THE MARKET STREET JAZZ BAND RETURNS OCTOBER 18!
By John Ochs
The Market Street Jazz Band played its first PSTJS dance/concert back in June 2012. Since then, the band has kept almost the same roster of musicians. Taking their name from Ballard’s Market Street, they’ve played for the Salmon Bay Eagles, Egan’s Ballard Jam House, the Conway Muse, the Olympia and Bellingham Dixieland Jazz societies, various private events and festivals, and recently at Kenyon Hall.
Trumpeter Ansgar Duemchen is the ensemble’s music director. Regarding the band’s style, he says, “We all play with passion. We play traditional New Orleans jazz, featuring a lot of ‘20s and ‘30s dance tunes, including “The Charleston” as well as West Coast numbers like Turk Murphy’s “Big Bear Stomp” and hot jazz favorites like “Snake Rag,” “Cornet Chop Suey,” “Mahogany Hall Stomp,” and “Basin Street Blues.” We play music for dancers, and we throw in some vocals, too.”
Banjoist Tim Sherman manages the band’s business. Known among blues fans as “Stoop Down Slim,” he’s a three-time recipient of the Washington Blues Society’s annual award for “Best Electric Guitar.” Tim’s blues activity is outside this article’s scope, but he’s at home with The Market Street: “Trad jazz, Dixieland, and swing was the first music I loved as a child and early teen, due to my mom’s collection of 78 rpm records. I learned a bit of guitar on my own and took banjo lessons. I played electric blues after that, but always loved trad and listened to bands whenever possible. I reconnected with tenor and plectrum banjo about 20 years ago, met Ansgar, and joined the band. It was my first traditional group.”
Clarinetist Jim Dejoie is a Seattle native. He has been a member of the band since 2012. He’s equally fluent on clarinet, baritone, and alto saxes, bass clarinet, flute, and percussion. He has been playing, writing, and performing in Seattle for over 30 years.
Trombonist John Mascorella is a founding member of the Market Street Jazz Band. After graduating from Issaquah High School, he attended the University of Washington. His Facebook posting says “Musician (trombone) plays all styles.” Since returning in 1997 from playing in Alaska, he has been a musical instrument repair technician at Kennelly Keys in Lynnwood.
Paul Hagglund will be playing tuba. His history as a member of our jazz community goes back to 2008 when, as a 19-year-old, he became a regular in the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band. Since then, he has earned a national reputation and most of his music time is taken up playing festivals in bands led by such luminaries as Andy Schumm, Hal Smith, Katie Cavera, Marc Caparone, and Brian Holland.
Drummer Bob Merrihew, also a founding member, has played in all kinds of bands, ranging from the eclectic rock band Amethyst (1970s) to the Cozetti & Gemmill jazz duo (1980s) to the Cajun band Filé Gumbo (1990s). Presently, he’s a mainstay with the Mark Lewis Jazz Quintet, the Harmatones rock band, the Atlantics R&B band, the Banzai Surf band, and the Loose Heels country band, among others.
Duemchen, Sherman, Mascorella, Dejoie, and Merrihew were in the band 14 years ago, but most of us will remember that session only slightly, if at all. Since then, “Jazz” has replaced the archaic word “Jass” in the band’s name, but its piano-less instrumentation remains. It reflects the makeup of many New Orleans bands of the early 1900s. As well as at dances, those bands performed at parades, picnics, funerals, and wagon-borne advertising gigs where pianos would not have been available. The top piano men were elsewhere anyway, perfecting their art on fine pianos in Storyville’s lavish bordellos.
Come and join us to dance and listen to the rhythm of the band at the Ballard Elks on October 18. And please, bring a friend or two. By doing so, you will be doing your part to keep traditional jazz alive in Seattle. Remember those under 21 are admitted free if accompanied by an adult paying admission.
