[Dixielandjazz] Nice article about the Natural Gas Jazz Band

[David M Richoux]

http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_14652666

Celebrating their 40th anniversary!

It's been a natural gas, gas, gas for 40 years
Paul Liberatore
Posted: 03/10/2010 10:04:32 PM PST

Forty years ago, a group of guys, all neighbors in San Anselmo's  
Sleepy Hollow, got together once a week to play a little music.
"We did that instead of playing poker every Tuesday night," recalled  
Phil Crumley, a retired dentist who plays the cornet and is one of the  
original members of that group, who called themselves the Natural Gas  
Jazz Band. "It was a neighborhood function that we all enjoyed."

Forty years later, the seven-member band is still playing what they  
call "good time traditional jazz," and will celebrate its 40th  
anniversary March 14 with a concert and party at the Marin Art &  
Garden Center in Ross.

Lu Watters, a San Francisco trad jazz legend, praised their  
musicianship and "happy-go-lucky spirit, a trait that creates good  
will wherever they play."

And Turk Murphy, another of their San Francisco jazz heroes, said  
"their efforts are a very important part of the music we all represent."

In addition to Crumley, the band's leader, the group includes two  
other original members: drummer Warren Perry, a former San Anselmo  
mayor, and retired attorney Bob Murphy, who plays soprano saxophone.

"After the first year or two, we put in some practice time, got some  
semi-arranged material and got more organized," Crumley remembered.  
"We all had backgrounds in traditional jazz, and when we decided to  
focus on that, that's when we really improved."

They got good enough to perform at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, an  
annual Memorial Day Festival sponsored by the

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Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society. The NGJB has played at the  
festival for the past 34 years.
"Through the festival, we met jazz bands from all over the world,"  
Crumley said. "It's been very beneficial as far as getting us  
international acknowledgment."

The festival appearances led to the band being invited in 1989 to  
perform in the Soviet Union, including a gig in Siberia.

"I was told we were the first American jazz band to play in that part  
of the Soviet Union," Crumley said. "We were invited by the Soviet  
government and, in fact, we got paid in rubles. It was a once in a  
lifetime thing."

Over the years, the band has embarked on many international tours,  
performing in Australia, China, Denmark, England, France, Germany,  
Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand,  
Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan.

"Financially, playing in the band didn't put the kids through college,  
but we had many paid vacations to foreign lands," Crumley chuckled.

The band has recorded 13 albums in its career, the first in 1975. All  
the members of the group who played on that first record will be on  
hand to sit-in with the current lineup of Crumley, Perry and Murphy,  
all in their 70s, plus trombonist Bill Carson, tuba player Jim  
Brennan, pianist Rich Owens and banjo player Carl Lunsford.

Looking back, Crumley has only one regret.

"If we knew we were going to be playing for 40 years, I think we would  
have picked another name, something more serious," he said. "You can  
imagine all the jokes we've heard about it."

But the name hasn't seemed to be too much of a handicap. The band is a  
regular act at festivals and jazz clubs and is preparing for its third  
tour of Japan.

"We're like that battery ad," Crumley said. "We keep going and going."

IF YOU GO

What: Natural Gas Jazz Band 40th Anniversary Concert and Party

When: 2 to 5 p.m. March 14

Where: Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross

Admission: $10

Information: www.ngjb.com