Friends of Music Dinner Theater to showcase 'Dixieland Jazz'

The RiverCity Ramblers

On Friday, March 19, 2010, Friends of Music will feature The RiverCity Ramblers Dixieland Jazz Band - Bob Ceccarini, "Red" Lehr, Patrick Joyce, Joe Buerger, Eric Sager, and Bobby Grimm at 7 p.m., at The Opera House, located at the northwest corner of the Kennett Courthouse Square in the downtown district.

Tickets sell for $25 per person, and include a sumptuous meal and the show.

"With the combination of the old but renovated building, exceptional and familiar performers, Dixieland jazz, and a New Orleans-influenced supper from Pat Mitchell's Traveling Whisk, this will be an event for all the senses," said Friends of Music member, Jules Mercier. "It won't be Mardi Gras, but it will be something that New Orleans would understand. As they say in New Orleans, Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

According to Mercier, "just a few years back, Bob Ceccarini fulfilled a dream to assemble a group of the finest traditional jazz musicians from the St. Louis riverfront. He selected performers - on trumpet, sousaphone, piano, drums, clarinet, and banjo - who were not only highly regarded by their fellow musicians but performers who, as individuals, had a following among jazz enthusiasts. His success is known as The RiverCity Ramblers."

"Kennett has been fortunate to have known Bob and the Ramblers for many years, and more fortunate to be able to invite them back for this year's event," Mercier added.

The RiverCity Ramblers Bio:

Bob Ceccarini, trumpet, has a rather diverse musical background. Since 1968, he has been principal trumpet with the St. Louis Municipal Opera Orchestra. This Dixieland group, the RiverCity Ramblers has been touring since 1973, performing at many jazz festivals across the United States and for the St. Louis Chapter of Young Audiences, Inc. Bob has toured with the international company of "A Chorus Line" and with the Wayne Newton Show. He is presently musical contractor for the Fox Theatre Orchestra, The Municipal Opera Orchestra, and the St. Louis Repertory Theatre Orchestra. He has been a member of the Young Audiences St. Louis Brass Quintet since1964 and has performed with the Saint Louis Symphony and the Saint Louis Symphony Pops on numerous occasions and for recordings. A versatile performer, Bob has explored the many facets of music from classical to jazz to Broadway.

David "Red" Lehr, sousaphone, is recognized as one of the finest jazz sousaphone players in the world. Red is basically a self taught musician who started on trombone at the age of six and then changed to sousaphone at age thirteen. Mainly playing in marching and "oom-pa" bands, Red started with a banjo band in St. Louis at Your Father's Mustache in 1961. He played at various banjo palaces until 1977, when he joined Jeannie Kittrel's Jazz Incredibles and the Old St. Louis Levee Band. He went on his first European tour with the Jazz Incredibles in 1985, a tour which took him to France, Germany and Holland. In 1989 he toured Scotland, Wales and Holland. Red was featured soloist at the National Tuba Symposium in 1975 and has performed on several occasions with Richard Hayman and the Saint Louis Symphony Pops Orchestra. By day Red keeps busy at his meat market in New Athens, Illinois. By night he plays the jazz he loves. He currently leads the St. Louis Rivermen, the Jazz Incredibles, the Old St. Louis Levee Band, and Red Lehr's Powerhouse Five.

Patrick Joyce, piano, started on classical piano at the age of four (playing his older sister's piano lessons by ear), and, practicing hard during his childhood, Pat was already a fine classical pianist by the time he reached college age. Webster College in St. Louis impressed Pat, so he moved to St. Louis and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano. After his junior year at Webster, he was selected to attend the famous Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He never made much of a living from classical piano, but he was always performing his first love - jazz. Pat's grandfather was a noted jazz musician, and now Pat has a following of jazz enthusiasts in St. Louis and normally is performing at the piano from forty to fifty hours per week. Pat is a charter member of five St. Louis jazz bands. He is a regular at the Mid-America Jazz Festival held annually in St. Louis.

Joe Buerger, drums, has lived and studied in St. Louis for the past eighteen years where he has participated in such diverse activities as performing with the St. Louis Philharmonic and the Washington University Orchestra plus recording with his own jazz quintet. Recently he was honored to be a guest artist at the annual National Association of Jazz Educators convention. Joe maintains a busy teaching schedule and is on the Percussion Staff of Florissant Valley Community College. He is a member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers and is a contributing columnist for the "Percussive Arts Society" and "Modern Drummer" magazines. Joe performs regularly with many groups in St. Louis and he has backed numerous great artists such as Barbara McNair, jazz cornetist "Wild Bill" Davidson, Jimmie Rodgers and jazz vibist Don DeMichael. He is a personal friend and student of Roy Burns, noted drummer and clinician.

Eric Sager, clarinet, is a thirty year veteran Dixieland and ragtime performer whose many performances include those with the St. Louis Ragtimers, both locally and on tour. He is well known for his wonderful Dixie style. For many years he has performed for St. Louis area students under the auspices of Young Audiences, Inc. Eric also excels on the tenor saxophone, and is often a featured soloist with many St. Louis area dance bands.

Bobby Grimm, banjo, has been a musical partner with Jean Kittrell and David "Red" Lehr since 1978, first performing in the Old St Louis Levee Band. After playing the violin in high school, he taught himself to play the banjo at age 25 and has been in constant demand ever since. In 1965 he played in St. Louis's famed Gaslite Square at Your Father's Mustache, followed by a lengthy engagement on the River Queen, the authentic riverboat on which "Showboat" was filmed. For several years he played with Don Scherrer's Banjo Band, then with Charlie Wiseman at The Sting. Bobby is now retired after many years in the parts department of a Ford dealership. Not only does he know how each automobile part functions, but he can put all the parts together to make an engine run as smoothly as the harmonies that flow from his banjo strings. The puns he creates are another matter - real groaners that make him persona non grata at the mike.

Information and tickets are available from Friends of Music Board

members, by mail at P.O. Box 213, Kennett, Missouri 63857, or

by calling Friends of Music at 573/888-3230 or 888-6396.

Friends of Music Board members include Jack Astrachan, Anita Blackmon, Mindy Brown, Marilyn Caldwell, Glenda Deeter, Mary Lynn Jones-wright, John T. McMullan, Jules Mercier, Pamela Jones Mercier, Libby Mobley,

Anne Moyer, Nancy Rogers, Bill Walsh, and Joyce Walsh.

Financial assistance for the event was provided by the

Missouri Arts Council, a state-wide agency.