The ubiquitous image of late Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society founder Pete Douglas, puffing his pipe while booking concerts from his desk overlooking the ocean, will pervade the Pete Douglas Memorial Music Festival on the first weekend in October.
From 1 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, combos made up of respected Bay Area jazz musicians who are no strangers to the Bach stage will step up once more to honor him.
Douglas died July 12 at age 85.
The performers, mostly jazz players and some classical, “are mostly Bay Area musicians who have been grateful for this place to play their music,” said Bach Society manager Linda Goetz.
She wryly noted that while Douglas may have cringed at being in the spotlight himself, he always preferred to shine it on to the players. He would say, “Don’t honor me, honor the room,” she said, in reference to the Bach’s unique concert room, an intimate setting for some of the genre’s greats.
The Oct. 4 performances will be emceed by Tim Jackson who runs the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz and is involved with the Monterey Jazz Festival, and Clifford Brown Jr., an on-air personality for jazz radio. The Oct. 5 emcees are saxophonist Muhammad Dawan who organizes jazz events in San Francisco and co-founded the organization Lifeforce, which assists young jazz musicians, and Jayne Sanchez who hosts the “Jazz Oasis” on KCSM radio.
The full schedule of performances and performers will be listed on the Bach’s website of bachddsoc.org. Admission is free but donations are welcomed, and reservations are required at info@bachddsoc.org or 726-2020.
The Bach will honor concerts booked by Douglas prior to his death and scheduled through Dec. 7, Goetz said. After that, she added, the Bach will be on hiatus until the disposition of the Douglas Beach House is determined by Douglas’ three daughters.
For information on the festival, contact Goetz at 726-2020.
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