[Dixielandjazz] Jim Cullum Jazz Band personnel change

[Donald Mopsick]

I have resigned from the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. I was with the band
since January 1991, or some 19 years and 2 months.

As of March 1, Ric Ramirez has taken over the bass position in the
JCJB. A San Antonio native, Ric is well-known in Texas, having worked
and recorded with many Western Swing bands such as Two Tons of Steel,
Wayne Hancock and Los Super Seven, with whom he recorded a
Grammy-winning album. Ric has appeared in shows and toured with The
Grand Ole Opry, A Prairie Home Companion on NPR and Austin City Limits
on PBS TV.

We have sold our house in San Antonio and will be relocating back to
SW Florida (Lee County) by the beginning of June. While in FL, I plan
to continue working for the Riverwalk Jazz radio production company as
a web content and curriculum developer and occasional Associate
Producer.

I am now accepting nation-wide free-lance work as a plucker of the
bass fiddle (I'm holding up a cardboard sign that says, "Will pluck
for food"), and my calendar is just starting to fill up. Coming up
April 6, I will be appearing with the great Houston tenor man Larry
Slezak at San Antonio's Boardwalk Bistro to promote his new CD. Toward
the end of May, I will be recording a CD with singer/flautist Katchie
Cartwright and her husband, the great altoist Rich Oppenheim.

If you have a need for my services, please email me at
dmopsick at gmail.com and we'll talk. I have a fiberglass Gage bass
trunk, but these days (post-9/11) it's much easier to arrange for a
bass fiddle at the destination, as many of you have discovered.

Many of you are already aware that Jim sold The Landing back in July
of last year to Chris Erck, who also owns a martini bar, "Swig" across
the San Antonio Riverwalk from The Landing. Currently, the full
7-piece JCJB (with bass and trombone) plays Friday and Saturday
nights. Jim and some of the members play Tuesday through Thursday.

Listenership for the Riverwalk Jazz public radio series is still
increasing on a yearly basis and shows no sign of slowing down. Our
current corporate sponsor is Sun Products, makers of All, Snuggle,
etc. soap products. The series is also supported by individuals and
matching grants from local and national foundations and institutions
such as the National Endowment for th Arts, etc. If you are a
contributor, thanks for supporting classic jazz on public radio, we
couldn't do it without you.

Don Mopsick

aka mopo guapo