[Dixielandjazz] Sing! Sing! Sing!

[Hal Vickery]

Just got back a few minutes ago from seeing the next to last performance of
Ken Peplowski's "Sing! Sing! Sing!" Goodman tribute!  The group has been on
a 10-week tour and their next to last stop was the Rialto Square Theater
here in beautiful downtown Joliet.  

 

I enjoyed the music, the soloists were terrific.  There were a few
non-Goodman items, especially in the vocals by Kim Liggett, but the choices
were at least true to the era, and a couple of songs were a bit obscure.
Does anybody nowadays remember Ray Noble's "The Touch of Your Lips" or Burke
and Van Heusen's "Humpty Dumpty Heart"?  (Well, at least other than me.  I
was singing along.)  Oddly, the arrangement used for "Stompin' at the Savoy"
was a Ralph Burns chart written for Woody Herman.

 

The arrangements used were the original charges by Henderson, Mundy, etc.
I've lived in enough of a musical backwater to never have heard them live
until tonight, so that was a kick.

 

Peplowski is very much an entertainer as well as a musician.  Typical joke:
"A few weeks ago Chuck Redd was playing in Chicago, and he got a review in
the newspaper that said, 'Chuck Redd's timing and precision were reminiscent
of Dick Cheney's hunting.'"  When Redd was introduced to play vibes:  "This
is a segment we like to call, Chuck Redd and Friends."  The band then walked
off the stage, leaving Redd alone behind the vibes.  Still in about 2 hours
on the stage we heard about 1:50 of terrific music.

 

In case anyone is interested, the band consisted of:

 

David Brown, Jon-Erik Kelso, and Wes Orr, trumpets; Mike Fahie and Matt
McDonald, trombones; Eric Ehrhardt and Carl Maraghi, alto saxes and
clarinets; Kirby Tassos and Michael Bomwell, tenor saxes and clarinets; and
a rhythm section of Johnny Varro, piano; Murray Wall (aka Peter O'Toole,
another Peplowski joke), bass; and the aforementioned Chuck Redd on drums
and vibraphone.

 

Just another note:  Peplowski, Varro, and Wall will all be appearing at the
Elkhart Jazz Festival in June (along with the DJML's own Ed Metz, Sr.)