[Dixielandjazz] Gin Bottle Seven

[Snogpitch]

Here is a promo of the concert on November 16, 2003, which paid tribute to
the Gin Bottle Seven:

http://www.journal-news.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2003/11/15/1068955803
.27404.2788.0479.html?urac=n&urvf=10703551858090.8667152997187636

Group jazzes up Hamiltonian
>From the JournalNews

By Richard O Jones 

HAMILTON ‹ The Little Chicago Jazz Society will present Jim Dapogny for a
special evening of traditional jazz 7:30 p.m. today at the Hamiltonian and
premiere a new compact disc documenting a piece of local jazz history.

Dapogny received his doctorate from the University of Illinois and has been
teaching music theory at the University of Michigan since 1966.

He formed the Chicago Jazz Band in 1976 and has made eight albums, including
one that was nominated for a Grammy. The band still has four of its original
members: Kim Cusack on clarinet, Russ Whitman on bass saxophone, Wayne Jones
on drums and Dapogny on piano.

The band for the evening also includes Rod McDonald on guitar and banjo, Bob
Butters on trombone and Randy Reinhart on cornet.

In 1982, Dapogny published ³The Collected Piano Music of Jelly Roll Morton,²
the first of its kind collection of Morton¹s work consisting mostly of
Dapogny¹s transcriptions from recorded performances.

Dapogny also is the musical director of Phil Ogilvie¹s Rhythm Kings, a
10-piece big band playing music from the era 1925 to 1933. Phil Ogilvie¹s
Rhythm Kings is the house band at Ann Arbor¹s Firefly Club.

The evening also will include the release of ³Gin Bottle Seven and Friends,²
a two-CD set from the popular jazz band fronted by Hamilton native Carl
Halen, that will be sold as a fund-raiser for the Little Chicago Jazz
Society. 

Halen still lives in Hamilton, operating a Christmas tree farm on Goos Road
with his wife, Laura, who is the president of the Little Chicago Jazz
Society. 

The first disc consists of a Gin Bottle Seven performance at the Hitching
Post in Dayton recorded in 1957. The second disc, recorded in 1966 at
Memorial Hall in Dayton, is from a Kettery Rotary Club concert and includes
tracks from the Docs of Dixieland as well as the Gin Bottle Seven.

According to the CD liner notes, written by producer Joe Lehman, Halen¹s
professional music career began when he played cornet for the Dixieland
Rhythm Kings, which recorded in New York and was the house band for the Top
Flight Club in Dayton in the late 1940s.

In the ¹50s, Halen left the band for military service, but being stationed
in New Jersey, he ventured into New York City to sit in with jazz bands on
weekends. 

He was recognized as one of the leading disciples of legendary cornet player
Bix Beiderbecke, but, not caring much for the life of a professional
musician, he returned to Hamilton and went to work for General Electric.

In his spare time, however, he continued to play traditional jazz with the
Gin Bottle Seven. 

The line-up on the Hitching Post gig includes his childhood friend, Jan
Carroll, on banjo and vocals, Tom Hyer on drums, Butters on trombone, Martin
Kollstedt on clarinet, Jim Campbell on bass sax and Matt Fuchs on piano.
Many of these players still reside in Hamilton.

With a few personnel changes along the way, the Gin Bottle Seven cut its
final record, ³Whoopee Makers Jazz² on the Riverside label in 1956 and
continued to play throughout the tri-state area until the early 1970s.

Tickets to today¹s concert are $17 at the door. For information, call
892-5297. 

-- 
Snogpitch

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