Post 368: CHLOE, CONRAD, AND THE SHOTGUN JAZZ BAND

In case you missed it when I wrote about it several months ago, I must recommend to you a delightful video that is highly appropriate at this time of year. It features Chloe and Conrad.

But first I must tell you about a wonderful coincidence.

Nearly a year ago one of my readers - Phil in America - recommended that I should look at this particular video made by these two people of whom I had never heard. I was completely charmed and bowled over by it and I have since watched it many times.

It was Chloe Feoranzo and Conrad Cayman playing (and singing) What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? - a Frank Loesser song from 1947. Have a look. You won't regret it.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

And here's the coincidence: on Wednesday 8th April 2015, I happened to be visiting New Orleans for the first time in very many years. That night, at The Spotted Cat, I thought I recognised the guitarist guesting with The Shotgun Jazz Band. It was none other than Conrad Cayman. I had admired his work and he had enjoyed my blog. Although we had never met, we were instantly so happy at this chance encounter. As Conrad said, isn't this indeed a wonderful world - in which technology can bring together as instant friends two people from opposite sides of the globe?

Conrad told me he is now a full-time professional musician, working mainly in traditional jazz in the Los Angeles area (for example with Chloe in The JC Jazz Crew and in The Big Butter Jazz Band), though he has various other musical projects. You can find a good range of the work of both Conrad and Chloe on YouTube.

We also discovered an interesting example of how ideas spread in the world of traditional jazz. I had commented in one of my posts about the way Tuba Skinny - in a particular tune - had reversed the usual situation by having the 'front line' play stop chords as support to a solo chorus from a banjo. Conrad decided to try a similar technique on his forthcoming JC Jazz Crew album with guests Katie Cavera and Corey Gemme (see their Facebook page): the horns hit the 2nd and 4th beats while the bass takes the melody in a Verse. Conrad said it worked really well.

Chloe and Conrad are both regular members of The JC Jazz Crew, together with Justin Au.

Conrad is rightly proud of the videos of himself and Chloe and also those of Justin with his brothers and uncle. You could try these and then explore where they lead:
CLICK HERE
or (including Katie Cavera)
CLICK HERE.
Like me, Conrad was having a holiday in New Orleans and getting involved in the jazz scene as much as possible.

I meet Conrad Cayman

We have this photo souvenir of our meeting; and I'm pleased to say Conrad immediately emailed it to Chloe, who was touring in Australasia.

And you can watch the video I made that evening of The Shotgun Jazz Band (including Conrad) giving a storming performance of Climax Rag. Just click here  and you will see why I considered that one of the highlights of my visit to New Orleans. With Conrad - John, Twerk, Haruka, James and Marla were all on terrific form.

Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too, Chloe, if you read this!

Post 344: THE GENTILLY STOMPERS - A NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND

One of the best traditional jazz bands to appear in 2016 (even though it was formed only at the beginning of that year) was The Gentilly Stompers. When you see who's in the line-up you will begin to understand why. This picture shows the players who recorded the band's first CD. It was released on 24 January 2017. It is called 'Thanks A Million!' and comprises 12 tunes, mostly good old favourites.

You can watch a very happy video of the band - with excellent sound and picture quality (though without a reed player on the occasion) by clicking here. When I spent a few days visiting New Orleans in April 2016, one of the local musicians gave me the tip that I ought to seek out The Gentilly Stompers. I had not previously heard of them.

The Gentilly Stompers at Bamboula's

I managed to find them playing at Bamboula's in Frenchmen Street on 10 April. And a very enjoyable session it was. The Band played mainly the standard repertoire in good but uncomplicated arrangements. The teamwork and musicianship were outstanding.

The Band had been formed early in 2016 by yet another great lady trumpet-player - Catie Rodgers. Her own playing is first-class and she is a good leader - giving clear directions and encouraging all members of the band to show what they can do.

I managed to have a few words with Catie. She told me she studied Music at the local University of New Orleans, specialising in trumpet playing. She is a fine classical trumpet player. But classical trumpet players do not always make good traditional jazz players. Catie is an exception. She is an outstanding player in the New Orleans jazz idiom, whether stating a melody with minimal decoration, or improvising a solo chorus with great technical proficiency.

Catie told me she is 'going for clarity and soul'. One of her main influences is the cornet player Connie Jones, who recently retired. She told me 'His lines and feeling really can't be beat'. She said her policy has been to recruit musicians who are sharp, sensitive listeners and really good, fun people. 'I believe that creates an inviting dynamic, and a positive environment to hang in. I'm always looking for more inspiration, whether it be recordings, old or new, or in my fellow peers as we grow and change together'.

Her core players at July 2016 were: Haruka Kikuchi (trombone), Chloe Feoranzo (reeds), Alex Belhaj (guitar), Miles Lyons (tuba) and Sean Clark (drums).

But how did Catie come to be leader of a band called The Gentilly Stompers?

While still a student (in about 2012), she started gigging in the City. She did quite a bit of deputising for absent trumpet players. As they were often the band leaders, she found herself in both a directing as well as a deputising role. Soon people began to suggest that she should officially become a band-leader and run a band of her own.

Why call it The Gentilly Stompers? It is named after Gentilly, the New Orleans suburb about four miles north of the French Quarter. Gentilly is on the south side of Lake Pontchartrain and it is also where The University of New Orleans is situated.

How has Catie mastered the art of playing the trumpet so well? By putting in many years of hard work, I am sure. But she also told me the secret lies in loving the instrument. 'I have great respect for the trumpet and I think that's very important.'

I made a video during their performance on 10 April. Unfortunately, because of the conditions in the bar, the lighting and sound qualities are far from perfect, but I hope it will give you some idea of how good this band really is: CLICK HERE for a performance of 'Honeysuckle Rose'.

Some months later, Catie decided to head to Kansas City to pursue yet higher classical trumpet music studies at the University of Missouri. Though she was missed in New Orleans, I am sure we all wished her well. The good news is that she was back in New Orleans at the end of December 2016, leading The Gentilly Stompers in some gigs, no doubt during her vacation. Here she is, on December 29th, 2016, at Buff'a's, leading the band through Milneberg Joys:

Even later news is that Catie returned 'permanently' to New Orleans in March 2017. I hope she will keep the band going.

Post 341: CONRAD CAYMAN, CHLOE FEORANZO, AND JUSTIN AU

A few years ago, a blog reader asked me to have a look at the video of Chloe Feoranzo and Conrad Cayman playing and singing the duet What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

I had not previously heard of Chloe and Conrad but I was immediately enchanted. It must be one of the sweetest performances by just two musicians ever to appear on YouTube. If you haven't yet seen the video, please have a look by clicking on here. Isn't that delightful?

But after that touching, gentle performance (in 2012), fast forward to April 2016 and watch Chloe playing the C melody sax, trading bars at high speed with James Evans. The final couple of minutes of this video (the last four choruses) are sensational: click here to view it. On that evidence (Chloe had just moved to New Orleans a few days earlier and this was her first full gig with the band) I would say Chloe was at that time the best and most exciting traditional jazz reed player aged under 25 in the world. She is brilliant on saxes and clarinet and also plays ukulele and she sings most beautifully. What a talented young lady!

And then, for more excitement, watch both Conrad and Chloe in the same week playing Fidgety Feet in New Orleans with The Shotgun Jazz Band by clicking here.

When I previously visited New Orleans in April 2015, I had the pleasure of meeting Conrad who, like me, was there for the French Quarter Festival. 

He appears in an exciting video I made at the time, guesting with The Shotgun Jazz Band in Climax Rag: click here to view it.

Conrad was involved in several musical ventures and had recently gone full-time as a musician and band-leader.

When I returned to New Orleans in April 2016, I had not been in town for more than half an hour when I bumped into Conrad again. And this time Chloe was with him! Meeting them both together was a most joyful event for me. They were about to listen to Marla Dixon's wonderful Shotgun Jazz Band at The Spotted Cat and - of course - to sit in for a few tunes.

Chloe has been playing trad jazz festivals since the age of 15. She went off to college in St. Louis but decided to drop out after only two years because her career had taken over: she had so many attractive gigs in her diary that she was too busy to go on attending lessons! Roots American artist Pokey LaFarge had spotted her playing with a local band and asked her to tour with his band. She did that for a few years, travelling all over the world.

In April 2016, she took the decision to move home to New Orleans and was immediately in demand to play with several bands. I guessed she would stay happy and extremely busy. And Chloe does not feel that she is exclusively a traditional jazz player. She also plays modern as well as various ethnic folk styles.

Earlier in California, Conrad and Chloe, together with trumpet-player Justin Au, had been the nucleus of a small group calling itself The JC Jazz Crew. May I suggest you check out their website: www.jcjazzcrew.com. And have a look at this charming video: Click Here. If you enjoyed that, try this one, which is delightful too (and it features a beautiful cat): Click Here.

They made some great videos in Conrad's living room. Curiously enough, they really enjoyed sitting on the floor to play. So when they made a CD, they called it Four on the Floor (including Conrad's vacuum cleaner, which happens to feature in some of the videos!). An artistic friend, Thomas Yamaoka, produced these very effective front and back covers for the CD:

Conrad very kindly gave me a copy of the CD and both he and Chloe autographed it for me. What a souvenir! 

And I must tell you that Chloe's mother, Donna, did the artwork for the inside of the CD.

A few days later, their colleague Justin Au arrived in New Orleans and he too sat in with The Shotgun Jazz Band at The Spotted Cat.

Conrad, Chloe, Justin.

Justin comes from a famous jazzing family. He and his brothers Gordon and Brandon have also been playing traditional jazz since their youth. They were influenced by their uncle, Howard Miyata, who plays tuba and trombone with The High Sierra Jazz Band. Justin has played and recorded with many of the 'big names' of today; and he also works in Sacramento, teaching music and traditional jazz on various youth programmes.

The CD 'Four on the Floor' is a delight. Conrad explained to me that, because he and Justin live six hours apart, and Chloe was touring, the three friends got together only once or twice  a year, including November for the San Diego Jazz Festival. Just for fun, they made a video, playing the Stars Wars Cantina Band Song.

(They were amazed that it had been watched 565,000+ times on YouTube by May 2016. Judge it for yourself by clicking here.) This led to the idea of recording an album; but it took another year to make and then a further year to mix, master and produce, finally appearing in November 2015.

With a guest on four of the eleven tracks, and vocals on five tracks, there is technically brilliant music in a variety of moods, with some slick arrangements. The very popular Katie Cavera on banjo and bass is one of the guests; the other is Corey Gemme on trombone (though elsewhere he also plays reeds, cornet, sousaphone and is a composer!).

For example, there's an astonishing number of clever touches to enjoy in Riverboat Shuffle, which they take at quite a pace. 

These modest young people are altogether charming and amazingly talented. Let us look forward to many years of great music from them.

Conrad told me the JC Jazz Crew were planning to be together again next in November 2016.