[Dixielandjazz] Support live jazz

[Marek Boym]

The liner notes to the excellent album of Wild Bill Davison with the Freddy
Randall band mention that Wild Bill said to Freddy Randall ""I am the best
second cornet in the world."
At the jam session last Wednesday, When Eli Preminger arrived he said to
Ms. Skonberg "Today I'll play the second trumpet," and she replied "no, I
will."  They worked well together, Eli's very New Orleans oriented, vibrato
laden sound and Bria's softer, sophisticated and much more legato playing.

I didn't mention it in my impressions of the jam session, because I didn't
think it was significant.  Only at Bria's show at the Zappa Club in Herzlia
I realized the significance of that exchange!
And an apology - I am sorry about the "foisted" bit - that reflected my
anxiety based upon previous experiences, when Evan Christopher was
presented with a band which almost succeeded in ruining his show, people
who didn't even know "St. James Infirmary" and had no idea what to do (I
went to two shows then; the second one was better).  This time I was
anxious because I had never heard of the pianist Hila Kulik or  the
trombonist Oded Meir; I was particularly worried about the latter.  I
needn't be - the band worked very well indeed!  Ms. Kulik  proved to be a
swinging pianist, even if not strictly from Dixie or 52nd Street, and the
trombonist played really well, even if he read his solos.

The other musicians accompanying Ms. Skonberg were Koby Solomon (clarinet
and tenor saxophone), and excellent musician who played, inter alia, with
the New Orleans Function, Ronen Tal, and Israeli now residing in NYC (bass)
and Shay Selman on drums.
The show, devoted mainly to Armstrong's music, was absolutely outstanding!
It appropriately started with "Sleepy Time", and continued with things such
as "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "Big Butter and Egg Man," and many
other goodies.And here comes the difference between Ms. Skonberg's playing
second trumpet and being the leader: her playing was powerful and robust,
and she did not try to copy Armstrong - she has developed he own style!
Her "Cornet Chop Suey" was lovely!  In addition to Armstrong-related
material (that can't be bad, can it?), Ms. Skonberg sang "La Vie en Rose"
in "the other official language of her country" (she is Canadian, after
all), songs related to Anita O'Day ("Let Me Off Uptown," "Drum Boogie"),
and a sad song of her own the title of which I cannot recall right now
(tomorrow's concert may refresh my memory) which turned out to be the
highlight of the programme.  And after the concert, people especially asked
for the CD containing that song.
Koby Solomon played very good solos on both his instruments, the trombonist
sounded at first out of the sentimental gentleman, but later played some
strong solos in more traditional vein.  Tal Ronen, albeit young, is a
veteran of the Israeli jazz scene and played for several years with the
Good Time Jazz, a group featuring our wonderful soprano and tenor
saxophonist Jacques Sany.  Shay Selman is a swinging drummer, who sometimes
sounds overly enthusiastic (which means - loud), but not last night; I was
seated right in front of the drums, and he did not break my eardrums.
The appreciative audience (the spacious room was full almost to capacity)
gave the band thunderous applause.
Although it's a club, it's not very noisy, and food is served long enough
before music starts for people to finish by the starting time, and drinks
are served until 10 minutes before the beginning of the show.
A wonderful show, and I expect the one tomorrow to be as good, despite
being held in a concert hall.
Cheers