“BOODLE-AM SHAKE,” ALEX BELHAJ’S CRESCENT CITY QUINTET (Raymond Street Records)

I’ve been tardy — remiss even — in writing about the second release by this fine band, and listening to it again, I need to make amends. I enjoyed Alex’s first CD, SUGAR BLUES, immensely, as you can read here.

BOODLE-AM SHAKE is a group effort by Alex, guitar and vocal; Dave Kosmyna, cornet and vocal; Ray Heitger, clarinet and vocal; Jordan Schug, string bass; Pete Siers, drums (there are also a few glee-club vocals, so I think Jordan and Pete get to add their voices as well). Here’s a delightful sample:

That’s exact and loose — just good fun, which we sorely need these days and perhaps always need. Yes, echoes of Bix and the Spanier-Bechet Big Four, of the Hot Five and Teddy Bunn, elements of deep-blue NOLA instincts with an Ann Arbor spicing. Sincere but not academic. Exuberant, candid, and never fussy. Fine plain recording, characteristically flavorful notes by the remarkable arwulf arwulf, and splendid repertoire: CORINNE CORRINA / SING ON / GUITAR RAG (a solo feature for Alex) / DO WHAT ORY SAY / FIDGETY FEET / ALL THE WRONGS YOU’VE DONE TO ME in addition to the title tune, another SHAKE, and the examples here.

Here’s one by Oscar Celestin and Paul Barnes, certainly not overdone:

Any CD that begins and ends with a SHAKE (BOODLE-AM at the start, . . . THAT THING to conclude) has the right spirit. So shake your thing over to Alex’s website to learn more, to sample, download, or purchase a disc. Your life will be sweeter and more riotous, and your living room, whatever its dimensions, will be filled with good sounds.

May your happiness increase!

THE HORACE GERLACH FAN CLUB, or ANYTHING CAN SWING: THE ORIGINAL DOWNHOME JAZZ BAND (Toledo, Ohio, February 25, 2017)

On Benny Goodman’s “Camel Caravan” radio show — circa 1938 — there was a feature called ANYTHING CAN SWING, and what follows is a fine illustration.

Louis Armstrong followers like myself know the sacred and mysterious name of Horace Gerlach — co-composer with Louis of three masterpieces: SWING THAT MUSIC, I’VE GOT A HEART FULL OF RHYTHM, and IF WE NEVER MEET AGAIN.  I’ve featured them on this blog as performed by Louis, Marty Grosz, Banu Gibson, and others.

But I’ve never had occasion to spotlight the fourth Gerlach opus, which probably made him the most money, DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL.  In some traditional weddings, it is the song the bride and her father have their ceremonial dance to.  (I don’t know how this makes the groom feel, but leave that to you to ponder.)

Thanks to my friend and friend of JAZZ LIVES Laura Wyman — CEO of Wyman Video — we have this hot performance of DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL by the Original Downhome Jazz Band (February 25, 2017, Ye Olde Durty Bird, Toledo, Ohio) captured on video for everyone to enjoy, whether or not there is a daughter in the house.

The ODJB is Dave Kosmyna, leader, cornet, vocal; Chris Smith, trombone; Ray Heitger, clarinet; James Dapogny, piano; Pete Siers, drums, and do they beat it out:

Laura has also shared many fine hot videos on her YouTube channel.  Wyman Video (expert, discreet, and informed) can come and video your event: fee schedule available on request. Weddings, recitals, hot bands, basement jam sessions: you name it.

For now, I will muse upon the invisibility of Horace Gerlach: composer, arranger, friend of Louis.  Anyone have a portrait of the man to share?

May your happiness increase!

NEW YORK CAKE: TERRY WALDO, EVAN ARNTZEN, JON-ERIK KELLSO, BRIAN NALEPKA, JIM FRYER, JOHN GILL, JAY LEPLEY at FAT CAT (January 29, 2017)

Not this (announced as “the best New York style cheesecake):

but a hot version of the song immortalized in 1924 and 1925 by Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, Bessie Smith and others, CAKE WALKIN’ BABIES FROM HOME.  This is my second CAKE post: the first, presenting two hot performances by Dave Kosymna, Christopher Smith, Ray Heitger, Nicole Heitger, James Dapogny, and Pete Siers (all deftly captured by Laura Wyman) may be visited here.

But my experience of New York and New  Yorkers — even from the suburbs, what Flaubert would call the provinces — is that we don’t like to take second place to anyone or anything.  And in a cake walking contest, second place is noplace.

So here’s the New York version, created a month earlier at Fat Cat (75 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village) by Terry Waldo and the Gotham City Band, who were on that Sunday Evan Arntzen, Jon-Erik Kellso, Jim Fryer, Jay Lepley, Brian Nalepka, John Gill.  Consider for yourselves:

I won’t ask viewers to set up mock combat between Ohio and New York: all those cakes and contests are beautiful and hot.

May your happiness increase!

THEY TAKE THE CAKE (ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, TOO): DAVE KOSMYNA, CHRISTOPHER SMITH, RAY HEITGER, JAMES DAPOGNY, PETE SIERS, NICOLE HEITGER, LAURA WYMAN (February 25 and 26, 2017)

My dear friend Laura Beth Wyman, Sole Proprietor of Wyman Video and head of the Michigan branch of JAZZ LIVES, has been busy capturing Hot for us these days.  In Ohio, no less.  Here are two versions of the same jazz classic for your perusal and pleasure.

CAKEWALKIN’ BABIES FROM HOME is an invitation to rumble when most jazz bands play it, because of the early pugilism of young Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet on the two Clarence Williams recordings of the song.

On Saturday, February 25, 2017, Laura captured the Original Downhome Jass Band at “Ye Olde Durty Bird” in Toledo, Ohio.  For this performance, the ODJB (yes, you noticed!) was Dave Kosmyna, cornet and leader; Christopher Smith, trombone; Ray Heitger, clarinet and vocal; James Dapogny, piano; Pete Siers, drums; Nicole Heitger, vocal.  Hot and exuberant:

A day later, without Nicole, alas, the band had donned tuxedos (and an altered band name) to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the first jazz recordings in concert at Freed Auditorium, Ohio Northern University. Ada, Ohio.  In this version, the band rocks through many more ensemble interludes.  Better?  No, just different:

Unlike cake, hot music never gets stale.  Thanks to the players and to Laura for making these otherwise evanescent beauties permanent and accessible, even for those of us who have never visited Ada, Ohio.

May your happiness increase!

IT’S TIME TO STOMP (Steamboat Stomp, September 23-25, 2016)

Today is the first day of class, so I handed out papers for my students to read and a questionnaire to fill out.  But turnabout is fair play: my friend, Professor Hal Smith, sent me some pages worthy of deep study: the schedule for the 2016 Steamboat Stomp.

I’ve written with great admiration of my experiences at the 2013 and 2015 Stomps here and here and here (and more, for the curious) — but I want to share with you the Coming Attractions that are less than a month away.  For full details, of course, you should visit here.  And, without being too pushy, may I suggest that space on the Steamboat Natchez is not infinite, and that lodgings in New Orleans are equally finite, that time is of the essence.

There are four sessions: Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday afternoon, each of them introduced by a steam calliope recital by the dextrous Debbie Fagnano.  I should also mention that the Natchez has three areas for music: the main cabin, the top deck, and the Captain’s Salon.  So there are always simultaneous sessions going on.

On Friday night, there will be two delights: on the boat itself, sessions by Tuba Skinny and the Yerba Buena Stompers; at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, the Steamboat Stomp All-Stars (David Boeddinghaus, James Evans, Andy Schumm, Tom Saunders, Hal Smith) will hold forth.

On Saturday morning and afternoon, sessions by the Steve Pistorius Quartet (Steve, James Evans, Orange Kellin, Tom Saunders), the YBS, and Tim Laughlin (with Neil Unterseher, Alex Belhaj, and Ed Wise); later, at dockside, the Cakewalkin’ Jass Band (Ray Heitger, Tom Saunders, Alex Belhaj, Jamie Wight), Tim Laughlin, Andy Schumm, Neil Unterseher, Ed Wise, and a jam session with the YBS.

Saturday night, Banu Gibson (with David Boeddinghaus, Tom Saunders, Andy Schumm, James Evans, Kevin Dorn, Charlie Halloran), the Dukes of Dixieland, Tuba Skinny, the YBS, the Kris Tokarski Trio with Andy Schumm and  Hal Smith, the Steamboat Stompers (Duke Heitger, Tom Saunders, Steve Pistorius). Banu Gibson (with David Boeddinghaus, Andy Schumm, Hal Smith), and another Kris Tokarski Trio with Hal Smith and Tim Laughlin.

On Sunday morning, Solid Harmony (Topsy Chapman and her two songful daughters) will be backed for one set by the Kris Tokarski Trio (Clint Baker and Hal Smith), and then by the YBS.

The Stomp will conclude with a VIP / Patron Party at the Bourbon New Orleans Hotel, and I have heard that Kris Tokarski, Andy Schumm, and Hal Smith will be playing a gig at Snug Harbor that night.  No doubt.

That’s a whole lot of Stomp.  Hope to see you there!

May your happiness increase!

CARE TO STOMP? (September 23-25, 2016)

It’s never too early to think about a Stomp.  And not just any Stomp — but the fourth annual Steamboat Stomp, held in New Orleans . . . for the most part, on the river, while the Steamboat Natchez lazily goes up and down the Mississippi, the bands are playing, or the steam calliope is wailing, the food and drink are being offered.

If my words aren’t sufficiently evocative, let this image sink in:

Steamboat Natchez. Photograph by John Snell.

Here’s the Stomp’s Facebook page where you can learn more, buy tickets, make hotel reservations, and get yourself in the mood for Stomping.  (For those of you who resist the charms of Facebook, please note that the poster has the Stomp’s web address, also information about the chosen hotel.)

I have been fortunate enough to be part of the 2013 and 2015 Stomps — and I brought my self and my camera, so I offer evidence of the delights that took place — and will continue this coming September.

Here are Tim Laughlin, Ray Heitger, Steve Pistorius, and Jeff Hamilton from 2013.

and a delicious performance by Banu Gibson from 2013.

Steve Pistorius, Tom Fischer, and Ben Polcer swinging out in 2015,

the Yerba Buena Stompers that same year,

and Duke Heitger’s Steamboat Stompers from 2013.

Enough to convince you?  If not, please look again at those names on the flyer, and know that the flyer can’t list all the luminaries (Hal Smith is going to be there, for one — as part of Kris Tokarski’s HOT CLASSICISM, a trio including Andy Schumm) — so hot music will surely be happening.  The way the Natchez is set up allows for simultaneous sets: sometimes three at once, so the only problem I foresee is deciding WHICH?  We should all have such dilemmas.

But enough of that.  See you on the boat, I hope.

May your happiness increase!

ALEX BELHAJ’S CRESCENT CITY QUARTET: “SUGAR BLUES”

Photograph by Jocelyn Gotlib

You may not have heard of young guitarist / singer / composer Alex Belhaj, unless you live near Ann Arbor, Michigan.  And for some readers, “guitarist / singer / composer” may be slightly unsettling, suggesting a musician more like Leonard Cohen than Leonard “Ham” Davis. But these sounds should quell any anxieties:

and the same band, live in 2011:

Both of these performances were the work of Alex’s CRESCENT CITY QUARTET, which has released its debut CD, “SUGAR BLUES,” on the Raymond Street Records label.

The quartet is Alex Belhaj, guitar; Jordan Schug, string bass; Ray Heitger, clarinet; Dave Kosmyna, cornet — each of them adding “vocal refrain” or backgrounds as noted below.  Yes, the tunes are familiar, but these performances are deeply felt and vivid: WEARY BLUES / MY BUCKET’S GOT A HOLE IN IT [RH] / SUGAR BLUES [AB] / CARELESS LOVE / VIPER MAD [RH and the Quartet] / HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW [RH] / FOUR OR FIVE TIMES [AB / DK] / MY MAN ROCKS ME (WITH ONE STEADY ROLL) / TIGER RAG / SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD [AB] / YOU DON’T LOVE ME [DK] / TAKE MY HAND, PRECIOUS LORD [RH].

I confess that when I first saw this CD, I felt a mild skepticism: I admire Ray Heitger, but he was the only player I knew.  I had no idea that Alex had connections with a number of my heroes and friends, James Dapogny, Michael Karoub, Erin Morris, Laura Wyman among them.

But hearing the music was a wonderful conversion experience.  It’s not as if there aren’t other New Orleans-imbued small improvising jazz groups, and there are other versions of the songs on this disc.  But the CCQ understands and inhabits the music in the best way — not turning each song into a nearly violent joust in the fashion of the hallowed Spanier-Bechet sides, or choosing to offer only a series of solos . . . but making each selection its own entrancing emotional drama, with an emphasis on sweetly rocking ensemble interplay.  Each of the four players is a convincing instrumentalist (and singer) so I floated from track to track, from spiritual to swinging multi-strain instrumental, in a satisfying music-dream.

The disc is one of those rare creations that seems too brief.  I’ve heard new things every time I’ve played it.  SUGAR BLUES feels genuine: these musicians know and feel what this music is supposed to sound like, simultaneously rooted in tradition and as fresh as the moment.

SUGAR BLUES is also beautifully recorded, with liner notes by “arwulf arwulf,” an Ann Arbor music scholar and broadcaster, that I would have been pleased to have written myself.

In his closing lines, he refers to VIPER MAD as a defiantly hedonistic number premiered by Noble Sissle and Sidney Bechet in 1938.  The CCQ’s realization of this ode to Mezz Mezzrow’s favorite herbal analgesic features a spirited group vocal similar to what Ann Arborites have come to expect from Phil Ogilvie’s Rhythm Kings.  Impressionable souls may feel the need to stand up and strut around with one index finger in the air.

I’m impressionable and proud of it.  Here’s VIPER MAD:

Now, JAZZ LIVES does not officially espouse the use of such substances, but in the words of that song (slightly altered) I urge you to “wrap your chops / around this new CD.” Here is Alex’s site and his Facebook page.

May your happiness increase! 

LOOK OUT! STEAMBOAT COMIN’ ROUND THE BEND!

It is May. Yet I am making plans for November 14-16, 2014. That’s the kind of fellow I am, even if it goes against all the good advice about living in the moment.

I learned from Duke Heitger at last weekend’s jubilant Atlanta Jazz Party that the 2014 Steamboat Stomp — a three-day floating jazz festival held on the steamboat Natchez, floating up and down the Mississippi from New Orleans, is going to happen.

It was a glorious weekend in 2013.

And Duke has some of the same people lined up — the Yerba Buena Stompers, Banu Gibson, and Topsy Chapman — with hints of other heroes and heroines to come.

Of course, much of my pleasure was in the glorious music. But some of it was deeper and harder to explicate. Maybe it was looking out at the Mississippi River flowing by after all those years of reading and teaching HUCKLEBERRY FINN. Maybe it was being on an actual steamboat listening to jazz — the way one might have heard it in 1921 when Fate Marable’s band swung out. Maybe it was getting to walk down the streets of New Orleans — those fabled streets — and try different varieties of gumbo. I can’t tell you exactly what parts of the experience made the strongest impact. But I will be there! And I hope some of my friends can join me.

Here’s some musical evidence of the New Orleans Joys available to people at the Stomp. I do not overstate, you will see.

Before:

Palm Court Cafe, Part One

Palm Court Cafe, Part Two

Oh, Sheik That Thing!

The Steamboat Stomp itself:

Ms. Gibson’s Singular Cardiological Rhythms

Mr. Thompson’s Indigos

Doctor Pistorius and the Worlds of Love

Rocking the River

Stomping for Joy

Joe Oliver  Is Pleased

If that doesn’t convince the hesitant, I don’t know what will.  For myself, the thought of it suddenly becoming November is terrifying. But as far as the 2014 Steamboat Stomp is concerned, I’m ready.

May your happiness increase!

WELCOME, NICOLE HEITGER!

I had the pleasure of hearing Nicole Heitger for the first time at the 2013 Jazz at Chautauqua (now the Allegheny Jazz Festival: read more here) — and I was devastated, in a good way.  What a voice!  And her unaffected stage presence.  Marvelous.  Yes, she comes from a noble lineage: her father, clarinetist Ray Heitger, founded the Cakewalkin’ Jass Band; her brother, trumpeter / singer Duke Heitger, is well known to JAZZ LIVES.

The players here are Ray, Jon-Erik Kellso, James Dapogny, Kerry Lewis, and John Von Ohlen.  And I’ve intentionally left more than two minutes of preliminary chat and setting-up because I think it’s witty and sweetly candid:

TROUBLE IN MIND:

WHAT A LITTLE MOONLIGHT CAN DO:

I asked Nicole to tell us a little about herself:

My life is simple.

I started singing at 16 with the “Cake Walkin’ Jass Band” (my father’s band) and became a full time member around six years later. I sing with the “Easy Street Jazz Band” in Ann Arbor once a month and have recorded with them recently. This band includes Paul Klinger, Jim Dapogny, Paul Keller, Pete Siers, and more. I have also recorded with a local band “New Orleans Party Asylum” (NOPA) on 2 of their CD’s.  

Growing up with the music was fabulous.

The highlight of my early years was going to “Tony Packo’s Café” with my dad every weekend. This is where the CJB played for over 30 years. I listened to Bessie, Ma Rainey, and Billie in the beginning. As I got older, Ella Fitzgerald became one of my favorites.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and have been working at the East Toledo Family Center for 16 years now. I supervised several grant funded programs. I am married to Aaron Shetterly and we have two amazing children, Elijah and Ella.

I feel honored to have been in that room to hear and record Nicole, and to share her music with you on JAZZ LIVES.  She’s got it — the real thing.

May your happiness increase!

LEAVE YOUR TENT FLAP OPEN: THE SHEIK APPROACHES (October 10, 2013)

“At night, when you’re asleep, into your tent I’ll creep.”

Not me personally, but THE SHEIK OF ARABY.

The SHEIK, a very vigorous fellow from 1921, made his appearance thanks to Duke Heitger and his Crescent City Joymakers, on October 10, 2013 at The Palm Court Jazz Cafe — 1204 Decatur Street — the night before the 2013 Steamboat Stomp began.

The beautiful hot band was and is Duke, trumpet; Otis Bazoon, reeds; David Boeddinghaus, piano; Richard Moten, string bass; Jeff Hamilton, drums, joined by Ray Heitger (Duke’s father), clarinet; Jon-Erik Kellso (Duke’s friend, comrade, and inspiration — in town from New York for a PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION show):

And how they played!  Admire, please, the sweetly intertwining horn lines of two soloists who are also great ensemble players, then consider the rest of the Gentlemen of the Ensemble.  I don’t know if they would (singly or collectively) creep into anyone’s tent, but you will have to negotiate such arrangements on your own.

And . . . live music is one of the many things I am thankful for this and every other day and night.  And the company of loving friends. And much more.  I wish that all of you have 365 1/4 days of Thanksgiving this year and every year.

May your happiness increase!

BEFORE THE STOMP, THERE WAS GREAT MUSIC (Part Two): DUKE HEITGER and the CRESCENT CITY JOYMAKERS at THE PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE: OTIS BAZOON, DAVID BOEDDINGHAUS, RICHARD MOTEN, JEFF HAMILTON, RAY HEITGER (October 10, 2013)

Duke Heitger’s wonderful Steamboat Stomp in New Orleans — a jazz festival on the steamboat Natchez — started unofficially the night before, Thursday, October 10, 2013, with a sweetly evocative session at The Palm Court Jazz Cafe (1204 Decatur Street).  Duke’s colleagues were clarinetist / saxophonist Otis Bazoon, pianist David Boeddinghaus, string bassist Richard Moten, and drummer Jeff Hamilton.  Later, some friends and family arrived to have fun on the bandstand, too.  Here’s a second substantial portion of heartfelt jazz — good old good ones that will never grow old.  We like it, we like it:

I COVER THE WATERFRONT:

PANAMA:

STARDUST:

MAMA INEZ (add Ray Heitger, clarinet):

ST. JAMES INFIRMARY:

May your happiness increase!

“PLAY NICE!” (THE EAR INN, May 8, 2011)

At its best, jazz improvisation is spirited play, even when the musicians are creating a slow blues or a heartbroken lament.  Since the musicians are finding their paths on their own, bar by bar, there is no choice but to be flexible and leap in.  Risks lead to rewards!  It doesn’t surprise me that many of the finest improvisers are also verbally witty — not tellers of jokes, but people able to see the possibilities for hilarity in ordinary conversation, everyday situations.

So when we say that a jazz group played something beautifully, we mean more than the casual phrase says.

The second set at The Ear Inn (that’s 326 Spring Street, Soho, New York) this last Sunday — Mother’s Day 2011 — was a hoot and a holler.

Trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso*, trombonist John Allred, guitarist Matt Munisteri, and bassist Neal Miner share the same sensibility and some of the same wit — intellectual and musical — so the attentive viewer will see many smiles among the band.  You can’t always see the audience, but the atmosphere at The Ear was quietly, intently joyous.

And when Ray Heitger, clarinet, vocal, and father of the sterling Duke, joined in, the air was thick with happiness; when Dan Block brought his alto sax to the meeting, no one could ask for more.

Here are four leisurely selections from that evening, play at its finest.

LINGER AWHILE (why not sit a spell?  To quote John Gill, “Make yourself to home!”).  The ensemble choruses that close this performance made me think, “Ah, Fifty-Second Street South!”:

GORILLA MY DREAMS (or, for the prudish, GIRL OF MY DREAMS — composed by the bandleader Sunny Clapp) with a surprise — a rocking, down-home vocal by Ray, who sends us!

OLD-FASHIONED LOVE, for James P. Johnson and Kenny Davern, both:

And to close, Jelly Roll’s MILENBERG JOYS (or perhaps it’s MILNEBURG?  But the JOYS remain unshakeable).  I think the ensemble sound in the opening and closing choruses is what the angels swing to.  (Wherever they are, Lips Page and Eddie Condon are smiling.)  And please admire Neal Miner’s bass solo — something so eloquent and fleet that no one talks through it:

Oh, PLAY those things!

*It was Jon-Erik’s birthday, but (as always) he gave presents and presence to us. 

“IS THERE ANYONE FINER?”

The answer to that question is, “I don’t think so!”  In this YouTube performance, trumpeter Duke Heitger and his father Ray (on clarinet) join the Classic Jazz Stompers at Xavier University’s Gallagher Theatre on May 4, 2008 — for a rousing, Louis-inspired reading of DINAH.  The Stompers are: Dave Greer, tenor guitar; Greg Dearth, alto sax; Erik Greiffenhagen, baritone sax; Jim Leslie, drums (playing on the rims); Chris Moore, cornet; Gordon Moore, trombone; Ted des Plantes, piano (not just piano but stride piano and hot vocalizing); Eric Sayre, bass.  They romp.  Bless them!

P.S.  Duke Heitger is coming to New York City next week — with gigs at Birdland (Wednesday, June 10) and the Ear Inn (June 14).  Sparks will fly!