Jeff’s Jazz Jesters
Jeff Hughes trumpet, John Clark clarinet/alto and bari sax, Herb Gardener keys, Hunter Burgamy guitar, Craig Ball (Obediah Schwank) clarinet/tenor sax, Steve Taddeo drums, Sarah Nova vocals
The sextet kicked off with their theme song, a resolutely cheerful, My Lucky Day. It’s always a Lucky Day for us when these good natured musicians come to Primavera Ristorante and speak to us through their music. They are a joy, playing the music of the 1910’s to 1930’s, with their old school musicality, camaraderie and a lot of fun.
They were joined by amiable Sarah Nova, beginning with Everybody Loves My Baby. Everybody loves Sarah! She was joined by John on alto sax and Craig clarinet on a peppy, upbeat You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To. She resurrected memories of Billie Holiday with Miss Brown To You.
Sara Nova
Sarah is muti-talented, preserving our jazz for future generations by writing and producing CDs for Little Jumpers and Babes. She sang one of our favorites, It’s Raining Cats and Dogs (and the frogs are angry!) She keeps toddlers jumping and swinging at many local libraries.
Herb Gardner, multi-instrumentalist
Her Dad is Herb Gardner, a rock solid, all around player, whose style on piano or keys is between Dick Hyman and Teddy Wilson. He has played with just about everybody from here to New York. Herb is also first call on trombone. With the Jazz Jesters he’s both front line and rhythm.
Craig Ball
The Jazz Jesters sounded like a New Orleans Street Band with Peter Bocage and Armand Piron’s 1914 Bouncing Around. Fabulous!
Paducah is always a rabbel-rousing favorite. We don’t hear Walter Donaldson’s Little White Lies very often. The band sizzled on Deep Henderson with John and Craig on alto and tenor sax, then the two changed with John on smoking bari sax and Craig on clarinet hitting the stratosphere!
Hunter Burgamy is now the youngest member of the band.
Hunter Burgamy’s guitar presence was felt in every tune that the Jazz Jesters played. He’s a student at Berklee. His solos were impeccable, and he adds to the solid rhythm section with Bernard, Taddeo and Gardner, all complementing each other.
Benny Moten’s Jones Law Blues was sung by Annette Hanshaw, an American Jazz Age singer and one of the most popular radio stars of the 1930s. This was a first for us.
There was breathtaking ensemble on Blame It On The Blues, arrangement by Robin Verdier. He was the Paramount Jazz Band’s pianist and arranger, and the Jazz Jesters play many Paramount tunes.
Jeff Hughes plays fabulous Bix
Bix wrote a Debussyian piano piece in a tribute to his home town, Davenport Iowa. John Clark arranged this one, Davenport Blues. Excellent trumpet, piano and guitar.
Time for a spiritual, remembering Louis with Dear Old Southland (based on Deep River.) Jeff took the first chorus playing solemn trumpet, then the whole band entered, with both reeds on clarinet. Fine solos on tuba and guitar.
John Clark sings Zonky
Black Maria, a quintessential Clark arrangement, was a WILD one!
He sang another of his arrangements, Duke’s Zonky. Marvelous! This was the first time we ever heard the words.
Jeff said his Dad loved Empty Saddles in the Old Corral, a classic American cowboy song written by Billy Hill. It became widely known to the public in July 1936, when Big Crosby sang it. Herb on keys and Steve on drum provided the Cowboy ‘clip, clop’.
Steve Taddeo on new set of Slingerland Drums
Steve Taddeo is well known as a slam-bang Gene Krupa drummer, but he has adapted to the early 30’s drumming made famous by Krupa, Vic Berton, and Stan King.
He keeps time tapping rims, the cow bell or wood block, choking cymbals and playing press rolls.
Sarah returned with another Billie traditional, My Mother’s Son-in-Law, with the backing of her Dad. She followed with Billie’s Me, Myself and I, with John’s soulful bari sax.
Sarah Nova, Hunter Burgamy, Herb Gardner (hidden behind him) and John Clark on bari sax
Al Bernard pushes the band with his large tuba
They closed with a live-wire tune, ‘Leven Thirty Saturday Night, followed by Albie’s tuba sneaking in a departing snippet of the theme from The Little Rascals, Good Old Days.
The Jazz Jesters originated when the General Manager at Public Radio WGBH asked Jeff Hughes to recreate tunes similar to the late Ray Smith’s Paramount Jazz Band. Ray played Traditional Jazz every Sunday night on WGBH, and his tapes are still streaming. The Jesters have since created their own sound, without losing the exciting optimism of the Roaring 20’s. The joy is contagious!
They will return sometime on the last Thursday of the month at Primavera Ristorante. That particular month is committed to Jeff Hughes and any one of his many bands! Check our Calendars!
Marce
