Versatile brassman Jeff Stockham delivers bold tones, bright and round as a bell, as incisive as a blade.
Whether blowing a cornet, valve trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn or French horn, his phrasing remains ever-tasteful thanks to his excellent ear and exquisite embouchure. Trained at Rochester’s prestigious Eastman School of Music, Stockham’s an astute chart-reader, a clever arranger and an agile improvisor.
He’s also a vibrant vocalist and a marvelous musicologist.
Stock Market Swing
All of those varied talents will be on display when the Syracuse-based trumpeter returns to Johnson Park with his Stock Market Swing Orchestra at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 6, as the 33rd annual Liverpool is The Place Summer Concert Series continues.
The 12-piece Stock Market Swing Orchestra features some of the best musicians in Central New York who ably recreate the swinging sounds of the Jazz Age
“We will be using vintage band fronts and vintage mutes, and I will be playing vintage instruments of the era,” said Stockham, who is an internationally known collector of brass instruments.
The orchestra will play original dance band arrangements from the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, including its theme song, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” the song written by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal that became a big hit for Bing Crosby in 1944.
The ensemble’s book includes standards such as Duke Ellington’s “Caravan,” Fletcher Henderson’s “Christopher Columbus,” Benny Goodman’s “King Porter Stomp” and Artie Shaw’s “Begin the Beguine.”
‘Ol’ Buttermilk Sky’
“But we’ll also play some more obscure tunes,” Stockham promised, such as Hoagy Carmichael’s “Ol’ Buttermilk Sky,” Jimmy Dorsey’s “Dusk in Upper Sandusky” and “Who Broke the Lock on the Henhouse Door?” which was waxed in 1931 by the Washboard Rhythm Kings.
Authenticity is the Stock Market Swing Orchestra’s stock-in-trade. Stockham will blow a Selmer Paris “Louis Armstrong” style Balanced Model trumpet, and a Conn 36B “New Era” trumpet, a type which Armstrong also used. The leader will also play a 1930s Conn flugelhorn and a 1920s Conn valve trombone.
“I plan for the appearance of the band, as well as the music, to capture the style of the Jazz Age,” Stockham said. “I’ve even bought a 1920s-style suspension microphone.”
The Stock Market Swing Orchestra will feature Stockham, on trumpet and vocals, and his bandmates usually include Pat Carney, lead trumpet; Steve Carney, second trumpet; Mark Anderson, trombone; John Delia, alto sax/clarinet; Frank Grosso, alto sax/clarinet; Mike Dubaniewicz, tenor sax; Bob Cesare, tenor sax/bari sax; Dave Solazzo, piano; Kevin Dorsey, string bass/tuba; and Josh Dekaney, drums.
Stockham was inspired to form the new orchestra two years ago after he’d been hired to contract the sidemen for a Guy Lombardo Orchestra concert at the Lake Placid Center for the Performing Arts.
“I used essentially these same musicians, and everybody dug it, so I decided to put together a 1920s to ‘30s society orchestra,” Stockham said. “The concept is less hot jazz and more of a sweet society sound.”
Monday’s concert at Johnson Park is free; bring lawn chairs; (315) 457-3895. And pray for sunshine. Thunderstorms have forced the cancellation six of the series’ first 14 concerts this soggy summer.
Oktoberfest at Long Branch
Why wait until autumn?
The German-American Society of CNY will present its 58th annual Syracuse Bavarian Ocktoberfest Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 4 and 5, at Liverpool’s Long Branch Park.
Entertainers include the Enzian Bavarian Band & Dancers at noon Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, the Twin Magicians, David and Paul Jackman, from 2 to 5 p.m. both days, and the Edelweiss Schuhplattlers from Utica and the Bavarian Brothers from Massachusetts both days.
Admission is free but bring some cash for a couple schupers of Spaten Münchner Hell premium lager, a cutlet of weiner schnitzel and a slice of Black Forest cherry cake; 315-675-8321.
Bluegrass bash Sunday
Bill Knowlton’s 46th annual Bluegrass Ramble Picnic takes place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6, at Dwyer Memorial Park, on Little York Lake. Admission is free.
Knowlton, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force, lives in Liverpool up on Meyers Road. His weekly radio broadcast, “Bluegrass Ramble,” can be heard from 9 p.m. to midnight Sundays on WCNY-FM (91.3) or online at wcny-org.
Sunday’s picnic will be staged under a huge tent so weather will not interfere with the music of more than a dozen dynamic bluegrass and old-time bands including the Salmon River Boys, the Cadleys and the Delaney Bros.
The Bluegrass Ramble Picnic is the longest-running bluegrass event in New York State and New England dating back to August 1973.
Memorial Park is located south of Exit 13 (Preble) off I-81; drive south on Route 281 to Little York.
Last word
“We’ll take you back to those swinging days of flappers, speakeasies and doing the Charleston ’til dawn. Our orchestra’s motto is ‘Party like it’s 1929.’” – Stock Market Swing Orchestra leader Jeff Stockham.
