A band named Bourbon Street Parade will turn McNamara’s Pub into a Big Easy beer garden from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday April 17.
The swinging sextet – which specializes in New Orleans-style jazz – was formed in Rochester in the late 1960s, and most of its members have been making music much longer.
“But we’re getting better, not older,” said trombonist Dave Pierce, who lives in Fayetteville. “I’m sure you’ll agree when you hear us play.”
The combo’s tempos range from easygoing tunes like “Tin Roof Blues” and “Royal Garden Blues” to barnburners like “I’ve Found a New Baby” and “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me,” plus the occasional hymn or show tune.
The band features trumpeter and Satchmo-style singer George Baker, who was a popular player as a youngster in Cleveland and today is a successful Rochester architect.
Clarinetist Peter Ferran is a professor of theater arts at RIT and has played jazz in Europe as well as touring both U.S. coasts with Bonnie Raitt. He appeared at McNamara’s Pub not long ago with Ray Skalski’s Buffalo band.
Pianist Milo Tomanovich long served as a Monroe County legislator and has played Dixieland music for a quarter-century.
Bassist and tuba player Lynn Eberhardt is a regular with Jon Seiger and the All-Stars (which will perform at McNamara’s on May 22). Earlier Eberhardt played with the U.S. Coast Guard Band and has taught music in public schools for many years.
Drummer John Beck is professor emeritus of percussion at Eastman School of Music, a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame and retired timpanist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
And trombonist Dave Pierce, is a founding member of the Bourbon Street Parade. He ran an ad agency in Rochester for 30 years. Now he lives in Fayetteville and occasionally plays with a few Syracuse-area bands.
McNamara’s Pub is located at 5600 Newport Road; 672-8872.
Admission to Sunday’s concert costs $10 for JASS members and $12 for others; for JAZZ info, call 652-0547.
The Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of traditional New Orleans jazz.
