” Towner said. “It gives me a reason to practice my trombone, and keep up with the skills I enjoy doing.”

Towner said he likes that the band members pick challenging pieces. He normally plays the third part for trombones, but one time he had to fill in and play first part, and he noticed how difficult it was.

“Over the years, you see the same piece of music a few times,” Towner said. “You leave your pencil marks on the paper so it helps you remember the mistakes you made the next time you play it.”