Bill Reynolds drums, Bob MacInnis
cornet, Al Bernard tuba,
Craig
Ball and John Clark reeds, Robin Verdier piano/leader
Robin Verdier faithfully recreates the dance bands of the early 1900's with
innovative arrangements and fantastic ensemble, playing One step,
Two step, Foxtrot - music you might have heard at
the Savoy Ballroom in the 1930's. There were many happy feet
floating across the Sherborn Inn's polished hardwood dance floor.
He only varied slightly from his prepared list, (see below)
providing a wonderful evening of Traditional Jazz, starting with
And They Called it Dixieland and Fats's Come On and Stomp, Stomp,
Stomp from the golden era of 1927. Folks just coming in
were already dancing and shuffling on their way to their seats.
Isham Jones's Down Where The Sun Goes Down was an especially
nice dance number!
His arrangements transported us back to the turn of the century as
he explained the history of the songs. The musicians didn't play for each other - they played danceable music for the
paying public. A fount of information, he told how Jelly Roll Morton may have
named his composition The Pearls because sections of the
band played it perfectly, like a string of pearls. Also
maybe because there was a waitress named Pearl at a bar in
Tijuana where Morton played. A bar called Kansas City.
Lu Watters was a successful band leader in the San Francisco.
His Yerba Buena Strut was named after an island in San
Francisco Bay.
The front line adhered to his challenging arrangements that call for a
different set of skills: John's alto sax sounding almost like a
tenor, Bob MacInnis maintaining a beautiful, clear tone on
cornet, Craig pressing the boundaries of the clarinet.
Al was pushing the beat on tuba, but never racing the time, with
Bill preserving the one-beat Traditional style.
The ear-to-ear grin on Robin's face
told us they were right on!
Bill Reynolds' drum introduced Nullabor, probably named after
a desert in Australia - maybe
an aborigine song, with heavy drum accents. Lu Watter's
Big Bear Stomp was named
after a West Coast resort.
They did a pre-swing version of Fletcher Henderson's Shanghai
Shuffle, then had to cut a couple of tunes in the interest of time.
Where did it go???
They closed with Who Wouldn't Love You?
Who wouldn't love this band?? The Monte Carlo Jazz Ensemble
isn't your usual Dixieland fare. Robin creates
incredibly intricate arrangements and picks the most talented
musicians, presenting a great evening of listening and dancing for
all of us. They will return, and so will we.
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Set 1
And They Called It Dixieland
1916 Rich. Whiting & Raymond Egar
Come On and Stomp, Stomp, Stomp
1927 F. Waller, I. Smith, I. Mills
New Orleans Stomp
1927 Joe Oliver
The Pearls
1923 Jelly-Roll Morton
Snake Eyes
1929~ Tiny Parham
Too Bad
1926 Meyers and Schoebel
Elite Syncopations
1902 Scott Joplin
Yerba Buena Strut
~1944 Lu Watters
Set 2
Big Bear Stomp
1944 Lu Watters
Candy Lips
1926 Clarence Williams
Down Where The Sun Goes Down
1928 Isham Jones & Verne Buck
When Erastus Plays His Old Kazoo
1927 Spier, Fain, & Coslow
You’re Laughing… To Keep Me Warm
1937 Irving Berlinn
Sweetest Melody
1929 Jack Pettis
Okay, Toots
1934 Walter Donaldson
Nullabor
1951 Dave Dallwitz
Set 3
Dream Child
~1929 Hank Palmer
Love Is The Sweetest Thing
1930 Ray Noble
Mule Face Blues
1928 Joe Oliver
Shadows On The Swanee
1932 Young, Burke, & Spina
Shanghai Shuffle
1927 Rodemich & Conley
Time After Time
1947 Jule Styne & Sammy Kahn
Who Wouldn’t Love You?
1925 Benny Davis & Joe Burke
Daybreak (Mississippi Suite)
1926 Ferde Grofe
