Great jazz complements great wine at J. Bell Cellars

Jazz at a winery? I know what you’re thinking: probably just pleasant background music for people to sip chardonnay to.

And, yeah, it can be that if you want it to. But in this particular instance, when the band in question is the Joe Brooks Quartet, it can also be a lot more . . .

Brooks, who plays saxophone and clarinet, is a professor of (you guessed it) saxophone and clarinet at Central Washington University. He has performed jazz and classical music all over the country. Bart Roderick, who plays piano and sometimes sings, is THE go-to session pianist in the Yakima Valley as well as an accomplished teacher. Bassist Bob Waldbauer has played with numerous jazz bands and is a regular at the Port Townsend Jazz Festival. And drummer Don Kinney is the former principal percussionist for the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.

Read more of this story in the Yakima Herald Republic.