Arkansas Blues - Climax JB 1996

  • 16 years ago
Arkansas Blues - Climax Jazz Band 1996

This clip is from one of the last festivals I played with Climax Jazz Band. A few months earlier my wife Ilse and I had moved to the Westcoast area of Canada and we agreed I would continue to play the band’s international jazz festivals until they had found a suitable replacement.
An American friend, who had been to many of our festivals and also on cruise holidays would often film some of the music being played.
Bob Byler gave me a video cassette of our performances at the St Louis Jazz Jazz Festival in November 1996.
I had watched some of it then, but basically it has been on the shelf for more than 10 years. I was surprised to see this video again.
At the time I was playing a Getzen Eterna cornet which I was able to borrow from a friend who had a large collection of second hand and antique cornets. I really like that horn, an amazing sound and completely gold plated. I used it that summer during our second concert trip to Japan as well and obviously had not given it back to Dick Luker, the owner.
I was quite impressed with the sound from that horn in this clip and I just phoned Dick if he still had that horn in his collection. He does, so maybe he’ll sell it to me one day.
The tune, so nicely sang by Chris we had learned in the seventies initially from an Ken Colyer LP. Ken probably found the original in the collection of 78’s of British collector John R.T. Davies.
In the band:
Bob Erwig cornet, Pieter Meijers clarinet, Len Gosling trombone, Jack Vincken banjo, Chris Daniels bass and vocal and Jamie Aug drums.