MUSIC

Home > MUSIC > Dixie Diehards Jazz Band

• Tweet
• Outlook
• ICAL
• PRINT
• Email
• Feedback

• RSS

• Official Website
• Add to My Favorites

Dixie Diehards Jazz Band

Presented by Blackstone River Theatre at Blackstone River Theatre

February 19, 2012

Add Review/Comment

Join the Dixie Diehards Jazz Band for a raucus, Mardi Gras-style show as they dish out a thick gumbo of traditional New Orleans Jazz! The Dixie Diehards, whose lineup includes a medical doctor, a retired college professor and an investigative reporter among others, shares at least one thing in common: a passion for the "hot jazz" and blues of the early 20th century. The era, typified by such greats as Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton, firmly established jazz as "America's music" and set the direction for much of subsequent pop culture. The term "Dixieland" refers to a form of small group jazz which typically includes a trumpet, a clarinet and a trombone and often a tuba combined with a rhythm section that may include a banjo, percussion or bass player as well as a piano. In most arrangements, the trumpet plays the melody while other elements freely improvise around it or paraphrase the melody in creative solos. The Dixie Diehards have won an enthusiastic reception across southern New England for bringing an irrepressible sense of fun and frolic to their shows. That attitude almost always includes audience sing-alongs, spontaneous dance outbursts (remember the Charleston?) and a spirit of "wonderful nonsense." The lineup includes: Rick Foster on trumpet & vocals, Dolly Fruzzetti on vocals, Bill Dube on reeds, Dale Ellenberg on drums, Paul Peterson on reeds, Steve Shaw on tuba, John Zawislak on trombone, Chris Wadsworth on banjo, and band leader Alan Shapiro on trumpet. Don't miss a rare BRT matinee show sure to be fun for all ages!