ALEX GUILBERT LEADS THE CHARGE WITH THE STAMPEDE 7 ON APRIL 19!
Alex Guilbert (piano), Jim DeJoie (clarinet), and Christian Pincock (trombone), Jerome Smith (tuba), Jennie Mayer (banjo and guitar), and Will Loan (drums).
This month’s PSTJS session features Alex Guilbert’s Stampede 7 Sextet. Although the band incorporates Alex’s trademark “Stampede 7” in its name, the sextet’s style of music will be different than that of the original seven-piece band. While the larger Stampede 7 presented arranged music of the early swing era, the sextet features looser, less heavily arranged tunes as performed by the classic New Orleans jazz bands.
Currently, Guilbert teaches at the Seattle Jazz Academy and the Jazz Night School in Columbia City, even as he continues to hold down evening gigs at Swing It Seattle, Brother Barrel in Lake City, the Owland Thistle, Jules Maes Saloon, the Royal Room, the Pink Door, the Reverie Ballroom, and El Gaucho in Bellevue. The point here is thatAlex’s wide array of contacts as an educator, bandleader, and pianist-about-town make him especially situated to bringing new musicians tothe traditional-jazz fold. For our concert, he has assembled a mix of familiar faces to go along with a couple of new recruits.
As far as the familiar faces go, Guilbert leads the way, having been the pianist in 16 of our sessions, 11 as a sideman and five as bandleader. Tubist Jerome Smith is next in line, with six total appearances in bands directed by Guilbert, Jacob Zimmerman, Jonathan Doyle, and Josh Roberts. Trombonist Christian Pincock has performedthree times in combos led by Doyle, Matt Weiner, and Arnt Arntzen. Clarinetist Jim DeJoie also has played for us on three occasions, all with the Market Street Jazz Band.
Although we are seeing guitar/banjoist Jennie Mayer for the first time, she is a seasoned musician who came to traditional jazz by a circuitous route. She grew up playing piano before switching to guitar, then taking classes at Jazz Night School (2016–2018), and finally burnishing her skills by attending jazz camps and studying with guitarists all over the world. Jennie has since become a force in local Gypsy-jazz and swing-music scenes as co-founder of the all-female Lulu Swing Band (specializing in Hot Club Swing with a French and Latin twist) and as leader of her own swing band, the Jumpin’ Jennies.
With respect to her recent involvement in traditional jazz, Mayer has been studying the guitar style of Eddie Lang and the six-string banjo style of Johnny St. Cyr. These days, she’s honing her craft as a member of Alex Guilbert’s Trio at the Pink Door on alternate Wednesdays. In 2025, her jazz education came full circle when she joined the Jazz Night School faculty as a guitar and ensemble instructor. When not playing or teaching music, Jennie is a chemistry professor at Bellevue College.
The other newcomer, Will Lone, has lived and studied percussion in India and Indonesia, where he lived for extended periods of time. Since his return to Seattle, he’s become a favorite on drums at the Jazz Fellowship jam sessions in Pioneer Square. One commentator described him as “an improvising artist who has cultivated a multi-dimensional and melodic style of drum playing. He has performed around the world with numerous groups of different styles.” Alex adds, “He plays a lot of dance gigs, and he plays good old-style drums. Lately, he’s been listening to Vic Berton’s work with Red Nichols and Adrian Rollini, which takes dedication because it’s hard to hear drums on those 1920s recordings.”
Guilbert’s choice of musicians for our concert grows out of the trio he is leading at the Pink Door. “Since Jim DeJoie joined the trio,” Alex says, “the band has gravitated to the trad-jazz canon. It’s fun to collaborate with someone who plays authentically. With Jim on clarinet. the music has more of a New Orleans feel than ever before. We plan to do some Johnny Dodds and Jimmy O’Bryant clarinet tunes as well as King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton features like Froggie Moore and Weather Bird Rag.”
No doubt Alex’s band will play some of these tunes, as well as many others that lend themselves to the 1920s and ‘30s style of small-combo arranging. We’ll hear compositions that inspired bandleaders to move away from ragtime’s rigidly structured melodies and syncopated rhythms toward music in- corporating more blues influences, improvisation, and danceable rhythms, thus contributing to the development of the more dynamic and expressive music we associate with Roaring ‘20s classic jazz.
Please join us at the Ballard Elks on April 19 for an enjoyable afternoon of hot jazz. Alex is an experienced bandleader who knows how to please dancers and listeners alike. And bring a friend or two. By doing so, you’ll do your part to keep traditional jazz alive in Seattle. And remember, those under 21 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult paying admission. Everyone is welcome!
WHERE: Ballard Elks Lodge 6411 Seaview Ave. NW, Seattle, WA
WHEN: April 19, 1–4 p.m.
ADMISSION: Pay online or at the door - PSTJS members, $15 - Nonmembers, $20
Cash, check, credit card Free admission for those under 21 who accompany a person paying admission.
FURTHER INFO: Carol Rippey, 425-776-5072, or www.pstjs.org. Plenty of free parking; great view & dance floor; snacks, coffee, and other beverages available.
