Jazz Route Leads to Program at 66 : * The Ventura restaurant’s weekend lineup has been pulling in sizable crowds and luring notable musicians from L.A.

There was no official decree or civic ordinance passed, but for the past few years it has almost seemed that jazz was musica non grata in Ventura County.

Apart from incidental bursts of jazz in local clubs, showcase events at Wheeler Hot Springs, and the pop-jazz traffic at Ventura Theatre, jazz has failed to take root in Ventura in any consistent way. Local jazz fans have been trained to head north to Santa Barbara or south to Los Angeles to get their fill.

Suddenly, this spring, that’s changed. Two months ago, California 66 started a weekend jazz program that has been pulling in sizable crowds and luring notable jazz visitors from L.A.

Saxist Harold Land played a month ago, and saxist Teddy Edwards will be in the house Saturday.

It’s official: The jazz drought is over, at least for the moment. The weekend program at 66, a downtown Ventura restaurant, has elicited an atmosphere of guarded elation among musicians and listeners.

“The worst can always happen in this business, but I’m really optimistic,” said vibist Fred Raulston, who has spearheaded the program. “There seems to be a core of people in Ventura who want to support it.”

The story began when pianist Jim Petracca approached California 66 owner Frank Parong with the concept of bringing in jazz.

“We had a blues duo in here before this. Nobody was coming in,” said Parong, standing behind the bar at the end of a good night. “Then Jim proposed getting this going, and it’s been going real well so far.”

The lack of jazz in town hasn’t been for lack of a viable crowd. There was a time several years ago when the now-defunct Charlie’s, by the Holiday Inn, was a vital outpost for jazz from the area and from L.A.

Raulston is leading the 66 house band, which includes seasoned bassist Henry Franklin. Ventura drummer Jim Christie was the drummer until he went on tour with Dwight Yoakum. Kenny Dixon will now take up the drum chair.

“Certainly, I’m interested in having a job and all of that, but I’m wanting this to be a community place,” Raulston explained. “It’s not like I’m holding fort and putting up the barbed wire. It’s something that’s for everyone.”

Part of the trick to making it work, said Raulston, lies in maintaining variety and a rotating cast of guests.

Last Saturday, vocalist Carol Meriwhether brought her bluesy wiles to the stuff of “Misty” and “Sugar” and then swapped riffs on “Take the A Train” with Ventura singer Francine Smith.

In the late set, the fine guest-trumpeter Jerry Rusch, who has recorded with Raulston and Franklin, sat in, digging into headier stuff.

In recent weeks, the talent pool has included such Ventura-based players as saxist Jon Crosse--an expressive and, when the occasion arises, expressionistic player. On another Saturday night, a three-man horn section took the stand, with trombonist Craig Woods, trumpeter Gene Zabrinski and saxist Bill Hoehne.

Raulston moved to Santa Barbara last summer and quickly began working around the area, mostly at the beachfront Santa Barbara venue, the Sea Cove.

Launching a jazz program takes more than musical savvy, and Raulston is becoming an old hand at the task. Originally from Dallas, Raulston taught jazz history in Bellingham, Wash., where he initiated his first jazz program in a local club as a way of giving his students some hands-on, in-house exposure to live jazz.

Later, Raulston wound up back in Dallas, where he started “a four-star jazz club,” the Jazzbah. There, he and fellow Texan Franklin also played in the house band for the club, which was host to such visiting jazz luminaries as McCoy Tyner. While in Texas, Raulston recorded with the legendary late trumpeter Chet Baker.

Next, Raulston landed in Mendocino, where he again started a successful jazz program. Now, the route has led him to 66.

At this point, Raulston brings up a special guest once a month. He plans to feature Buddy Collette, Harold Land and a vibes/marimba duet with Emil Richards in the near future.

“I’m proud of what’s happening,” Raulston said. “This is the fourth time I’ve done this kind of thing, and now I’m able to call the shots.

“We know that jazz is not going to appeal to the masses, but if you have population density, the jazz audience is so loyal that it will make for enough people to make money off of.”

With jazz programs, as with everything else, success comes when pragmatism meets artistic inspiration. At California 66, so far, so good.