[Dixielandjazz] The Young Lions

[Stephen G Barbone]

Played a 4 hour Mardi Gras "Fat Friday" gig with 22 year old pianist/ 
bandleader Drew Nugent, at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem in Bethlehem  
PA. It was quite a show with Drew playing and singing like Fats Waller  
backed by me on clarinet and drummer Skip Rohrich. The hotel bar/ 
lounge was packed with young and old, with an overflow crowd in the  
lobby. Ovation after ovation.

What a treat is was for this old man to see a "kid" leading an OKOM  
band that is making it locally in the Allentown-Bethlehem area of  
Pennsylvania. I guess he hasn't heard that this music is not viable  
with regular audiences. Bethlehem has a population of about 72,000.  
The Allentown Bethlehem Easton area has a total population of about  
630,000

He is now negotiating what was a monthly gig to a weekly performance  
at this venue. And the hotel management is talking about moving the  
group to one of their ballrooms to accommodate the crown. As well as  
enlarging the band.

Drew is quite a young man. Stride pianist, good singer, good showman.  
He'll have Dan Levinson with him next month and has hired Jim Fryer to  
play led horn with his trio at a swing dance next month. Ain't no  
grass growing under this young man's feet.

For more information about him see:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=17820

www.myspace.com/offthecuffwithdrewnugent