Program : 
159
California Jammin’ —Jim Galloway & Bob Schulz with The Jim Cullum Jazz Band

Marquee of the historic Crest Theatre, Sacramento. Photo courtesy Crest Theatre.

On the road in a 2001 tour of nothern California, The Jim Cullum Jazz Band and their guests are captured live in a spirited jam session at the historic Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento. A beautifully restored World War II era Art Deco movie palace,The Crest first opened its doors in 1913 as a vaudeville theater.

 

Jim Cullum welcomes four distinguished guest instrumentalists to sit in on the California session—soprano saxophonist Jim Galloway, cornetist Bob Schulz, guitarist Clint Baker, and drummer Hal Smith. All are bandleaders in their own right and well-known to fans of classic jazz.

 

Multi-instrumentalist Clint Baker. Courtesy swingordie.net

 

 

 

 

Scottish born Jim Galloway is a long-time resident of Toronto, Canada. Galloway stays busy touring on the international festival circuit, and finds time to be artistic director of the annual du Maurier Downtown Toronto Jazz Festival. Jim Galloway is featured here on the standards, "Oh Baby," "I Never Knew," "There's a Cabin in the Pines," "Do You Ever Think of Me?," and the haunting Victor Herbert song—"Indian Summer."

 

"Do You Ever Think of Me" sheet music, 1920. Courtesy Indiana University Sheet Music Collection.

Cornetist Bob Schulz is known as a mainstay of bands led by trombonist Turk Murphy, a leading light of the West Coast Traditional Jazz Revival. Bob leads his own Frisco Jazz Band in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here, Schulz is featured on the Bix Beiderbecke standard "I'll Be a Friend With Pleasure" and the jam session tunes "Girl of My Dreams" and "That Da-Da Strain."

 

"Girl of My Dreams" sheet music, 1920. Courtesy Edison Sheet Music Collection.

 

Contributing outstanding rhythm section support are two California-based players—drummer Hal Smith and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Clint Baker. Smith has led bands in New Orleans and San Diego and helms the popular Hal's Angels. Baker is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a frequent presence at concerts and jazz festivals. He currently leads the Cafe Borrone All-Stars in Menlo Park in northern California.

 

 

Drummer Hal Smith, courtesy rhythmisjumpin.com.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photo credit for home page teaser image: Marquee of the historic Crest Theatre, Sacramento. Photo courtesy studio42.com