Review: THE HIGH SOCIETY NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND Brings Weekly Fun to Birdland

#TBT: If you like the idea of “Throwback Thursday,” dedicating a day of the week to remember and revisit the past, Birdland can really make your day. That’s when a musical group is at the venue, week after week.  It’s sweet nostalgia, but don’t expect them to play any of several songs titled “Sweet Thursday” —like the one recorded by Johnny Mathis or the one from the 1955 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Pipe Dream, based on John Steinbeck’s novel Sweet Thursday —  because they specialize in throwbacks to the first few decades of the 20th century.  They are the High Society New Orleans Jazz Band, in residence on Thursdays for 5:30 pm sets.  (Their dates are shown on the venue’s website calendar for as far as future bookings are shown — through the end of August.)   

If the name or music sounds familiar, it may be thanks to vintage jazz enthusiast Woody Allen, who played with this long-established group for years at the Carlyle Hotel on Mondays and had them provide music for several of his movies. The ensemble is made up of cool cats, but they’re not copycats.  That is to say that their arrangements are in the great tradition of the feel-good New Orleans style of jazz, all done with respect and an authentic feel, but they aren’t merely slavishly cloning exact performances by bands of yore for your modern-day (Thursday) sweet memories or belated discoveries.  They’re too creative and vital to settle for that.  The performance I caught on April 4th had variety and vim, with luxuriously lengthy treatments of the numbers du jour, typically allowing significant solos for each of a few players.  Those restless souls with limited attention spans need not fear or fidget when these treatments are lengthy because the arrangements flow nicely, as each different soloist and his instrument brings a different flavor or personality to the melody, increasing our appreciation for it.  So, the taking of turns doesn’t take a turn towards redundancy.  And we hear the lyrics in some cases, which adds another dimension, with cheery, crisp vocals, too.  (Don’t look for big, bravura belting or ultra-creamy crooning, but the gentlemen in the group who handle the lyrics bring out the charm and wit of the words in an amiable and attentive way.)      

Along the way, there are some spoken comments/facts about a selection’s relevant writer, original interpreter, or year it came on the scene.  An occasional remark tells us a bit about one of the musicians, such as saying that the terrific Josh Dunn on guitar and banjo hails originally from Tasmania, but tweaking the truth to playfully say that he came all that distance just for this one performance.  But mostly the focus stays on the repertoire, not the guys or any extraneous observations or professorial lectures on musical history or structure.  

This particular program, as promised in the opening statement by co-leader/pianist Conal Fowlkes, had “variety.” There were novelty numbers, a march (the “Salutation March”), and some blues – but their blues, true to New Orleans tradition that extends into celebrations of life at funerals, never gets truly glum.  Trumpeter Simon Wettenhall was, as you might expect, ready to pay his respects to Louis Armstrong.  We got three choices from the catalogue of the man they called “the dean of popular song,” Irving Berlin, and I was especially happy that one was the rarely heard item about a trip to Cuba with the fun wordplay in its title (which is a repeated line in the lyric): “I’ll See You in C-U-B-A.”  Many members of the very full audience were heard chuckling at this which made me assume that they didn’t know or remember this oldie.

Why not accept the invitation to join the party about the past, throwing back a Throwback Thursday cocktail and drinking in the music of the High Society New Orleans Jazz Band.  Drink a toast dedicated to their dedication, each and every one:   Conal Fowlkes (piano); Simon Wettenhall (trumpet);  Brian Nalepka (bass), Kevin Dorn (drums), Josh Dunn (banjo and guitar),  Harvey Tibbs (trombone), and Tom Abbott (clarinet). 

The High Society New Orleans Jazz Band plays every Thursday night at Birdland. Tickets to see them are available here.

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