NVDJS NEWS December January 2014-15

NVDJS NEWS

Napa Valley Dixieland Jazz Society

P.O. Box 5494,

Napa, CA 94581

FIRST CLASS MAIL

NAPA VALLEY

DIXIELAND JAZZ SOCIETY

Sunday, December 14 2014

Sunday, January 11

2015 1:00-4:00 pm

at

Monthly Admission

Donations

NVDJS $8.00

Other Jazz Clubs $9.00

Other Guests $10.00

Youth (12-18 years) $3.00

Children (under 12 years) No charge

NVDJS on the Worldwide Web

Check out:

the Napa Valley site napatradjazz.org

RENEWALS that are DUE

NAPA VALLEY DIXIELAND JAZZ SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP

Name_______________________________

Address_____________________________

City___________________Zip___________ Telephone:______________Date:________

Standard Membership Single $30.00/year

($8.00 Session Admission) Couple $50.00/year

Contributing Membership Single $100.00/year

(Free Session Admission) Couple $170.00/year

Sustaining Membership Single $150.00/year

(Free Session Admission) Couple $250.00/year Enclosed is a check for the following: New Renew

Mail check made out to: NVDJS, P.O. Box 5494, Napa, CA. 94581

on January 11, 2015 1:00 - 4:00

The Zenith Jazz Band (Formerly the Jelly Roll Jazz Band)

Grant Hall-

Veteran’s Home Yountville, CA

Gold Coast Jazz Band on December 14, 2014 1:00 - 4:00

The late Phil Stiers started the Gold Coast Jazz Band in 1993, and for the past 20 years this seven-piece (now six) show and dance band has per-formed its trademark style that Phil came to call "danceable Dixieland", mu-sic guaranteed to put a smile on your face, set your toes to tapping and your feet to dancing.

The Gold Coast book of more than 300 tunes is an eclectic collection of early New Orleans-style jazz, hot and tight traditional or "classic" jazz, Dixieland, ragtime, boogie-woogie, period pop and novelty tunes from the 1920's

Since 1959, Ted Shafer has led both two cor-net bands and smaller New Orleans-style com-bos under the "Jelly Roll Jazz Band" name. Ted has now retired but the band continues under Earl Scheelar and a new/old name of Zenith Jazz Band

Few contemporary traditional bands can match the breadth and scope of the JRJB rep-ertoire: obscurities associated with Ma Rainey, Tiny Parham, Johnny Dodds, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton and the Dixieland Jug Blowers; compositions by Lu Watters and Turk Murphy and originals by young reviv-alists such as Charlie Sonnanstine, Roy Giomi, Robin Wetterau and Sanford New-

Virginia Tichnor Piano Jim O’Briant Tuba Ken Keeler, Jeff Green Banjo Lisa Gonick - Ukulele, vocal

Earl Scheelar Cornet Leader Tom Barneby Cornet Glenn Calkins Trombone Pete Main Reeds

Bill Badstubner Trombone, Co-ldr Ev Farey Trumpet Ray Walker Reeds Sharon Swenson Piano (guest artist)

Jeff Green Banjo, Guitar, Co-ldr Candy Woodworth Tuba Soren Bloch Drums Zane Woodworth Vocals December

Patty Geyser

Ashley Radcliffe

Robin Roberts

Gil & Joyce Robinson

Edwina Walsh

Tom & Rose Wolford

January

John Bailey

Bruce Sue Balala

Glenn Calkins

Doc & Bernice Eggen

Jack & Mary Harford

Helen Fay Frank Matulovich

Donald Meehan

Loyce Besant Don Morrison

Larry Risner

Alyce Shutzbaugh

Wayne Taylor

Gerald Turner

Betty Jo Worswick

Jazz Around The Bay Area

Page 7 Page 2

President's Message

Well, what a wonderful day we had with the highflying Flying Eagles Jazz Band enter-taining us in November. A lively, talented band of familiar faces; a full dance floor; enthusiastic attendees all contributed to a very fine day for the Napa Valley Dixieland Jazz Society. Rod Roberts was generous enough to entertain on the piano during the short breaks and the reduced hours that we are trying through the winter gave folks the chance to be home before dark. In October Mission Gold Jazz Band was the popular band in attendance – a great band with a unique sound. They were most impressed by the venue and attendees were impressed by their music. Good band, nice folks. Continuing our annual tradition, we welcome back the Gold Coast Jazz Band, with the guest pianist Sharon Swenson, for our holiday party this month. As we try out various scenarios for the breaks, we won’t have any music during the breaks to see if that is a popular option. We will provide home baked goodies and if any bakers in the crowd would like to bring some of their creations, please feel free to do so, but if not that’s fine too. To begin 2015, we will have the Zenith Jazz Band formerly the Jelly Roll Jazz Band. Unfortunately, Ted Shafer finds it necessary to retire due to health issues at least for now. Hopefully, he will regain his health and be back in business soon. Earl Scheelar is the leader of the Zenith Jazz Band, but Ted put together the musicians for this appearance. See you on Dec 14, 1-4 pm, for another fun afternoon of our favorite music.

Linda

NVDJS NEWS published by the

Napa Valley Dixieland Jazz

Society P.O. Box 5494, Napa, CA. 94581

__________________________________

The NVDJS is a non-profit organization

founded to encourage an appreciation of

and education in Traditional, Dixieland,

Ragtime and Swing Jazz.

_______________________________

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

and OFFICERS President Linda Stevens

Vice President Marilee Jensen

Secretary Phil Ingalls

Treasurer Phil Ingalls

Directors at Large Don Robertson Gene Campbell

Wayne Taylor

Directors Emeritus

Phil Eggers Dorothy Hoffman

NEWSLETTER Editor - Don Robertson 707-258-9259

e-mail: jdrobertson@att.net

Assist. Editor - Dave Forus

OTHER POSITIONS Membership Don Robertson

707-258-9259

Publicity

Historian Gene Campbell

707-374-3429

Band Liaison Linda Stevens

707-939-9018

_______________________________________________

Advertising (ONLY if space permits)

Ads must be submitted by the 15th of the

month preceeding publication.

Full Page..(half legal size).... . .$70.00 Full Page insert---you provide....$30.00 Half Page......................................$50.00 Third Page....................................$30.00

Quarter Page.................................$20.00

Business Card (6-7 square in.)...........$10.00 (Yearly rate = 10 times the monthly rate) Ads must be paid in advance.

Jazz in other places Sundays

**Every Sunday**Swing Seven Jazz Band –from 7:00—10:PM at the Hydro Bar and Grill, 1403 Lincoln Ave, Calistoga, No

Cover.

**3rd Sunday-Joyful Noise Jazz Band -from 5:30-7:00 PM at the Champa Thai, 3550H San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante, LARGE dance floor, for info call 510-222-1819.

** 3rd Sunday Gold Coast Jazz Band at the Redwood Café. 8240 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati 4-7 PM, No cover Info: Bill Badstubner 707-526-1772 or Jeff Green, 650-892-0448

Tuesdays

** 1st and 3rd Tuesdays-- Ken Brock’s Jambalaya Swing (11 pc Big Band ) } play from 7:30 to 9:30 PM Castle Rock Restaurant ,

,** 2nd and 4th Tuesdays– Chris Bradley’s Traditional Jazz Band } 1848 Portola Avenue, Livermore 925) 456-7100

**1st, 3rd Tuesdays-The Jazzinators (a youth band), play from 7-8pm PM, Pizza Depot. at 43450 Grimmer Rd., Fremont. (510)

656-9911 (an ALL ages Jam Set from 8-9PM.)

Wednesdays

** Every Wednesday- Phil Smith's Gentlemen of Jazz. at Uva Trattoria Italiana, 1040 Clinton, NAPA, 6:30-9:30 PM, Xcellent

food.NO cover, for info call (707)-255-6646.

**1st and 3rd Wednesdays - Mission Gold Jazz Band, Still looking for new venue

Thursdays

** 4th Thursday And That’s Jazz Is Back at High Street Station Cafe, 1303 High Street, Alameda,

Fridays

**Most Fridays-Clint Baker's Cafe Borrone All Stars play in Menlo Park at Cafe Borrone, 1010 El Camino Real, 8-11PM.

** Every Friday The Jelly Roll Jazz Band (five) at the Champa Thai, 3550H San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante, 7-10 PM LARGE dance floor, for info call 510-222-1819.

**Every Friday- Phil Smith's Gentlemen of Jazz. at Uva Trattoria Italiana, 1040 Clinton, NAPA, 9:00 PM-12:00 M, Xcellent

food, NO cover, for info call 707-255-6646.

Saturdays

***Devil Mountain December 20, January 17, 1:30 - 4:30 PM at the Danville Grange Hall, 743 Diablo Rd., Danville, CA.

Admission $15 , BRING YOUR OWN REFRESHMENTS. Check www.jazznut.com, Call Virginia 510-655-6728.

***Last Satnrday Gold Coast Jazz Band at the Redwood Café. Beer Garden 8240 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati 4-7

PM, No cover

Jazz Clubs 1st Sunday

TRAD JASS of Santa Rosa meets at Ellington Hall 3535 Industrial Drive, Suite B4 Santa Rosa, January 4, Neely’s Rhythm Aces, February 1, Fog City Stompers1:00-5:30PM. (707) 526-1772 Jammers call (707) 542-3973, members $8, other clubs $9, public $10. 3rd Sunday

NOJCNC meets at the Champa Thai, 3550H San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante, December 21, Golden Gate Rhythm

Machine, January 18, Cell Block 7 1:00-5:00 PM info call Tom Belmessieri (925) 432-6532, or Paul Hilton (415) 431-3390 , Jammers call Rod Roberts (415) 499-1190 . members $8, other clubs $10, public $12. 4th Sunday

SOUTH BAY TRAD JAZZ SOCIETY, Sunnyvale Elks, 375 N Pastoria Ave, Sunnyvale CA, December 28, High Sierra , January 25, Pat Dutrow’s Jazzmeisters. 1:00 - 5:00 PM info– Barbara Kinney at (510) 792-5484 , mem-bers $8, other clubs $8, public $10.

Page 6 Page 3

Editor’s Notes: Another great session at Grant Hall with the Flying Eagles. When we arrived to prepare for our ses-sion, we were greeted by two old “friends”. Facility manager, Ian Merill had found that his usual sound system had a problem, so he pressed our newly donated mixer/amplifier and speakers into service. We also saw that he had installed our equip-ment cabinet, the infamous “Blue Box” in his equipment closet. The band sounded great as Ian knows how to set up and ad-just the sound. This will be the second of our abbreviated sessions with minimal breaks. Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all.

Editor Don Robertson

Directions to Grant Hall at the Vet’s Home

Take your usual route to the Highway 29 First Street off ramp. Continue on Highway 29 past the First Street off ramp for approximately 8 miles. Take the California Drive off ramp in Yountville and turn left on California Drive. Follow California Drive past the Wel-com center until it ends in front of the large white Member Services Building at Presidents' Circle. Go left on President's Circle and turn left into the first parking lot. Cross Presidents' Circle (on foot) and enter the end of the Member Services Building. Take elevator to the 2nd floor Go right down the corridor and find Grant Hall on the left side.

San Francisco Jazz History

Excerpts by permission from The San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation Cricket

A Musical Rebellion In 1940 the Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band was formed in revolt against the Big Band swing of its day. They defiantly rejected what they saw as bland or overly sophisticated written arrangements: mod-ern orchestras were stifling real jazz expression. Lu Watters discarded any musical practice or technique after 1930. The band’s tunes were arranged in relatively simple charts with instrumental solos and breaks. Watters kept the ensemble predomi-nant, avoiding the Dixieland formula associated with Eddie Condon in the East. The hallmarks of this new ‘tradition’ were a pre-Swing per-spective, and commitment to renewing the New Orleans ensemble

style: interwoven polyphonic musical lines.

Yerba Buena was dedicated to an early, even primitive, jazz style rejecting the Hit Parade of the day for a repertoire from the first quar-ter of the 20th century. They set about reviving hundreds of long forgotten blues, ballads, early jazz and Tin Pan Alley tunes.

Yerba Buena Jazz Band

The west coast Traditional Jazz

movement aspired to play authen-

tic classic jazz from a generation

earlier in the style of Jelly Roll

Morton, King Oliver and the

early New Orleans diaspora.

BIG BEAR TAVERN The Traditional Jazz revival began at Big Bear Tavern in the Oakland Hills: “The tavern was an old fash-ioned roadhouse containing stables for horses and a dance floor for 400 people.” Jam sessions at Big Bear draw jazz musicians from all over the Bay Area to what Bob Helm called, “an experimental laboratory of jazz.”

The Watters Sound Lu modeled his band on the two-cornet front line of Joe “King” Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band records, 1923-24. But he was also emulating the ‘outdoor’ sound of early New Orleans: the brassy style of music played in parks and pavilions, lakeside picnics and dances. Yerba Buena mani-fested a musical sensibility and repertoire dating back a generation. The rhythm section emphasized tuba, banjo and 2/4 time signature -- possi-bly adopted from the early Bennie Moten band -- an overt rejection of modern 4/4 swing.

The Yerba Buena sound was determined by Watters’ vision, its structure, and its personnel. Watters seconded by Bob Scobey was a forceful and confident trumpet lead. Turk Murphy’s tailgate trombone had huge volume and swing. Reed men Bob Helm and Ellis Horne played outside the mainstream in an acerbic, Johnny Dodds-influenced style from the 1920s, with an added edge to cut through the din of 4 brass instruments. At full tilt Yerba Buena was stupendously loud. The front line horns were so raucous they usually stood behind or next to the rhythm instruments so as not to drown them out, or a second banjo was added. This configuration set the pattern for a slew of bands that

followed and have kept this characteristic sound alive.

The Dawn Club (1941-44, 1946) The Dawn Club in San Francisco was head-quarters for the Trad Jazz revolution. The former speakeasy was operated by the band with dancing 4 or 5 nights a week and broadcasts to the greater Northwestern United States. During and after WW II, San Francisco was a major port for troops departing or return-ing from the Pacific war. Many heard ‘the truth’ visiting the Dawn Club, sparking a lifelong interest in the genre. In 1946 the ABC Radio network hosted a 15:00 minute radio broadcast from the club three nights a week via local affiliate KGO. Numerous airshots and disc-recordings from the Dawn Club have been issued over the years. These never published, or long out-of-print discs from the Selman collection convey the electric and uninhibited atmosphere surrounding the band.

"World War Two and Yerba Buena In December 1941 just as the Watters' band popularity was rising rapidly, the Second World War began for America. It disrupted or-chestras across the country and many disbanded. But Yerba Buena held together despite the enlistment of Watters, Scobey, Wally Rose and Turk Murphy. During the war Yerba Buena substitute trumpeters included the brief leadership of doomed genius Benny Strickler, Al Zohn or others. Burt Bales was at the piano bench for Wally Rose. Serving as “placeholder for Turk,” in his own words, was 17 year old trombone player Bill Bardin, working by special permission of the musician’s union, though Murphy was often allowed leave from his nearby Navy station to play . . . sometimes in uniform. Two clarinets were utililzed when no trumpet was available, or to fortify the single-trumpet front line. Immediately upon discharge the band began rehearsing five hours a day for two months, building to the successful relaunch in March 1946. But it closed permanently at the

end of that year.

Josh Kiser &

Ian Merill

of

Vets’ Home

Staff

with

Sound System

Wayne

Taylor’s

Ranchero

and the

Blue Box

Page 4 Page 5

BAND SCHEDULE-2014–15

Raffle Donations Due to restrictions at the Veterans

Home, we have had to discon-

tinue our Raffle

14-Dec Gold Coast Holiday Party

11-Jan Zenith (Jelly Roll) Jazz Band

8-Feb Bear Republic Jazz Band

8-Mar S F Feetwarmers

12-Apr Cell Block 7

10-May Neely's Rhythm Aces

14-Jun Devil Mountain Jazz Band

12-Jul Ray Skjelbred and the Cubs

9-Aug Fog City Stompers

13-Sep Golden Gate Rhythm Machine

BESSIE SMITH—THE BESSIE SMITH COL-

LECTION 1923-1925 (Acrobat

FADCD2040). Total playing time: 149 mins.

50 secs.

CD 1 Beale Street Mama; Keeps on A-Rainin [sic] (Papa He Can’t Make No Time); Outside of That; Midnight Blues; Nobody in Town Can Bake a Sweet Jelly Roll like My Man; Whoa, Tillie, Take Your Time; I’m Going Back to My Used to Be; Mistreatin’ Daddy; Frosty Mornin [sic] Blues; Eavesdropper Blues; Sorrowful Blues; House Rent Blues; Weeping Willow Blues; Dying Gam-bler’s Blues; Reckless Blues; Sobbin’ Hearted Blues; Cold in Hand Blues; St Louis Blues; Cake Walkin’ Babies; J. C. Holmes Blues; My Man Blues; Nobody’s Blues but Mine; I’ve Been Mis-treated and I Don’t Like It; I Want Every Bit of It. CD 2 Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town; Baby Doll; Honey Man Blues; Honey Man Blues; One and Two Blues; Young Woman’s Blues; Muddy Wa-ter; There’ll Be a Hot Time in Old Town Tonight; Sweet Mistreater; Dyin’ by the Hour; I Used to be Your Sweet Mama; Put It Right Here; Standin’ in the Rain Blues; Devil’s Gonna Git You; Me and My Gin; My Kitchen Man; I’ve Got What It Takes; He’s Got Me Goin’; You Don’t Understand; New Orleans Hop Scop Blues; Blue Spirit Blues; See If I Care; Shipwreck Blues; I’m Down in the Dumps; Take Me for a Buggy Ride. Collective Accompanists: These are too many to list here, but they include Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, James P. Johnson, Eddie Lang, Cla-rence Williams, Jack Teagarden, and Coleman Hawkins. Of the female blues singers of the early twentieth century, the two giants are Ma Rainey (the

“Mother of the Blues”) and Bessie Smith (the “Empress of the Blues”). Ma Rainey was the older of the two, and interestingly they once worked in a show together, Rainey being the show’s singer and Smith a dancer. Nothing, however, indicates the older woman gave the younger much in the way of singing lessons. Rainey made about one hundred recordings before she “went out of style,” according to Paramount in 1928. Smith eventually put out over a hundred and sixty records and would undoubtedly have produced more had she lived beyond her forty-third year. This double CD set provides a fairly generous selection of some forty-eight tracks. The title wisely makes no claim that these are her “best,” period, but they are certainly represen-tative. Despite the often stellar accompani-ment she gets on some of these tracks, I tend to prefer those where she is backed only by piano as it is easier to focus on her voice, rather than being somewhat distracted by the accompaniment, often quite brilliant in its own right—witness the superb obbligatos from Louis Armstrong on St. Louis Blues or Reck-less Blues, or the solid group backing on Cake Walkin’ Babies from Home or I’m down in the Dumps. And what a voice it is—rich, powerful, vibrant—almost any adjective of praise one can muster. And what a superbly controlled vibrato! In her emotional outpouring she per-sonifies the blues, expressing feelings that come from actually living, not just observing, what she is singing about—unrequited love, physical abuse, betrayal, abandonment, ostra-cism—all subjects of many blues. Another remarkable thing about her voice is that it overcame the shortcomings of acoustical recording. Columbia did not stop recording Bessie Smith acoustically until mid 1926 or thereabouts, so a good portion of her output consisted of acoustic recordings, and in this collection all of tracks on disc 1 and the first couple on disc 2 are acoustic. But on the acoustic recordings one can hear right away

CD REVIEW by Bert Thompson

that her robust, big voice is not much dimin-ished by the cone into which she sang (her ac-companists do not always fare quite so well); out it came almost as warm and convincing as it did later when caught by a microphone on the electric recordings, which comprise the rest of CD 2. She not only sang the blues, she also turned her hand to composing blues numbers—and with some success. Several of her compositions are to be found in this compilation, and at least two of them, Reckless Blues and Young Woman’s Blues, can stand beside those of any other composer. The tragedy of her death in an automobile acci-dent in 1937 at such a young age lies not only in her relative youth but also in the many re-cordings which were never to be made. On the headstone which Janis Joplin (along with one of Smith’s friends) had commissioned for Smith’s otherwise unmarked grave, is the inscription: “The Greatest Blues Singer in the World Will Never Stop Singing.” There may be some de-bate about “Greatest,” but to date the latter part of the inscription holds true as Bessie Smith’s recordings are still being issued and played to-day. And this double CD set makes clear why that is the case. A UK-based record label, Acrobat specialises in collectors’ and re-issue CDs, which are avail-able on Amazon, cdUniverse, and, at times, eBay.

Intermission Music

November

Rod Roberts Piano

December

There will be no Intermission Music