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Welcome to the Calamity Jazz Newsletter
Here you’ll learn about all the band’s latest “doings” and plans + access photos showing what they’ve been up to.
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January 2005
January 15 — Presbyterian Church, Waldport, Oregon
David and Meeja Hutson celebrated their 40th anniversary by renewing their wedding vows at a ceremony held at their own lovely church. Accompanied by the strains of David’s recently released gospel CD, the couple hosted a large gathering of friends for the ceremony followed by a scrumptious catered dinner. Congratulations David and Meeja.
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Blurry photo courtesy of
Vicki Cox
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Throughout January — McDonald Theater, Eugene, Oregon
Rose Children’s Theatre chose Calamity Jazz drummer John Muellner as “Captain Hook” for its February production of Peter Pan. January saw John, as well as Meg and Vicki in concentrated rehearsals for this involved musical comedy production. It was time well spent though, as the sparkling reviews and television coverage will attest..
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December 2004
December 3 — Wild Duck Banquet Hall, Eugene, Oregon
The good folks of Holt International Children’s Services graciously invited Calamity Jazz to play for their
annual Christmas party. The eats were grand, and the attendees well-favored with music, acknowledgements and well-earned prizes. John Muellner’s zany Christmas hat was the hit of the evening, and so coveted that
fans were bidding and making outrageous offers to purchase it. Too bad the hat actually belongs to John’s wife Maggie.
November 2004
November 3 — Cascade Manor, Eugene, Oregon
Calamity Jazz members Meg and Vicki joined with members of the Jazzinjammer Kids in a concert at the Cascade Manor concert stage. Wayne Lindstad furnished the tunes and all joined in for a jammin’ good time.
November 13 — Roadhouse Inn, Springfield, Oregon
Calamity Jazz favorites Cork and Vicki once again favored U of
O football fans with post game antics at the Roadhouse. They were joined by Jam Good Dixie leader Don Paulson, Swing Shift Big Band’s John Teising, and Uptown Lowdown alumni Bill Kick.
November 19 – 22 — Sacramento, California
The West Coast Ragtime Society’s annual Sacramento Ragtime Festival enjoyed a special traditional jazz jam session lead by none other than Calamity Jazz anchors Vicki Cox and Meg Graf. The gals were joined by old friends and fellow jazz camp alumni, as well as Ragtime stars featured at the festival. By popular acclamation, the trad jazz contingent was invited to the main jam venue to bring its unique color and entertainment to ragtime patrons.
October 2004
October 9 — Eagle Rock, Oregon
A beautiful riverside wedding was held outdoors at the Eagle Rock Lodge, despite drizzling rain earlier in the day. Calamity Jazz presided at the reception tent, playing several very special requests for the happy couple and their friends.
October 15, 16 & 17 — Shaniko, Oregon
Lorraine, Meg and Vicki were guest artists of the Cascade Ragtime Society at their Old Time Music Festival in Shaniko; Oregon’s most well-known “Ghost Town.” Piano virtuoso Keith Taylor and central Oregon favorite Clare Kennedy were also featured at this
relatively new and increasingly popular ragtime and vintage jazz event.
The festival attracted a record crowd to the unique venues at Shaniko’s beautifully remodeled hotel, quaint saloon and rustic old time
schoolhouse. Attendees also enjoyed the huge display of antique cars, wagons and other equipment at Shaniko’s free museum.
Plans are already underway for a reprise of the event next year
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Photo courtesy of
Sue McClelland
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October 23 — EWEB Building, Eugene, Oregon
For its fourth consecutive year, Calamity Jazz joined the Eugene
Soroptimists in presenting the Breast Cancer Walk for Life. The annual fund raiser draws walkers from around the state, supporting their mothers, sisters, relatives and friends who are victims or survivors of
breast cancer.
October 30, 2004 — Roadhouse Inn, Springfield, Oregon
Cork, Meg and Vicki teamed up with Don Paulson and Bill Kick to play for a University of Oregon post game
celebration. The place was packed with appreciative (and hungry) football and jazz fans. The gang is hoping to entice even more friends to join them monthly at this excellent restaurant in the near future.
October 31, 2004 — Eugene Hotel, Eugene, Oregon
Meg and Vicki were invited to play with trombonist Wayne Lindstad and other of his friends for a Halloween bash at the
historic Eugene Hotel. The band were nearly the only ones out of costume at this party. Oh well, it’s pretty hard to play a horn through a rubber mask; no matter how good the prize is.
September 2004
September 3-5 — LaPine, Oregon
Cork, Vicki and Meg participated in the annual Labor Day weekend mini-festival organized by Harry Brown. Lots of fun.
September 10-12 — Newport, Oregon
The band was invited to play at the kick-off of the first ever “Jazz at Newport Festival.” Their contribution was an opening night concert at
the Agate Beach Best Western, which was ironically followed an hour later by a Lincoln Pops Big Band show at the Shilo (David, Meg and Vicki are all members of that band as well, with David being the director).
Needless to say, it was a busy night.
Saturday afternoon found Lorraine, Cork, Vicki and Larry (with his bass) out to sea with Marine Discovery Tours. The other passengers were very enthusiastic as the crew even
videotaped the entertainment action for possible future television commercials.
A darned good crowd showed up at 11:30 pm on Saturday night for Calamity’s “Night Owl Jam Session.” The band was disappointed a lot
of the other jazz artists didn’t have the energy to stay up late with them, but were very happy to have Mark Hazzard share the stage with them for a few numbers. Thanks a lot for coming Mark. He’s always a crowd
pleaser.
September 18 — Eugene, Oregon
Special Olympics invited Calamity Jazz back for another annual visit with the young atheletes at Alton Baker Park. The band was sorry to hear that
their good friend Judy Fleisig was called away from Special Olympics to a key organizational position elsewhere. She’ll surely be missed.
August 2004
August 4 — Benton County Fair, Corvallis, Oregon
A Calamity quartet variously played for the Ice Cream Social and two stage venues throughout the afternoon. This done heroically
through the megadecibels of “sound check” noise from the much too adjacent main stage. “Can you hear me now?”
August 13 — Meg, John and Vicki joined some friends in a combo for a wedding at Chateau Lorraine. What a dream setting for wedding. Peaceful lake, grape arbors, picturesque gazebos
and a flock of white doves released on cue ...sigh. Oh yeah, back to work.
August 28 — Calamity was featured on radio station WVXU out of Cincinnati, Ohio. The program is called, Charles Carey’s “Story of Jazz.” FYI, the band has also seen “air time” on
Texas, Oregon, California, plus other national radio stations, as well as internationally in Serbia, Montenegro and Japan’s “Yellow Beat” program.
July 2004
July 4 — Volcanoes Stadium, Keizer, Oregon
A Calamity trio livened up the crowd at a baseball game featuring the Keizer Volcanoes against the Eugene Ems followed by some really
swell fireworks. The barbeque eats were just grand.
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Photo courtesy of
Gregor Wadsworth
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July 10 — Seaside Calvary Episcopal Beach Service, Seaside, Oregon
The band thoroughly enjoyed thumbing through old hymnals and working up its own Calamity versions of
congregation favorites. The date has already been set for next year’s gospel service with Calamity Jazz. Please plan to come to the beach turnaround, Seaside, Oregon on the morning of July 3rd, 2005 for some very
inspired playing and evangelizing.
Note that Calvary Episcopal’s own Father David not only offers a wonderful service, but is also active in local activities, including theatrical productions in Seaside’s
extremely popular community theater.
July 20 — Island Park, Springfield, Oregon
Willamalane’s nifty portable stage perfectly suits Calamity Jazz. And sitting among the trees near the river was an ideal setting for a
swell night of jazz. The happy crowd danced in the grass to some of the tunes and even paraded en masse with umbrellas to a New Orleans classic.
July 29 Catholic Charities — St Paul’s Parish Hall, Eugene, Oregon
It wasn’t a particularly quiet “silent” auction with the band playing, but the Calamity Combo kept the
entertainment going while the organizers brought in some nice bids for all the donated items. The band was very appreciative of the truly delectable food so generously shared with them.
July 30 — Peabody’s Pub, Eugene, Oregon
Meg and Cork had their hands full filling the stage for this performance. Conflicts had a number of the Calamity regulars running to the
four corners of the state while they held things together back home. Hats off to Meg who attracted the additional talents of Don Paulson (reeds), Wayne Lindstad (trombone), Charlie Brown (drums) and Jeff Bryant
(reeds) to put in a stellar show for our new friends at Peabody’s.
Peabody’s, by the way, is a fairly new jazz venue trying to establish a friendly, comfortable venue for jazz musicians and fans alike.
Speaking of fans, Calamity Jazz would especially like to thank those of you who made a special effort to come so late at night to support them at Peabodys and other less than ideal performance times. They love you
guys.
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