Down for the Count is down for anything. The UK based collective includes 30 musicians on call in various formats, all of them within this paper’s bailiwick. The Vintage Strollers, Get Brassy, and Alexander’s Ragtime Band, are all acoustic and potentially mobile units for your outdoor or seaside event. The Lady Gatsby Jazz Band and Hollywood Jazz Band will accommodate that kind of party, and larger big bands are available.
Whether corporate events or weddings, a gig is a gig, and collectives like this bring trad jazz directly to people who may not hear it elsewhere. They are ambassadors for the music, and a boon to working musicians since the days of James Europe’s Clef Club. The glory days of the jazz revival may have found your band celebrating a grocery store opening, or busking in a mall, drawing cheers from small town parade floats, or parading around county fairs. Traditional jazz is at its best as a part of life, out in the mix among people who do not harbor large collections of revival LPs.
I am sure all of these musicians have their own outfits and projects. In fact, I know they do because they have released nine albums on Bandcamp since 2017, including one where the CD says SOLD OUT. Not something I see every day! The albums highlight different subsets of the collective. I encourage TST readers to go explore them at their Bandcamp page.
Their latest release however
