Chuck Reiley's Alamo City Jazz Band demonstrates expertise

Chuck Reiley founded San Antonio's Alamo City Jazz Band 44 years ago, and on Sunday, September 10th, the band demonstrated their expertise at the concert hosted by the Austin Traditonal Jazz Society (ATJS).

The venue was the Capital City Comedy Club, at 8120 Research Blvd. (US 183) at Anderson Square, an easy-to-get-to location with ample parking. The main room that the concert was held in featured plentiful seats (holding 350 people), good lighting and sight-lines, a compete sound-system with on-duty sound-engineer, good acoustics, attentive wait-staff, and tasty food and drinks.

Joining Chuck on trombone were his other long-time bandsmen John Page (soprano sax), Larmon Maddox (cornet), Bobby Black (banjo), and Doug Frantz (tuba). New was drummer Bob Oroszi, and on electronic piano was one of our favorite visitors from the Northeast, Bob Pillsbury. Carol McGiffin serenaded us with sassy vocals, and a couple of times her husband Jim McGiffin took the stage and sang a few songs.

The first set started out with "Alabama Jubilee" with driving intensity and continued with "Tin Roof Blues" featuring a fine John Page solo on soprano sax. Then "Auntie Skinner's Chicken Dinner" was an apposite choice for a Sunday soiree. Carol McGiffin then joined the band for "Birth of the Blues", which she belted out in fine authentic style, followed by "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (tastefully never venturing into the dyslexic alternate lyrics) and "Egyptian Ella". The set ended with "Smiles" and the unfortunately rarely heard "Bienville Blues", with a great muted-cornet solo by Larmon Maddox.

At this point most of the band left the stage, except for Bob Pillsbury on piano and drummer Bob Oroszi, and Mr. Pillsbury treated us to some vocals in "Cherry" and the almost never-heard Fats Waller song, "I Used to Love You But It's All Over" (commenting that he sang this song to his first wife). Drummer Bob Oroszi demonstrated his major skills with tasteful accompaniments and a couple of nice solos.

The band then came back on stage to play "All by Myself" (with a nice, bouncy beat), and Carol returned to sing the Willie Nelson standard "Crazy". She followed this with a wonderful rendition of "Rose of Washington Square", and then, keeping with the rose-motif, sang "On the River of the Roses" with a Latin beat.

A short intermission followed, in which announcements were made of a certain pretty lady's birthday and of the next concert on November 12th by Phil Armstrong's Crystal River Jazz Band (venue to be announced later).

The last set featured a total of 17 (!) songs, beginning with the familiar "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind" and the undeservedly unknown "City of a Million Dreams" by New Orleans clarinetist Raymond Burke.

A nice bouncy version of "Lizard on a Rail" (also called "Hiawatha", after a city in Kansas) sounded rather like a "dixieland polka", if such is possible. Ms. McGiffin then sang one of the best versions of "Hard Hearted Hannah" in recent memory, followed by an irrepressible Jim McGiffin doing "Roll the Patrol". Carol and Jim then joined forces to sing "Cakewalkin' Babies from Home". Later on, Jim sang the Buddy Rogers novelty-song, "I'd Like to Be a Bee in Your Boudoir"

to generous applause, and Carol followed with "Breeze". The concert ended with vocals by Carol and Jim on "We'll Meet Again" and "Show Me the Way to Go Home", and then the band played "When the Saints Go Marching In". For this last song, Bob Pillsbury abandoned his piano and led a parasol-parade around the room followed by Carol and many others.

The audience was enthusiastic in their appreciation of the Alamo City Jazz Band, which proved to all that 44 years of playing together demonstrated not only uncommon longevity but rare dedication to musical excellence.