Hello friends! It’s been a while since I’ve shared the trad jazz happenings in Maine—though, certainly, not due to a lack of goings on. In April I contracted a bad bout of Covid, then was sick all through May (first thought was long Covid, but apparently it was allergies), then a big vacation in June, and then a second bout of Covid in July—and this after being nearly a “no-vid” for the last three years. It’s been a challenging year, to say the least.
The good news, however, is that it has also been an amazing year of jazz up here in the desolate, not-yet-frozen hinterlands of Maine.
The biggest news is that the Soggy Po’ Boys have a new album! Huzzah! When I interviewed them last fall, they said they were going back to the studio in January, and I’ve been impatiently awaiting the new album ever since. Well, it’s finally here. I’ve seen the band in concert once this year, at the Strand Theater in Rockland, ME, in August, and will be seeing them two more times in November—once at their “honoring the tradition” annual show at The Dance Hall in Kittery where this year’s focus will be Kid Ory and a second time for their album release party at Blue / BPM in Portland ME (see their tour / release party schedule on their website).
Last year, when the band was in Rockland, very few folks in the audience knew who they were. This year, when the band asked if anyone had heard of them before, about half the audience shouted and clapped. At intermission, the band was selling advance copies of their new album, titled Leave the Light On, and the table was mobbed—a good sign that word is getting out about this sensational band. I did manage to buy a t-shirt and CD, though both were selling fast, and the band was gracious enough to sign the CD for me as well.
In my review of last year’s show (in which singer Stu Dias was absent), I said that the band seemed a bit restrained and cautious at the start of the show but let loose after a bit. Not so this year—they came out of the gate swinging for the fences, opening with “The Chief” (from their album Perhaps It Is Time To Go Home), playing at energy level 10 for the entire show, and the audience responded in kind. Check out the band’s website for a full list of upcoming shows, including a number of album release parties throughout New England and New York. If you think this band’s recorded music sounds great, you will be blown away seeing them live. And if you haven’t already snagged their new album, which is phenomenal, be sure to grab a copy, if only for their trad jazz version of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Last December, we had the good fortune to catch back-to-back shows by world-class musicians at Jimmy’s Blues & Jazz club in Portsmouth—John Pizzarelli and Kat Edmonson. My husband is a fan of both; I was unfamiliar with both but am now a fan of each as well. This was our first time attending Jimmy’s, and unfortunately, for the Kat Edmonson show, we were seated on the second floor with no line of sight to the stage. Instead, viewing of the show was via television screens, hardly better than watching from home. Worse, the two women we were seated with (Jimmy’s has communal table seating) talked the entire time. About halfway through the show we ended up leaving since it wasn’t enjoyable but not before Edmonson brought tears to my eyes with her cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” and thrilled me with her mashup of “Summertime” + “Feeling Good.” Recordings of her singing both songs can be found on YouTube and there are recordings of both available for purchase on streaming music services and CD.
Then, streaming live from Jimmy’s, but watched at home on my television, I caught the Misty Blues Band’s Queen of the Blues show, in which lead-singer Gina Coleman pays tribute to the “matriarchs of the blues” Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton, Ruth Brown, and Koko Taylor. Coleman’s voice is gritty, deep, and powerful, and she can drag you down into a deep, dark cave, blow you back against the bleachers, and lift you up to the mountain top with it. Misty Blues, out of Berkshire MA, has been around since 1999 but this was my first introduction to them. Needless to say, I’m now a fan. If you like blues—and especially if you like your blues mixed with funk—be sure to check them out. You can find their music on most streaming services; if they have also recorded records or CDs, I’m not finding them.
Last summer, I tried three times to catch local big band Monday Night Jazz orchestra, which focuses on American Songbook Standards, but every performance was rained out. I finally caught one of their shows this July. They played a number of standards including “Sing Sing Sing” (which they called “American Patrol” but we’re pretty sure it was “Sing Sing Sing”—or maybe it was a medley of the two), “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” “Blues Up and Down,” and the like. My favorite was their version of the “Back Bacon Blues,” which featured a flugel horn, and their version of Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five,” which they said they changed the timing of to be played “in fifths.” As a non-musician, I’m not sure what that means (feel free to email me and explain it, I’d love to know!), but it made the piece slightly dark and off kilter in a good way, like something from a Tim Burton movie. The band has not recorded music, but there are many videos of them playing on YouTube if you’re looking for something new to check out.
Then it was time for another local band, Sean Fleming and His Red Hot Peppers, a local ragtime ensemble (alas, no recordings but there are some videos of them playing on YouTube). The band played a lot of hot, fast, rollicking numbers—the presence of a tuba in their instrumentation gave all the tunes a strong “oompa music” undertone that helped drive the beat—and we really enjoyed this show. Alas, this concert was held in a church, so it didn’t feel right to even bob my head along in time with the music, but if we’d been in another venue, I might have even tried my hand at dancing.
The Wolverine Jazz Band out of Boston was up to Bar Harbor on July 21st, playing at the Criterion Theater in Bar Harbor, ME, as part of the annual Bar Harbor Music Festival. They played fast and hot and loud and blew the roof off the place. Banjoist Jimmy Mazzy, who is 82 years old and one of the founders of the band but has since left, was featured as a special guest (see Steve Provizer’s 2019 TST profile of Mazzy on syncopatedtimes.com). His strumming hasn’t slowed down any and his singing voice is still strong, though a bit hard to hear above the band. They played a number of classic trad jazz tunes including “Buddy’s Habits” (King Oliver), “Rent Party Blues” (Duke Ellington), “Martinque” (Wilbur de Paris)—one of my favorite tunes, “Nuages” (Django Reinhardt)—played as a banjo duet, and “When My Dreamboat Comes Home.” The band announced they have a new album coming soon—keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, you can check them out online.
And then, finally, the biggest news—Tatiana Eva-Marie and the Avalon Jazz Band just this weekend (October 5th) at the Django by the Sea Festival at the Dance Hall in Kittery ME. The mister and I both love this band but, as they are out of New York, we have never had a chance to see them live before. The opening act was a local band, The Henry Acker Trio, fronted by jazz guitarist prodigy Henry Acker (profiled in TST in 2017 by Bill Hoffman’s 2017 TST). These three guys were fabulous and played a 90-minute set that included “Segment” (Charlie Parker), “On a Clear Day,” “Waltz for Nikki” (Richard Galliani), “La Metz Mademoiselle” (Django Reinhardt), “Perdito,” “Just One of Those Things” (Cole Porter) played Manouche style / very fast, “Strictly Confidential” (Bud Powell), “Brazil” (Ary Barroso), and “Cherokee.”
My only complaint about the trio’s performance (and this is no fault of theirs) is that the volume levels between the piano, bass, and guitar microphones was heavy on piano and bass to the point that they nearly drowned the guitar out. I could see Acker’s fingers flying on the strings, and I would have loved to hear the guitar more prominently.
Then out came the Avalon Jazz Band and away we went for a tour through “Django the Composer,” Tatiana Eva-Marie’s description of her new project Djangology, in which she explores the compositions of Reinhardt (including adding original lyrics to some of his tunes), from which the band’s 90-minute set was comprised. Eva-Marie is a firecracker both as a performer and storyteller, but the show was stolen by violinist Gabe Terracciano, a Portland, ME, native, who had the crowd roaring with appreciation throughout the show. “That fella can play some fiddle” as we say here in Maine. Songs featured included “Je T’Aime,” “Nuages,” “Porto Cabello,” “Vette,” “Sweet Chorus,” “Douce Ambiance,” “Reverie” (which Eva-Marie noted is by Debussy but was recorded by Reinhardt), and “Dark Eyes.”
Alas, the HONK brass band festival was also happening in Somerville, MA, the same weekend as the Django by the Sea Festival and I was unable to get to Somerville to see two of my favorite bands—The Undertow Brass Band (out of Providence, RI) and the Funkrust Brass Band (out of New York)—that were playing there. So bummed not to be able to see either band, but I am consoling myself with the Funkrust Brass Band’s new album, which I supported on Kickstarter. The album is only available to Kickstarter supporters at the moment but is coming to the general public soon. Keep an eye out for that.
October and November look to be busy with the two Soggy Po’ Boys shows and, the Glenn Jenks Ragtime Review (October 12th and 13th), Django Festival All Stars at Jimmy’s in November, and John Pizzarelli back at Jimmy’s in December.
And finally, the universe presented me with the treasure that is blues singer Miche Braden (who performed as Bessie Smith in an off-Broadway production), who I found via a Facebook post by Scott Bradlee’s “Post Modern Jukebox” last month. Check out PMJ’s blues/New Orleans style recordings of “Old Town Road,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” and “Purple Rain” featuring Braden. They are electrifying. The recordings (which are also available for purchase on all streaming music services) are apparently the only way to get hold of a recording by Braden as it doesn’t appear she has ever recorded an album. A great pity! Also, someone please connect Braden and Gina Coleman and have them record a duets album of blues songs stat! Braden has apparently been touring with PMJ (or, at least, there are videos of her performing with them in Pennsylvania), so you might be able to catch Braden at a PMJ show.
And, as they say, that’s all folks. See you next month!
