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Local jazz musicians convene this weekend to pay musical homage to one of their own.
Good afternoon.
Agata Popęda here—with another weekend activity idea. A very special jazz gathering will take place at 5pm this Sunday, May 21, at the Monterey Community Church. More than a jazz concert, it will be a commemoration of the life and music of trombonist and composer Jackson Stock, who passed away on Jan. 20, 2023, at the age of 78. He was born, and he died, in Monterey.
“Some real old-timers will play,” says friend, once-musician and the emcee of the Sunday ceremony, Wayne Martin. Martin, despite being 80, arrived for the occasion from Seattle. A group of at least dozen musicians will gather to play songs that Jackson Stock composed during his successful career in Los Angeles. (“Duplicity” is probably his most recognizable composition).
Some of them played with him since he was a child in his parents’ band, the Abalone Stompers. The group was led by Jackson’s father, “Papa” Jake Stock (a saxophone and clarinet player who opened the first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958; he died in 1995).
Those who show up on Sunday will get the best of Monterey jazz under the same roof: Bob Phillips (piano), Eddie Erickson (banjo, guitar), Dennis Murphy (bass), Andy Weiss (drums), Craig Jardstrom (trombone), Brian Stock (trumpet), George Young, Paul Tarantino, Gary Meek, Stu Reynolds, Ben Herod, Paul Contos (saxophones).
“It will take some orchestration for sure,” says Brian Stock, who is Jackson’s cousin and also a trumpet player. “It will be fun.”
The whole Stock family is very unique, according to Martin, who used to hang out in Jackson’s musical household when they were both in high school. Jackson was already a very good trombone player at the age of 16 and he introduced Martin to all the trombone masters. “Everybody in this family was a character,” Martin says, adding Jackson was one of nine children. Their mother, Grace Stock, was a pianist. “I remember her going in her robe and slippers to play piano at one of the big hotels on the beach when people ate breakfast,” Martin continues. “When she was done, she would go back to bed.”
After debuting with his parents’ band, Jackson performed with the Basie, Ellington, Woody Herman and dozens of other bands. He lived in L.A. for most of his career, writing and arranging music for college big bands, studio sessions and soundtracks. In a YouTube video from 2010 Jackson Stock talks about his latest band, Taking Stock, and playing jazz in Monterey.
The free memorial event takes place from 5-8pm Sunday, May 21. Feel free to bring finger food—there will be intermission. And whatever you get up to, have a good weekend Monterey County!
-Agata Popęda, staff writer, aga@mcweekly.com
P.S. To browse more events happening this weekend, from the Salinas Valley Fair to the Monterey Symphony and beyond, check out the Weekly’s online calendar. Hosting an event? You can promote it here too—for free.
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