Silver Creek Jazz Band - September 7, 2008
Review by Dan Augustine
Texas is not widely known for its
production of silver, but quite a bit of it was in evidence at the
Capital City Comedy Club on Sunday, September 7th, 2008, when Dave
Stoddard's Silver Creek Jazz Band unearthed many different veins of ore
from the treasured past of traditional jazz. The concert was
hosted by the Austin Traditional Jazz Society.
Led by Dave Stoddard (on valve trombone and vocals), the band also
includes longtime Austin jazz musicians Larmon Maddox on cornet, Jim
Ivy on clarinet and tenor sax, Bob Alexius on string bass, and Rob
Schmidt on drums. Late in the first set, Dave explained that
the band's usual guitar-player, Tom Duplissey, had been activated in
the Reserve and was being sent to Florida, so he got J. D. Pendley to
fill in on guitar, and J. D. did a fine job, especially considering
that he was basically sight-reading the entire concert.
The first nugget displayed for the audience was "Hindustan", and Jim
Ivy's clarinet solo glittered and showed why he is one of the top
players in Austin. "Olga" by King Oliver is rarely heard, and
such a pity that is, as it had couples out on the dance floor and
listeners tapping their feet. "Out of Nowhere" played next is
not your usual traditional-jazz song, but then what we call jazz is
really not a fixed set of tunes but more a style of playing any
tune. On the other hand, "Mama's Gone Goodbye" (done next) is
indeed a fine old 'dixieland' song, and both Dave Stoddard and Larmon
Maddox did it justice with fine solos. Dave Stoddard was
featured singing on "All by Myself", and the set ended with "Buddy's
Habit" (about whose predilections we will not dwell on here).
After the break, the Silver Creek Jazz Band continued with another gem
called "The Curse of an Aching Heart", which had a simply great tempo
and beat furnished by Rob Schmidt on drums and Bob Alexius on bass,
with the front line trading 4s toward the end. Another song
that has been unjustly neglected by most bands (but not the Silver
Creek) was "Pete Kelly's Blues", with Jim Ivy's solo on tenor sax
exploring the lower register of the horn. Paul Whiteman's
"Oh, Miss Hannah" was unfamiliar territory to most (if not all) of the
audience (including your reviewer), but it had some very nice
chord-changes and an intriguing section in minor that made me want to
hear it again. Dave then sang "Buddy Bolden Blues" (another
fine old tune), and then the band switched rhythms with the Jelly Roll
Morton's "Spanish tinge" in "Tia Juana", with a good Latin beat and an
inventive cornet solo by Larmon Maddox. After "I'm
Confessin'" (with a good Jim Ivy clarinet solo), the band ended the set
with "Papa Dip" at a fast tempo. So many rarely heard but
deserving songs were played in this set that the sensation was one of
opening a dresser drawer and seeing all kinds of jewels of varying
colors sparkling and gleaming in profusion.
The third set started off with another good ol' dixieland-tune,
"Chattanooga Stomp", with an infectious beat from Rob Schmidt's drums
(which he said were made in 1937). Apparently the musical
ecstacies of the performance overwhelmed Dave Stoddard during "At
Sundown", as he surrendered to his emotions and joined the dancers and
cavorted and twirled about dancing with his trombone (which i fear his
wife may have named in a lawsuit for alienation of
affections). Jim Ivy started off "Petite Fleur" with a simply
amazing cadenza on clarinet, which he followed with a wonderful
solo. The audience appauded his performance loudly, and it
was certainly one of the highlights of the afternoon. The set
ended with "Algiers Strut", one of the best tunes around, with even a
special ending. The crowd signaled their approval of the
Silver Creek Jazz Band with long and loud applause.
