TRAD JASS News Traditional Ragtime And Dixieland Jazz Appreciation & Strutters Society MAR 2019 Monthly Newsletter Volume XVI No. 292 General Information Dave Graves 707-478-3312 / [email protected] Jam Sets Dave Stare 707 480-6145 / [email protected] Newsletter/Membership Louise Graves 707-318-1297 / [email protected] Mar 3rd 1:00-5:00 The Fog City Stompers Live Music & Dancing Santa Rosa Moose Lodge 3559 Airway Drive 95403 Available for purchase Beer, Wine, & Soft Drinks,Cheeseburger, Fish’N’ Fries,Chicken Strips, Chili Dog, Country Fried Steak (Bartender is volunteer, please tip) Admission Prices $15 General Public $12 Our Members (all ages) $12 Guests of Members The Fog City Stompers have been playing since 1985. In addition to $12 Members of any Jazz Club the great old standards of the 1920s & 1930s, which include $12 Moose Lodge Members $ 8 Group of 3 or more from Senior Home arrangements and transcriptions of the Bix Beiderbecke recordings, $5 Jammer-Non Member of Jazz Club they offer original compositions and new arrangements performed in $0 Jammer - Member of Jazz Club the traditional Dixieland jazz style. They play currently at various Yearly Membership establishments and jazz clubs around the San Francisco bay area, $30 Single / $50 Couple and at private affairs. Please come up and say hello to them. Life Membership $1000 Single / $1500 Couple Tom Belmessieri - Cornet (Leader) Mike Young - Clarinet/Sax T.R.A.D. J.A.S.S is a non-profit corporation founded to preserve Rich Newcomb - Trombone Traditional Dixieland Jazz & Ragtime Music Mike Hart - Tuba through public performance & education. Gary Neuman - Piano Ron Galen - Banjo/Guitar Directors & Officers Dave Graves - President Adam Roderick - Drums/Percussion Dave Stare - Vice President Louise Graves - Sec/Adv./Newsletter JAM SETS Gerry Turner - Treasurer & Budget email Dave Stare [email protected] or call 707-480-6145 Clay Wilson Sharon Griffith John Z. Ray We have Seven jam sets. See pg. 4 for jam set schedule. Please call Melissa Stoufer Beverly Muir by Friday prior to our Sunday performance. If no answer, leave your NAME, PHONE NUMBER, INSTRUMENT(S) YOU PLAY, AND ANY Other Positions TIME RESTRAINTS you may have. Placement in a set may be limited Band Liaison Tom Clark if you do not call. All jammers welcome. Jam sets are also considered a Promotion Ray Walker Education Ray Walker training session for new jammers. $5 admission for jammers who are not a member of a jazz club. Advertising Rates Full Page 8 1/2 x 11 Single Month $25 Per month rate $20 BANDS IN 2019 Yearly $100 Bus. Card $10 mo. / $60 yr APR 7TH - TOM BARNEBEY’S BEYOND SALVATION JB MAY 5TH - THE FLYING EAGLES JUNE 2ND - GOLD COAST JB Deadline for adv. is 3rd Monday of the mo. prior to the next publication. Contact JULY 7TH - TRAD JASS JAMMERS AUG 4TH - MISSION GOLD JB Louise Graves: [email protected] SEP - 8TH - DARK OCT 6TH - TBA NOV 3RD - NATURAL GAS JB DEC 1ST - TBA TRAD JASS accepts no responsibility for accuracy or validity of material submitted. Musical Threads in Early Jazz From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Front Line and Rhythm In New Orleans-style jazz, the term “front line” refers to three melody instruments. The first voice or lead melody is usually the cornet or trumpet, though some early jazz bands used the violin. The second voice, or obbligato, is usually the clarinet, but can also be the violin or saxophone. The third voice is most often the trombone. The interaction of the three instruments creates a melodic polyphony, which is in contrast to the solo melody statements of modern jazz styles, which came after New Orleans jazz in the mid-1920s. Collective improvisation among these instruments can involve a three-way “call and response.” The first voice will state a theme or melody, and the second and third voices will then make a melodic statement in response. The overall affect is a musical conversation, in which the first and second voices respond to one another, and the deeper third voice provides a bass-level counterpoint. First Voice: Cornet, Trumpet, or Violin Buddy Bolden helped to define the cornet as the dominant melody or solo voice in early New Orleans jazz. Following his mental breakdown in 1907, other local cornetists maintained the prominence of the instrument. Freddie Keppard was considered the dominant cornetist from 1907 till 1915, with Joe Oliver coming after him, from 1915 to 1918. The fact that all three musicians were known locally as “king” of the cornet reflects the instrument’s importance in the development of the style. When Louis Armstrong left King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band to form his own band in 1925, he expanded the solo abilities of the cornet and trumpet. Whereas Bolden, Keppard, and Oliver were known for their rough and affected sounds (through mutes or wah-wahs), Armstrong developed a more pure cornet and trumpet tone, without affects or vocalization. His sound helped define the more modern jazz of the late 1920s, and was one of the most imitated jazz styles for decades. Armand J. Piron, leader of his New Orleans Orchestra, was one of the few to use a violin as a lead voice in an orchestra setting. However, compared to the cornet and trumpet, the violin’s softer sound made it difficult to hear above the din of the other instruments and dancers, and it gradually faded from the front-line. Second Voice: Clarinet or Saxophone The second voice, or obbligato, often had the greatest improvisational freedom, and was expected to play highly ornamental variations of the melody (later, in the mid-20th century, it was sometimes called “window dressing”). The role can be traced to Western formal music, in which the second voice was seen as an essential melodic counter- point to the first voice. The New Orleans jazz standard “High Society” provides one of the clearest examples: Originally a marching band song, the piccolo part on the trio (third strain) was adapted to clarinet by Alphonse Picou.Brilliant clarinet soloists like Sidney Bechet used the obbligato role to create an endless stream of melodic variations. Bass Voice: Trombone The trombone sounds in a lower register than a cornet, trumpet, or clarinet, providing a vocal balance to those higher voices. Often, its role was to provide a variation of the bass melody that fit into the spaces between the first two voices. In early New Orleans jazz, the trombone would often slur—sliding from one note to the next—a technique called “tailgating.” The term came from the trombonist’s position on the tailgate of the wagons that bands would play on to advertise for local businesses, where he sat to avoid hitting the other musicians with his slide. In some cases, trombones did play the lead voice, as in the songs “Ory’s Creole Trombone” and “Muskrat Ramble,” composed by Kid Ory, who is considered the top trombonist of early jazz. Rhythm Section: Drums, Piano, and Banjo or Guitar The steady, driving rhythm of early New Orleans jazz—usually provided by drums, guitar or banjo, and piano— contrasted with the polyphony and improvisation of the front line melodies. Pianos were often solo instruments played by great improvisers like Jelly Roll Morton, Tony Jackson, or Manuel Manetta, but in a band setting they often took on a supportive role, with occasional solos. Likewise, the guitar or banjo usually provided a steady rhythm for dancing, but in some songs they were given individual solos. Drummers rarely took solos in early New Orleans jazz, as they were counted on to keep time. LOCAL BANDS & GIGS Beyond Salvation JB & SPECIAL EVENTS Barnebey’s Hot Four Booking Info: Apr 12-14 2019 Tom Barnebey707-246-2263 Jazz Affair Fourth St. New Orleans JB Gold Coast Jazz Band Three Rivers, CA 93271 Booking Info: Call Ron Dubin Classic Hot Jazz from New Orleans to Swing sierratraditionaljazzclub.com 707-528-2319 May 9-12 2019 Eldorado Syncopators Info/Booking: Bill Badstubner 707-526-1772 Booking Info: Call Robert Young [email protected] Redwood Coast Music 707-792-2433 Festival Gold Coast JB Eureka CA 707-445-3378 Facebook:The Gold Coast Jazz Band www.remfest.org Booking Info: Call Bill Badstubner 707-526-1772 Russian River Ramblers Booking Info: Call Dave Stare 707-528-0815 REGULAR JAZZ EVENTS - MAR 2019 1st SUNDAY: SAN JOAQUIN DIXIELAND SOCIETY Elks lodge, 8900 Thornton Rd. Stockton. 12-5pm.info: Art Bregante, 209-465-7074 or Billie Ricker, 209-763-2820, or: [email protected] 2nd SUNDAY: GOLD COAST JAZZ BAND: 5-8pm Redwood Cafe, 8240 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati, Call: 707-526-1772 www.goldcoastjazzband.com NAPA VALLEY DIXIELAND JAZZ SOCIETY: CalVet Yountville 60 Calif. Dr. 1-4pm (Take Hwy 29, exit at Calif. Dr. & proceed toward the hills. Grant Hall is on the 2nd floor of the Activities Building, the large white building at the end of Calif Dr.). At this time there are no jam sets. Call: Linda Stevens at 707-939-9018 for info. www.napatradjazz.org NATURAL GAS JAZZ BAND: Ghringhelli’s Pizzeria, 1535 S. Novato Blvd. Novato, 94945. 1:00-3:00 pm. Info: Call NGJB at 415-453-7014 or view at www.ngjb.com or email Phil Crumley at: [email protected] 3rd SUNDAY: NEW ORLEANS JAZZ CLUB of NORTHERN CALIF. Richmond Elk’s Lodge,3931 San Pablo Dam Rd. El Sobrante. 1:30-5:00pm Info: Tom Belmessieri 925-432-6532 or Paul Hilton 415-431-3390 for Jam set sign-ups Rod Roberts 415-499-1190 www.nojcnc.org. 4th SUNDAY: SOUTH BAY TRADITIONAL JAZZ SOCIETY: Sunnyvale Elks Lodge, 375 N.