Doctor of Bebop re-birthing the cool in Ridgefield

Clark County jazz lovers, the doctor will see you now. He’s been traveling the bebop circuit from Portland to Salem, Ore. for the past few years, but Saturday night will be the first time he’s brought his voice, his all-star band and his laid-back charm to Ridgefield, his adopted hometown.

Between songs at a recent concert in Portland, David Watson — whose musical buddies have dubbed him “The Doctor of Bebop” — told his fans about growing up in a Philadelphia neighborhood where music was everywhere and jazz luminaries were his neighbors. He also got a great public-school education in music and the arts, he has said, and is a passionate supporter of continued funding for the arts in schools.

Watson wound up tending bar at a Philadelphia jazz club called the Showboat, which is where he got to mingle and sometimes jam with his heroes on drums and vocals; he also scooped up great tales, such as this favorite about the great composer and eccentric Thelonius Monk, who would show up at the Showboat first thing in the morning before a gig, grab a broom and sweep out the place.

Why would he do that? “ ‘I don’t want to have any of the vibes from that other band in here,’ ” Monk would say. “That was the coolest thing I ever heard in my life,” Watson remembered with a laugh.

But Watson, who lived in California and Hawaii before discovering a great jazz scene in Portland (and affordable real estate in Ridgefield), warmly welcomes the cool vibes from certain other bands. Most especially, the unique Miles Davis nonet of the late 1940s, which slowed down the frantic pace of postwar bebop and overlaid careful, polished arrangements by Gil Evans that sounded almost classical. It took a decade for the resulting record to emerge, but when it did, “The Birth of the Cool” became an instant classic.

“I love it all,” said Watson, who grew up listening to bebop speed demons like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie — but when he heard the mellow, meticulous “Birth of the Cool” approach, “it just floored me. It’s more melodic music than straight bop. I like this stuff because it says something different.”

Layover

Watson loves telling the story of how he wound up in Portland completely by chance — because of a flight layover between Hawaii, where he lived, and New York City, where he was recording. He had a night to kill and headed downtown to check out the jazz scene. What he found changed his life: Jimmy Mak’s nightclub (which is gone now) and saxophonist Pete Peterson.

Watson and Peterson joined forces for “So What,” a Miles Davis classic that jazz musicians study like gospel. “I did the Miles (trumpet) solo with my voice, and Pete did the John Coltrane solo on his sax,” Watson said. “We did it all note for note. It was so cool, we both said, we’ve got to jam more! Not knowing that two years later, I’d be back.”

Watson and his wife bought a home near downtown Ridgefield, where he enjoys mowing his big lawn and doing carpentry. Life can’t be all music all the time, Watson said; he likes quoting saxophone giant Wayne Shorter, who said: “You never make music your only church.”

Those mellow activities compensate for the hustle-bustle of managing the project Watson and Peterson have pieced together, which goes by the lengthy but functional name Re-Birthing the Cool, Bebop and Beyond. Beyond covers material that isn’t drawn from the cool-bop songbook — like trombonist Stan Bock’s original composition “Bouncin’ Baby Funk” (inspired by his grandchildren and their bouncers) and Peterson’s topical new tune, “The Rascal’s Redaction.”

Welcome home

Different musicians can make different gigs, but at The Old Church in May, the band featured nine players plus Watson as bandleader and occasional singer; singer Alyssa Schwary was away on family business, but her smiling face was onstage nonetheless thanks to live streaming.

“She is an amazing talent. She is a force to be reckoned with,” Watson said. “When I heard her, I knew she was the fit for this band.”

Schwary is expected to be back when Watson and his band finally play a show in a venue that’s been eager to host them: The Old Liberty Theater in Ridgefield, about a half-mile from Watson’s front door.

After that, David Watson’s Re-birthing the Cool is set to play several summer dates in Clark County — including the annual Juneteenth celebration at Clark College on June 22. That will feature powerhouse singer Marilyn Keller, a big star on the Portland jazz scene.

Watson also sings with smaller combos in Portland and Salem, and hosts a regular Monday night open mic for singers at Clyde’s Prime Rib on Sandy Boulevard in Northeast Portland.

He also just turned 82 years old at the end of last month — but shows no signs of slowing down.

“I just keep getting up and doing something. If it needs to be done, I want to get it done. I am not a put-it-off person,” he said. “If you do that, you’ve got today’s problems and tomorrow’s problems also.”