About the Band
|
The South Bay Stompers is a traditional jazz band playing the music of Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. The band was founded in 1999 by a group of musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area. The Stompers' schedule includes performances at various local festivals, civic and private events, and up until its closing on Jan. 1, 2007, have been featured on the first Sunday of each month at the Cats Restaurant in Los Gatos. |
|
| Meet the band! |
|
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Joe
Doll, Trombone. Trombonist Joe Doll began playing in grade school,
where the traveling
music teacher observed his long arms and felt they were a good fit for
the instrument. Joe's musical career in the Bay Area began in 1969 when
he helped found the LeraTones big band. Joe has played lead trombone in
several big swing bands, including the Johnny Lampson Orchestra and the
Adrian Davis Orchestra. Since 1999 he has enjoyed blowing Traditional
Jazz with the South Bay Stompers. |
|
 Bill Van
Dorn, Tenor Banjo. A South Bay native, Bill began playing music in
1988 when he took up
the
tenor banjo. He has played with the Peninsula Banjo Band for six years
and has played at several Traditional Jazz Camps in both San Diego and
Sacramento. Professionally, he worked as a computer programmer from
1964-1990. Bill is an avid Trad Jazz fan. He has played with the SBS
since its inception, and is also a founding member of the Pastoria
Avenue Jazz Band. |
|
Jerry Johnson, Piano. Growing up with a mother who had played piano for the silent movies in the twenties, Jerry was required to take piano lessons. However, the piano soon gave way to the saxophone and clarinet with a teacher who had played with John Philip Sousa. Reeds were his entree into the American Federation of Musicians (Hammond, Indiana Local) while still in high school. He played through his college years, but music was put on the shelf in favor of a more stable family life. Like many others, retirement has provided him with time to return to music. In addition to playing with the South Bay Stompers, Jerry plays with the Pastoria Avenue Jazz Band, does solo piano work, and fronts a trio. |
|
 Paul
Bostwick, Tuba. Paul is a retired band director, serving for many
years as Music
Department chairman at Los Gatos High School. As a teenager, he
organized a Dixieland group called “Three Hoots & a Holler.” While
a
music major at U. C. Berkeley (lower brass instruments) he was Student
Director of the Cal Marching Band. He played with Cal’s Faculty Jazz
Band for a summer, and with Dutch Deutsch, Gary Ryan, and Roger Snell
for a year at Big Al’s Gashouse. Interest in Traditional Jazz was
rekindled on a trip to New Orleans in 2000, and soon thereafter he
joined The South Bay Stompers. Paul is also a member of the Toot Sweet
Jazz Band and subs in several bands in the Bay Area. |
|
 Thomas
Beckmann, Drums. Percussionist Thomas Beckmann began playing Jazz
at age 16 in the
Bourbon Street Five led by trumpeter Bruce Haag. He has performed and
recorded in the San Francisco Bay Area for 30 years in various bands.
His musical interests are varied and his influences range from
Classical
to Latin to Reggae to Rock to Drum Corps to Traditional and Modern
Jazz.. This makes for a broad range of percussion instruments around
the
house. Basically, if he can hit it, he likes it! |
|
 Florence
Beckmann, Vocals. Vocalist Florence Beckmann is from Long Island,
New York where she
studied voice in college. She dabbles with guitar, bass and piano, but
singing is her passion. She has performed in groups and recorded since
she was 17 years old. Although she spends a lot of time with her two
babies, she still finds time to rehearse and perform with the South Bay
Stompers on a regular basis. |
|
| Last updated July 2007 |
Don
Abel, Cornet. Throughout his school years, Don played trumpet with
various marching
bands and big band jazz groups. It was Sacramento's Jazz Jubilee, along
with recordings by Lu Watters and South Frisco JB, that kindled his
love
for traditional jazz. Don's jazz training includes workshops and camps
from Stan Kenton, Herb Patnoe, Bill Chase, Jim Cullum and San Diego's
Traditional Jazz Society. A software professional, Don currently plays
lead trumpet with the San Jose Metropolitan Band. He has been a
featured
artist with various trad jazz bands and in festival jam sets, and has
been fronting the SBS since 2001.
Ray
Buhler, Clarinet. Growing up in Switzerland, Ray Buhler caught the
jazz bug from
attending
live performances of Sidney Bechet and Albert Nicholas. Ray borrowed an
old clarinet and taught himself to play, trying to emulate the early
New
Orleans clarinetists. At the age of 18, he co-founded a band called the
Old-Timers Dixieland Jazz Band. Soon, education became his priority
followed by the pursuit of a career in Research and Development that
eventually brought him to the United States. He began playing again in
1998 and the following year he organized the South Bay Stompers. For
many years Ray was active in the Webpage designed by Don Abel