Jazz Festival Hits New Smyrna Beach

"Jazz isn't dead," the late, great Frank Zappa once said. "It just smells funny."
    
Well, Frank, you may get some argument on that last part. As for your "jazz isn't dead" comment, you can find proof this weekend in New Smyrna Beach.
     
The Ninth Annual New Smyrna Beach Jazz Festival kicked off Sept. 24 and continues through Sept. 27. More than two dozen bands and artists, most from throughout Central Florida, will be performing in numerous venues, many along Flagler Avenue. Some performances carry a price tag, although most are free. (See a complete schedule in the accompanying story.)
     
Here are seven things to know about some of the jazz fest's performers, the better to impress the ghost of Zappa if he comes sniffing around:
 
The sauce is boss with Bill Wharton: Yes, Florida singer-guitarist Bill Wharton earned his "Sauce Boss" nickname the old-fashioned way -- by cooking up a big (12-gallon!) pot of gumbo onstage during his blues gigs, then feeding his audience at no additional charge for the stew. 

Perhaps the key ingredient of his gumbo is the three pounds of crawfish tails. See his recipe at sauceboss.com -- especially if you have to feed one hundred folks at your next family reunion.
     
That's Wharton who's lauded in Jimmy Buffett's song "Will Play for Gumbo."
 
Nat is king with Cole: Yes, Nat King Cole is a family relation of Daytona Beach jazz singer Linda Cole.
 
Yanni time for singer: Orlando singer Michelle Amato has performed with New Age superstar Yanni on both the recording and touring sides. Amato sings on his CD "Ethnicity," and she's featured on his DVD "Yanni Live."
 
Sax-y time: Tampa musician Valerie Gillespie earned a bachelor degree from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh with a major in classical saxophone, and her master's in jazz sax from the University of South Florida in Tampa.
 
Elbow-to-elbow with Latin legends: Long island-born trumpet player Frank Vardaros, who now lives in Deltona, toured in the trumpet section with Arturo Sandoval's Hot House Big Band. Vardaros also performed at Carnegie Hall with Sandoval, Tito Puente and Celia Cruz.
 
Atten-hut!: Daytona Beach multi-instrumentalist Richard Young served in the Marines and played in Marine Corps bands. "I ripped a facial muscle reconditioning my lips after boot camp, which caused me to lose my ability to play the trumpet well," Young says. Sax is his main instrument these days.
 
Pianist digs up "New Earth": After moving to New Smyrna Beach in 1977, pianist Harold Blanchard was contacted by flutist Hubert Laws, a friend he had first met in 1961 while living in the Bahamas. Laws wanted to explore both the classical and jazz arenas, and asked Blanchard to write a composition that combines the two. The result was "New Earth Sonata," recorded and released in 1985 with a lineup featuring Blanchard, Laws, keyboardist Chick Corea, conductor Quincy Jones and others.