Dec. 4, 1971: The Barroom Buzzards
Eternal verities from an eternal
Saturday, Dec. 4, 1971
Rockin’ on the Showboat
With Baby Face, Bill Bailey and Dixieland Jazz
They sure do funny things, Mom and Pop. I mean, look at them
out there, steering through that funny step they and their friends do whenever
somebody plays the old songs.
Can you believe it? Old enough to have grown-up children and
there they are, doing the fox trot, grinning and carrying on like the kids they
used to be 30 years ago.
Or that blonde woman with the rimless bifocals over there,
clapping along to “Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey.” You can bet she wouldn’t
trade this for someone cooing Carole King’s “It’s Too Late.” Not even for
Carole King herself.
Up there on the B deck lounge of the Showboat at the foot of
* * *
OLD POSTERS,
velvet striped wallpaper, the chandeliers and glass curtain beads swaying slowly.
Yes, you’re no longer on solid ground, my friend. You may not notice it, but
you’re bobbing on the mighty
And those old songs, the music most of today’s radio stations
forget about because they’re too busy sounding like each other. When was the
last time you heard “Baby Face?” Or “Body and Soul?”
“Last month after we did ‘Under a Blanket of Blue,’ we had a
young couple come up and say, ‘What a beautiful tune. Why haven’t we heard it
on the radio?’ They couldn’t believe it was written back in the ‘30s.”
That’s Paul Preston talking. He’s the leader of The Barroom
Buzzards and half of a duo that’s been playing Dixieland and early jazz
together for 18 years.
It’s amazing, the way … (blurred print) … get it on in
something like “Sweet Georgia Brown.” The two of them slice rapid solos and
duets out of the song’s enormous energy like master swordsmen.
They’re so technically perfect you notice it as an
afterthought. What sweeps you up instead is the spirit and freshness in the old
songs, the artfulness of the solo work, the light happy blending of Paul’s
clarinet and Jim’s cornet.
* * *
“THERE’S MORE
room for improvisation in this than in any other kind of music,” Paul will tell
you. “You play a different solo every time you play a tune.
“The choruses are in a set pattern, but there are no
limitations on the solos within the structure of Dixieland music. It’s music
based on solo work.”
Unless you go up and count them, you’d swear there were more
than four Barroom Buzzards. What helps is that they all can play extra
instruments, they all play a lot and Dick Brownell slaps his bass in such a way
you’d swear you heard a drummer.
* * *
“DICK PLAYS
a very percussive bass,” Paul explains. “It’s rare to find a bass player like
him who can keep rhythm without a piano or drums.
“We really don’t miss the drums. When you get used to playing
like this, after a while your tempos maintain a steady pace.”
The Barroom Buzzards have always drawn a good crowd, Paul
says, and they’re on an infinite Friday and Saturday night run at the Showboat,
which they helped open last February. They also do private parties, country
clubs, picnics and special occasions.
“We enjoy working at the Showboat very much,” Paul says. “Of
course, our type of music fits. We’ve worked all three floors and they’re all
different. We play more Dixieland on A deck and more ballads where we are now.”
During the summer, they worked the upper terrace. It wasn’t
unusual for people to follow the sound in from the river or across from
John Piazza, the Showboat’s owner, produced their first
record, which came out three weeks ago on the Showboat label. Part was recorded
on the upper terrace, where dancers bumped the mikes and spoiled all but two
songs.
The rest – remarkably clear and lifelike – came out of
Williamsville’s Mark Recording Studios. Presently they’re selling it at the
Showboat, but it will be distributed soon, Paul says.
* * *
THE BAND is
happy with its present fortunes. Everyone takes a hand in promoting the group
and the only problem is that sometimes they have too much work. Paul thinks
they’d like to record some more, but touring is out.
“We treasure music, but we also treasure the family life we
have now,” he contends. “And we think the music is as dependent on this as
anything. Success to me is doing what you enjoy doing. That’s it. I guess
that’s the only way you can really measure it.”
If they don’t have too many jobs, they’ll practice once or
twice a month, getting down four or five songs a night. Songs they’ve found in
researching the downtown Buffalo Public Library sheet music collection, things
they’ve heard or heavily requested numbers like “Blues in the Night.”
Jim and Paul will decide how the solos will go and usually
they’re familiar with an arrangement anyway, so they work from that. Dick, Paul
says, has a great ear for tunes and picks them up right away.
“We’ve never been told do this or do that,” Paul says. “We’ve
done our thing. We’ve been fortunate enough to please not only the people, but
the management as well. We haven’t had to compromise anything.
“In a sense, we’re a lot less limited in material than
pop-rock groups. There’s a vast untapped reservoir of not only Dixieland, but
also music of the ‘30s and the ‘40s. Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Sidney
Bechet.
“Jelly Roll Morton wrote a song called ‘The Chant’ and it has
key changes and tempo changes unheard of in that day. Researching his music has
been a great experience.
“In the Swing Era, we’re getting more into ballads. Hoagy
* * *
“THE TROUBLE IS
none of it is being presented on any organized basis these days. Everything has
gone pop-rock. But there’s quite a following for traditional jazz if you can
get the right band organized properly. The secret is getting everybody
interested in the same kind of music.”
The Buzzards had problems with that not long after they
started three years ago. Original guitarist Phil Santa Maria left for
“They were exceptional musicians,” Paul says, “but the music was entirely foreign to them. Can you imagine how a rock guitarist would play ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’?”
The box/sidebar:
Their Oldies Are Quite Popular
Pertinent information about
The Bar-Room Buzzards:
Paul Preston, 39, clarinet, sax and vocals,
Jim Koteras, 35, cornet, banjo and vocals,
Dan McCue, 28, guitar and banjo, Buffalo native, owner of the
Village Bandwagon, a Williamsville music store, married, three children.
Dick Brownell, 53, bass and tuba,
* * *
WHEN PAUL
and Jim started out, a serious pop musician had a choice of traditional or
progressive jazz. That was the early ‘50s and since they dug old jazz in high
school, they wound up playing Dixieland for college crowds in long-gone
hangouts like McK … (blurred) … on Niagara Street and the Club Niagara.
Then they did a 13-year stint with
They’ve had just two regular jobs – the first was at the
Speakeasy in
* * *
DICK, WHO
played the old songs professionally once and was a veteran of numerous club
bands, has been with them almost continually since the start. Dan was playing
old-time banjo with a singalong group in
They wanted an unusual name, so Paul’s wife came up with this
one.
“It has associations with old-style cabarets, gaslight
atmosphere and so forth,” Paul says, “and it’s kind of Damon Runyonish. And
it’s been unusual enough to bring extra attention to the group. We would never
think of changing it.”
* * * * *
PHOTO CAPTION:
The Barroom Buzzards, from left, bassist Dick Brownell, guitarist-banjoist Dan
McCue, clarinetist Paul Preston and cornetist Jim Koteras.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE: The Buzzards traveled after all, performing
at jazz and blues festivals from
They were inducted into the
For a little
bonus perspective, look up the admiring profile of Paul and the band my former
colleague Mary Kunz Goldman wrote in The News upon their 50th anniversary in
2016.
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