Art Chowder January | February, Issue 19 | Page 51

T
hroughout this important event,
Garrin, along with his Spokane
musician friends, keenly watched and
studied those seasoned jazz musicians
and began harvesting many gems of
musical knowledge and techniques
from them. Based on the success of this
initial festival, a popular annual event
developed, and several more successive
festivals were staged.
During this period Garrin was eagerly
Spokane Saxophonist, Robert Folie
learning to play the jazz guitar, with
a particular rhythmic styling after
one of his early guitar heroes, Django
Reinhardt — founding member of the
world-famous Quintette du Hot Club de
France in 1934.
His love of “trad jazz” music and his
passion for performing it eventually
became noticed by Spokane saxophonist
Robert Folie, who quickly realized that
he and Garrin shared many common
interests and passions in this genre.
Together they decided to combine their
talents by forming a local jazz ensemble
called The Viktor Navorski Swing Band
with a tongue-in-cheek reference to
the character Tom Hanks portrayed in
the movie comedy The Terminal. This
is where the pair coined their phrase
“serious fun” to describe their musical
mission and goals.
January | February 2019
51