People come to Interbay Family Golf Center on summer Thursday evenings for a variety of reasons, not all of them related to golf. What makes Thursday nights different from the rest of the week is outstanding music at bargain-basement prices.
Some of the region's hottest jazz artists play from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and to hear them, all you have to do is buy some beer or wine, a hamburger or some barbecue and sit back and listen - no cover, no admission fee, no minimum. It's one of those Seattle experiences that make the city such a great summer playground.
People come and go during the three hours. But those in the know arrive early to guarantee they'll get an umbrella-shaded table on the terrace. The night I was there, about 100 others were enjoying the experience at any given time. There were tables of young adults, family groups with their children, clusters of seniors, golfers before and after their round.
Part of the charm of the evening is the opportunity it provides for pleasant and inexpensive socialization. So there's a lot of chatter, especially among those who aren't ardent jazz fans. But for those who are, like Magnolians Charles and Sandy Aweeka, the focus is strictly on the music. The Aweekas have been coming for three or four years. Others have been coming regularly even longer.
The atmosphere is somewhat like that of a jazz club, but make no mistake, jazz at an active golf course is an experience all its own. Competing with the bass solo is the thwack of a good hit from the driving range and maybe the sound of the loudspeaker calling for the next foursome to come to the first tee. A quiet guitar solo might merge with the squawk of the gulls and rumble of a freight train.
The musicians play on a small stage set up near the practice green. Trumpeter and flügelhorn player Thomas Marriott and his quartet were featured the night I was there. They were able to handle all the distractions.
Marriott is a local talent who graduated from Garfield High in 1994. He's studied music for 20 years and is recognized by jazz experts as one of the most exciting musicians to emerge on the national jazz scene in recent years. He's played throughout the United States with such greats as Maynard Ferguson, Richie Cole and Tito Puente and also toured extensively in Europe and Asia.
I asked Marriott if this was the weirdest gig he'd ever had. He was quick to reply that indeed it wasn't: "The nudist camp beats this." There's only one follow-up question to that response. I asked it and was told, "Absolutely not, I sunburn too easily."
Marriott recently returned to Seattle from New York. He and his excellent group, which includes drums, guitar and bass, play locally at Tula's, Triple Door, Mojitos, New Orleans and various other spots - and, of course, on the green at Interbay.
There will be four more Thursday barbecue and jazz nights at the golf course this summer with guest artists including Greta Matassa and Matt Jorgenson.
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