To set the stage for this month’s journey, I’ll quote lyrics from one of my biggest inspirations, pianist, composer, vocalist and lyricist Dave Frishberg:
I want to be a sideman
Just an ordinary sideman
A go along for the ride man
Responsibility free
And I do, I DO! Only problem is it so rarely happens. Once musicians wait for “the call” from you, you can go off their radar on the few occasions when THEY’RE leading a gig. There are some exceptions that I will hopefully herein elucidate.
The 52nd annual Bix Jazz Festival occurred in Bix’s hometown of Davenport, IA and I was honored to be in the stable of musicians who were hired to perform. And I was a bonafide sideman, playing piano primarily in Dan Levinson’s terrific Roof Garden Jass Band, recreating the sounds of the Original Dixieland Jass Band and related groups from 1917-22, but also in several additional ensembles led by fantastic musicians from the Midwest.
I arrived on Wednesday, August 2, with an invitation from percussionist/bandleader Josh Duffee to come sit in with a band playing a session in nearby Milan, IL called the Knoxville Tap…on trombone (!?!). With a band consisting of the fiery Dave Kosmyna from Toledo on cornet, visiting guest reedsman Claus Jacobi from Germany, incredible multi-faceted pianist David Boeddinghaus from NOLA, Andy Schumm from Chicago on bass sax, and hometown hero Josh on
