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2009 ORANGE COUNTY CLASSIC JAZZ FESTIVAL
Classic jazz fans, lovers of 1920s music, and dixieland collectors are always advised to attend the Orange County
Classic Jazz Festival. Held during the first weekend of August, the festival this year mostly took place at the Hilton
Hotel in Costa Mesa, with a few sets held across the street at the Holiday Inn. 19 different groups were featured and
the quality of both the musicianship and the dedication to early jazz was consistently high.
Dan Levinson led two of the most colorful and unusual groups of the festival. His Canary Cottage Dance Orchestra
is a sextet comprised of violin, trombone, piano, banjo, drums and the leader's C-melody sax and clarinet. Although
there was some improvising and short solos, it primarily played arrangements that made it sound like a dance band
circa 1918. Molly Ryan and the delightful Stage Hogs (a vocal quartet) sang on about half of the selections in
charming period style. Such songs were performed as “It's A Long Long Way To Tipperary,” “Goodbye Broadway,
Hello France,” “Just Like A Butterfly That's Caught In The Rain,” Scott Joplin's ragtime waltz “Bethena,” and “Tuck
Me To Sleep In My Old Kentucky Home,” tunes that are not heard all that often in 2009!
Levinson's other band, The Sons Of Rosy, was his annual tribute to his mentor, the great C-melody saxophonist
Rosy McHargue. The octet, with wonderful harmonizing by Levinson and Matt Germaine (also playing clarinet and C-
melody sax), mostly featured friends of McHargue's who performed his arrangements and repertoire with spirit and
wit. In addition, Molly Ryan and the Stage Hogs were featured on a few numbers. The overall highlights included
“Sunday” (with John Reynolds on the vocal), “They've Gotta Quit Kicking My Dog Around,” and a nostalgic version of
“I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now” that was an adaptation of Rosy McHargue's arrangement for the Ted Weems
Orchestra.
The emphasis at the Orange County Classic Jazz Festival is on organized groups that have their own approach to
vintage jazz. The Titanic Jazz Band (led by and featuring cornetist Dan Comins) and the Yerba Buena Stompers both
revived the Lu Watters and Turk Murphy San Francisco jazz styles of the 1940s and 50s.
The Yerba Buena Stompers included trumpeter Jon-Eric Kellso (behind lead trumpeter Leon Oakley) and clarinetist
Orange Kellin, but they were pretty well restricted by the format. It is a pity that Kellso (one of the top trumpeters
around today) did not also have his own set.
The Titan Hot 7 is always fresh and lively, and their humor is sometimes hilarious. Pianist Jeff Barnhart and
clarinetist Bob Draga are the main stars but all seven of the musicians had opportunities to get in on the act. Among
the numbers that were featured were a sing-along on “Goody Goody,” “Hindustan” and a somber feature for Draga
on “Poor Butterfly.”
The High Sierra Band, with leader-clarinetist Pieter Meijers and trumpeter Bryan Shaw, matched wits with the Titan
Hot 7 during a wild two-band set that included a version of “Nagasaki” on which the two groups traded off every eight
bars, “San Antonio Rose,” and a funny mixup of the two songs that are titled “Once In A While.”
Pianist-singer Carl “Sonny” Leyland, with bassist Marty Eggers and drummer Hal Smith, showed once again that he
is one of the finest boogie-woogie and blues performers alive. His trio gets tighter every year and sounds like they
are straight from a Bluebird record date of 1936.
Le Jazz Hot, an outstanding quartet comprised of guitarist Paul Mehling, violinist Evan Price, rhythm guitarist Jason
Vanderford and bassist Clint Baker, performed high-quality gypsy jazz in the style of Django Reinhardt and
Stephane Grappelli without copying either.
The St. Louis Stompers, led by the excellent trumpeter Steve Lilley and mostly featuring the arrangements of pianist
Dave Majchzak, was one of the best trad bands at the festival. Their music ranged from Jelly Roll Morton's “Little
Lawrence” to “My Pretty Girl” and “Rockin' Chair.” David Zink's light but fluent playing on sousaphone was
impressive.
The Independence Hall Jazz Band, led by trombonist Doug Finke, featured spirited and skillful solos from cornetist
Charlie Caranicas and clarinetist Kim Cusack. Wally's Warehouse Waif's is a solid dixieland band that romped
through “Jazz Me Blues,” “I Found A New Baby” and “Airmail Special.”
The Side Street Strutters brought some swing to the festival with such tunes as “Cotton Tail” “Caravan” and “Dream
A Little Dream Of Me” although “Take Five” was pushing it a bit! Tenor-saxophonist Rob Verdi was excellent. And
also at the festival was the crowd pleasing Night Blooming Jazzmen, led in good-natured style by veteran cornetist
Chet Jaeger.
Neville Dickie, one of the best stride pianists in the world, performed several solo sets and teamed up with the
equally great Jeff Barnhart during a stirring hour of piano duets that included “Love Me Or Love Me” “I Would Do
Most Anything For You,” “Wildcat Blues,” “Every Evening,” and “It's The Talk Of The Town.” Dickie's solo version of
James P. Johnson's “You've Got To Be Modernistic” seemed impossible to top, but Barnhart's variations on “Sweet
Georgia Brown” (taken at a ridiculously fast tempo) did the trick.
My favorite set of the weekend was the final one I saw. Pieter Meijers (from the High Sierra Band) led his own combo,
a sextet featuring the very talented vibraphonist John Cucuzzi, pianist Randy Morris and singer Brady McKay. While
the musicians played hot swing (including “Coquette”and a rapid “Runnin' Wild”), it really came to life when Brady
McKay was on stage. Her singing puts her near the top of her field, her interpretations were warm-hearted, and she
was quite entertaining and witty in her interactions with Meijers and Morris. “Blues My Naughty Baby Gives To Me,”
“100 Years From Today,” “Alabamy Bound” and a closing “Enjoy Yourself” put everyone in a good mood.
The Orange County Classic Jazz Festival is a great festival that should not be missed.