STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
It only took one song for the new kids on the block to endear themselves to festival-goers at the 2019 Sun Valley Jazz and Music Festival.
And, by the end of the set, The Black Market Trust’s gypsy-style swing of Django Reinhardt, the way they spiced familiar songs up with the cha cha and their twist on pop music made famous by The Temptations and others had sent their popularity ratings into the stratosphere.
“Django is famous now because, whether or not you’ve heard of him, all the guitar players have and he’s their favorite guitar player,” bass player Brian Netzley said.
Their boyish good humor didn’t hurt, either.
“I know you’ll go out from here and see other bands but, for now, you’re ours,” lead guitarist Jeffrey Radaich told the audience as he and his four colleagues segued into a Four Freshman-like version of “Tonight You Belong to Me.”
The Black Market Trust joined old favorites like Jeff Barnhart and newcomers like Two Tone Steiny & The Cadillacs at the 29th annual Sun Valley Jazz and Music Festival being held this weekend at Sun Valley Resort.
The late Patsy Cline materialized before a full house of several hundred people as the Carolyn Martin Swing Band performed a tribute to the country crooner.
Carolyn Martin told how Cline worked at a slaughterhouse before winning a talent competition on the Arthur Godfrey Show with the song “Walkin’ After Midnight.”
“Her songs have become so synonymous with heartbreak that it’s said the recipe for getting over heartbreak is Patsy Cline and bottle of wine,” she added.
Russ Wright and Valerie Augustine who live east of Carson City, Nev., were making their first trip north to Sun Valley jazz fest, even though they attend nearly a dozen festivals every year.
They became fodder for photo ops themselves, as Wright paraded around in a bright red and white-striped zoot suit and hat with red and white polka dot handkerchiefs and shiny red shoes. Augustine, too, wore jazz-era dresses and hats with high-laced boots.
“I’ll have a totally different outfit tomorrow,” Wright promised. And, sure enough, he appeared dressed the next day in a golden suit as shiny as a cache full of pirate’s gold the next day.
Sun Valley-area resident Carrie Morrow donned a bright yellow volunteer apron for the first time this year, instructing festival-goers how to navigate their way through the construction going on around the Sun Valley Inn.
“I love it. I’ve met so many people from so many places,” she said. “I’ve heard so many stories. And, of course, there’s the music, too.”
Bellevue resident Heather Johnston took her place alongside the Sun Valley Hallelujah Chorus, which received a standing ovation from a full house at the Sun Valley Opera House.
“I’ve loved the Sun Valley Jazz Festival since I was in high school. It was literally a dream of mine to end up singing in it someday,” she said. “So this is very emotional and very wonderful for me because I just remember thinking that this was the big time.”
MORE TODAY
The Sun Valley Jazz and Music Festival continues today at Sun Valley Resort.
It gets started at 9:30 a.m. with groups like the Carolyn Martin Swing Band and Tom Rigney & Flambeau and continues through 11:10 p.m. Specials include tributes to Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Natalie and Nat King Cole and a Salute to the ‘60s.
For more information, visit www.sunvalleyjazz.com.