Hot Steamed Jazz Festival – 2013

Steam Engine logo, with musical notes in smoke

2014 Hot Steamed Jazz Festival is
June 20, 21, 22

The Hot Steamed Jazz Festival June 21-23 at the Valley Railroad in Essex Connecticut was a complete SUCCESS – and Shirley Bombaci is now looking for an appropriate date in 2014 for a repeat performance!  The spirits were with us this year with perfect sunshine, a slight breeze, and to top it all off, a Super Full Moon.

Shirley Bombaci with a big smile

Shirley Bombaci

 

Shirley and the Committee worked tirelessly all year to pull the Festival together.   President/Chair Shirley Bombaci, Vice President Bob Brummett, Treasurer Nina Sulinski, Secretary Beth Fitzsimmons; Members: Sue Brummett, Marge Olmstead, Nancy Loader (publicity) and Joanne Sousa who assembled the many volunteers.  (They could have used more volunteers – Leo Martin was setting up the chairs on Thursday by himself.)

Music was top priority, they skipped frills like badges, expensive programs.  The Friday night crowd was light, but Saturday and Sunday made up for it.

Eric Devine Videos

Jeff Barnhart on piano

Jeff Barnhart

 

Gospel Sunday
Rev. Crowell couldn’t make it this year, so Jeff Barnhart was appointed temporary minister for  He searched the internet for appropriate passages, and God answered him with Amazing Grace!

 

Jeff Barnhart leaning completely across piano in front of Bob Seeley

Jeff Barnhart and Bob Seeley Duet

 

Jeff  and Bob Seeley managed to get together for a short 4-handed Boogie-Woogie.

 

 

Joel in straw hat dancing with lady

Joel Silvestro and partner

 

Joel Silvestro was spotted on the dance floor, still demonstrating his marvelous dancing style.

 

 

 

THE BANDS at the 2013 Hot Steamed Jazz Festival included:

Festival All Stars, led by Jeff Barnhart.  They started out Friday night with four people, including indefatigable Noel Kaletsky, who never stopped playing until the last note on Sunday!   By Sunday, the Fest Band had a full stage.

Noel plays Sleep

Dan Levinson was here for the 16th year, bringing in a new generation of talented musicians, Dan Levinson’s Millenium All Stars from New York.  We hope they will  introduce Traditional Jazz to their peers at various venues there.

Bob Seeley will be 85 in September, that that hasn’t slowed this boogie-meister down at all!

The Midiri Brothers are entertainers as well as accomplished musicians.  They are always crowd pleasers.

Ben Mauger   is a Hot Steamed favorite, with a new clarinet player this year in Ben Mauger’s Speakeasy Six.

Route 17 Stompers  were Art Hovey’s Sugarfoot Youth Band.  All but a few of his Sugarfoot alumni have moved on to higher education, hopefully as professional musicians.  Art is starting fresh with a whole new crew, mostly from Durham CT,  who are already showing great promise, even a new Louis Armstrong and King Oliver.  Some of his alumni were here to support the new group.

Heartbeat Dixieland Jazz Band was augmented by Skip Hughes, Jane Campedelli, and Ben Griffin.  With a new manager  in charge of publicity,  Karen Senn – Watch Out! This band is going places.

Ladies marching with parasols, Shirley right beside them

Parasol Parade, with Shirley

The Wolverine Jazz Band has been practicing their performance on us at the Sherborn Inn for the last few months, and did not disappoint.  This is a New England favorite, and has been invited to festivals all over the country.  Dr. John Clark and this band have a great future!

Galvanized Jazz Band was also joined by Jane Campedelli.  We missed Bob Price golden voice and banjo.  Steve Keeler, Jazz Guitar subbed for Bob.  You’ll be hearing more from him!  Our own Sophie Tucker, Jane Campedelli was back from Florida, belting out tunes with the Galvanized and many other bands.

The Jazz Jesters from Cape Cod led by Jeff Hughes.  Jeff has many bands playing music from the 20’s through the 50’s.  The Jazz Jesters delve into the Jazz Decades of the 20’s and 30’s, (much as Ray Smith does every Sunday on www.wgbh.org 8-9pm.)

Funky Butt Jazz Band is led by Pierce Campbell, known for his finger-style guitar work and singing. He was appointed Connecticut State Troubadour for 2007-2008.

Bob Seeley leads more parasols with his tambourine

Bob Seeley leads more parasols with his tambourine

Proceeds from this festival benefited Paul Newman’s Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. www.holeinthewallgang.org

In 1988, Paul Newman opened The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut so that children coping with serious illnesses could have a special hideout where they could simply be kids.  Music fans contributed in special cups placed at each tent, and there was a raffle of baskets full of items from the Camp.

The Committee may have skipped many of the frills, but there were Hot Steamed Festival Tee Shirts and Polo Shirts available at a very reasonable price.  There will be more great bands next year.  We hope more volunteers will step up.  How about it??

Thank you Shirley Bombaci and Crew for persevering and giving us another weekend of great Traditional and Dixieland Jazz.  See you all next year!

Marce

Hot Steamed Jazz Festival 2012 Bob Seeley

Bob Seeley – 4 sets – soloist – The world renowned Boogie-Woogie pianist of industrial strength from Michigan was back for (I believe) his 5th straight year. Simply Wow! He and Jeff did a four-hands-on duet in his second set that had the audience on their feet for a standing ovation when finished. There are very few that can do what Bob Seeley does!                                       Lauren Humpage


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An 83-year-old scamp, who jumps up and down from the stage like a teenager. Bob Seeley takes boogie woogie tunes of the masters he learned from, like Mead Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson,  and Albert Ammons, as well as contemporaries, just to see what he can do with them.   History lessons are part of his package.

He said during WWII, most of the music was Pop.  Boogie Woogie was a fast, happy Blues.  Sippy Wallace’s Suitcase Blues.

In 1948 Freddy Martin and Josh Pinochle took  Rimsky Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee and turned it into a boogie. 

Lewis, Johnson and Ammons hung out of Mead. Jimmy Yangtze was older, they listened and learned from him.  Many songs at the time referred to railroads and trains.  Yangtze Special was named after a steam train, you can actually hear the engine start, the wheels slipping. 

He said he’d try a classic Bish boogie woogie that was done on two pianos back when he was about 16 years old. He managed it one one piano, with flying fingers!

Boogie Woogie doesn’t have to be fast. He slowed down for a boogie Freddie Slack played in the 40’s.  Strange Cargo was Freddie’s theme song.

When the war ended, boogie-woogie faded. Freddie played piano for a little while, drinking heavily, he died at 52.  People who hit the top did not live a full life.  Seeley says “The music business is not easy.”

There was a request for WC Handy, his most famous tune, St. Louis Blues – he played the Earl Hynes version.  Fast bouncy, boogie, with some stride.  Then moved to something not boogie, Malagueña, written by Ernesto Lecuona.  He played it in stride, quoting a big of “She don’t wear no pants in the southern part of France”. 

Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis was about 5 feet tall and weighed about 300 pounds. His boogie – Tell Your Story Blues tells a story.  The right hand holds the conversation, while the left hand keeps the eight-beat. 

Cow Cow Davenport was a boogie woogie player in the 20’s and 30’s.  He composed Cow Cow Boogie.  Sold it outright.  Trad bands play it too.

Mama Don’t ‘low – that song is usually used to identify the players in a band. He used it to enumerate all the different kinds of music, citing examples.  Mama Don’t ‘low no Scott Joplin, Irving Berlin. Ragtime (Maple Leaf Rag) James P. Johnson (Charleston) Fats Waller (Honeysuckle Rose) Duke Ellington (A Train – left hand traveling all over the low end of the piano).  George Gershwin (I Got Rhythm) left hand in a hopping stride.  He ended with an Irving Berlin (God Bless America.)

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Amazing pianist.  His second set was totally different. and just as fascinating.

Mead Lux Lewis’s Six Wheel Chaser, Juan Tisol’s Caravan, going from boogie into rapid stride. He slowed for Jelly Roll Morton’s Dead Man Blues (“a favorite in the nursing homes.  Another one is After You’ve Gone“.)  

Boogie Woogie Man, his Bumble Boogie cannot be described – you must see it!  Eric Devine videotaped it.  All in good time.

Mr. Freddie Blues.  He moved quickly from one to another pianist, remembering all the best pianists of the past.

He said Errol Garner was “one of the greatest ever”. 

Jerome Kern’s Yesterdays started with as a ballad, morphing into an lively boogie, fingers dancing across the keyboard.

Pete Johnson – stride pianist – wrote Death Ray Boogie – named after that look, that stare, that Benny Goodman gave his players.  He played more leisurely for Fats Waller’s  Cuttin’ The Boogie.

He said Jelly Roll Morton hated the boogie, but it was ‘in’ at the time so they all had to play it. So Fat’s contribution in a cutting contest was Handful Of Keys.  That should show them!

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Bob had the last set on Sunday afternoon in the Hole in the Wall Tent, Galvanized was playing in the Louis Armstrong Tent.  Fred Vigorito led the Galvanized Jazz Band marching into the tent and there was a free-for-all.

If you look carefully, you’ll find Joel Schiavone on banjo, hiding in the background. 

That concluded a fine weekend of great jazz. Bands have already been booked for next year. Volunteers – get ready for another one!!