The Syncopated Times has been following Colin Hancock and the Original Cornell Syncopators since they first organized in 2016. At the time they were planning a centennial concert to celebrate The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's first recordings. Since that successful concert, the band has gone on to play the San Diego Jazz Fest, record two albums, and become a permanent part of the music department at Cornell. With Hancock and several other veteran members graduating this spring that ensured legacy is a good thing.
There were two sophomores playing with the small version of the band when we saw them recently in Syracuse, the full group has something like 13 active members. Their future without Colin is promising.
The concert was agreed to be one of the best that the Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse (JASS) has hosted in years. Held in a back room of the large Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant, the hot and sweet sounds of the band must have reached the right set of ears. As the band was packing up management approached them about booking a gig in the restaurant proper.
[Apologies for the super dark video, the sound is clear.]
It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for them. The band has played everything from restaurants and concert venues to pool halls and frat houses, intentionally modeling the gung ho attitude of their predecessors of a century past. In fact, they h
