All I will say about the 2011 Jazz at Chautauqua is that Western New York State was rocking as it probably hadn’t rocked since the mastodons held an Ice Age party. The music started off wonderfully — after a sweet warmup set by the Faux Fenchmen, we were into serious rhythm business with Marty Grosz.
Marty hadn’t had time to invent a new band name for this informal Thursday-night session, but you can think up your own. They were Randy Reinhart on cornet; Scott Robinson and Dan Levinson on reeds; Jim Dapogny on piano; Jon Burr (for the first two songs) and Frank Tate (for the next) on string bass; Pete Siers on drums. As always, Marty was in charge of repertoire, tempos, vocalizing, guitar, and badinage.
To start things off in the best Hot manner, he chose CRAZY RHYTHM:
Then, a song associated with (among others) McKinney’s Cotton Pickers — not played enough these days — CHERRY:
The eternal question, perhaps unanswerable: HOW COME YOU DO ME LIKE YOU DO?
And to close out, a Louis-associated romper, I DOUBLE DARE YOU:
We were off to a splendid start that Thursday night (Sept. 15, 2011) in the parlor of the Hotel Athaeneum.
JAZZ LIVES 