[Dixielandjazz] A Quick Guide to Austin Traditional Jazz Musicans

[Dave Stoddard]

Dear Listers:

 

Marek Boym pointed out to me that as he scrolled through the Austin jazz
videos, he was seeing some of the same players again and again.  He was
quite right.  There is a hard core of full-time traditional jazz players in
Austin.  They tend to play and record a lot, in an interesting set of
combinations and permutations.  You do see quite a lot of them on my list of
videos.  However, there are others playing the scene, and I have tried to
give them some coverage as well.

 

Many of these bands don't include performance notes with their recordings,
so here is a quick guide to traditional jazz players on the videos.   

 

Jon Doyle, clarinet and all saxophones.  He is the bass sax player in the
Oxblood Melodians and Albanie and her Fellas.

Lyon Graulty, clarinet and saxophone.  He is the other reed player in Thrift
Set Orchestra.

Mark Gonzalez, trombone.  He is in a lot of these videos including Thrift
Set.

Ryan Gould, the leprechaun with the beard playing string bass.

David Jellema, cornet and clarinet.  David is best known for his work in the
Washington, DC area, but we are very happy to have him in Austin.

 

Albanie Falletta, guitar and vocals, Thrift Set and Albanie and her Fellas.
Albanie actually is working in New Orleans these days, but comes back for
gigs from time to time.

 

Westen Borghesi (banjo).  Westen is the very tall (about 7 feet) fellow in
Thrift Set and East Side.  He plays and sings very well.

Erik Hokkanen, violin and guitar.  Erik is one of the guitarists playing
with the Swinging Strings.  For an example of his violin work (which is
spectacular) try the Erik Hokkanen Trio playing Blue Skies on YouTube.

 

I am not on many videos, but I get around.  I play valve trombone and tuba,
and am well-regarded on both.

My cornet player Larmon Maddox is a long-time star in these parts.  In
addition to Silver Creek, Larmon has had long tenures with Tommy Griffith's
bands, the Old Waterloo Jazz Band (of which I posted a YouTube), and the New
Orleans Jazz Band of Austin. He also played for many years with the Alamo
City Jazz Band, a very good San Antonio outfit that played many jazz
festivals.

 

Tommy Griffith is a super pianist who has played riverboats on the
Mississippi and Columbia Rivers.  He is also an ace banjo player.
Unfortunately, he is not on YouTube.  We must work on that.

 

I am very partial to Ben Saffer's playing on clarinet.  He fits the 1920s
idiom of Silver Creek very well.

 

There are many great jazz guitarists working in Austin these days.  These
recordings feature JD Pendley, Dave Biller, Erik Hokkanen, Albanie Falletta,
Rick McRae, Jamey Cummins and Jimmy Vence.  Bobby Black, the banjo player on
the Silver Creek recordings, played with Jim Cullum, Jr. in the 1970s before
settling into a professional career out of music.  He still plays often and
very well on both banjo and guitar. 

 

I hope this post enhances your enjoyment of jazz videos from Austin, Texas.

 

Regards,

Dave Stoddard