2018 Dune Climb Concert features Jazz North with Robin Lee Berry
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
After the disappointment of cancelling due to weather last year, the Glen Arbor Art Center’s Manitou Music Festival Dune Climb Concert is back on Sunday, July 8 at 7 p.m. at the popular Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Dune Climb. Last year was the only time weather nixed this scenic outdoor celebration of music and beach blanket summer since it’s first show 20 years ago.
The first concert staged at the Dune Climb took place on July 19, 1998. Crispin Campbell, cellist and Interlochen Arts Academy instructor, spawned the idea. Campbell was the founder and artistic director of the Manitou Music Festival (MMF), the ongoing summer project of the Glen Arbor Art Association, now the Glen Arbor Art Center (GAAC). The MMF concerts until then offered programs of mostly classical selections performed in Glen Arbor and Leland.
“The Dune Climb concerts were started mainly because I always thought it would be a great venue for a concert,” Campbell said. “I thought it would be great to offer that concert as a gift to the community.” And to his everlasting surprise, so did the National Park Service (NPS). The first program featured the Traverse Symphony Orchestra under the baton of David Holland, viola instructor at Interlochen. The orchestra played Handel’s “Water Music, and more,” a new composition by Interlochen composer Joe DeFazio. Song of the Lakes, a local quartet performing “Great Lakes world music,” was the guest band that night.
Another local group will headline this year’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Dune Climb Concert. Jazz North is “the little big band that can,” comprising the best of acoustic and electric jams of all genres, from funk to swing to rhythm and blues, from Latin to bebop to R&B to rock. Check them out at JazzNorth7.com. Anchoring the band is a rhythm section that is as tight as the skin on a pickle. Celebrated Traverse City artist Glenn Wolff deftly articulates the bass lines that are the glue of any tune. Angelo Meli is a familiar local guitar virtuoso who is as comfortable laying down mellow jazz licks as soaring through a Hendrix-like rock solo. Drummer Dave Goodwin provides the propulsive enthusiasm and infectious energy that will make you want to dance. The horn section features Jeff Kozisek on saxophones, a Mississippi transplant who can play laid-back smooth, or crackle like chicken-fried steak as the tune demands. Steve Carey plays valve trombone and is the excellent arranger of most of Jazz North’s music, bringing his cerebral dexterity to both his writing and his boppy smooth horn lines. Bill Fromm on the sexy lead trumpet nails the high stuff and punctuates the melodies with slick aplomb. The flugelhorn player (yours truly) is decent and sometimes throws in a poem to leaven the mood.
Northern Michigan singer-songwriter and vocalist Robin Lee Berry joins Jazz North at the Dune Climb, adding her nimble, straight-from-the-heart voice and impeccable rhythmic flare.
“Robin Lee Berry reflects northern Michigan’s feminine soul, blending themes of strength, courage, and vulnerability in her songs, all rendered with the spirit of awe and optimism,” says Bonny Holder, senior reporter for Americana Music Reviews in Dallas, Texas. With Robin in the mix, Jazz North provides a savory gumbo of styles and shadings that include originals as well as arrangements of jazz and funk classics. Dancing is not mandatory, but it will be encouraged and hard to avoid.
There is no charge for the concert on Sunday, July 8, at 7 p.m.; however, a National Park pass is required for parking. Free shuttle buses will provide transportation to overflow parking lots. Bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Some folding chairs are also provided in front of the stage.
Help the Glen Arbor Arts Center celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dune Climb Concert by joining in the jam with Jazz North, “the little big band that can!”
