Breeding

It’s over, but the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival made some memories this year.

If you attended the festival, you got your fill of art and music. If you didn’t, we’ll round up some of the highlights of the event, besides the headlining performances of the Neville Brothers, Delbert McClinton and Brave Combo.

5. The artists who sold the miniature mosaic birdbaths. We should have made note of the artists producing some of the best yard art we’ve seen, but, alas.

The Arts & Jazz Festival is probably best known for the headlining bands it brings to Quakertown Park. But the fine arts available in the park and inside the Denton Civic Center are top-notch.

The mosaic sculpture booth was a riot of color and texture, and before 6 p.m. Saturday, those great miniature birdbaths were sold.

4. Ken Carpenter Jewelry. I always window-shop at Car­penter’s booth. It’s a touch above my budget, but Car­pen­ter always puts craftsmanship and design first. He works in sterling and gold, and imbues each piece with Tex-West authenticity. Some of his pieces are big but never gauche.

Carpenter was represented at one time on the downtown Denton Square at the Long­horn Gallery. It’s good to see him each spring, with his bracelets, necklaces and bolos. 

3. The service-dog only rule. A lot of folks didn’t get the memo about leaving companion dogs at home, but it felt better than last year. The Denton Festival Foundation took some heat over its request to leave all pets at home (service dogs were warmly welcomed), but the foundation’s officials are smart to reduce the risk that comes with packing a public park with tens of thousands of people and throwing anxious dogs into the mix.

We saw the reason behind this again last weekend: a grown man being yanked around the park by a large, muscular dog. Note to dog lovers: If you’re a man who stands above 6 feet and weighs more than 200 hundred pounds — and your dog can still pull you into a trot — you’re not in control of your dog. To bring that dynamic to a packed public park is irresponsible and dangerous.

2. Middle school jazzers. If ever you hear yourself bemoaning the attitudes and behavior of “kids today,” well, it’d be an antidote to hear a single song by young musicians learning how to make their instruments sing in that profoundly Amer­ican musical idiom.

The young musicians came from Calhoun, McMath and Crownover middle schools. High school jazz bands donated their talent to the Festival Stage, too.

They played standards, they played fresher arrangements of jazz songs and they performed with confidence. They soloed and improvised.

They were good, and they ought to know that.

1. The Andrew Tinker Band. I first got a sample of Tinker’s talent when Music Theatre of Denton and First United Methodist Church staged Jesus Christ Superstar.

The energetic young singer played Simon Zealotes and was a certified showstopper. Last Sunday, his band took its sun-infused brand of piano rock to the Celebration Stage.

For starters, the band itself was a solid team, with drums, percussion, guitar and bass holding their own over Tinker’s metabolic performance. I don’t know that he’d cite them as influences, but if you’re a fan of Elton John, Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright or Tori Amos — people who know how to take advantage of the piano’s power and subtlety — you’d eat up the Andrew Tinker band with a spoon. If you secretly dig Cole Porter and the Partridge Family, you’ll enjoy this young musician’s melodies.

Another plus: the band has a sort of humble charisma onstage. Unfortunately, this lad — a student at the University of North Texas College of Music — doesn’t have a recording out. Here’s hoping the group will.