[Dixielandjazz] Dixieland in Northern Michigan

[Stephen G Barbone]

Hey Don, are things warming up in snowy Michigan?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Dixieland endures in TC with new society
BY CYMBRE FOSTER Special to the Record-Eagle

Recently formed society holds concert today at Elks Club
TRAVERSE CITY -- A group of Dixieland jazz lovers has decided to keep  
this upbeat musical style alive and well in northern Michigan.

Bob Core was lamenting the end of the Dixieland Devotionals Sundays at  
the Presbyterian Church in Traverse City last summer when he came up  
with an idea.

"It was after one of the last Dixieland Devotionals and I was talking  
with some friends and bemoaning the fact that we wouldn't hear this  
again for another 11 months and we decided to get together and form a  
club," he recalled.

Core met with fellow jazz lovers John Meyers, Jim Rowlett and Marge  
and Jack Anderson. Together, they formed the Cherryland Jazz Society,  
an informal group that began meeting late last year to brainstorm ways  
to bring Dixieland and other traditional jazz to the area.

"The idea is for the preservation, promotion and enjoyment of  
Dixieland, ragtime and New Orleans jazz," explained Rowlett.

The group plans to promote traditional jazz through a number of  
avenues, said Core.

"We'll sponsor programs with local and visiting bands, help encourage  
venues for local bands, provide audiences for musicians and publish a  
periodic newsletter with jazz schedules, musician biographies,  
information like that," he said. "We also want to help musicians who  
enjoy it form bands and we want to work with schools to interest  
students in this original American art form."

The Society is sponsoring its second Dixieland concert today at the  
Elks Club in Traverse City. The Backroom Gang, a longstanding band in  
the area, will be playing. More than 200 Dixieland fans attended the  
jazz society's first concert in November.

Rowlett, who doesn't consider himself a musician, said that he joined  
the society simply because he loves the music.

And he's not alone.

Dixieland, a typically upbeat music, was born from an amalgamation of  
blues, ragtime and a brass band tradition in the late teens to early  
1920s in New Orleans. It spread from there to other cities such as  
Chicago and New York. It remains a beloved art form today.

"It's the only truly American creation in the world of music, that's  
one of the things that makes it so special," said Rowlett.

"People that like it probably don't even know why. But it has this  
happy, exciting beat and if you like it you like it."

Tickets for the evening event are $15 and include a Cajun buffet,  
which starts at 5 p.m. The band will open around 6. Tickets can be  
purchased in advance or will be available at the door, though  
organizers suggest purchasing tickets early. Call the Elks Club at  
946-6171 for reservations.

For more information about the concert or the Cherryland Jazz Society  
call Core at 947-9415.