Kevin Dumont returns to Jazz Central

It has been over a decade since I became a regular at Jazz Central out on East Third.I have jazz aficionado Conrad Jessee to thank for getting that started although we started attending a Saturday night blues night after which we discovered there was a jazz jam on Sunday nights and we haven't looked back. You may be familiar with Conrad Jessee as the Modern Big Band Jazz host on WDPS, until recently a show broadcast from 2:00 until 3:00 on Wednesday afternoons. Health has caused him to take a hiatus but hopefully he will be back soon. And speaking of WDPS, I will shamelessly plug my own show, Be Bop and More which broadcasts on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. - it is 89.5 FM on your radio dial from about 9:00 to 4:30 M-F and broadcast at http://wdpsfm.com 24/7. I digress. The reason for these words of musical notes from the field is the return of Kevin Dumont to Jazz Central. Kevin was playing there as a high school student when I first started attend the jazz jam at Jazz Central. In fact there were a number of high school students playing on Sunday nights. All have moved on to bigger and better things. But back to Kevin. Kevin always had a stage presence and not only that, he organized musicians on the stage to make the jazz jam even better, solis, fills, comps, etc. - always interested in making the jazz experience better. But he too took off for bigger and better things and while he has stopped in to Jazz Central upon rare occasion since leaving, it has been some time since he has graced the stage with his wonderful tenor sax playing. On Wednesday, 3-28-12, he came back with his blues combo, an excellent guitar player, a nearly perfect drummer which turns out I had heard at least one time before backing Kenny Baccus when Ron Gable and Jazz Advocate were promoting jazz through the Lady Day series and an electric keyboard player. While the music was very LOUD, the guitar player was quite accomplished but then I came to hear Kevin. My goal was realized beyond my expectations when King Koeller showed up and joined Kevin Dumont on the stage. I know for a fact that these two sax players had never met but the two songs they did you would have thought they had been practicing for a very long time. What a great musical interpretation of the two songs they played, Sugar was the one I was the most familiar with. We hear that at the Jazz Central jazz jams on Sunday night from time-to-time. It was simply fantastic. Kevin was one of my favorite sax players from the past, even as a high school student, and King is one of my favorite sax players from Jazz Central present. I am hoping that Jazz Central past in Kevin and Jazz Central present in King can join together and help make Jazz Central future a very enjoyable and long lasting experience. Let's hear another 30 years. Thank you Ron Gable of Jazz Advocate and Butch Stone, owner of Jazz Central, for making these moments possible.

Eric Scott, George Furman, Kevin Dumont and Kelly Mcdole