Drummer says Boundary County rocks
It is with sincere gratitude that I submit this letter to the Bonners Ferry Friends of the Arts, Boundary County School District, Jerry Pavia, David Carpenter and Rachel Gordon.
Our jazz quartet Northpoint, featuring Barry Aiken, played in your new high school auditorium on Jan. 10 for what seemed to be a sold-out crowd. It’s every jazz musician’s dream to play in a semi-circle with eager audience members breathing down our necks.
We had a wonderful evening of music and humorous banter shared with our audience in between tunes.
What I really wanted to share were my experiences before and after the concert. Prior to our performance, we were asked to give a short clinic with the high school jazz band and choir students, which was a privilege and pleasure.
Your district is blessed with two very talented high school music teachers and be sure to know that your kids are receiving a thorough education in music. They were very entertaining and demonstrated sincere kindness and respect; they rocked.
Jerry and the Friends of the Arts also took us to dinner at Papa Byrd’s Bistro. Upon driving into downtown Bonners, I was pleased to see such a well-developed community — clean, well lit, and our nation’s flag waving in enormous proportions.
I immediately sat up in the back seat of Jerry’s Subaru and thought about all the hard work your community put into this beautiful landscape. I had the best calzone ever at Byrd’s followed by great conversation with members of the community for the arts.
I know first-hand that it is no easy task coordinating and promoting an event; a jazz event at that.
As I said, we had a fabulous concert and took time in between sets to visit with the good people of Bonners. I was taken back by your kindness and appreciation for what we do.
In fact, after it was all over, we returned to Jerry’s home and talked quite extensively about how special your community really is. Roxy (our German bass player) thinks he wants to move in. My understanding is that this concert event was the first of what will hopefully become a series in your community.
Following the concert, I was so impressed to hear in passing that the members of your arts council began to debrief the evening’s results. They were already planning how to make it better, draw more people, and even mentioned having us back again some time in the future.
As a jazz musician, it rarely happens that I have an opportunity to be a part of something as special as that Saturday night. All those other gigs of playing quiet background tunes for events where few take notice are instantly erased when an occasion such as this comes along.
I think the results of your movement to bring more of the arts into the community strengthens relationships amongst people and creates a wonderful exchange of life experiences that hopefully enriched your souls as much as it did mine.
Brett DePew
Northpoint Drummer