[Dixielandjazz] Great River Jazz Fest-LaCrosse, WI

[Michael Woitowicz]

Listmates,

I attended the Great River Jazz Festival last weekend in LaCrosse, Wisconsin
on the banks of the beautiful Mississippi. Weather was terrific and the
bands were hot! Thought you might enjoy a capsule summary of observations.

There were two all star bands. The Great River All Stars (Eddie Higgins -
piano, Bobby Lewis - trumpet/flugelhorn, Pat Mallinger -reeds, Jay
Hungerford - bass, and Michael Raynor - drums). This was a terrific
combination, more straight ahead jazz than dixie, but close enough that it
was a nice stretch to hear. Bobby Lewis really has some nice ideas on his
horns.

The Festival All Stars included Chuck Hedges - clarinet (who also subbed in
almost every other band), Connie Jones - cornet, Bob Hirsch - piano, John
Bany - bass, Chuck Braughm - drums and Bob Havens - Trombone. This line-up
of top talent swung on every tune! Havens trombone playing was especially
hot the whole weekend. My only complaint with all-star bands is that I wish
they would get their act together for their program. There's a
discussion/rehearsal before each tune so they can agree on key, solos,
endings, etc. which really detracts from the professionalism of their
considerable talents (IMHO).

The Evergreen Classic Jazz Band from Seattle did their list of mostly
obscure tunes, but did them very well. This is a reading band, but is a
pleasure to hear because of the unusual selection of tunes they do. They are
a very talented, well rehearsed group. With 5 band CD's, their past time
together shows in the polished repertoire they exhibit.

The band that drew the biggest crowds was Cornet Chop Suey. Brian Casserly
on trumpet blew so many high notes, I'm sure the passing riverboats heard
them! The unusual combination of trumpet/cornet (Tom Tucker does the cornet
work) provide for great counterpoint fours & eights, as well as some unique
harmonies. They go out to the audience to do "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I
heard it at 10:00 pm on Saturday night under the stars and it was
magnificent. The highlight of their act has to be "The Sugar Donut Blues."
You've got to see Casserly do this tune, while moving his "ample" stomach
around, then going out to work the crowd with his trumpet licks. Great
showmanship and performance. A top notch band.

By the way, listmate Paul Reid is now playing piano for this group. Paul and
I had a very short F2F (but were unable to connect for any great length).
Paul's playing fits right in -- and his vocals are not bad either. He also
did some great stride piano on "Avalon." That's the first time I heard this
style applied to that tune.

There were a number of local Dixie bands, big bands and some straight ahead
jazz groups for variety, all of which were top quality. The weekend also
included musical brunches on Sunday, several Ecumencal services and dynamite
jam sessions with most of the key players participating. These jam sessions
started at 10:30 pm, so if you come, don't expect to get any sleep. Overall,
it was a nice mix of national and Midwest talent.

Overall, it was a fine weekend. LaCrosse is a nice town on the river, with
moderate prices in the restaurants and at the festival. East and West
coasters take note.



Mike Woitowicz
The Banjo Barons Ragtime Band
www.banjobarons.com
The Dixie Barons Dixieland Band
www.banjobarons.com/dixiebarons