Rod Blumenthau's Dixieland Five Promises to Make the Most of That Style

4 years ago

A true lover of his chosen style will ring the piano keys in the Carman Community Room.

Rod Blumenau's Dixieland Five will conclude the Origins of Jazz 2019 program at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15.

Blumenau has been playing piano since he started taking lessons from his grandmother before he turned 5. Before he was out of school, he fell for certain sound. It still tickles him.

“I’m fascinated by it. In ninth grade, my first style that I learned was Dixieland,” Blumenau said in a phone interview. “Fats Waller. That was unusual. It’s fun music. I’ve tried to move on, but it stays with me. Most of the guys who played stride have died, so I have to play more.”

The piano player from Penn Yan will bring clarinetist Ron “PeeWee” Joseph of Rome, cornetist Tim Clarke of East Aurora, and drummer Alex Cote and bassist Danny Ziemann of Rochester.

The theme of the show will be Jazz from the Prohibition Era.

“I have a couple of pieces I call Striding into Oblivion, from the 1920s to 1930s,” he said.

The project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council of the Arts. Russ Tarby of the Liverpool Is the Place committee works with the LPL to program the series.

Here’s a video from the Andrew Carroll concert on Nov. 17.

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