By Daniel Buckwalter

Soft, easy and breezy.

That was the start of the matinee performances on Aug. 7 for the 34th annual Oregon Festival of American Music at The Shedd Institute, featuring Chuck Redd conducting his eight-piece ensemble with Michael Stone and Siri Vik providing the vocals.

The same concert — West End Blues —repeats at 7:30 pm Saturday, Aug. 16, the final performance of this year’s 10-day festival.

And it’s worth attending to hear the likes of Nicki Parrott on bass, as well as solo runs for the trumpet, trombone, piano and saxophone.

The band’s lineup for the repeat Aug. 16 concert will change a little, but Parrott, who flew in this week from her native Australia, will be there, and she’s worth the price of admission. She gets a starring role in The Nearness of You, and on Thursday, she combined her expert play on bass with her OFAM singing debut in Sometimes I’m Happy and Oh Lady, Be Good.

But don’t forget the other musicians on the night of the second performance of West End Blues. There’s soaring trumpet work in I Can’t Get Started and West End Blues as well as solid work with the saxophone in Body and Soul.

Also, Stone (Sweet Lorraine and What Is This Thing Called Love?) and Vik (I’m A Fool To Want You and Them There Eyes) offer beautiful melodic charm.

The comedy in Thursday’s matinee performance — and I couldn’t quite tell if it was intentional or not — came from Redd as he introduced I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues, which trombonist Dan Barrett played with great touch.

In listening to several interpretations of the piece before the festival, Redd came across a rendition by Ethel Merman, the legendary Broadway actress whose career began to take off in the 1930s. “She didn’t have the right to sing I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues,” Redd noted.

That touch of honesty drew laughter from the audience. Redd collected himself and explained that he was not speaking on behalf of The Shedd or OFAM, which drew more laughs.

And it reminded me of my teenage years in the late 1970s when Merman actually cut a disco album — squarishly-named The Ethel Merman Disco Album. It may have hastened the demise of disco.

All in all, a good afternoon, with the Aug. 16 repeat to come.