Post 539: THE CALIFORNIA FEETWARMERS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Frequent correspondent Phil Lynch in the USA is a fan of the Los Angeles-based band called The California Feetwarmers. He has written to me about them in the past.

Now, Phil has alerted me to a concert they gave at The Red Room, Cookstown, in Northern Ireland when they were on tour there in July 2017.

Fortunately for us, a generous video-maker called John Watson put several videos from the concert on YouTube. The sound and visual qualities of these videos are exceptionally good, so this concert is something available for us all to enjoy.

And what we find is that this band is seriously good! Not only are they fine musicians; they are also brilliant at putting together a truly entertaining programme, holding an audience spellbound throughout.

The seven musicians arrange themselves in a straight line across the stage - just the way I like - so that the audience can see all of them and they can see each other. These young men play high-energy music, underpinned by a sensitive, accurate sousaphone, guitar and banjo and minimalist unobtrusive percussion. The clarinet, trumpet and trombone players are technically brilliant and great team-workers. On top of all that, the members of the band can sing; and there are times when the whole band joins in with vocals, in fine close harmony.

They obviously prepared well. There are some first-rate head arrangements, so there is no need for signalling on the hoof.

Take Clarinet Marmalade. They leap about among the various themes and bridges. And there is even a vocal - something I've never heard with this tune before:

CLICK HERE.

The same kind of slickness is evident in their performance of That's a Plenty:
CLICK HERE.

Then, for a contrasting example of their ability to entertain - and involve an audience - try I'm Feeling Good. You can't help wanting to join in on the Chorus, which is based on one of our most familiar 16-bar [plus two-bar tag] chord sequences. The use of stop chords against the cornet solo, and the Chorus in double-time (but with rallentando ending) illustrate how well the band has prepared. 

CLICK HERE.

There is even a storming 14-minute Medley of Sing On, Down By The Riverside, I'll Fly Away, Oh Mary, Don't You Weep, and Over in the Gloryland, which showcases well how brilliant each of the musicians is, both individually and in collective improvisation:
CLICK HERE.

I hope I have whetted your appetite. Explore the rest of the concert for yourself. I am sure you will be impressed by the way these musicians have absorbed the influences of the early ragtime, string and jug bands and given them a new life in the Twenty-First Century. I rate The California Feetwarmers as one of the top bands playing anywhere in the world today and wish I could get to hear them some time.

According to their web page, the members of the band are:

Brandon Armstrong - sousaphone/Bass
Charles De Castro - cornet/Accordion/vocals
Josh Kaufman - clarinet/accordion/piano/vocals
Carlos Reynoso - washboard/Guitar/vocals
Dominique Rodriguez - snare drum/bass drum
Justin Rubenstein - trombone/vocals
Patrick Morrison - Banjo/Guitar.

Post 390: JAZZ IN LUNCH HOURS! AS IN DERBY.....

Why don't more clubs, pubs and venues put on traditional jazz in the LUNCH hours? After all, our audiences are mostly retired, elderly people who heartily enjoy going out for a good reasonably-priced lunch at a place where they can also be entertained by some music.

Many of them have told me this is better for them than going to jazz clubs that operate till late at night. They are simply unhappy about having to walk or drive home at around midnight. 

Well, I'm pleased to report that the message is getting across here in the English Midlands. I know of six pubs providing lunchtime jazz.

Let me give you the story behind a successful example.

In the beginning, there was a defunct building (The Coronation Hotel) for sale in Baker Street, Alvaston. This is on the south-eastern edge of the great city of Derby. Here's how it looked from the back:

The hotel was acquired in 2015 by The Steamin' Billy Brewing Co. Ltd., which then renamed it simply as The Coronation and carried out an extensive re-furbishment. Here's the front entrance as it appears today. It has a decent-sized car park.

Here is one of the bars:

Excellent food and drinks are available at reasonable prices.

The stone-baked pizzas are a speciality:

Best news of all, though, is that the management strongly supports traditional jazz. They invited Dave Harmer (the popular trombonist and manager of Leicester's New Orleans Hot Shots) to bring along some of his friends every Wednesday lunchtime to play for the diners.

So, starting on Wednesday, 9 December 2015, Dave provided a quartet.

Word soon got round and the audience grew to a good size, with quite a few 'regulars'. And there has been traditional jazz from 12.30pm until 2.45pm at The Coronation every Wednesday since then. 

If you would like to sample the music at The Coronation, CLICK HERE or CLICK ON HERE. In this latter, Dave himself provides the vocal. Better still, if you live in the Derby region, why not go along on Wednesday for some free traditional jazz and maybe have a good lunch too?
    ====
Important Footnote: I can confirm that, from 19 March 2020, the jazz lunch-hours at this pub have been discontinued because of the corona virus pandemic.

Post 320: 'CLARINET MARMALADE'

Unfortunately, the great old jazz classics are not tunes you are likely to find in sheet music form in your local music shop, even if you are lucky enough still to have a local music shop. We have to learn them as best we can - mostly by ear or from materials circulated by other musicians. I write out my own simple lead sheets and store them in mini filofaxes, as below. My versions are probably not spot on, but they are good enough for me. Incidentally, if you would like to see me with three friends having a go at playing this tune - CLICK HERE.

I think Clarinet Marmalade was composed by members of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB) in 1918.

Post 167: WHAT IS A 'DOGFIGHT' IN OUR MUSIC?

Here is the dogfight in 'That's a Plenty'. It
begins at the top right, where you see
cornet and clarinet instructed to play the high Ds.
The trombone and bass then respond with the low Ds.

I am indebted to my Canadian friend Stephen Brown for teaching me a new term that describes a feature in the structure of some of our tunes. The word is 'Dogfight'.

Stephen told me that for a full explanation, it is best to go to:

https://musicterms.artopium.com/d/Dogfight.htm

But if you are happy with a brief explanation of how it mostly turns up in traditional jazz, I can tell you the Dogfight is a special kind of 'Bridge'. The Bridge is a link (often eight or twelve bars) between one theme and another in tunes that have more than one theme. What is distinctive about the Dogfight-style bridge is that usually a higher voice (generally the trumpet) plays a short phrase and then there is a short-phrase response from a lower voice (e.g. trombone or tuba) - thus creating a sort of musical dogfight. Get it? A vivid and useful term, isn't it?

If you know our music well, you will notice there are Dogfight links in such pieces as That's a Plenty, Clarinet Marmalade, High Society, and King Porter Stomp.

Haruka Kikuchi on her Wedding Day.

But you can hear her playing a 'Dogfight'

- see below.

If you are still having trouble grasping the idea, listen to this video which was put up on YouTube by my 'adopted grand-daughter' Haruka Kikuchi! You can hear the Dogfight (in this case a 12-bar Dogfight) from 1 minute 7 seconds to 1 minute 19 seconds, and again from 2 minutes 46 seconds to 2 minutes 59 seconds.

CLICK HERE.