Not even a rare, freak tornado in otherwise safe, complacent CT deterred the Friday night start of this year’s Great CT Traditional Jazz Festival. Neither did it deter the guests: Friday night attendance set a record.! Whether it was the improved Festival advertising and marketing, or the incredible new location and flock of hotels for travelers, it was a rapt crowd at all the venues Friday night and throughout the weekend.

 Huzzahs for the new location!! Finally: multiple, air-conditioned indoor venues impervious to the always-copious rain, thunder, ‘n lightning (& occasional tornado). The two a/c’d venues were huge, with (praise Allah!) indoor plumbing facilities. A large, windowed, covered venue off the gorgeous pool had operable windows to maximize breeze and light, and poolside seating under umbrellas at tables felt luxe day and night. And where were the mosquitoes? Saturday night we were able to sit poolside for the indoor music and watch the moon and night sky, and not a single bite! Warning: there’s audio bleed outdoor poolside from the Tent venue up the hill. No biggie, though.

 Summary: Keep the Mountain Ridge Resort location! Despite understandable nostalgia for years at Sunrise Resort, Mountain Ridge is light years beyond Sunrise’s capabilities. Mountain Ridge entered a learning curve in taking on the Fest. The Saturday night buffet drew many hundreds. Most of the food was excellent. Someone knows how to season meat! They’ll learn to open more serving lines to speed things up, and include some cold beverages w/the meal. Give ‘em time, ravenous fans.

Beside changing locations, another thing the Festival did right was offer a ton of music for a bargain price. Friday ran from 3 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Sat. 11 to 1:30 a.m.. Sun 11-6. All for a gate price of $95 for the weekend. Sixteen bands were there for delectation, including the Fest-sponsored Sugarfoot youth band. All from America, save Sarah Spencer herself; most from New England and the NY Metro area, to the extent bands really have ‘homes.’ Delightfully, The Fest finally booked a genuine New Orleans band, Louis Ford & His New Orleans Flairs, to remind us where the music started and still thrives.

 A Listener’s Picks and Comments: Cornet Chop Suey continues to have a very tight brass front line and delight audiences with their off-stage brass duets, triplets, and foursomes from the rear of every venue they’re in. The Midiri Bros. ensemble seems to get better and better. Their gentle twin-bashing banter remains funny, and their multi-instrumental skills impressive. Love ‘dem vibes! Louis Ford proved an exceptionally strong clarinetist, w/a flair for Sidney Bechet. All his sets began and ended w/a second line parade. Fun! His group was very good. Standouts for this listener were the pianist and drummer.

 The CT Festival Band has really developed and tightened over the years and changes of leaders. They were excellent. Another excellent aggregation was Jeff Barnhart’s Swing Seven. Tremendous and fun. Always voluble, Mr. B. kept his singing to a minimum and showed off his players. Bob Leary’s cover of The Inkspots’ “If I Didn’t Care,” was hilarious, and Ed Polcer’s bossa nova version of “America The Beautiful” was gorgeous and moving.

 Washboard Slim and The Blue Lights appear to be drifting into a blues band, a not-unwelcome development. They mentioned taking first place in a national blues competition. Congrats! There was still enough bluegrass, country-antics, and instrumentals to delight their hardcore bluegrass fans. Jazzy, sexy vocalist! 

 The Galvanized Jazz Band with Jane Campedelli, Igor’s Jazz Cowboys, and Blue Street  continued to delight their audiences. Triple Play, Freight Train, and the Hearbeat Jazz Band are newer, local bands finding their Festival audiences. Triple Play’s a pleasing  diversion from all trad, performing music from the 50’s-80’s. Great talent! The fantastic lead singer and the keyboard player do wonderful singing and harmonizing on tunes the (somewhat) younger Fest demographic knows and loves.

 Standout players in Freight Train were the guest artists on harmonica and guitar, who really sparked things up from the humdrum. The Heartbeats can be heard at lunch Wednesdays in Niantic, at The Yankee Clipper Restaurant.