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Seacoast Stompers
at the Acton Jazz Cafe, March 6, 2010
by Marce
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Seacoast Stompers returned
to the Acton Jazz Cafe on the first Saturday of the month, March 6,
2010 with another full house. Full complement of this
exuberant band was there, Frank Stadler piano/leader, Craig
Ball clarinet, Jimmy Mazzy banjo/vocals, Bob McHenry acoustic bass,
Scott Philbrick cornet, Steve Taddeo drums. They always warm up with
At The Jazz Band Ball. Proceed to HOT!
Frank let the musicians pick the tunes this afternoon. Jimmy
took the next one, changing the words a bit - You Gotta See Your Papa
Every Night, Or You Can't See Your Papa At All. Piano intro to
As
Long As I Live, then Slow Boat to China, Alabama Jubilee. Each of these
musicians is a pro in his own right; nurtured and inspired by New Orleans music, they are
phenominal!
Bob McHenry chose Moonglow, giving an emotional, powerful
performance, which also featured an ornate and lovely solo by
Frank Stadler on the Brambach piano, and Craig's precise, spot-on Artie Shaw
clarinet.
A note about Bob McHenry. Originally from the western part
of Massachusetts, he's played with many jazz notables such as Phil
Woods (alto sax), Joe Morello (drums) and Sal Salvadore (guitar).
In over 65 years of playing music, bob has played acoustic upright
bass, and more recently, 5 string electric upright bass, with many
small groups in the area as well as Frank Chalis Orchestra in
Springfield, the Billy May Band with Anita O'Day on vocals, the
Marty Paich DekTet on the west coast, and the local Chris Powers Big
Band. He has appeared on the "Meredith Wilson Music
Room" in NYC, and more recently played with Paul Broadnax, Dave
Whitney, Charlie Jennison, Jeff Stout, and numerous other Greater
Boston and New England musicians. Perhaps Bob is best known in
music circles as providing a "driving" beat to enhance the rhythm
section of any musical aggregation, and its ability to "get into the
pocket" or "groove" quickly and remain there.
We'll get the history of each member of his fine band
eventually. They are a passionate and energetic group! Steve
Taddeo did the intro to St. Louis Blues, changing to a Latin beat
in the middle, with the band in pursuit - a combustible combination.
Everybody Loves My Baby, Old Fashioned Love, Jimmy vocals. As his
number #1 Fan, I'm glad that he has the freedom to sing so many tunes.
Thanks, Frank! (We'll miss him in May, when he heads for
Europe. They can't wait!) |
| This room is so crowded that there's no room to
dance, but Charlie always finds a way somehow. His regular partner,
Evelyn,
had a sprained ankle, so Marce filled in - temporarily. |
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The band continued with Sweet Georgia Brown. Great
stuff! There's a wonderful chord pattern that permeates all these
tunes, and these musicians are skilled at pitching them, as in Scotty's
rapid fire cornet and Craig's high register clarinet - very high - on Beale Street Blues!
Craig called for an incredible tempo on The
World Is Waiting For The Sunshine, sending Jimmy's fingers flying up
and down the frets. They stopped on a dime, but the band felt as if they'd played a whole day
in 5 minutes.
Jimmy presented Buddy Bolden's Blues, with Craig on soft,
mellow clarinet, while Scotty played muted wa wa cornet. Beautiful!
Another Mazzy vocal on I Would Do Most Anything For You (within
reason) throwing in a little bit of Bessie Smith, and Please Don't
Talk About Me When I'm Gone, with Bob tapping the bass with a
drumstick instead of plucking the strings. Never gets dull!
Steve did his infamous drumming walk around - tapping on
anything in sight, handing somebody a pepper shaker, blowing his nose,
reading a paper over somebody's shoulders (who could be reading a paper
with all this great music filling the room????) Steve still
drumming, never missing a beat.
By Mir Bis Du Schoen was WILD, with Jimmy
tossing in another snippet of Constantinople, then they moved to
Duke's Don't Get Around Much Anymore. |
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Carrie & Jimmy had a tender duet on A Good Man Is Hard To
Find.
Hal McAleer, hard at work here, making
another You Tube
Video of a Carrie & Jimmy Mazzy duet on What a Little Moonlight Can Do
Hal has numerous Seacoast Stompers' videos on You Tube.
Check them out - Good work! |
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| Getting close to
the end of the 3-hour concert, (where did the time go???) Craig and Scott
collaborated on I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart, with a
stirred-up Jim Mazzy fiercely scatting. The band went WILD on Stealing
Apples, then nice and easy on Up A Lazy River, with McHenry maintaining a sweet dialogue
behind the band. It Don't
Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, last number, they were
playing their hearts out, nobody could sit still - then it all ended
with that infamous Jimmy Mazzy scream! WOW! It doesn't
get any better than this! See you next month for our next Jazz
'fix'. First Saturday of the month, as usual. |
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Updated March 28, 2010
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