Dawn Clement Takes the Helm at Jazz Port Townsend

By Paul de Barros I Aug. 5, 2025

Dawn Clement brought a new, loose-limbed edge — in both her playing and her programming — to an event that has sometimes felt stodgy.
(Photo: Lisa Hagen Glynn)

The weeklong student workshop and weekend festival Jazz Port Townsend celebrated its 46th birthday this July with a refreshing lineup crafted by a new artistic director, pianist and vocalist Dawn Clement, who succeeded bassist John Clayton. Presented by the non-profit arts organization Centrum, which offers a string of summer festivals, Jazz PT unfolds a ferry ride away from Seattle at Fort Worden State Park, next door to the charming historic seafaring town that gives the festival its name.

Clement, 47, was a good choice for new leadership. She has impeccable local roots, which counts a lot at an event known for warm, community feeling. Raised in southwest Washington, Clement studied at the Port Townsend workshop when she was 15 and later taught there. (Other notable alums include Diana Krall and Aaron Parks.) She is also a graduate and former instructor at Seattle’s Cornish College, and since 2018 she has served as associate professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She recently released a joyously imaginative trio album, Delight, with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt Wilson, and appears on Wilson’s timely new CD, Good Trouble. Williams and Wilson both played at the festival, which unfolded July 25–26. Clement also just recorded an album of Blossom Dearie tunes with Clayton, due for 2026 release.

The pianist brought a new, loose-limbed edge — in both her playing and her programming — to an event that has sometimes felt stodgy. Wilson’s joyously clattering Good Trouble segued seamlessly from Ornette Coleman’s “Feet Music” to John Denver’s “Sunshine On My Shoulder,” and also showcased a new, crisp maturity in Clement’s playing. Chilean guitarist Meza warmed the room with evocative Spanish vocals and looped guitar. Williams, still going strong at 82, plowed a thunderous, pulsing groove with Portland pianist George Colligan and fiery young drummer Jeremy Dutton.

The Saturday afternoon concert showcased a bebop sextet most notable for avoiding warhorses (Tubby Hayes’ “Pint Of Bitters,” anyone?) but also for the compelling personal tenor saxophone style of Seattle multi-instrumentalist Jay Thomas, which uncannily evoked Seattle legend Freddie Greenwell. Helen Sung played a short, captivating solo recital, acquitting herself admirably on a rumbling “Carolina Shout.” The “sister act” that followed — the incomparable Christine Jensen big band, with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen soloing — sculpted great canyons and mountain ranges of sound, an appropriately nature-inspired set for Port Townsend.

The Saturday night finale did not rise to the level of the other shows, and half the crowd left before it was over. Hammond B-3 organist Pat Bianchi was surprisingly bland (though his guitarist, Colorado-based Steve Kovalcheck, exuded soul); and with the exception of a rapturous edition of “Single Petal Of A Rose” by Seattle-bred singer Sara Gazarek, a set of duos felt like filler. The finale, featuring säje — Gazarek, Northwesterner Johnaye Kendrick, Amanda Taylor and Erin Bentlage — highlighted the group’s weakness for abstract arrangements with admittedly stunning, shimmering harmonies and complex counterpoint but at the expense of melody, something they managed to manifest on their Grammy hit, “Alma.” (Is there a message there?)

That said, it was gratifying to see so many women performers all weekend. (The 2023 festival took some well-deserved shots for presenting an all-male big band.) Clement ultimately aims to have a woman on every instrument on the faculty, she said. She’d also like to bring in more teachers with on-the-edge proclivities, add another big band sight-reading class, do a jazz-and-comedy show and expand workshop opportunities for vocalists. She dreams of bringing back the club nights the festival used to offer in Port Townsend proper, which used to be a highlight of the event.

To accomplish any of this, however, Clement is going to have to fill more seats. Attendance this year was somewhat alarmingly light, especially Friday night, though workshop numbers, at 146, approached pre-COVID levels.

“It’s a matter of building trust,” explained Centrum Executive Director Rob Birman. “John Clayton had to build that trust, too.”

Unseasonably cold weather didn’t help, either. But Clement probably needs to consider breaking with festival tradition, which usually depends on faculty to draw concert crowds. That’s no diss on Wilson, Williams, Sung or any of the other amazing musicians this year. But a touch of star power might put more fans on ferries.

Clement seemed open to doing whatever it takes.

“I want to try all of it,” she said, reflecting the same openness as artistic director that she has as a player. DB