Post 611: RECOMMENDED GREAT TRADITIONAL JAZZ VIDEOS

I leave you some recommendations for videos of traditional jazz bands active in recent years. If you have not seen these videos before, I hope you will enjoy them. If you have seen them, I am sure you will enjoy watching them again!

First, for a relaxed, moving, unpretentious but beautifully-played performance, showing just how perfect a musical form traditional jazz can be, try Whenever You're Lonesome, Just Telephone Me played by members of The Shotgun Jazz Band. The video runs for about five minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IwUIizeLk0

For an example of a great jazz band playing one of the very complex tunes from our repertoire - Deep Henderson - watch Tuba Skinny in this next video. It runs for a little over three minutes. Notice how all members of the band, working from memory rather than printed arrangements, play wonderfully as an ensemble through all three sections of this challenging piece, not to mention taking in their stride a change of key and linking passages:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqVx9vwt2WM

Now, for some passionate 'no frills' traditional jazz, coupled with brilliant musicianship and generating great excitement, I would like to offer you a performance of Royal Garden Blues that I myself had the privilege of filming. This one runs for under five minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv5RBMA_v4k

Next, I offer you a performance of a good old jazz standard - Savoy Blues - played by The Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band. This video runs for a little under five minutes. I recommend it because it shows what happens when six outstanding musicians come together and - with great respect for each other - play wonderfully as a team, just as our bands should. This performance too is unpretentious and yet you will hardly find a better rendition of this piece anywhere:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjvABe9Mvns

Finally, if you have time to sit back for a full half hour and watch six outstanding musicians play a varied programme ranging from storming stuff such as Climax Rag to the tender Love Songs of the Nile, may I urge you to watch this video? You will also hear such tunes as Oriental Man, Yearning, Mobile Stomp and I Can't Escape From You. As one observer said, 'It's the kind of music that makes you cry with joy!' Click on it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RicINWvmAcg&t=814s

In my opinion, this is the best 'half-hour live concert' video to have appeared in several years.

Post 590: 'SAVOY BLUES' - TWO MAGNIFICENT CONTRASTING PERFORMANCES

May I draw to your attention two recent and magnificent performances of Savoy Blues? They are both available for you to watch and hear on YouTube.

Savoy Blues is one of the best-known tunes in the traditional jazz repertoire. It is played by almost all of our bands. Created by the great pioneering trombonist Edward 'Kid' Ory (1886 - 1973), it is played throughout in the key of F and has opportunities for 12-bar blues improvisations at its centre. But it also has popular riffing patterns at the beginning and end. These have become conventional parts of the structure. The exciting riffs are old friends to anybody who listens regularly to traditional jazz. Because the trombone usually has such a prominent part, the tune is often regarded as a trombone feature. Most bands playing Savoy Blues stick closely to the original Ory structure.

The first performance on YouTube, by the Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band, adheres to these conventions. The video may be enjoyed BY CLICKING HERE.

The ladies begin with the famous 16-bar introduction with its striking notes at the end (30 seconds to 32 seconds). This is followed by the famous riff of 12 bars where once again the final two bars are usually accentuated (52 seconds to 54 seconds). After this comes a four-bar 'bridge' (two bars played twice) acting as a lead-in to the series of 12-bar blues solos. 

In this Shake 'Em Up performance, the first solo is taken by Chloe Feoranzo on the clarinet. Chloe by the way plays a Buffet E11 clarinet with a Vandoren M13 Lyre mouthpiece. She begins with a laid-back chorus and then plays two more in which her improvisations become increasingly fiery. Chloe is followed by Marla on the trumpet. She also takes three choruses, demonstrating some very fine work with the plunger mute. Note how Haruka Kikuchi and Chloe back her up with a gentle riff in the third chorus (2 minutes 56 seconds to 3 minutes 12). 

It is usual in Savoy Blues for the final solo to be taken by the trombone. That is what happens here. The great Haruka Kikuchi, who has told us it was Kid Ory who inspired her to become a traditional jazz trombonist, plays very much in his manner. She takes just two choruses, with Marla and Chloe backing her up prettily in the second. As is the convention in Savoy Blues, the trombone solo ends with a glissando rising over two bars (3 minutes 57 seconds to 4 minutes 01 in this video). This glissando is one of the most treasured and exciting moments for traditional jazz audiences (as indeed it obviously is for the cheering audience here!).

The glissando takes us into the final two 12-bar riffing choruses. The Shake 'Em Up ladies then finish with a neat two-bar trombone-led coda. 

Throughout this performance, notice the superbly metronomic, empathetic and gentle rhythmic footfall provided in the background by Albanie, Molly and Dizzy. 

What a magnificent performance of Savoy Blues this is! Here we have six of our greatest musicians each individually demonstrating wonderful skills and yet playing brilliantly as a team. It is hard to imagine a better performance of Savoy Blues in its conventional form.

Now let us turn to the slightly more recent performance by Tuba Skinny. You can watch the video BY CLICKING HERE.

This is equally magnificent and yet the tune is reinterpreted in Tuba Skinny's distinctive way. Editing of the usual rituals has taken place and the tune is given a new delicacy. There is no question of its being a 'trombone feature'; and the 12-bar riffs that usually bring the tune to an end are replaced by a repeat of the riffs from the beginning.

Sure enough, Tuba Skinny begin with the usual 16-bar riffing introduction but with less accentuation on the famous final two bars than we normally hear (from 32 seconds to 35 seconds). Then, sticking for the moment to the usual pattern, they follow with the 12-bar riff but again quite deliberately tone down the final two bars (54 seconds to 55 seconds). 

This is followed by the usual four-bar link to the solo choruses. It is played gently by Barnabus. 

As with the Shake 'Em Up version, soloing now begins. First we have Craig playing two choruses on the clarinet, in the second of which he is very neatly and gently backed up by Shaye and Barnabus (1 minute 26 seconds to 1 minute 42).

We then have an extraordinary conversational two choruses in which Barnabus on trombone and Shaye on cornet 'trade twos' in a most exquisite manner (1 minute 47 seconds to 2 minutes 30). For me, this is the highlight of the performance and it demonstrates so well why thousands of us all over the world consider the musical partnership and mutual understanding of Shaye and Barnabus to be among the best in traditional jazz anywhere. 

After this we have a single 12-bar chorus from the strings. 

Now, in a total break from the Savoy Blues conventions we do not have a final chorus from the trombone and we do not have the famous glissando up to the 12-bar riffs that normally bring the tune to an end. In contrast, the trombone solo and those riffs are dropped altogether and we have Todd (at 2 minutes 52 seconds) taking the lead just for 12 bars while the others repeat the 12-bar riff that had been played before the solo choruses. 

Finally, Tuba Skinny choose to go right back to the beginning (with Shaye tapping her hand on the head at 3 minutes 13 to remind them to do this). So they end by playing the 16-bar introduction and the 12-bar riff that always follows it yet again, giving us an unusual and surprising ending, which incidentally they finish in a gentle manner with a little rallentando.

In addition to the musicians I have named, note the usual brilliance and solidity of the Tuba Skinny rhythm section and the subtleties of Robin's playing on his percussion instruments.

So this too is a magnificent performance, cleverly thought out, with superb teamwork and some lovely touches demonstrating traditional jazz at its best. 

I hope you will enjoy these videos as much as I have. And I must add that both were uploaded by RaoulDuke504. I think we owe this generous gentleman a major international award for all the pleasure he has spread over the world with his videos in the last few years. Thank you, RaoulDuke504!

Post 587: 'A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE GROOVE' - FROM VIV TO MARLA

In 1946, a quintet led by string bass player (and occasional singer) Vivien Garry made a recording for RCA Victor Records of Vivien's tune A Woman's Place is in the Groove (also known as Sycamore Blues). It was a 5-piece band. But the distinguishing feature of this group was that the players were all ladies.

The tune A Woman's Place is in the Groove is simple - just a riffy number based on a 12-bar blues chord sequence in that easiest of keys - Bb. But it was played in a rocking up-tempo style, with good teamwork and improvisations.

Listen to the recording BY CLICKING HERE.

Vivien Garry was married to the guitarist Arvin Charles Garrison. She played and recorded (with eleven different recording companies) in numerous small groups (often led by herself and including her husband) and she also made a few recordings with orchestras.

Vivien Garry lived a long life. She died just ten years ago.

It seems that the only recordings by The Vivien Garry Quintet were all made on one day in September 1946. In addition to A Woman's Place is in the Groove were I'm in the Mood for Love, Operation Mop, and Body and Soul. The members of the quintet, in addition to Vivien on bass, were Emma 'Ginger' Smock (violin), Edna Williams (trumpet),  Dody Jeshke (drums) and Wini Beatty (piano).

Here they are, with Edna on the left and Vivien herself at the back on the right:

Operation Mop (sometimes known as Edna's Stomp), by the way, is also available on YouTube. It's a bouncy, boppy 32-bar a-a-b-a number composed by the quintet's trumpet player.

Where did Edna Williams emerge from? Research takes us back to the Piney Woods Country Life School, about 150 miles (250 kilometres) due north from New Orleans. This institution, founded in 1909 as a boarding school for African-Americans, notably orphans, by the far-sighted Dr. Laurence C. Jones, set high educational and religious standards and was particularly strong in training future musicians. Today the school stands in a fine campus and includes a Laurence C. Jones Museum. Jones himself ensured that the school developed bands and choirs. It was he who started and led a girls' swing band. It went on to be the first manifestation of the big band (very popular and famous at the time) called The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. You can find examples of their playing on YouTube. From 1941, they operated as a professional group, independent of the school. Other young lady musicians of various races joined them.

They toured America, playing at top theatres and setting box office records. I find it appalling, though, that when they played in the Southern States, despite their star status, they were forced to live, eat and sleep in the band bus because the segregation laws prevented them from using the hotels and restaurants. The Band went on to entertain the troops in Europe towards the end of the Second World War.

Vivien Garry was able to hand-pick Edna Williams from that band to participate in her quintet. Also notable on the recording is Emma 'Ginger' Smock, 26 years old at the time. Bearing in mind that the Quintet had no reed player, Emma does an amazing job with her improvisations on violin. She went on later to lead an all-female sextet of her own. She died in 1995.

I have been unable to find out anything about the other two ladies on the recording, except that Wini Beatty also played and recorded with The Vivien Garry Trio. You can find her (on YouTube) both singing and playing piano in this group.

Why am I telling you all this - I who had never heard of Vivien Garry until recently? It's because my friend Marla Dixon and her five colleagues in The Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band (probably the best all-female jazz band in the world today) decided to call their latest Album A Woman's Place and to include among its 12 tracks A Woman's Place is in the Groove.

How do they play it? Like the Vivien Garry version, they begin with an 8-bar Introduction played principally on the trumpet. Then Vivien has a chorus led by the muted trumpet and violin in unison. Shake 'Em Up, having greater resources, also begin with a unison chorus. Vivien then has three remarkable choruses played by the great Emma Smock on violin, and then the equally-great Edna Williams plays three on the muted trumpet, sometimes sounding reminiscent of King Oliver. Next, Wini Beatty plays three on the piano, in the last of which she neatly decorates the notes played by bass and percussion, and ending with two bars of percussion that lead us into two final super ensemble choruses, where you might almost think you were listening to a big band. What an exquisite recording!

The Shake 'Em Up Band, with its different instrumentation, gives the clarinet, trumpet and trombone a couple of choruses each before choruses from the others (including a fine one from Molly Reeves on guitar) lead to a swinging final three choruses from the ensemble.

The strengths of The Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band are these: they have on trumpet, clarinet and trombone three of the finest exponents of those instruments anywhere in the world; and they are supported by a 'rhythm section' that - without any drums, or banjo, or brass bass, or piano - succeeds in generating an exciting and subtle pulse that drives the band along. It is amazing how well these ladies listen to each other and play as a team.
============
Additional Note

As well as hearing this played by Shake 'Em Up on their Album, you can now view a live and extended performance of the tune - courtesy of that indefatigable and generous video-maker codenamed RaoulDuke504:
CLICK HERE.

Post 546: SHAKE 'EM UP JAZZ BAND TRIUMPHS AGAIN!

Once again, those of us who live thousands of miles from New Orleans are indebted to my friend Randy, who makes videos under the name RaoulDuke504. Despite his busy and hard-working life as a chef, he managed to get across the Lake to attend the performance by the all-ladies Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on 7 September 2017. 

And what a performance it was! This band - which was formed initially just to give a demonstration at a girls' summer camp in 2016 - has continued in existence, flourished and is now one of the most exciting and best traditional jazz bands in the world.

Watch Randy's video of them playing Margie in this recent concert: CLICK HERE.

Yes, I know it's a simple 'standard' that all bands play. But what musicianship!

The three rhythm players have established a kind of 'alternative' gently-pulsating New Orleans-style background that really drives the music and keeps your feet tapping. They are unusual in having no drum kit, no tuba, no banjo, no piano. It's all done in this video by Albanie's guitar, Molly's string bass and Dizzy's subtle work on the washboard (listen to the way she uses her 'cymbal' on the offbeats in the final chorus). I should explain that Julie was out of town so Albanie joined the band. In one half of the concert, she played guitar and Molly the string bass; in the other half, they switched rôles. What versatile and brilliant musicians they are!

After a neat final-eight intro from Haruka, Albanie provides a lovely clear vocal at the start.

Then excitement gradually builds, first with a super solo chorus from Haruka, and next with one of amazing fluency from Chloe on clarinet, while the three rhythm ladies keep that gentle, hypnotic pulse going. Just listen to those notes in Chloe's improvisation. Jazz doesn't get any better than that. Then we hear one of Marla's specials - a chorus brilliantly demonstrating what she can achieve with the plunger mute - hugely creative. After this we have a most exciting chorus, with all three front-line ladies collectively improvising around the melody. How well they listen to each other!

After Albanie sings the vocal again, there is a final ensemble chorus that leaves you desperate to hear more from this band.

And yet the whole performance is achieved with restraint. Everyone is relaxed, comfortable and totally in control. There is no over-blowing, no excessive noise. The notes are allowed to do the work. What we have here are great musicians with a common purpose, working brilliantly as a team and expressing the soul of the music.

I could go on about the other videos from this performance.... But seek them out for yourselves. 'Savoy Blues' and 'Shake 'Em Up' are played in ways that will also take your breath away.

By the way, the cavernous acoustics in the Museum are notoriously bad. So Randy did really well to get close to the band and capture the sound in such high quality.

Post 537: SHAKE 'EM UP JAZZ BAND'S FIRST ALBUM

Good news is that the all-ladies New Orleans-based band called The Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band has released its first Digital Album. It contains ten songs. You can buy the Album (or individual songs from it) by downloading from:

https://shakeemup.bandcamp.com/releases

The first thing that strikes you about this Album is the clean quality of the recording. All the instruments can be clearly heard and the balance is fine. Molly Reeves has every right to be proud, as she was responsible for the recording and mixing.

Molly Reeves

The title of the Album – Le Donne Mangiano Succhero – which I would very freely translate as The Ladies Like Eating Sugary Things – seems to have been confirmed by their Summer 2017 visit to The Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, where I hear they enjoyed visiting the pastry and sweet shops!

What will you discover in the Album?

I think you will discover that this band has developed a very pleasant house style. Using simple but well-judged head arrangements, they aim at clarity and accuracy, with full respect to melody and harmonious decoration. You will not find the deliberate rough edges and rawness that some traditional jazz bands go for. But you will hear inspired improvisation, both in the solos and ensembles. And there's some good singing too.

There is a short and snappy version of Les Oignons – with the breaks left silent. So you can all shout ‘Onions’ in the privacy of your home!

Shake ‘Em Up, which has become the band’s unofficial signature tune, is a merry up-tempo 16-bar number, based on a familiar chord sequence. They play it cheerily.

Hearing Molly singing Make Me a Pallet on the Floor was for me one of the pleasures of 2017. She sang the song at my request one night in New Orleans and I put the performance on YouTube. You can see it BY CLICKING HERE.

I’m pleased to say Molly sings the song on this Album, with great support from the rest of the band.

In fact Molly and Julie, together with Dizzy, make a superb and metronomic rhythm team and provide perfect background colouring. Molly and Julie may be heard taking occasional 8-bar or 16-bar solos; and Washboard Wiggles – a standard F minor tune with a 32-bar aaba structure (remarkably similar in chord progression to Root, Hog, or Die or Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen) – gives Dizzy a chance to shine. But also note a lovely fluent chorus in this tune from Chloe.

The Kid Ory standard Savoy Blues is included. It is a trombonist's speciality and I know Haruka enjoys playing it. She and the band give a good solid performance.

There is the calypso number called Shame and Scandal in the Family. This seems to be a two-chorder (C and G7th). It is a fun song composed in 1943 by the Trinidadian Lancelot Pinard (who used the stage name Sir Lancelot).

Root, Hog, or Die (here played in C minor) has become a popular standard in the band’s repertoire. Marla sings it and there is some super soloing, including Chloe’s clarinet backed by washboard only.

Molly sings My Silent Love (composed in 1932) very sweetly and then Chloe plays the first of a series of lovely half-choruses taken by herself, Marla, Haruka and Molly.

In total contrast, Chloe lustily sings the many verses of Empty Bed Blues. I don’t know whether the innuendoes enjoyed by Bessie Smith’s audiences back in 1928 are still appreciated in this more sophisticated age; but the song gives great opportunities to Haruka and Marla to show how well they can provide background colouring in a 12-bar blues.

The CD ends with Chloe singing the medium-tempo There’s a New Moon Over My Shoulder, complete with Verse. It is a Jimmie Davis song from 1944.

All in all, this is a delightful Album and well worth acquiring if you have enjoyed the band’s live performances and YouTube appearances since it was formed (originally by Shaye Cohn) in the summer of 2016.

Post 536: HARUKA KIKUCHI BACK IN TOKYO

What a summer Haruka Kikuchi has been enjoying! She was in Italy with The Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band for the Umbria Jazz Festival, where they played a series of performances. Several very good videos from those have appeared on YouTube.

And then she spent some time on a trip back home to Japan, where she met up again with her old friends - that very fine band The New Orleans Jazz Hounds.

The generous video-maker codenamed ragtimecave seems to have filmed almost an entire gig. Yes, there's a whole batch of glorious videos. They play storming versions of standards such as Clarinet Marmalade, Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, Savoy Blues, and Down in Honky Tonk Town. One of my favourites is an eight-minute version of Marie, in which Haruka is joined by two other excellent trombonists, making a 'front line' entirely of trombones. Each takes a couple of solo choruses, with the other two providing a tasteful riffing backing to the second chorus. They also play an exciting 'front line only' chorus. Watch it by clicking here.

So we get to see Haruka, with the brilliant clarinet star Tamura Makiko, both in their kimonos. Wonderful! Watch them on Buddy Bolden's Blues by clicking here.

I hear that Tamura Makiko is likely to be visiting New Orleans for a holiday in October. Haruka intends to make some recordings with her.

As regular readers will know, Haruka is my unofficial adopted grand-daughter! I have so much enjoyed meeting her in New Orleans. Here we are earlier this year.

Post 528: EH LA BAS - LET'S TALK CREOLE PATOIS

There are a few good old songs in our repertoire that date from the days when Creole patois was still widely spoken in Louisiana. I believe it probably is still spoken. I well remember, on my first visit to America about 30 years ago, somewhere near Lafayette meeting a couple of elderly gentlemen who were sheltering from the heat in the shade of a moss-covered oak. One of them was playing an accordion. They were speaking in 'Creole' and I struggled to converse in my almost-forgotten schoolboy French, but we managed to understand each other enough to exchange plenty of thoughts.

If you know a bit of French, you can get some of the meaning; but you notice that most of the rules of French grammar and spelling have gone to the wall, and familiar words are compressed.

The great Humphrey Lyttelton used to play an exciting tune called Ce Mossieu Qui Parle. This was taken to mean 'This man who is speaking'. But, as Humphrey himself said, it might originally have been C'est moi seule qui parle ('It's only me who's speaking.')

The most famous of the tunes our bands still play is Eh La Bas. Potentially, it has plenty of verses. But here is quite enough of the song for most people (with French and English translations):

Eh la bas! Eh la bas! Eh la bas, chèri! Komon sa va?
(Eh la bas! Eh la bas! Eh la bas, chéri. Comment  ça va?)

(Hey there! Hey there! Hey there, m'love! How's things?)

Mo chè kouzen, mo chè kouzin, mo lenme la kizin!
(Mon cher cousin, ma chère cousine, j'aime la cuisine)
(My dear cousin, my dear cousin(ess), I love cooking)

Mo manje plen, mo bwa diven, e sa pa kout ariyen.
(Je mange beaucoup, je bois du vin et ça ne coûte rien.)

(I eat plenty, I drink wine and that costs nothing.)

Ye tchwe kochon, ye tchwe lapen, e mo manje plen.

(On tue cochon, on tue lapin, et je mange beaucoup.)

(They kill a  pig, they kill a rabbit, and I eat till I'm full.)

Ye fe gonmbo, mo manje tro, e sa fe mon malad.

(On fait gumbo, je mange trop et ça me rend malade.)

(They make gumbo, I eat too much and that makes me sick.)

The reason why I am thinking of this topic today is that I enjoyed the performance of this song by the all-ladies Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band at the Abita Springs Buskers Festival in April 2017. Marla Dixon had a really good shot at singing the words (all the above and more, I think!). You can watch the performance again by going to

https://livestream.com/accounts/21714146/events/7258879

Click on the second from the top of the four available videos. You will then need to slide the control button along to 1 hour 40 minutes 30 seconds, which is where the song begins.

You can also enjoy the late great Danny Barker performing the song clearly and with many verses BY CLICKING HERE.

Post 500: SHAKE 'EM UP AT ABITA BUSKERS FESTIVAL 2017

On Sunday 23 April 2017 the annual Buskers Festival was held at Abita Springs, on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain. For those of you who don't know the area, it's about 45 miles north of New Orleans.

Six fine bands played for an hour each between midday and early evening. They included some of our favourites, such as The Hokum High Rollers, The Gentilly Stompers, the all-ladies Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band and Tuba Skinny. 

It was a glorious event; and the great news is that the New Orleans radio station WW0Z made excellent videos of the entire proceedings. 

Many of you have told me you have become big fans of the Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band. They gave a lovely performance in which, as usual, the ladies played some outstanding traditional jazz, while making it all look so relaxed and simple, which of course it isn't. Chloe by the way plays a Buffet E11 clarinet with a Vandoren M13 Lyre mouthpiece. The fluidity of some of her improvisations was mind-boggling; but the playing from the entire band was outstanding. And Molly was a power-house on guitar and also contributed vocals on Sweet Substitute and My Silent Love.

The programme included those old favourites The Onions (though surprisingly the audience did not seem aware that they were required to shout 'Onions' in all the breaks!) and Eh La Bas, with Marla singing the original creole patois. Dizzy's playing was spot-on as usual; and she was featured on Washboard Wiggles.

And Haruka was on her usual fine form.

Other highlights were Savoy Blues, Shake It and Break It and When You Wore a Tulip – one of several vocals delivered by Chloe.

It was so good to be able to watch Julie in close-up and admire what a fine string bass player she has become. She told me in 2016 (the only occasion when I have had the privilege of speaking with her) that she had not been playing the instrument for many months.

Yet now Julie is one of the best bass players on the New Orleans scene, accurate, rock-solid - a driving force.

I imagine this band rarely has the chance to get together to discuss repertoire and rehearse, so the slickness and teamwork are all the more impressive.

But enough from me. Watch the video for yourself. Go to:

https://livestream.com/accounts/21714146/events/7258879

There you will see (on the right of the page) that the entire Festival has been divided into four videos. To find Shake 'Em Up, click on the second from the top - the one that runs for 2 hours and 8 minutes. Slide the time bar to about 1 hour 9 minutes for the start of their performance.

Elsewhere in the four videos, you will be able to listen to all the other bands at the Festival, including Tuba Skinny playing such tunes as Pearl River Stomp, Cold Morning Shout, Bellamina, Fireworks, Kansas City Stomps and (for the first time on video?) Come On and Stomp Stomp Stomp.

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POST 480: LADIES SHAKE 'EM UP AT UMBRIA JAZZ FESTIVAL

The Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band, made up entirely of great lady musicians who are based in New Orleans, is to play at The Umbria Jazz Festival in mid-July 2017. The Festival is held in Perugia, Italy.

Shaye Cohn, who founded the band, has now dropped out and her place is to be taken on trombone by Haruka Kikuchi - the superb Japanese-born musician.

In case you are unaware, let me tell you that in the summer of 2016, Shaye Cohn put together in New Orleans this traditional jazz band comprising only ladies. We are lucky to live at a time when so many of the greatest traditional jazz musicians are ladies and when so many of them happen to have settled in that city.

And in this band, you find SIX of them making up what may well be one of the greatest all-female bands ever.

Another interesting feature of the band is that Shaye Cohn played trombone - something I had never seen her do before. Is there nothing that young lady can't master? Even before this, she had become established as one of the finest trad jazz piano and cornet players of all time, as well as being very good on violin, string bass and accordion. The other ladies are Chloe Feoranzo, Marla Dixon, Defne Incirlioglu, Julie Schexnayder, and Molly Chaffin Reeves - every one a heroine of our musical times.

Shaye's original purpose was to give a demonstration of traditional jazz at the Girls' Summer Band Camp in New Orleans. But the all-ladies band - once formed - was too good to waste and fans pleaded for them to play elsewhere.

They were invited to play at the famous Abita Springs Opry on 19 November. 

The concert they gave was traditional jazz of the finest kind - tasteful and yet always exciting and full of intelligent ideas. They opened with Some Day Sweetheart and then continued with Root, Hog; or Die!, Sugar Blues, When You Wore A Tulip, Make Me A Pallet on the Floor, and - to finish - Hindustan.

Having done the good work behind the scenes, Shaye gave herself a secondary role in performance, leaving Marla to play the trumpet, lead the band and do the announcing.

Everyone was interested to see how Shaye would fare playing her newest instrument.

What she did was exactly what we might expect of her: she played a perfect and accurate though simple and basic line, fully conscious of the harmonising and rhythmic responsibilities of the trombone in our music. On Sugar Blues (played in the rarely-used key of G) she took a complete solo chorus and the audience loved it.

Root, Hog; Or Die! - played in C minor - romped along, with plenty of mini-solos and Marla providing the vocal.

Among the highlights of the concert were a beautiful two-chorus solo by Chloe on Make Me a Pallet (which they played in F) and an exquisite vocal duet at the end of When You Wore A Tulip (played in Ab) with Chloe singing the melody and Marla perfectly harmonising on lower notes. Chloe was also the vocalist on Sugar Blues, which she sang with great passion.

(I am mentioning keys because they differ from those sometimes used for the tunes in question.)

Pumping the band along, Molly on guitar and Julie on string bass provided the chords very solidly, four to the bar; and 'Dizzy' as ever maintained metronomic gentle percussion on the washboard, and took very neat solos, including a full chorus on When You Wore a Tulip.

Molly is a fine singer, as well as being a brilliant player of the guitar and banjo;  and she gave a lovely rendition of Make Me a Pallet. In fact, Make Me a Pallet is my favourite performance in this video. Molly reminds me of Carol Leigh singing with Kid Thomas; and every member of the band plays it beautifully, with terrific teamwork.

Chloe's clarinet was stunningly eloquent throughout and Marla was her usual exuberant self – passionately singing and also playing some wonderful stuff on the trumpet. On this occasion she did not use her famous Derby mute but her playing with the plunger mute on Sugar Blues and Pallet on the Floor was outstanding.

What a treat for us all! Let's hope this band - in addition to its performances in Italy - will continue to get together from time to time and that there will be many more videos for us to enjoy all over the world. The signs are good. The band has continued to accept occasional gigs. For example, they made their début at The Spotted Cat on 25 June 2017.

Shaye herself decided to leave the band early in 2017, and her place on trombone was taken by the great Haruka Kikuchi. And when Molly Reeves was not available, her place was taken by the excellent singer-guitarist Cristina Perez Edmunds.

You can watch the Abita Springs performance by going to Abita Springs' own site and then clicking on the arrow by the name of the band:
http://www.abitaopry.org/html/AO2016-11.html
It is also to be seen here:
https://vimeo.com/201161078
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NOTE ADDED IN JULY
Sure enough, the ladies seem to have had a great time and to have been popular in Italy. There are on YouTube several videos of them at the Festival.
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Footnote:
I am deeply indebted to my blog-reading friend and Louisiana resident Michael Brooks for supplying me with some of the information.

Post 468: SHAKE 'EM UP JAZZ BAND AT ABITA SPRINGS

Molly Reeves

In the summer of 2016, Shaye Cohn put together in New Orleans a traditional jazz band comprising only ladies. We are lucky to live at a time when so many of the greatest traditional jazz musicians are ladies and when so many of them happen to have settled in that city.

And in this band, you find SIX of them making up what may well be one of the greatest all-female bands ever.

Another interesting feature of this band is that Shaye Cohn is playing trombone - something I've never seen her do before. Is there nothing that young lady can't master? Even before this, she had become established as one of the finest trad jazz piano and cornet players of all time, as well as being very good on violin, string bass and accordion. The other ladies are of course Chloe Feoranzo, Marla Dixon, Dizzy, Julie Schexnayder, and Molly Chaffin Reeves - every one a heroine of our musical times.

Shaye's original purpose was to give a demonstration of traditional jazz at the Girls' Summer Band Camp in New Orleans. But the all-ladies band - once formed - was too good to waste and fans pleaded for them to play elsewhere.

At first, the band had no name but somebody (John Dixon, I believe) had the idea of calling it The EQP Jazz Band (EQual Pay). However, by November, Shaye seems to have decided to call it The Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band.

Whatever the band's name, the Good News is that they were invited to play at the famous Abita Springs Opry on 19 November. 

The concert they gave was traditional jazz of the finest kind - tasteful and yet always exciting and full of intelligent ideas. They opened with Some Day Sweetheart and then continued with Root, Hog; or Die!, Sugar Blues, When You Wore A Tulip, Make Me A Pallet on the Floor, and - to finish - Hindustan.

Having done the good work behind the scenes, Shaye gave herself a secondary role in performance, leaving Marla to play the trumpet, lead the band and do the announcing.

Everyone was interested to see how Shaye would fare playing her newest instrument, the trombone.

What she did was exactly what we might expect of her: she played a perfect and accurate though simple and basic line, fully conscious of the harmonising and rhythmic responsibilities of the trombone in our music. On Sugar Blues (played in the rarely-used key of G) she took a complete solo chorus and the audience loved it.

Root, Hog; Or Die! - played in C minor - romped along, with plenty of mini-solos and Marla providing the vocal.

Among the highlights of the concert were a beautiful two-chorus solo by Chloe on Make Me a Pallet (which they played in F) and an exquisite vocal duet at the end of When You Wore A Tulip (played in Ab) with Chloe singing the melody and Marla perfectly harmonising on lower notes. Chloe was also the vocalist on Sugar Blues, which she sang with great passion.

(I am mentioning keys because they differ from those sometimes used for the tunes in question.)

Pumping the band along, Molly on guitar and Julie on string bass provided the chords very solidly, four to the bar; and Dizzy as ever maintained metronomic gentle percussion on the washboard, and took very neat solos, including a full chorus on When You Wore a Tulip.

Molly is, of course, also a fine singer and gave a lovely rendition of Make Me a Pallet.

In fact, I am coming round to the opinion that Make Me a Pallet is my favourite performance in this video. Molly reminds me of Carol Leigh singing with Kid Thomas; and every member of the band plays it beautifully, with terrific teamwork.

Chloe's clarinet was stunningly eloquent throughout and Marla was her usual exuberant self – passionately singing and also playing some wonderful stuff on the trumpet. On this occasion she did not use her famous Derby mute but her playing with the plunger mute on Sugar Blues and Pallet on the Floor was outstanding.

What a treat for us all! Let's hope this band will continue to get together from time to time and that there will be many more videos for us to enjoy all over the world.

You can watch the Abita Spring's video of the performance by going to Abita Spring's own site and then clicking on the name of the band:
http://www.abitaopry.org/html/AO2016-11.html
It is also to be seen here:
https://vimeo.com/201161078

I am deeply indebted to my blog-reading friend and Louisiana resident Michael Brooks for supplying me with information.

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Here are extracts from two emails I received shortly after the above was published:

(1) As you and I have said before, we are living in a new golden age for traditional jazz.  These aren't just the best female musicians that our music has to offer but among the best no matter the gender.  I wonder what the old timers from the early days of New Orleans jazz would say?  Women were relegated to piano back then.

(2) Well, I read your blog over breakfast, and then watched the band ...

... and I just had to have another breakfast.

WHAT A WAY TO START MY DAY ... SIX VERY LOVELY AND TALENTED LADIES, TWO CUPS OF COFFEE AND A PLATE FULL OF CROISSANTS.

Life doesn't get any better!

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