Jazzin’ it up with Vince DeMieroWhat do you do when you wander downstairs at 1 a.m. to

find famous jazz bassist Ray Brown sitting in your chair? Well, if you’re Vince DeMiero, you look him square in the eyes and say “You’re Ray Brown… What are you doing in my chair?”

Half-asleep, stumbling into the kitchen for his nightly bowl of cereal, DeMiero didn’t even bother turning on the light. Fumbling in the dark for the flimsy cardboard box, a faint glow streaming out of the dining area beckoned him.

‘That’s odd,’ he thought. Stepping through the door-way, DeMiero was met with an unexpected sight — Brown.

“Am I in your chair, son?” the musician asked. “He was such a gracious, unbelievably [musically] intelli-

gent, hyper-connected to everything person,” DeMiero re-called, “that I couldn’t thank him enough for just being kind enough to spend a few minutes with me.”DeMiero’s pas-sion for music itself is undeniable. When he mentions jazz, a certain enthusiasm begins to shine through in his voice.

“I love jazz,” he said. “It’s very a collaborative, im-provisational, in-the-moment kind of music, and there’s something about that, that just lifts the spirit.”

Despite his careers in journalism and education, De-Miero has been involved in music from a young age. Growing up, all of the children in his family learned pi-ano, singing and another instrument of their choice.

“I played the sax and bass and piano,” he said, “but I didn’t take any of that very seriously.”

Despite his childhood lack of dedication, jazz still plays a prominent role in DeMiero’s life. “I don’t know if the spe-cific skill of playing sax or bass or piano translates to some

profound thing,” he said, “but it’s the immersion into what it’s like to challenge yourself, to be a part of an ensemble.”

As a style of music, jazz has taught DeMiero about more than simply how to play the piano or the sax-ophone. It has allowed him to explore various cul-tures, experiences and histories that differ from his own.

Throughout his life, jazz has provided DeMiero with unique op-portunities that otherwise wouldn’t have become available to him.

“I’ve traveled because of music, I’ve met people through mu-sic who I would’ve never met. I feel like I far better understand certain aspects of American culture because of music,” DeMiero said. “I’m less ignorant about history because of some music.”

He cited early blues and “poignant, devastat-ing compositions in jazz” as the primary music re-sponsible for broadening his perception of the world.

“Those expressions just don’t come out unless there was something behind that,” he said. “If you care, then you invest yourself in learning a little bit more [about] what the origin was.”

A lifelong involvement in music has largely supple-mented DeMiero both personally and professionally.

“The leadership experiences that those opportunities, that those groups and those experiences have provided have been enormously impactful,” DeMiero said. “[They] have definitely changed how I am as a teacher, how I am as an advisor, how I am as a coach, how I am as a father, how I am as a husband.”

The De-Miero Jazz Fest is an annual

festival in Edmonds, Wash. The event features a variety of musicians, including Grammy-nominated

artist and composer René Marie. The festival was named after Vince DeMiero’s father, Frank DeMiero — dubbed “the Vince Lombardi of Vocal Jazz.”

“That’s my family’s foundation that runs the festival,” Vince said. “It’s pretty cool to be able to have

some hand in that kind of stuff.”

Founded in 1977 by Frank DeMiero, the DeMiero Jazz Fest has always been put on with the original dream in mind — to have a non-competitive jazz festival “where every student wins.”According to the foundation’s website, jazz festivals are traditionally strictly competitive, with “only one first place winner, [and] everyone else going home in the losers bracket.”Frank DeMiero’s dream prevailed through numerous name changes, starting as the Soundsation Jazz Festival, then evolving to the Lynnwood Jazz Festival due to the city of Lynnwood being it’s

most generous benefactor. It then took on the name of the Edmonds Community College Jazz Festival before finally

becoming the DeMiero Jazz Fest. Throughout its various name changes, the event remains the first non-competitive jazz festival in the nation.

Piano skills are what originally brought DeMiero and his wife together. He had been wandering through his high school music room when the faint ripple of piano keys caught his attention. Assuming it to be a recording, Vince DeMiero peered through the practice room window. “I looked in there and thought ‘Oh my god. It’s ridiculous that anybody can play that well,’” he said. “I remember having the thought ‘Well I’ll just have to marry her, and then I won’t have to take any more piano lessons.’” photo by Diana Contreras

BY JADE BUCHANAN-MOH AND SONYA SHEPTUNOV

GRAPHICS BY CARINA BIXBY

The History of DeMiero Jazz Fest