Dr Marshall Hawkins’ Seahawk Modern Jazz Orchestra presented the
concluding headline concert of the 30th and final Jazz in the Pines
Festival on Friday July 12. Idyllwild Arts Academy President Pamela
Jordan dedicated the evening to the memory of the “late jazz guitar
giant, our beloved Bob Boss.” Jordan presented Boss’ wife of 44 years,
Vicki, with a plaque and a ceramic bowl normally only given to IAA
faculty members.

The concert opened with elements now familiar to local audiences: an
African drum solo, and pianist Joshua White performing ‘Lift Every Voice
and Sing.” These choices underline Hawkins’ dedication to the entire
heritage of jazz. As series promoter Rose Collela noted, you can hear
the history of Jazz in every solo Marshall takes, and in every Seahawk
MoJO concert.

Seahawk is an orchestra, combining a big band with strings and flutes,
an extended percussion section, and a cast of soloists. Summer Jazz
Clinic staff filled the ranks of the brass section, including John
Daversa on trumpet. Locals were also happy to see, among others, Paul
Carman and Ken Dahleen side by side among the saxes, Lily McCabe on
violin, and Marshall’s son Ray among the drummers.

Yve Evans delivered a brief eulogy for Bob Boss while preluding at the
piano, setting up a performance of one of Boss’ favorite songs, “Here’s
to Life.” The song’s verse tells us “all you give is all you get, so
give it all you got,” a fitting tribute to Boss and Hawkins. Evans has a
way of shifting from dramatic and suspenseful counter melody into a
child-like matter-of-fact tone, where the most artful statement is also
the most sincere. Sherry Williams delivered another song about parting
from an unforgettable friend, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”

The first half of the concert grew from soloists to small ensembles,
with the brass section waiting over 45 minutes before joining in.
Marshall developed Seahawk MoJO to bring jazz to schools, and there is
still a sense that it is both peerless ensemble and history lesson
without words.

Jordan described Dr Hawkins as the “father” of jazz at Idyllwild arts,
and the festival the “clarion call” of his beliefs about jazz. Jazz, to
those who live it, is more than a style or genre of music. “Marshall
expressed that jazz is about an entire experience, mindset, and way of
approaching music and life.”

The evening included several tributes to Dr Hawkins, Jordan noting that
his 85th birthday was in two days. Pianist and composer Markus Burger
played his “Marshall’s Blues” with Marshall and a drummer. Casey Abrams
recalled Hawkins’ influence as a teacher and played his Latin-feel
version of “Nature Boy.” The audience sang “Happy Birthday.” Guitarist
and Student Clinic Director Tom Hynes noted that musicians don’t express
themselves primarily with words, but the best one he could find to
describe Hawkins’ impact was “incalculable.” Jordan presented him with a
plaque with his epigrammatic statement about the festival, “mission
accomplished.

This year’s festival, we are told over and over, will be the last. But
many find that hard to believe. Certainly, the Jazz program, and the
Summer Clinics, will continue to bring great musicians and talented
young people here every year. And perhaps those clinic concerts will
attract more attention.