Submitted by Amy Albert
(January 17, 2023) — The Buttonwood Tree at 605 Main Street in Middletown will present the 10-piece New Orleans/ Dixieland Jazz group Central City Stompers on Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $15.
The Stompers were started at New Haven’s Neighborhood Music School more than 20 years ago by Jim Fryer. When Jim moved to Manhattan he asked Art Hovey to join the NMS faculty and take over the Stompers. Brooks Low soon became the regular clarinetist, then Don Harvey, playing trombone. By then they had acquired Jim Caplik on cornet, and Rob Harper-Mangels joined soon after on second cornet. With the addition of Ed Stern on piano the band began to take shape.
The music they play is often called “Classic Jazz,” mostly popular tunes from the first half of the 20th century with liberal doses of blues and ragtime. Some call it “Dixieland” or “Hot Jazz” or “New Orleans Style.” Their inspirations include King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, Turk Murphy’s Jazz band, the South Frisco Jazz Band, the Yerba Buena Stompers, and many other bands that can still be heard today at traditional jazz festivals all over the world.
See ww.Buttonwood.org for show details or call (860) 347-4957.
Email: TheButtonwoodTree@gmail.com
