| | Hi, folks. The band I'm travelling with is the Side Street Strutters Jazz Band. They work in the New Orleans area of Disneyland, and I am their main sub for travel dates like this tour of Colorado, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa (my home state), and Indiana. (I am a member of the Disneyland Band, which is hq'd on Main Street.) There is a nice write-up of us as individual members (I am not in any of the photos) at this web address: http://www.sidestreetstrutters.com/artists.html
We had great crowds in Miles City and Dillon, and we're looking forward to the short drive over to Anaconda for tomorrow (Tuesday) night's concert -- and I'm looking forward to meeting and briefly visiting with Andrew after the concert. :-)
Yes, Prof. Campbell (Bob :-) and his family came to our concert at Clemson earlier this month, and we had a delightful, but too short chat after the concert. And he is right -- the music is a real treat, especially to anyone who likes the popular music of the first half of the 20th century, which is basically traditional New Orleans ("dixieland") jazz, blues, and Big Band swing. I always come back to my "day gig" with an improved attitude after concertizing with the Strutters.
To those who wonder about recordings:
(1) The Strutters have a number of CDs available, and I think those can be ordered from their website, but the only CD I am on by them is co-leader Rob Verdi's "Prose and Conn-versations;" I have a pretty decent solo on the tune "Love Letters Straight from Your Heart." http://www.sidestreetstrutters.com/Connosax.html
(2) I have a duo jazz CD which I'm very proud of, "The Art of the Duo," with pianist Ben Di Tosti. It contains a number of standards, as well as Saint-Saeans' "The Swan" and an original by me entitled "The Hazards of Loving You." It can (and should!) be ordered from either http://www.gemtone.com or http://www.cdbaby.com
(3) I have three choruses of blues on "Crystal Room Blues" on the CD "Turn" by Doug McDonald.
http://www.seabreezejazz.com/home.html
(4) I have two longish solos on the Don Miller Orchestra's CD "This Swingin' Life".Unfortunately, this CD (1998) seems to be out of stock on Amazon.com and available only for a hideously high price from someone in New York. If you're really interested, let me know, and maybe I can get some copies directly from Don himself, but he disbanded us several years ago, so we're not an active unit any more.
Hope this is helpful to those interested and not too shamefully self-promotional. :-)
Happy listening!
Roger Bissell, post-Randian musician/writer
P.S. -- anyone in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, or Indiana interesting in possibly attending a Strutters concert in the next 2-1/2 weeks? Let me know, and I'll send you a list of places and dates.
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