The 2019 edition of the Pentastic Hot Jazz and Music Festival got rolling last night with action on all five fronts and a swanky opening ceremony that saw several of the event's top bands appear in quick succession at the Trade and Convention Centre's "French Quarter" venue.
PentictonNow took in four of the shows and came away seriously "jazzed" about the two festival first-timers, southern California's The Black Market Trust and Gino and the Lone Gunmen.
The former is a wickedly talented, supremely smooth quintet that knows how to interact with a crowd, and the latter is a flashy rockabilly/early rock and roll trio with a distinctly young vibe and an obvious nod to bands such as The Stray Cats.
We also stopped by the festival's newest venue - "Beale Street" at Orchard House Theatre - and were immediately enamored. It's a pro setup all the way that looks as good as it sounds, and it's sized perfectly for the festival.
Indeed, Beale Street is where we chatted to Brain Casserly. Casserly plays trumpet with long-time festival favourite Cornet Chop Suey, and he was just as impressed with the new facility as we were.
"I love this place," he said after the set. "It's fabulous, a great dance floor, it's a gem. We're going to do some really intense music at this year's festival. West Side Story, a compilation of a Buddy Rich arrangement, and we'll probably do it here because the sound is perfect."
This is the tenth time at the festival for Casserly's band, which comes all the way from St Louis to do it.
"It's amazing to us that this far north there's such a unbelievable micro-climate. The vineyards, the weather, we love it."
"We try to do a lot of different types of music. We encompass a lot of different styles of jazz, rock and roll, and blues. We're basically an all-star band from St. Louis, and coming up here, it's just a haven for people who appreciate this kind of music."
Joy Novota came to the festival with husband Gary to scout talent for the festival they run in Helena, Montana called the "Starz on Stage Cabaret Concert Series." We ran into her during The Black Market Trust's first-ever set in Penticton at the Elks Hall's "Cotton Club."
"We come to Penticton to look over the different bands for our festival. It's so easy to get around here. The venues are friendly and not too oversized."
"Black Market is one of the cleanest sounding bands you can find. We'd love to get them for our festival."
The Pentastic Hot Jazz and Music Festival begins its Saturday schedule today at 10 a.m. and runs all the way through to 11 p.m. The music continues Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. and ending with the event's closing ceremonies at 3 p.m.
For more information, hit up the Pentiastic website.
