Paul Cosentino’s Boilermaker Jazz Band

Paul Cosentino grew up in a musical New Jersey family with relatives playing society events and the big band station playing on the radio unless of course, someone was performing live at the living room piano. I learned about this background in what was one of the most engaging radio-style interviews I've ever listened to. In 2017 Cosentino sat down with swing DJ Ryan Swift for his The Track Podcast. I've listened to the full hour and forty-five minutes twice now, about a year ago and again as I prepared this review. They explore first his early years and then his over 30 years as a professional bandleader; tracing the trajectory of the Boilermaker Jazz Band from regular appearances at Dixieland festivals in the 90s to playing their first Lindy Exchange in 2001 and quickly becoming stars of a still burgeoning dance scene. Cosentino, who began learning clarinet as a young child, had already made himself a bandleader by high school- booking his Dixieland band for local shows. He extended what he learned from that with a business major and music minor in college, a combination that has helped him navigate a successful career in an industry where many excellent musicians find themselves underwater. In the 80s he played clarinet for George Gee's Make Believe Ballroom Orchestra. The podcast dives deep into a variety of topics. I enjoyed the discussion about switching instruments an