Sunday Jazz at the Press Room celebrates 25 years with an extended evening featuring the Jim Howe Trio with special guests Harry Allen on saxophone and Ken Peplowski on clarinet and sax, this Sunday, Aug. 20, from 6 to 10 p.m.

The series has helped the Press Room to develop an international reputation as a respected destination for quality music. I’ve spoken with musicians from across the country over the years who’ve mentioned the Press Room’s good reputation.

Credit for this goes to a variety of people, including the late Press Room founder Jay Smith, who had an interest in jazz and was willing to get behind the idea of a regular jazz night; Bruce Pingree, the venue manger and talent booker who has steadfastly supported a jazz policy in the room; the late Tom Gallant, who developed the venue’s approach of having a house trio accompany artists of local, regional and national significance, interspersed with performances by various local and regional groups; current owner Jay Gardner, who has continued to wholeheartedly support the night; and lastly Jim Howe, the house trio bassist who took over the proceedings upon the death of Tom Gallant in late 1998 and who has remained committed to the house trio-plus-guest format to this day.

“We’re one of the few venues left in the country that use this format,” Howe tells me.

In this, he may be correct. In New York City for example, many jazz clubs are showcase venues where artists bring in their own groups (Iridium, Birdland and the venerable Village Vanguard, to name a few). New York venues that utilize a house band usually do so only for various “after hours” jam sessions that take place throughout the town. There may be some other venue in some part of the country working with a format similar to the Press Room’s, but, if so, it remains in anonymity.

The pub-like atmosphere of the Press Room combined with the comfortable closeness of the long, narrow upstairs room, creates the right ambiance to induce some powerful music, and there have been many memorable nights there with many local and national greats.

The list of celebrities includes saxophonists Frank Wess, Bill Pierce, Jimmy Mosher, Nick Brignola, Jerry Bergonzi and Al Cohn; trumpet players Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Herb Pomeroy and Greg Hopkins; bassist Milt Hinton; guitarists Howard Alden and Gray Sargent; drummers Alan Dawson and Bob Guilotti; and pianists Bill Mays and Eddie Higgins.

Local musicians who’ve graced the Sunday stage include Larry Garland, Matt Langley, Peter Moutis, Lauren Wool, the Seacoast Big Band and the Branch Sanders Big Band, Mark Shilansky, TJ Wheeler and Charlie Jennison. I’ve personally had the honor to perform as a member of the Seacoast and Branch Sanders bands. It’s a rush to know you’re sharing the same stage on which so many fantastic musicians have performed, and it’s a humbling experience.

In the late 1970s, when I was living in Keene, I’d heard talk of the burgeoning music scene in Portsmouth. At the time, I was newly immersed in jazz, so I was intrigued by what I was hearing about at places like The Riversmere and The Warehouse, among many other establishments where jazz was welcomed—and which have since disappeared. When I moved to the Seacoast in the fall of 1983, the first place I went was the Press Room on Daniel Street. What I heard was an evening of very good, mainstream jazz, where the emphasis was on fun and good swinging music. Sunday Jazz would become a regular part of my weekly routine. Over the years, I may not have been able to make every single night, but the Sunday Jazz has and will always have my support.

The current format is a little out-dated these days. It would be nice to see more currently working bands play the room, especially those fronted by a singer. And it would be good to have more contemporary and younger jazz musicians perform there with their groups to encourage a scene attractive to younger people. As shown by the size and enthusiasm of the crowd at a recent performance by saxophonist Karl Denson at The Stone Church, younger crowds will follow good jazz.

But none of this takes away from the silver anniversary being celebrated on Sunday. For 25 years, jazz has had a permanent home at The Press Room. Congratulations to Jay Gardner, Bruce Pingree, Jim Howe and current trio members Ryan Parker and Les Harris Jr. for 25 good years. And here’s hoping for another 25 years of good and timeless music to come.