Photo Gallery

The first edition of the Back Bay Jazz Band: Dave Hostetler, clarinet; Bryan Shaw, cornet; John Ferraro, drums; Scott McNaughton, piano c. 1969

Dave Hostetler went on to play professionally, as did John Ferraro (John is well-respected by a wide variety of drummers, and his credentials include many tours with stars of the pop and contemporary jazz world.)

I met cornetist Bryan Shaw in our junior high

Dan and Friends swinging in the paddock at Santa Anita Racetrack, 1975: Joe Darensbourg, clarinet; Al Jenkins, trombone; (yes, that's really me on cornet); Bill Campbell, banjo; Bill Hadnott, bass; Bob Raggio, washboard.  Joe Darenbourg played in the '40s and '50s with Kid Ory's jazz band, and later joined Louis Armstrong's All-Stars. He led his own successful group, the Dixie Flyers, but returned

Dan; Andy Blakeney, trumpet; Bob Raggio, washboard with the South 'Frisco Jazz Band, c. 1971

The band, led by banjoist Vince Saunders, was the first live jazz band I had ever heard. They played Friday and Saturday nights at the "Pizza Palace" in Huntington Beach, California. 

My jazz-minded buddies from high school and I would camp out there on any given Friday or Saturday night. The band members we

Here i am in 1973 at the Wilshire-Ebell Theater in Los Angeles, for "A Night In New Orleans".  The band includes: 

Andy Blakeney and Mike DeLay, trumpets; Joe Darensbourg, clarinet; Sammy Lee, tenor sax; Ed Garland, bass; Sylvester Rice, drums and Alton Purnell, piano (obscured). This band re-created the A.J. Piron Orchestra of New Orleans. Trumpeter Mike DeLay had played with that orchestra on Mis

The Resurrection Brass Band paying their respects at Kid Ory's funeral service; Forest Lawn cemetery, Glendale, California, 1973. I'm on cornet with (left to right): Teddy Buckner; Andy Blakeney; and Norm Bowden. I switched to trombone later that day. At bandleader Gordon Mitchell's request, I played "Ory's Creole Trombone" and "Muskrat Ramble" at Mr. Ory's gravesite. I was seventeen years old.

New Orleans clarinetist Barney Bigard backstage at the Wilshire-Ebell Theater during "A Night In New Orleans". In the 1920's, Barney played and recorded with King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators. He rose to fame during his long tenure with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He left Ellington in the early 1940's and toured with Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars. I played often with Barney in the Los Angeles