1 Night Only: Die-Hard Fan

How much do jazz artists appreciate their audience? Plenty, judging by the proceedings on and off the bandstand Tuesday at Restaurant Kikuya in Huntington Beach.

The occasion ostensibly was a celebration of Kikuya’s nearly five years of live music--it was April 1994 when singer Jack Wood and guitarist Ron Eschete introduced jazz in Kikuya’s lounge.

In reality, though, it was a surprise 80th birthday party for Mary Fleckenstein, who’s earned a reputation as Orange County’s biggest jazz fan.

For nearly 30 years, Fleckenstein has been a fixture at O.C. jazz clubs, sitting near the bandstand with her notebook, in which she has recorded the set list and musicians at every performance she’s seen.

Hosted by the Art Davis Fan Club, for which Fleckenstein is the historian, and Kikuya, the event packed the restaurant’s lounge with a lively mix of fans and musicians.

It drew performers from across Southern California who are active in the county’s modest club scene and demonstrated that O.C.’s jazz fans and musicians are one big toe-tappin’ family.

The musicians moving across the bandstand during the long evening included guitarists Eschete and Steve Cotter; bassists Davis, Luther Hughes and Jack Prather; saxophonist Tom Margitan; pianists Jon Mayer, Llew Matthews and Jane Getz; drummers Paul Kreibich and Matt Johnson; keyboardists Joe Massimino and Mark Massey; and singers Wood, Dewey Erney, Micki Rhyne, Charly Valentine and Karen Gallinger.

Other jazz figures in the crowd included longtime Orange Coast College jazz band director Charles “Doc” Rutherford and veteran KLON-FM jazz deejay Chuck Niles.

Just how dependable has Fleckenstein been over three decades?

“She’s the kind of fan who will call you to let you know when she can’t make a gig,” singer Erney told the crowd to hearty laughter.

Before singing “Get Happy,” vocalist Rhyne declared, “Without people like Mary in the audience, the room would be empty, literally and figuratively.”

Bassist Davis recalled how, after moving here from the East Coast, he started seeing Fleckenstein near the bandstand at all of his shows, an observation repeated by many of the musicians. “She’s one of the top people [in the jazz community] because she supports live--not canned--music,” Davis said.

“Someone like her,” Davis said later, “who’s always paying close attention, adds so much motivation to the musicians as she sits there with her pad taking notes. She has an uncanny way of knowing what’s good and what’s not. If she likes something, she tells you. If she doesn’t, she tells you.”

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Before playing one of Fleckenstein’s favorite tunes, “Killer Joe,” saxophonist Margitan quipped, “I noticed this redhead kept showing up at my shows and I began to think she was a stalker.

“Jazz is said to be a musicians’ music, but if we just play for ourselves, we’re dead in the water,” he added. “We need all the Marys we can get.”

Fleckenstein was born in Oil City, Penn., where she grew up listening to Benny Goodman and other big bands on the radio. Though jazz performances were few in Oil City, she recalls seeing Frank Sinatra with the Harry James band there as well as Duke Ellington.

Soon after moving to Garden Grove in 1970 with her husband, John, she discovered that saxophonist Eddie Davis was playing at the Essex Arms hotel in Anaheim. She began attending his shows and keeping records when Davis noted that he had trouble remembering all the musicians who sat in with him.

As the birthday event progressed, Fleckenstein stayed ensconced in her usual spot, the table closest to the bandstand, surrounded by friends.

Her trusty notebook, a testament to the vitality of the O.C. jazz scene, sat open in front of her, and occasionally she could be seen to scribble: “Dreamsville,” “Speak Low,” “Lost in the Stars,” and the names of the musicians who performed them.

“I’ve always loved jazz,” Fleckenstein said after the concert. “It takes me to another world. I love the beat, and I’ve always been a lyric freak.

“When you’re in the dumps, good music will snap you right out of it. It’s what I live for.”