When the JazzHappensBand returns “(Back Home Again) in Indiana,” the seven musicians turn a warm homecoming into a hot happening.
First, trumpeter Jeff Dovi (pronounced DOUGH-vee) plays a mournful melody before the entire ensemble kicks in to swing it and wing it. Suddenly, they stop…and Dovi blows the slow head again to truly take it home.
No wonder their crowds clap like crazy! This Cortland, N.Y. combo revels in authentic Dixieland dynamics.
‘Big Butter & Egg Man’
Formed in 2005, the JazzHappensBand features trumpeter Jeff Dovi, trombonist Mike Poole, clarinetist Nick Pauldine, tuba player Jim Overhiser, banjo player Robbert van Renesse, pianist Steve Wilson, and drummer David Alexander.
Bandleader Dovi feels fortunate to have found six kindred souls with which to make music. “They all enjoy the same kind of music as I do,” he said.
So a dozen years ago, Dovi dove right in. “I obtained two ‘fake’ books; one in C and the other in Bb. The music is just the melody with the chord progressions written above. Well, some of the tunes we were familiar with – like ‘Saints,’ ‘Indiana’ and ‘Bill Bailey’ – but the majority of tunes I hadn’t heard before. They have names like ‘I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of This Jelly Roll,’ ‘Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me,’ and ‘I Want a Big Butter and Egg Man.’ “I just told the b
