Who says doctors don't make house-calls any more?
By Dan Augustine
Who says doctors don't make house-calls any more? The doctors and other medical professionals in the Band Aids Jazz Band from San Antonio not only visited the house (Austin's Capital City Comedy Club) on Sunday afternoon, February 11th, but they brought the house down with their combination of traditional jazz and (fingers on the pulse of the audience) entertaining showmanship.
The concert was dedicated to the memory of the band's banjo-player, Fred Polansky, who died only three weeks ago in mid-January, but a reminder of his presence was always there with a picture of him on a chair in the front row of the band. In his stead was banjoist Bobby Black from San Antonio, who also exhibited previously unsuspected but fine vocal talents on a number of songs. Handling the announcements and playing both clarinet and tenor sax was Neil Walsdorf, on trumpet was Dr. Jerry Linder, and on trombone was Dr. Dan Bacon. Presiding at the drums was Dr. Art Richardson, and on electronic piano was Beverly Walsdorf. There were two players in the bass section: Bill Chapman on tuba, and Jim Kelly on string bass.
In the first set, the audience's temperature was taken and evidently diagnosed to be a bit on the low side, necessitating an initial dose of "Bye Bye Blackbird" followed by "Washington & Lee Swing", with a vocal rendition by Dr. Dan Bacon. Bobby Black sang "I Want a Little Girl", and then the whole band sang on "Darktown Strutters Ball", including for any visiting Europeans a version in French by Dr. Jerry Linder. At that point Neil Walsdorf introduced the song "Second Line" with a story (possibly apocryphal) of a bar in New Orleans that charged both a cover and a five-drink minimum, which were later re-assessed after the band led the audience out of the bar and down the street and back to the bar in a "Second Line". Then Bill Chapman exhibited some intricate musical ideas in his tuba solo in "Tishomingo Blues". The dance floor got an even bigger influx of couples when the band played "Down in Honky Tonk Town", and the set ended with a fast and exciting "Indiana". The crowd of 140 jazz-fans gave the band a rousing application of applause, administered manually.
The second set featured such audience-favorites as "I've Found a New Baby", which slyly confused your dutiful correspondent by starting off with a string bass solo by Jim Kelly that sounded as if the song were "Big Noise from Winnetka". Audience participation was encouraged with "Joe Avery", and indeed a number of gyrating, handkerchief-waving folks from the audience sashayed around the room. The set ended with an energetic version of "That's a-Plenty".
Highlights of the third set included "Dippermouth Blues" with a good beat and stentorian exhortations of "Oh, play that thing!"; "Bill Bailey" with the audience singing along with the band; "What a Wonderful World" with vocal by Dan Bacon. The final song was "When the Saints Go Marching In", which then segued into "Hold That Tiger", "Mama Don' 'Low" (with introductions of all the band-members), and finally "Dixie". The good doctors' house-call succeeded in raising the temperatures and spirits of all in attendance, as they gave the band a loud and long standing-ovation.
