PHJB ON THE ROAD: California!

It's July! And that means it's time for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's annual California tour. The group's been making a big stir on the west coast with their brand-new CD and stellar multi-generational lineup. Here's what people are saying:

from the Napa Valley Register:
Some firsts for Preservation Hall Jazz Band at Mondavi
Thursday, July 09, 2009
By L. PIERCE CARSON
Register Staff Writer

Although the ensemble has performed at the Robert Mondavi Winery on more than three dozen occasions, the most recent Independence Day appearance by Preservation Hall Jazz Band proved a night of significant firsts.

The beloved New Orleans ensemble took the opportunity to introduce its newest member,

70-year-old clarinetist Charlie Gabriel, a welcome addition who sang, danced and noodled his way across the expansive stage erected on the Oakville winery’s lawn.

The appearance also served to introduce the band’s brand new compact disc, the first new recording with the current roster led by exciting young trumpet hotshot, Mark Braud.

It was the first time the enthusiastic crowd of 750 or so got to hear this legendary Big Easy band’s arrangement of New Orleans standards like the classic ’20s eyebrow-raiser, “Short-Dressed Gal,” and the World War II-era hit by Johnny Mercer and Wingy Manone, “Tailgate Ramble..."
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From the Orange County Register:
Preservation Hall Jazz Band perseveres
Review: With some new members in the mix, the group shines in Irvine.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
By Timothy Mangan

There's a youth movement afoot in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which visited the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Friday, but the old feeling is still intact. Ben Jaffe (sousaphone, bass, a mean tambourine) is listed as director; his parents were the founders of Preservation Hall. Mark Braud is on trumpet, taking over for his uncle, John Brunious, Jr., who passed away in 2008. Clint Maedgen, (saxophone, smooth vocals) joins them to form a core of 30-somethings.

But the newest member of the band is clarinetist Charlie Gabriel. He was born July 11, 1932. Trombonist Frank Demond is still around, too, with the band for more than 40 years. And the rhythm section is in the good hands of 50 and 60 year olds, all veterans.

It's a nice dynamic and an incomparable groove. When these guys got going Friday it was hair raising, thrilling, though rarely in an in-your-face way. Cool, sauntering and shuffling is the rule. Everything these musicians do seems to support the all important beat. You get the usual jazz emphasis on beats 2 and 4, of course, but these are never hammered, just kind of nonchalantly flipped. The de-emphasized beats are just as important: they set-up the others, give a hop to the sound, a zing and zest similar, in its way, to a Viennese waltz played by a good Viennese orchestra...
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from the Grape To Glass Wine Blog:
Preservation Hall Celebrates 38th Performance at RMW Summer Festival
July 12, 2009
by Peter Alig

The Summer Festival at Robert Mondavi Winery has become a Napa Valley tradition. In 1969 Margrit Biever Mondavi stood at the edge of the winery’s lawn and thought it would be the perfect venue for a casual outdoor concert.

Forty years later, it has become practically unthinkable for the Robert Mondavi Winery Summer Festival to proceed without the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Together since 1961, the Band first performed at the Summer Festival in 1971 and brought the house down for the thirty-eighth time last weekend. The lineup may have changed over the years, but the Band’s New Orleans spirit and sensational musical talent have continued to entertain Summer Festival guests.

After this year’s concert, I caught up with Ben Jaffe — director of the Band, tuba player and son of the Band’s founders, Allan and Sandra Jaffe. In an email, he reflected on the Band’s history at Robert Mondavi Winery...

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