Street Festival '19 / Kenwood Players

The Kenwood Players did two sets at the Street Festival. Here's a shot of the whole group, from left to right, Joe T, Steve, Gary, Dick, Joe B, Maggie, Michael, and me. Gary on drums is new to the area, and Joe B on bass has been around for decades playing in all sorts of groups.

Dick on trumpet and his wife Maggie on clarinet are the heart and soul of the group, doing all the organizational work, finding the music to play, and willing to drive great distances from visiting family in Northern Virginia to get to rehearsals.

Steve on trombone in the pic below, is a cousin, and his sound helped me immensely when I was learning the French horn. He can play brassy and "dirty" when it's called for, but he can also make a sound so sweet and full, you forget it's a brass instrument. Michael on the right is simply amazing on the sax. Whenever he launches into a solo, I automatically start grinning because of the good feeling he brings.

Here's a nice shot of Joe T who has recently been helping us on the keyboard

Here I am trying to keep up on banjo. Everyone else in the group is a seasoned pro, but I came to playing Dixieland very late. On the one hand it's the musical genre that seems the most universally successful in raising people's mood. On the other, it's quite difficult! I had never bothered with augmented and diminished chords before Dixieland, and all the chords come at an amazingly fast pace.

Here are Don and Pam (who helped with the pops and the drum groups) bringing a little Big Easy fashion sense to Main Street Orange while we were playing.