by Marce
Jeff Hughes trumpet, John Clark clarinet/baritone sax, Tom Boates trombone, Ross Petot keys, Jimmy Mazzy banjo, Rick MacWilliams tuba, Dave Didriksen drums.
There was never a dull moment with the Wolves at Primavera Ristorante preparing for the Capital City Jazz Fest in Wisconsin next weekend. The audience fed off the energy of the band and the band was invigorated by the responsive crowd. The band was so HOT it even provoked the infamous Mazzy ‘holler’.
Fans treasure The Wolverine Jazz Band!
They started with a roaring take off on Shake It And Break It, then immediately changed the mood with a nice dance tune King Oliver released in 1923 Mabel’s Dream.
Jimmy Mazzy was featured with a sublime melody, When. Then John asked Jim what he wanted to do next – dangerous move; he has an enormous array of old tunes embedded in the recesses of his brain. You never know what he’ll come up with! He picked away at the banjo until they finally recognized River, Stay Away From My Door, and the band joined him.
John Clark on baritone sax
They practiced Sunset Café Stomp, a great tune of Chicago Jazz, It was as much of a show stopper as Louis’s Hot Five! Tuba intro, each instrument accenting with one note, and then they soared! Clark injects highlights with bari sax. This is real camaraderie and classic musicianship.
Tom Boates demonstated his singing prowess on With Plenty of Money and You, from Gold Diggers of 1937, backed by Jimmy on banjo, Dave Didriksen softly tapping the cymbal with brushes.
John Clark creates many of their arrangements, taken from the original charts. He’s been playing a great deal of swing with Dan Gabel’s Abletones Big Band for young dancers from the Greater Boston Vintage Society. (GBVS – they will keep our music alive way into the future with their Lindy Hops and Swing Dancing!)
How High The Moon was a real swinger! It will be on their next CD – the 15th? Jim on vocal, he knows them all! The band engaged in more superb ensemble. Prepare those dance floors!
Once in a While (not the ballad) was a barn burner, with hot clarinet and the Front Line in outstanding polyphonic ensemble
Betty Weaver, #1 Jazz Fan from the Band’s inception, has been pushing John Clark to sing for years. He followed through with My Gal Sal and a nice, bluesy 1911 Oceana Roll, about the ragtime player Jimmy McCoy on the Confederate Navy Sloop Alabama during the Civil War. There are innumerable stanzas; John had ALL the lyrics memorized!
Jimmy introduced another heartwarming ballad, That’s My Desire, made famous by Frankie Laine. Jimmy’s ballads are uniquely emotional and touching!
A good ol’ good one – Panama, was incredible! Jeff was playing a hand crafted, beautifully engraved trumpet by Joe Marcinkiewicz out of Chicago. From soft and mellow jazz to screaming lead, he pushed the band into a new high. Fans in Wisconsin will love this!
The Wolves soar on Panama!
They had to break after that one, and took the time to chat with their New England fans. They returned with a barn-burning High Society with Tom on growling trombone that had everyone paying attention!
Tom Boates
She’s Crying For Me was written by a trombone player. Tom enhanced it with a funnel mute.
Like Jack Teagarden, he has the ability to interject a blues feeling into virtually any piece of music.
Jeff Hughes on new (for him) engraved trumpet
Bix Beiderbecke did San Antonio Shout on cornet when he was with Frankie Trumbauer. Our Bix ‘shouted’ on trumpet.
There was a marvelous exchange between trumpet and clarinet trading fours and twos on a peppy There’ll Come a Time.
Tom was featured on a tune they learned from banjo player Bob Barta, Here Comes The Hot Tamale Man. Original Jelly Roll Blues was a slow bluesy number that Morton wrote in 1903. John started it on low register clarinet, then the band charged it with explosive ensemble!
Ross Petot, extraordinary pianist
Ross was featured on Sing You Sinners; Lillian Roth introduced it in the 1930 film “Honey”. His amazing notes and harmonies are all his own.
Ross detests playing keyboard. (It really doesn’t do him justice!)
The rhythm boys backed him with Dave tapping on cymbal and snare drum for accents. Jim took the vocal with Jeff backing on muted trumpet. Ross was appeased. He’ll be glad to have a real piano in Wisconsin!
Dynamic Rhythmic Duo:
 Dave Didriksen knows his Traditional Jazz Beat |
 Rick MacWilliams pushes the chords. |
Jimmy lets out the “Mazzy Holler” with Rick MacWilliams behind him.
The Wolverines will be playing the Sunday morning service at the Capital City Jazz Fest, so they practiced a pious spiritual, This Train is Meant For Glory. Jimmy got carried away, invoking the famous Mazzy shriek that we haven’t heard in a long time!
Fans from the Midwest will relish this septet of brilliant players, playing cherished tunes from the 1920’s. They closed with stirring solos on a song done by Albert Brunies and the Halfway House Orchestra in 1928, Let Your Lips Touch My Lips.
It was a splendid evening. Fans of Traditional Jazz were not disappointed. We wish them a successful weekend in Wisconsin – please take care of our guys! We need them back because May 15th, 4-7pm, The Wolverine Jazz Band will be at Ken’s Steakhouse, 95 Worcester Road, (Rt. 9 W) in Framingham, Massachusetts.