The Ocean Shores Jazz Society
We love New Members!
A single person membership is only $10.00 a year and a couple is only $20.00
You can be a patron of the Jazz Society for $100.00
Volunteers are always welcome and appreciated.
Our Volunteer Coordinator is Anna Koetitz and can be contacted at:
360.289.9883
A short history of the Jazz Society:
"How All that Jazz came to be the Ocean Shores Jazz Festival
The first Ocean Shores Jazz Festival in 1983 was born of an idea to bring events to the Ocean Shores Convention Center. Ron McGrath, the Director of the Convention Center at that time, is credited with being the founder and creator of the Festival. The first Festival, based on the dream of continuing success, was held October 28, 29 and 30, 1983 with three bands.
They were right about the success; the event was a big hit; people fell in love with the music and a Grays Harbor tradition was born. In 1984 the Festival expanded to five bands. In its third year, 1985, the Festival expanded to venues other than the Convention Center for the first time and the number of bands climbed to seven.
The following is a quote from an article written by Ron McGrath: "At that point, we helped interested volunteers form the non-profit Ocean Shores Dixieland Jazz Society to keep the Festival going. The city was ready to get out of the music business and the society was needed to keep the event alive.That they accomplished their task with overwhelming success is a tribute to the hundreds of volunteers over the years who have given their time and hard work so the event could flourish."
The 1986 Festival was officially run by the newly formed society and it continues to be run effectively by this group of volunteers today.
Through the years the goals and concerns for the society haven't changed much; the people who join basically have the same interests in bringing the Festival to Ocean shores. We share the enjoyment of the music. Many like to dance and others are just there to listen and watch the musicians. The bands are professional musicians, and good entertainers too - even a comedian now and then - the people watchers have great fun too - so, for whatever reason we're involved, we get a lot more out of the Festival than we put in.
Our local jazz society does more than just put on one of Ocean Shores' premiere events. The society also donates to local music departments and sponsors music students to summer Jazz Camps. This is an important and ongoing project - and a good incentive for interested music students in the area. Our great hope for Jazz Music is that before the current musicians fade out, the young musicians will have had enough exposure to keep the interest going for many more generations. The Jazz Camps are one big plus for that to happen, and if enough young people are attracted, others will follow.
The Festivals around the country give the fans a chance to hear several good bands during one weekend. Typically, the fans are made up of individuals who grew up a few decades ago when good music was a way of life and just about anywhere in the country you could attend a Saturday night dance. Unfortunately, this is an era gone by in many locations, and the regular dance bands are hard to come by. It looks as if Ballroom Dancing is making a big comeback around the country and with that more young musicians will find an interest.
I would like to mention here that the business community of Ocean Shores and the surrounding area has been very generous in supporting the Festival.Our hope is that they will benefit greatly from the large number of fans coming to Ocean Shores and we continue to encourage the jazz fans to support the local sponsors. Without the sponsors help, we could not bring the Festival to Ocean Shores.
Since we work on only one event each year, the focus is on trying to make each Festival better than the last, and we have various committees at work throughout the year. So far there is no time for boredom.
If you have ideas and energies that you would like to put to use, we encourage you to consider joining us. We welcome all. We also have many non-member volunteers who work tirelessly during the festival each year. Individual memberships are available for a nominal amount.
For more information, contact the Jazz Hotline at (360) 289-4094.
Louise Forvour
Ocean Shores
Dixieland Jazz Society"
circa 2004 - Courtesy of Marlene Thomasson - Wildwood Publishing in Ocean Shores