Seacoast Stompers at the Acton Jazz Café
May Day - May 1, 2010
 |
| On a bright,
sunny, 80 degree New England spring day, the Seacoast Stompers were
back at the Acton Jazz Café; May Day, first Saturday of the month.
The Stompers are always an exuberant, first class Dixieland Jazz
Band - and today was no exception. This Jazz was electrifying!
Frank Stadler piano/leader, Scotty Philbrick cornet, Craig Ball
clarinet, Jimmy Mazzy banjo and vocals, Bob McHenry string bass, and
Steve Taddeo drums. He was happy
to be back with the Stompers, letting loose like his idol, Gene
Krupa. This is infectious jazz - from the very first beat!
Photo by Hal McAleer |
From the very first note of their opener, At The Jazz Band Ball, Sotiri
and Amy were up for a lively, dazzling dance. It was a mix -
they started with a little Foxtrot, then Argentine Tango and Swing.
Folks, this is how it's done!
It was reminiscent of the Charleston and Jitterbug dances of the
20's and
40's -
Fantastic! Everyone loves this music!
Hal McAleer's
video says it all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB5rt_F2NgM |
Rather than bringing in a set list of tunes, Frank opted for a
'lightening round of tunes', taking suggestions from anybody.
First tune that made it was Blue Skies, with a fine vocal by
Jimmy Mazzy, then Fats Waller's Keeping Out of Mischief Now, great interpretation by Craig, distinctive timing,
and excellent duet
with Bob on string bass. Folks were dancing in the aisles!
What a great way to spend a spring afternoon!
Leader Frank
Stadler gives the musicians free reign, allowing Jimmy's fabulous
scatting, and Bob doing a fantastic solo, playing the string
bass with a drum stick! Frank introduced Deed I Do, with Craig sneaking in a
little bit of Swanee. Bob played another fine duet with Scotty on cornet, then Steve
exploded on the drums. Couldn't wait to get it out of his
system!
Drum intro to a super-fast Nagasaki. Really tough one for
the musicians. Who picked this tempo??? Craig, Scott and Jimmy
are an outstanding front line, but this was way too fast - tough on cornet, even
tougher on Jimmy Mazzy vocal; but Jimmy is superman. He can do
anything. Steve was
mostly rim tapping, with an occasional 'thump' on the bass drum.
Nothing is safe as Steve cruises the room with his drumsticks in this moving performance! The Seacoast Stompers at the Acton Jazz Cafe, Frank Stadler, leader and piano, Craig Ball, clarinet, Jimmy Mazzy, banjo, Scott Philbrick, cornet, Bob McHenry, Bass, Steve Taddeo, drums. Hal's Video
Don't Be That Way.
 |
Frank let Jimmy loose. He's living
dangerously! Jimmy plays every Wednesday at the
Colonial Inn in Concord. Often, he will just start playing, and the
musicians must figure out "what tune is he going to come up with
this time?" and when they've figured that out, they join him.
This verse was unfamiliar to most of us, but the band picked up on
the first chorus of Just a Little While to Stay Here. Great piano!
Great front line, great rhythm, great Band!
Jimmy singing Beale St. Blues
Jim and Carrie Mazzy had a sweet duet on Who's Sorry Now.
Fans are WILD about Jimmy, especially in
Europe - and they'll be seeing him in person shortly. Brace
yourself Europe!! Here he comes.
|
Gwenn Vivian:
Manager of the Acton Jazz Café, Gwenn Vivan has been running the AJC for 13 1/2 years, she's happy to
be here, and hopes to be for at least another 13 years. She
thanked everyone for their patronage, announcing a new Gold
Membership that gives you free entry to the AJC for a year.
As often happens in small businesses, the Department of Revenue
takes a chunk out of the proceeds.
The Café owes $29,000 taxes in arrears. With President Obama's
recent amnesty
program, if she collects $16,000 by June 1st, the rest will be
forgiven. Otherwise, another $500 gets tacked on, and on and
on.....
She
and her crew work very hard at keeping jazz alive, bringing in one,
two, sometimes three jazz bands a day from Wednesday through Sunday,
winter, spring, summer, fall. A lot of hard work.
Please help keep the AJC afloat and if you can, try the new $200
Gold Membership (or any other membership).
The Acton Jazz Café was listed among Downbeat Magazine’s
“100 Great International Jazz Clubs” in the February 2007 issue. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BACK TO TOP |
| By Marce,
Updated May 2, 2010
|
|
