[Dixielandjazz] NEW, YOUNG, DIXIELAND BAND

[Stephen G Barbone]

Is The Original Senn Jazz Band appearing at the  2010 Sacramento Jazz  
Festival? Or others in California during the year?



Cheers,

Steve Barbone

www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband



Young Jazzist Exposes Redding to Original Senn

 From  anewscafe.com (Northern California)


By Dave Short March 1, 2010
Although still in his 20s, trumpeter Paul Senn has already made his  
mark in the jazz world, both with his horn and as a vocalist.

He was raised in Redding and left for college in the Sacramento area.  
While attending American River College, Paul was a member of a choir  
that won the prestigious Downbeat Jazz Award as the best college vocal  
jazz group. Among his many projects he is now introducing a new band  
to Redding, The Original Senn Jazz Band. Their debut concert is at Old  
City Hall on March 7.



I spoke to Paul about his new band and his many accomplishments.Paul,  
it is great to have you at Old City Hall again. I was surprised to  
hear that you were starting a traditional New Orleans Dixieland jazz  
band, since I always think of you as a contemporary jazz player. Why  
traditional jazz now?



Actually, I started out with traditional music as a young child. My  
grandfather, Gene Chord, played coronet with many jazz bands in  
Redding, and he encouraged me as a young child to get into the music.  
There is an infamous family video of me singing “What a Wonderful  
World” to an adoring crowd of family members when I was just 6 years  
old. When I took up the trumpet he would take me to gigs and I would  
sit in with the pros, so I was hooked at a young age.



Paul, if you are nervous, you must really hide it well.



I owe my stage demeanor to my many years at Enterprise High with Mr.  
Dan Neece. We played over 50 shows per year with the Starship group.  
It became very routine to walk into a new venue, set up, and get with  
it. We did so many styles of music that we learned versatility and  
flexibility. For example, one year our show had a Tower of Power song  
followed by a Bill Chase screamer. The next song up was “Nine To Five”  
by Dolly Parton. Talk about a change of pace! The Starship experience  
was something that was surprisingly unique in Redding. There are few  
programs of that caliber in California, and Redding is truly blessed  
to have it here. Sometimes show choirs are dismissed by jazz purists,  
but they truly train the musicians to be complete performers, and have  
stage presence.

Some of the episodes of “Glee” hit very close to home. It is nice to  
see the arts, and show choirs specifically, represented in a positive  
way. It shows very well that you may really excel at something, and be  
respected by your peers, but it will not necessarily help you at all  
in the larger social structure of your school. After I graduated from  
high school and moved on to American River College I could build on  
what I learned, and it gave me a lot of confidence.



At American River you sang in a Downbeat Magazine award winning choir,  
didn't you?



Yes, and we performed at the International Association for Jazz  
Education annual convention. The singer joining us for our show at Old  
City Hall, Angie Bryan, was in that group too.



Is this new band a traditional Dixieland group?

In the course of developing the band it started out traditional, but  
then it moved on to blues, funk, and a more contemporary New Orleans  
style. I hope to take this band to west coast jazz festivals. We will  
be doing some things that no Dixieland group would be doing, like  
“Blackwater” by the Doobie brothers, “Hey Pocky A-Way” by The Meters,  
and “It’s All Over Now”, a funky shuffle tune.



Great stuff. Is "It's All Over Now" the Dirty Dozen version?



Yes, and it will have Bruce Calin on the tuba!



Who else is in the band?



The front line is myself, Jeff Jones and Joe Larsen. The three of us  
have been playing together as a unit now for at least six years. We  
will have Matt Scallion on drums, Pat Karch on keyboard, and of course  
Angie Bryan on vocals.



You seem to be on top of it all. Did you learn this in school or  
elsewhere?



Even though I studied music, a lot of what I learned has been  
basically by paying attention to my peers and keeping an open mind.



Do You listen to music much?



Obsessively, I think. I have been known to drive my family and friends  
crazy with my music playing constantly. I have to tone it down at  
work, but I still listen there, too. At times when you can’t play you  
can still listen and learn.

See the Original Senn Jazz Band at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 7, at the  
Shasta County Arts Council, Old City Hall, 1313 Market Street,  
Redding. Tickets are available at Bernie’s Guitar and The Shasta  
County Arts Council. Student admission is free.