Sixth Annual Redwood Coast Whale & Jazz Festival Chowder Challenge with traditional New Orleans jazz by Barnebey's Hot Four Gualala Arts Center Saturday, April 5, 2008 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Gualala Arts Center will host the sixth Annual Chowder Challenge along with wine and microbrew tasting on Saturday, April 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The mid-day event include a jazz concert.

Saturday's fun begins with the seafood Chowder Challenge at Gualala Arts Center. This event is geared to all ages as local restaurant and amateur chefs vie for the title of "Best Chowder" in two categories (Traditional New England Clam and a "Seafood Open" Class) with judging by a "celebrity" panel as well as a "People's Choice" vote and award for "Most Chowder Served."

Chowder judges will be a panel of three this year:

Howard Curtis - local gourmand, former owner of The Gualala Hotel and judge of Chowder Challenge 2005 Naomi Schwartz - Surf Super's "Foodie," former owner The Food Co. and judge of Chowder Challenge 2006 Bernard Roberts - "Guest Chef" at RCRC fund-raising dinner for the last two years and manager of Anchor Bay Campground.

Along with the chowders, there will also be a tasting of Mendocino and Sonoma County wines and microbrews.

Calling All Chefs!

Update: Winners of the Chowder Challenge

The $20 admission includes a commemorative Redwood Coast Whale & Jazz Festival beer or wine glass, plus 15 tickets that can be used for the chowder tasting, the wine and microbrew tasting, fresh-baked breads from local bakeries and other soft beverages. Patrons may purchase tickets for just the Chowder tasting alone, or additional tickets at $1 each.

Barnebey's Hot Four

Traditional New Orleans jazz will be performed by Barnebey's Hot Four of Sonoma County. This formidable combo consists of Tom Barnebey, cornet and trombone; Carl Lunsford, banjo and guitar (formerly with Turk Murphy's famous S.F. band); Jim Cumming, bass violin, and Robert Young on reeds and cornet. Barnebey had appeared for many years in Gualala with his former Jazz Salvation Co. band, sponsored by Gualala Lions Club. The Hot Four perform free to the public from 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. during the tastings and is great for New Orleans traditional dancing!

Fred Adler from KTDE, 100.5 FM is music coordinator of the event.

Tom Barnebey: Cornet & Trombone

Tom has been in trad jazz since the 1960s, when he began playing banjo and piano in pizza parlors around the Los Angeles area, and cornet with the then newly formed Jelly Roll Jazz Band. After moving to Sonoma County, he led the well regarded Jazz Salvation Company for 20 years. A highlight on the JSC's schedule in last nine of those years was the annual Dixieland by the Sea concert in Gualala. Tom is the currently the cornetist with the Zenith Jazz Band, leads a Roaring Twenties style quintet called "Beyond Salvation Jazz Band," and fills in on various instruments with other trad bands in the Bay Area.

Carl Lunsford: Banjo & Guitar

A traditional jazz veteran, Carl played with the world renowned Turk Murphy Jazz Band in San Francisco, as well as the Ohio Dixieland Rhythm Kings, the Red Onion Jazz Band in New York, and the Golden State Jazz Band. He led the Rhythm Wizards and a number of other combos, and teamed up with pianist Pete Clute to form a high-powered trad jazz/ragtime duo.

Jim Cumming: Bass Violin

"Jumpin' Jim" Cumming has been a fixture on the Bay Area jazz scene for over 40 years. Some of his more recent gigs have been with jazz pianist Tom Donato and Eliot Kenons D'Jango Rhinehart style quartet, as well as Barnebey's Hot Four.

Robert Young: Reeds & Cornet

Prior to his move to Northern California, Robert was bass saxophonist in the legendary Golden Eagle Jazz Band in and worked with various other jazz bands in Southern California. Robert is a multi instrumentalist and a full time musician. His "day job" is piano accompanist for schools, choral groups and theatrical performances. He plays cornet and reeds with the Black Diamond Blue Five and his own group, the El Dorado Syncopators. In the recent past, he has worked with the Zenith Jazz Band, Fourth Street Five, and the San Francisco Starlight Orchestra.

Sixth Annual
Redwood Coast Whale & Jazz Festival

Chowder Challenge

April 2008

Photos of the Event

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.