Seacoast Stompers
at the Acton Jazz Cafe, June 2, 2012
by Marce
videos by Harold McAleer
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A horrendous downpour did not deter fans of the Seacoast Stompers on Saturday, June 2nd. They filled the room at the
Acton Jazz Café in spite of the rain, and were not disappointed.
The regular crew were here, with Scott Philbrick on cornet,
Lee Prager
trombone, Craig Ball clarinet and soprano sax, Jimmy Mazzy banjo,
Bob McHenry
string bass, Bobby Reardon drums, and band leader Frank Stadler on piano.
Scott picked the tune
list for today – an eclectic mix of Swing and Dixieland.
At The Jazz Band Ball, always a barrel-house opener,
set the tone for an afternoon of uplifting, toe tapping, high energy music, with
polyphonic ensembles and lively solos. Somebody Stole
My Gal, Exactly Like You, Tuxedo Junction, When My Dreamboat Comes Home, Dardanella, I Got Rhythm.
The atmosphere is jovial and light-hearted. They love classic jazz and swing, and
you can tell they are having fun playing it. Marie - Lee's fabulous clean crisp trombone solo was
reminiscent of Tommy Dorsey. Just beautiful! Brought tears to our eyes. Honky Tonk Town
had smokin' solos!
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CC Rider, with both Scott and Lee playing wa
-wa sounds on
muted instruments. Fabulous! Craig playing slow slide up the
clarinet register. He was in rare form with the two Bb clarinets he brought – one like Artie Shaw's
that reaches into the stratosphere. He also took out a soprano sax
for My Pretty Girl and Beale St. Blues that blew us away!
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He backed Scotty
on his fine vocal From Monday On.
These two musical soul-mates share ideas on how to
approach the tunes, making each Saturday afternoon
unique and spectacular. |
photo and video by Hal McAleer |
Jimmy Mazzy had many vocals – we never get enough of them,
A Hundred Years From
Today, scatting on Nobody's Sweetheart Now. There
was a special request for
As Time Goes By. His humble sincerity touched the hearts of the audience, and
they responded with an "awwww". |
This tune was dedicated to Al Ehrenfried, who will be celebrating his 90th
birthday on June 19th at the Sherborn Inn.
June night – apt for the pouring rain, Bobby Reardon doing
a turn-around on the drums. Bobby listens carefully and gives the band
just the bang it needs. He knows his stuff - he's been playing
regularly for 23 years at the Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus.
Lee Prager moved back for a sizzling duet with Bob McHenry, fantastic interchange between Trombone and String Bass on
Lady Be Good.
Bob McHenry is
still using the Kay Model C Bass that he used when he was on the
road with Billy May. Behind Jimmy's vocal on I'm
Beginning to See The Light, he moved to a 5-string electric bass
guitar.
It is fretless, and has a flatwound string that makes it sound like
his bass. This was a first for us!
He took a lively, pulsating 32-bar solo on upright bass for Jimmy's
vocal on Fats Waller's Squeeze Me.
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Carrie and Jimmy had a sweet duet on Dedicated To You, a tune done by
the Mills Brothers and Ella, with Carrie singing the melody and Jimmy harmonizing. |
Frank Stadler guides this band of independent
characters from behind the 6' 1" 1912 Baldwin Grand
Piano that Gwenn Vivian recently installed at the cafe. Frank
was featured in a nice blues number, handling the rhythm
with delicacy and good taste.
It was a fantastic afternoon, and we all left with a bit of
sunshine inside, if not outside.
*
* *
The Seacoast Stompers play at
the Acton Jazz Cafe on the first Saturday of the month, unless there's a
holiday. They will be here July 7th, but Jimmy and Craig will be away at a private
function. Sweet substitutes will be Dave Whitney on trumpet, and John
Clark, with his multitude of reeds. Scott will move to guitar (which he prefers)
and some banjo, and maybe join Whitney for a few wild trumpet/cornet duets!
And for those in New Hampshire, on August 10th the Seacoast
Stompers will be
at the Merrimack Valley Jazz Festival from
5:40-6:25pm. FLYER
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