New Reformation Jazz Band

Classic Jazz. Hot Jazz. Blues. Big Band. Swing.

Archives for April 2016

NRB Live at the Nugget

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NRB Digitally Remastered!

Classic NRB Jazz — Live!

Recorded** in the Celebrity Showroom

at the Nugget Casino Resort,  Sparks, Nevada

$10 + $3*

*flat rate shipping no matter how many CDs ordered at same time

Order today via dave@newref.com.

THE NRB MUSICIANS

Trumpet: Dave Tatrow

Trombone: Keith DeWitt

Clarinet/Saxes: Vincent O’Keeffe

String Bass: Ted Harley

Banjo/Guitar: Dave Miller

Drums: Rick Bryant

Piano/Patter: Dave Oppermann

Vocals Tatrow, DeWitt, Miller

THE MUSIC

1. Announcer Intro (0:10)

2. Alexander’s Ragtime Band (3:42)

3. The Lithuanian Connection (1:20)

4. It Don’t Mean a Thing (4:10)

5. Otisville Funeral and Pizza Parlor (0:56)

6. St. James Infirmary (6:26)

7. Hippity Hop Chat and Attractive Lady (1:49)

8. Slide Frog Slide (1:47)

9. Shi-Nay Intro (0:45)

10. Shine (4:33)

11. Self-Invite to Sacramento Jazz Festival (1:55)

12. I Would Do Most Anything for You (4:57)

13. Here all Weekend and Band Intro (1:36)

14. Down in Jungletown (5:29)

Live at the Nugget CD

$15 + $3* = $18

*flat rate shipping no matter how many CDs ordered at same time

**Original recording 1986. Digitally remastered 2016

ORDER TODAY

Jazz Live at the Nugget (Listen.)

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Yes, we want you to like NRB’s “Live at the Nugget” Classic live jazz CD.

But first, we’d like you to listen.

We believe you will have as good a time listening as we did playing our kind of music in front of a standing room only crowd in the Celebrity Showroom at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada.

https://youtu.be/JX_aox_UVC8

NOTE: if the link above is not clickable for you, simply copy and paste into your browser, or go to www.YouTube.com and search for New Reformation Dixieland Band. (We’re working hard to figure out this linking thing, and our apologies if we haven’t got it right yet.)

BACKGROUND

July 5th, 1986 The Nugget Casino Resort, its Celebrity Showroom, and NRB came together for a historic collaboration of OKOM (Our Kind of Music). In the mid to late 80s, a global hot jazz revival was in full swing and the NRB traveled to its epicenter, the west coast of America. It appeared Memorial Day weekend at the Sacramento Jazz Festival, which claimed to be the “world’s largest” with over 100 national and international groups.

In nearby Nevada, a new festival began at The Nugget Casino Resort. Noted trumpeter Mike Vax, formerly with Stan Kenton and the Dukes of Dixieland, produced it. Vax selected ten bands he believed were strong musically, excellent entertainers, and good fits for a casino atmosphere. The NRB was among the select invitees. (Yes, we’re very proud he selected us. No, rumors of payola are false. Yes, we deny everything.)

The New Reformation Band (NRB) celebrates anything. Dave Oppermann, bandleader, and self-proclaimed resident humorist, pokes fun mostly at himself while linking NRB’s joyous yet subtly notorious sets of jazz, Dixieland, big band, and swing. He is the catalyst for the fine music and great fun that blend boisterously at NRB events and recordings.

But, unless you have talent, there is no use for a catalyst. That is where the NRB really shines. Consider the huge amount of classic jazz talent among these NRB stalwarts*:

Trumpet and vocals — Dave Tatrow

Trombone and vocals — Keith DeWitt

Clarinet/Saxes — Vincent O’Keeffe

String Bass — Ted Harley

Banjo/Guitar — Dave Miller

Drums — Rick Bryant

Piano, Patter, vocals, and ‘patter’ (you’ll understand when you see the CD) — Dave Oppermann

*(Love any excuse to use a bigger word)