Adam Majour trumpet; Dave Burdette cornet, Dan Gabel trombone;  Maureen Amarol alto sax/clarinet; John Clark alto & bari sax/clarinet; Tyler Burchfield  tenor sax/clarinet; Bill Doyle banjo/guitar; Ross Petot piano; Rick MacWilliams tuba; Steve Taddeo drums

They opened with their Theme Song, Whispering, then quickly launched into a peppy period pop, The Charleston, and played tunes from the 1920’s and 1930’s all evening;  Duke Ellington, King Oliver, Paul Whiteman, Vaughn Monroe, Henry Bussy.

Dan is a naturally charming entertainer, and a perfectionist.  He sang  Alexander’s Ragtime Band with an old megaphone as they did in the 20’s and 30’s, before amplification.

He dedicated Write Myself a Letter to his friend and mentor, Bud Trou.  We all know the lyrics; he invited everyone in the audience to sing along.  Appropriate for upcoming Valentines’ Day, I Don’t Know Why I Love You Like I Do, with three superb clarinetists.  This extraordinary 3-piece reed section sounds like a whole orchestra!

The Dixie Syncopators’ laid back, romping sound was well represented by Maureen, John, and Tyler playing Wa Wa Wa.

 

Bill Doyle on banjo and custom archtop jazz guitar (signed by Les Paul.)

He is Band Manager, Site Manager, Vice President of the American Big Band Preservation Society, and the all-around Go-To guy.

 

Dan will be lecturing on the American Songbook soon.  He chose five composers. (He’s a busy guy.)   Appropriate for Valentines’ Day, he crooned Cole Porter’s What Is This Thing Called Love.  Move over, Crosby!  Dan croons with the best of them!

 

 

High Society plays many styles, fabulous polyphonic ensemble swing, marvelous solos, including tuba player, Rick MacWilliams.

(You can catch him every Sunday in the summer with the Bourbon St. Paraders on the Jazz Boat on the Cape Cod Canal.)

 

 

Steve Taddeo’s drumming encapsulated pieces of Baby Dodds, Zootie Singleton, Chick Webb, Sonny Greer, Gene Krupa.  He specializes in Swing, and leads the Dick Donovan Big Band every week in Middleton, MA.

Ross Petot. the predominant stride piano player in all of New England, was featured on one of Dan’s arrangements, Cinderella Girl  supported by trombone and baritone sax, closing with ingenious exchanges between piano, and Tyler’s trumpet.

The Inn has an excellent dance floor.  Especially for the dancers, the orchestra played a beautiful waltz, Vaughn Monroe’s Carolina Moon.  Dan has been busy writing Vaughn Monroe’s biography.  (See below.)

 

 

From their upcoming CD,  Dan crooned Because My Baby Don’t Mean Maybe Now,  John Clark on vibrant alto sax, Burdette  cornet.

Burdette’s fabulous cornet was also featured on an early version of Georgia Jubilee

 

 

The  complete collection of Henry Bussy’s works were donated to the American Big Band Preservation Society, started by Dan Gabel and Amanda Carr.  Bussy was represented here with Paul Whiteman/Freddy Ferde Grofe’s Three Little Words.  The High Society could have had eight solos, instead they put “Hot Lips” Adam Majour’s blistering trumpet to work.  Actually, you can’t call it work – they all love what they’re doing.  Their music is expertly played and much appreciated by this astute audience.

Our favorite was a great old tune, also a Gabel family favorite, from Duke’s Book, Black & Tan Fantasy. They nailed it, with our Harry Carney – John Clark on bari sax,  Burdett’s cornet, Ross piano, Taddeo’s Sonny Greer – absolutely perfect reincarnation of the Cotton Club’s “Jungle” sound, with all of Duke’s orchestral colours.  Unbelievable!

A new transcription of Fletcher Henderson’s Stampede, also had Clark on great bari sax.

The Seven Gabels, a lively band-within-a-band, played a sizzling Royal Garden Blues,   Dan featured on trombone.  Another favorite!

The Coon Sanders Orchestra recorded The Brainstorm on a Victor Orthophonic Victrola at the Webster Hotel in Chicago Illinois in 1926.  It was the first consumer phonograph designed specifically to play “electrically” recorded disks.  The band was unfamiliar with the tune, but breezed through it as if they were there!

Frank Skinner’s 1928 arrangement of Button Up Your Overcoat  was appropriate for this frigid winter’s weather.  Clever conversation between horns and reeds, with  a tumultuous ending!

They took it out with a breathtaking Sugar Foot Stomp, a Joe King Oliver tune that was done by Fletcher Henderson.  The delights of this High Society Jazz Orchestra performance are many.  We suggest you try to keep up with it, or Dan Gabel and the Abletones by checking out their website at www.theabletones.com.

NOTE: Dan has rescued the whole Vaughn Monroe collection that has been sitting in the basement of the New England College of Music for 60 years for his Master’s Recital on March 2^nd.  He’ll be doing a “Vaughn Monroe Tribute” at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA, a FREE concert, open to the public.  In addition to The Abletones’ 18-piece big band, there will be a full 20-piece string section, a vocal group and a special guest singing the part of Vaughn.  The Vaughn Monroe family is even coming up from Florida for the show.