Social distancing measures will be in place for gala

Amelia Island Jazz Festival’s Big Band Bash, a popular dinner/dance benefit gala that will feature the Dynamic Les DeMerle 17-piece Jazz Orchestra with vocalist Bonnie Eisele, will now be held 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, in an expanded Amelia Ballroom at the Omni Amelia Island Resort, according to a news release.

Omni is allowing event organizers to use four ballrooms in order for guests to follow social distancing guidelines. Previous years of the Bash usually took place in two ballrooms. Tables will be limited to four people at each.

“We’re glad to be back on the island and thrilled to be performing at the Amelia Island Jazz Festival’s 10th annual Big Band Bash,” Les DeMerle, artistic director for the Jazz Festival, said in the release.

DeMerle and Eisele’s return has not been smooth.

“Bonnie and I are back on Amelia Island following a very successful but shortened contract headlining at Jazz In 4 on the Royal Caribbean Harmony Of The Seas cruising the Caribbean,” DeMerle said. “Three months into the gig, after our late show on the ship, I was taking out my contact lenses while my hand was bandaged from playing hard that night, and I accidentally scratched my cornea. I was signed off of the Harmony Of The Seas on medical leave and had
three months of treatments at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami with several of the world’s leading eye specialists. Bonnie helped me with all of my medications through this rough period and now I am 100% healed. Shortly after we signed off, the remainder of our cruise contract was canceled because of the coronavirus.”

Though Eisele and DeMerle stayed at several South Florida hotels while he was recuperating, they never stopped working and planning. “On Memorial Day weekend, WJCT featured us as part of their Jacksonville Jazz Weekend with a live broadcast in place of the canceled Jacksonville Jazz Festival. We performed a live one-hour virtual concert from our room at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Fort Lauderdale,” DeMerle said. “Our performance reached 4,600 viewers and is available for viewing at WJCT’s Facebook page, Jacksonville Music Experience, and also with a link on our Les DeMerle Fan Page on Facebook.”

Additionally, DeMerle set up a Drums Are Fun virtual summer camp on July 13-15 for children ages 9 years old and up and another on July 20-22 for adults of all ages. All levels of drum styles will be taught to beginners and intermediate drummers through the Zoom classroom sessions in collaboration with Arts Alive Nassau.

The festival season will swing into form at the Bash on Sept. 5 featuring “sensational classic Big Band arrangements” by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and many more. “Plus, we’ll do a special tribute to my old boss, bandleader and trumpeter Harry James, for whom I worked for 12 years,” DeMerle said. Veteran members of the DeMerle Orchestra include, in addition to Eisele, such accomplished players and outstanding soloists as JB Scott, trumpet; multi-instrumentalist Bill Prince, saxes, clarinet and flute; Dave Steinmeyer and Clarence Hines, trombones; Doug Matthews, piano; Dennis Marks, bass; and DeMerle on drums.

“We’ve prepared some new musical treats and surprises for this year’s event that are not to be missed,” DeMerle added. “Come early for cocktails to meet and greet the musicians from 6:30 to 7 p.m.”

Admission will include a gourmet dinner, and a silent auction in the foyer of the Amelia Ballroom will feature “very beautiful and exciting items to bid on, all donated to the festival from businesses in our community.”

One of the festival’s key sponsors, Park West Gallery, will present art and a live 15-minute auction during the first break from the music. The evening’s festivities will also feature memorial musical tributes to several people who have been important to the AIJF’s progress through the years including the late Joan Bean, AIJF volunteer Sonia Harper, ace guitarist Dan Voll, saxophonist Al Waters, and legendary headliner and saxophonist Richie Cole.

The AIJF’s Big Band Bash is the festival’s primary fundraiser in support of its scholarship awards program. “I will present our scholarship award to this year’s winner and also announce and show video of our 2020 headliners which include the award-winning guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli and his Trio plus renowned saxophonist and clarinetist Ken Peplowski ,” DeMerle said.

Tickets for the Big Band Bash are priced at $90 per person. 

As published in the News-Leader / Fernandina Beach