Terry Waldo, who is now 80, has been a very busy and major classic jazz pianist and bandleader since the mid-1960s, several years before he met and began studying with Eubie Blake. He has produced shows both on stage and for television, authored the influential book This Is Ragtime (which grew out of his 26-part NPR series), and early on led the Gutbucket Syncopators. Since 1984 his main group has been known as the Gotham City Band.
Treasury Volume 1, the first of three scheduled releases, features Waldo and the 2022 edition of his Gotham City Band. The group is comprised of Waldo, trumpeter Mike Davis, trombonist Jim Fryer, clarinetist Ricky Alexander, Arnt Arntzen, Nick Russo or Jerron Paxton, on banjo, bassist Brian Nalepka, and drummer Jay Lepley with one appearance apiece by tenor-saxophonist Colin Hancock and bass saxophonist Jay Rattman. Paxton has two vocals including a version of “Bill Bailey” that happily includes the all-too-often overlooked verse, and there is one from Tatiana Eva-Marie on “I Get The Blues When It Rains.” The band features inventive solos and colorful ensembles that would fit very well into the 1929 period. Among the highlights are “Blame It On The Blues” (which puts the spotlight on Alexander’s Bechet-inspired clarinet), “Wolverine Blues,” and “Tiger Rag”; check out Waldo’s roaring tiger on the latter. Mike Davis’ playing, which ranges from Freddie Keppard to Bix Beiderbecke/Red Nichols throughout the set, is a particular joy.
