Route 17 Stompers

The photo shows (from left to right) J.T. Lincoln (piano) Caleb Jackson & Nathaniel Weir (trumpets) Jake Brunelle & Sky Hagner (sax) Kevin Bjarnason (clarinet) Emma Sayles (trombone) Andrew Zych (bass) Sam Gosner & Mike Schober (trombones) and Art Hovey on tuba. Not shown are Robert Young (piano) Ben Shorten (guitar & banjo) Brendan LeMieux and Molly Sayles (drums).

Sugarfoot Philharmonic (The Route 17 Stompers)

Most of Art Hovey’s Sugarfoot Youth Jazz Band http://nejazz.com/oldsite/HotStm12_Sugarfoot.htm members have graduated and moved on to higher education, many on their way to becoming professional musicians.

Art is now breaking in a new, much younger group – The “Route 17 Stompers” – mostly from Durham, which is just up Route 17 from the site of the old Millpond Taverne.
Some Sugarfoot alumni returned to assist the new band at the 2013 Hot Steamed Jazz Festival.

Mollie Sayles

Robert Young

Sky Hagner reeds

Emma Sayles

Molly Sayles started them out on drums on “By and By” and “Joe Avery’s Piece”, Robert Young sat in on piano, Sky Hagner on clarinet and sax, Emma Sayles on trombone, and Ben Shorten on banjo and guitar.  They each contributed some unrehearsed solos and powerful additions to the ensemble.

Caleb and Nathaniel

In the new band, which has been rehearsing monthly for about a year, Nathaniel Weir is King Oliver, Caleb Jackson is Louis Armstrong.  Jake Brunelle plays alto sax, Kevin Bjarnason plays clarinet, Mike Schober and Sam Gosner play trombone, J.T. Lincoln is on piano, Andrew Zych is on bass, and Brendan LeMieux was on drums.

Brandon Lemieux

The group kicked off with the old Sugarfoot arrangement of “Arab Strut”, with J.T. Lincoln soloing on piano.

J. T. Lincoln

Next was “By and By”, with Emma Sayles on trombone, a trumpet duet chorus by Nathaniel and Caleb, and a clarinet-sax duet by Kevin and Jake.

reeds” Jake, Sky, Kevin

King Oliver’s “Camp Meeting Blues” featured the famous trombone solo (harmonized) with Michael, Sam, and Emma, followed by the theme which Duke Ellington borrowed and re-named “Creole Love Call” played by Kevin and Jake.

Oliver’s “Canal Street Blues” featured improvised solos by Nathaniel, Kevin, Caleb, and J.T.  “Careless Love” included a piano solo by Robert Young, a guitar solo by Ben Shorten, a trombone solo by Michael Schober, and a sax chorus by Sky Hagner.

Ben Shorten

Ja-Da – Sonny Rollins ‘re-invented it’ using the Ja-Da chords for his composition “Doxy” in 1954.  Our arrangement begins with Doxy, reverts to Jada with half-chorus solos by J.T., Jake, Nathaniel, the trombone section and then returns to Doxy for the ending.

Jazz Me Blues, 1921 featured a trumpet duet chorus and a clarinet-sax duet.  Joe Avery’s piece featured Molly, Nathaniel, Jake, and Sky. Melancholy was short and sweet.

Andrew Zych

Red Wing is a popular song written in 1907 with music by Kerry Mills and lyrics by Thurland Chattaway. Mills adapted the music from Robert Schumann’s composition for piano “The Happy Farmer, Returning From Work” from his 1848 work Album for the Young, Opus 68. The song tells of a young Indian maid’s loss of her sweetheart who has died in battle. In 1940 Woody Guthrie wrote what are probably the most familiar lyrics “Union Maid”.  The Stompers version featured a short piano solo, another clarinet-sax duet, a trumpet solo, and a trombone duet.

Working Man Blues is another King Oliver number featuring duet breaks for the trumpets and for the clarinet and sax.  Sugarfoot Jazz Band alumni showing off their sight reading skills on Lu Watters’ “Sage Hen Strut”. Lu was a leader of the Yerba Buena Jazz Band in San Francisco in the 40’s and 50’s.  Turk Murphy started with this band.

There are some amazing budding musicians in this “Sugarfoot Philharmonic” Jazz Band.  We’re looking forward to hearing what they’ll be playing next year!

Meantime, Art will help you keep track of their progress on this site  http://greatctjazz.org/Sugarfoot/