[Dixielandjazz] Howard Fishman

[Stephen G Barbone]

This is like a small New Orleans Brass Band mixed with country music.  
His song list includes quite a few tunes that we are familiar with.  
Hesitating Blues, St. James Infirmary, Sweet Substitute, Limehouse  
Blues, Interesting way to get to an audience. See:
http://www.myspace.com/howardfishman
Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

December 11, 2008 - NY TIMES - by Nate Chinen
Backed by a Brass Band, He Celebrates Himself

Howard Fishman has a fondness for old things and a knack for restoring  
them. A decade ago that combination of traits led to his first big New  
York engagement, at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel. Leading a  
spry quartet, he dusted off the cameos and curios of a vanished era,  
drawing no distinctions among Dixieland, bluegrass and Gypsy swing.

Mr. Fishman, a charismatic rhythm guitarist and an endearingly low-key  
singer, still has his fathomless cache of songs. And he still has his  
quartet, which will return to the Oak Room on Sunday night. But he has  
also diversified in recent years. His Basement Tapes Project reclaims  
the repertory associated with Bob Dylan’s most obsessed-over period.  
His theatrical oratorio, “We Are Destroyed,” contemplates the frontier  
tragedy of the Donner Party. His Biting Fish Brass Band borrows the  
strut of New Orleans street music.

Each of these outlets has been mobilized for Mr. Fishman’s 10th- 
anniversary celebration, slated to run through Dec. 18 at a handful of  
different spaces. It’s a programming stunt, transparently. But it’s  
also true to Mr. Fishman’s natural commemorative urge, even if he does  
seem to be on the receiving end of his own salute.

The festivities began late on Tuesday night, during the after-hours  
set at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Seated with his weathered acoustic  
Gibson, Mr. Fishman opened with a “Jesus on the Mainline” buoyed by  
the second-line groove of his drummer, Jordan Perlson. The heft and  
swagger of the arrangement had more to do with his expert horns: Jose  
Davila on tuba, Etienne Charles on trumpet and Roland Barber on  
trombone.

This was the Biting Fish Brass Band, formed six months ago in tribute  
to New Orleans, where Mr. Fishman began the journeyman phase of his  
career as a street musician. The repertory was typically eclectic,  
including a loose funk adaptation of “Mexican Radio,” the 1980s new- 
wave hit. Later Mr. Fishman made a more traditional offering with the  
Cajun anthem “La Danse de Mardi Gras,” driving it onward with the  
stomp of his foot and the strum of his guitar.

He hung back in the group, often ceding the spotlight to his sidemen,  
who soloed compellingly and at length. He entrusted Mr. Barber with a  
vocal feature — “She’ll Be Coming ’Round the Mountain,” at a sweet- 
molasses tempo — and generally seemed content to be the least dynamic  
member of his crew.

But on the early-jazz chestnut “Hesitating Blues,” he drew in the  
focus with deceptively casual authority. His unaccompanied preface was  
sparse and soulful, and there was deep feeling behind his singing.  
“Tell me, how long will I have to wait?” he sighed in a quiet,  
unguarded voice, making it easy to trust his grasp of stymied ardor.

Howard Fishman performs at various locations around the city through  
Dec. 18. His full schedule is at howardfishman.com.