December 7, 2014
Featured: Mission Gold Jazz Band
With a name inspired by the golden hills above Fremont’s Mission San Jose, Mission Gold Jazz Band is an eight piece, two cornet band consisting of a variety of multi-talented musicians from all over the Bay Area.
MGJB was formed in 1980 and has a long tradition of performing the music of Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Lu Watters and Turk Murphy. The band plays standards and more common tunes in the swing genre. The main goal is to please the dancers, strutters, and jazz listeners.
Mission Gold Jazz Band offers a variety of Dixieland styles, including Marches, Blues, Ragtime and Stomps. We encourage audience participation during tunes reminiscent of the cakewalk, parasol strutting and to raise their voices to sing along with the band.
Mission Gold Jazz Band website: www.jazzdance.org/MissionGold
November 2, 2014
Featured: “Cell Block 7”
CELL BLOCK SEVEN is a California jazz band favoring the West Coast traditional 
jazz sound of Lu Watters, Turk Murphy and the Bay City Jazz Band of the ’50s in a classic jazz lineup led by two cornets. Their many festivals, tours, and concert successes are a direct result of their very professional approach coupled with a great sound and an extensive and varied repertoire.
As with most bands, the lineup has changed somewhat over the years, but most of the present team have been together for ten years or more. Cell Block Seven is a very versatile and entertaining band. By doubling their talents on the three double bell euphoniums, CB7 is able to produce some very different sounds — from fast, exciting trios to smooth and mellow blues, and exciting marches!
Inmate Personnel:
BOB ROMANS – LEADER, CORNET, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM
BOB SAKOI – CORNET, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM
PETE MAIN – CLARINET, DUCK CALL, SAX
JIM MAIHACK – TROMBONE, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM, VOCALS
TOM DOWNS – TUBA
JACK CONVERY – BANJO, VOCALS
DARYL HOSICK – PIANO
COLEMAN SHOLL – DRUMS
For more information on the band, visit Cell Block Seven’s website.
October 5, 2014
Featured: “Black Tuesday Jazz Band”
The Black Tuesday Jazz Band has entertained audiences throughout California and Nevada since the early 1990’s. Black Tuesday is a high energy Jazz Band holding to its original promise, “fun music is our thing”. This formula has kept the Black Tuesday Jazz Band busy all around California and Nevada carrying the jazz banner to concert audiences and in casual settings and club engagements.
Black Tuesday has a smooth and unique style of jazz and swing through the versatility of its musicians, some of whom play multiple instruments. This talented group of eight musicians has worked on improving their style and sound by varying the instrumental mix depending on the audience and the era of music played.
Black Tuesday performs renditions of your favorite good-time tunes, as well as some of the great music from Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, Clyde McCoy, Hoagy Carmichael, in addition to original jazz tunes. Black Tuesday has one of the top Divas of the Sacramento area, Suzanne Wiggins, who captures audiences singing favorites from Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday and Muriel Lane. This entertaining band provides a variety of high energy jazz whenever good-time music is a must.
Band Personnel:
Dominic Ruggieri, Leader / Reeds
Jan Buhlert, Plectrum guitar/Banjo
Mike Hudson, Trombone
Don Irving, Bass Sax / String Bass
Dave Johnson, Trumpet /Flugelhorn/Vocals
Jim Laveroni, Drums / hand percussionist
Alan Shaw, Piano
Suzanne Wiggins, Vocalist
Visit Black Tuesday Jazz Band website
September 7, 2014
Featured: “Jammeroo #2”
(Jammers’ all day!)
Jammers’ month, or “Jammeroo” 
(as coined by our VP & Music Director), is a day of “Jammer” fun. Players came in from all over – including Sacramento, Modesto, Stockton to play.
This was a great time for all!
August 3, 2014
Featured: Art Bregante & his Orchestra
Many of our members wait all year to come and listen to Art Bregante and his Orchestra play that beautiful music from the “Swing Era”. You don’t need to have heard these tunes in the ’40s and ’50s; you just need to love to dance or listen to lovely swing music.
If you enjoy dancing, mark August 3rd on your calendar. You won’t be sorry. Art’s music suits the young folks, and the very same music suits the not-so-young folks.
Did you know that Art Bregante donates his wonderful band for our pleasure? Give him your thanks when you come over to see him, and be ready to bring great music to your ears with his captivating big band ensemble and sound. When Art Bregante appears with his orchestra it is a rare and wonderful experience.
Enjoy listening and dancing to the great big band sound at our San Joaquin Dixieland Jazz Society event on August 3rd!
Band Personnel for August 3rd:
Emmett O’Sullivan – Tenor sax, clarinet
Andy Rosenblum – Alto sax, clarinet
Dick Lockwood – Baritone sax
Mike Rosenblum – Trumpet
Michael Rosenblum – Trumpet, flugelhorn
Carl Kaiser – Trombone
Milt Bowerman – Piano
Bill Sharp – String bass
Stephen Douville – Drums
Geri Eckert – Vocalist
Art Bregante – Leader
July 6, 2014
Featured: “Cell Block 7”
CELL BLOCK SEVEN is a California jazz band favoring the West Coast traditional jazz sound of Lu Watters, Turk Murphy and the Bay City Jazz Band of the ’50s in a classic jazz lineup led by two cornets. Their many festivals, tours, and concert successes are a direct result of their very professional approach coupled with a great sound and an extensive and varied repertoire.
As with most bands, the lineup has changed somewhat over the years, but most of the present team have been together for ten years or more. Cell Block Seven is a very versatile and entertaining band. By doubling their talents on the three double bell euphoniums, CB7 is able to produce some very different sounds — from fast, exciting trios to smooth and mellow blues, and exciting marches!
Inmate Personnel:
BOB ROMANS – LEADER, CORNET, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM
BOB SAKOI – CORNET, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM
PETE MAIN – CLARINET, DUCK CALL, SAX
JIM MAIHACK – TROMBONE, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM, VOCALS
TOM DOWNS – TUBA
JACK CONVERY – BANJO, VOCALS
DARYL HOSICK – PIANO
COLEMAN SHOLL – DRUMS
For more information on the band, visit Cell Block Seven’s website.
June 1, 2014
Featured: “Black Diamond Blue Five”
The Black Diamond Blue Five was just plain fantastic. Their personnel, well worth repeating: Leon Oakley, Cornet, Robert Young, Saxes/vocals, 
Bill Reinhart, Tuba, Marty Eggers, Piano, Clint Baker, Banjo and Special Guest, Isabelle Fontaine, washboard. If you weren’t there you missed a real treat to some fantastic Trad Music.
Bio:
What will you hear from the Black Diamond Blue Five?
There will be many of Clarence Williams’ compositions – and you’ll be surprised
how many jazz standards he was responsible for. “Cakewalkin’ Babies from Home,” the best-known, best-loved marching song for all dancers and paraders is but one of them.
You will hear the stomping rhythms and bluesey pop-jazz sound so typical of the Clarence Williams Blue Five. The Band was Founded by George Knoblauch in the early 1990’s.
Band Personnel:
Leon Oakley, Cornet
Robert Young, Saxes/vocals
Bill Reinhart, Tuba
Marty Eggers, Piano
Clint Baker, Banjo
Special guest, Isabelle Fontaine, washboard
May 4, 2014
Featured: “Jazz Jumpers”
Who are the Jazz Jumpers? They are five fellows who collectively have played so many songs, that if every song was a cigarette, and each cigarette was smoked, there would be enough to give minimally 500-600 people lung
cancer. On a brighter note, should each song have been a tulip bulb which sprang up, the state of California would be so massively covered in tulips that there would be no room for people. (By the way, each band member does themselves have two lips). Any way you slice it, these guys have as much experience playing music, and especially trad music, as any of the top dogs on the scene. As I give each name, most of you will instantly recognize the person and know what I’m talking about.
BOB SAKOI: Trumpeter, flugelhornist, who plays multiple styles of music in numerous bands. You may know him well enough to know that he is the only trumpet player who plays his horns while chewing gum (at least he’s the only one I know of). I don’t know if he can walk and chew gum though – – he does remain rather stationary. Let’s find out if he can walk, chew gum, and play trumpet. Could this be something in which the Guiness Record people would be interested?
KURT ABELL: Actually admits to playing banjo. Also plays tenor guitar. He appears as a special artist at numerous banjo festivals held across the country. He is a powerful driving force in the rhythm section, laying down solid chords. Banjo playing is often not enjoyed by listeners because it is often played so poorly, by unaccomplished musicians. However a banjo, in the hands of a professional person like Kurt turns into a sonorous, beautifully resonant instrument perfect for helping the band relay its musical message to an audience, in a most enjoyable way. He is one of the talented few who can turn the strummings on merely 4 strings of a banjo into a sound worth listening to hour after hour, and you will absolutely not get tired of hearing it.
IAN STANBAUGH: Drummer. Not well-known (yet) in the trad world, but in the central valley, he is one of the people you call first to add to your band, no matter what style of music is being played. He has been to the Stockton club once before to back up John and Kristy Cocuzzi, so those of you who heard him know why he will definitely be an asset to this group. He knows how to tap into the nuances of each song and “get it on”.
KEITH BALTZ: Tuba and Mug (the kind filled with beer). Keith is just coming back from his annual trek to play for countless hours-on-end during the world-famous Mardi Gras. Talk about a driving force, had Keith been around during the Civil War, whichever side he would have been on would have won, because they could have used him to shoot cannon balls out of his tuba. Not with gunpowder, but by his breath blasting them out of the bell, one after another, just as fast as you could drop them in. CAUTION: Don’t get in a direct line with the bell of his horn because the fire spewing forth will, at a minimum, only singe the eyebrows, if you’re lucky. Many less-fortunate men with healthy heads of hair have become instantly bald when they carelessly wandered way too close to the stage in his direct line of fire.
BILL SHARP: Trombone and B.S. (as you can tell by his authorship of these biographies). I have a favorite expression: “I’m not half as good as I say I am”, thus there’s very little reason to give any accolades as any musical skills I might have, since you will automatically now reduce the qualifying information as to why I should be allowed to play with these accomplished musicians by at least half. Coming from me, probably more.
(Band personnel biography written by Bill Sharp)
April 6, 2014
Featured: “Cell Block 7”
CELL BLOCK SEVEN is a California jazz band favoring the West Coast traditional jazz sound of Lu Watters, Turk Murphy and the Bay City Jazz Band of the ’50s in a classic jazz lineup led by two cornets. Their many festivals, tours, and concert successes are a direct result of their very professional approach coupled with a great sound and an extensive and varied repertoire.
As with most bands, the lineup has changed somewhat over the years, but most of the present team have been together for ten years or more. Cell Block Seven is a very versatile and entertaining band. By doubling their talents on the three double bell euphoniums, CB7 is able to produce some very different sounds — from fast, exciting trios to smooth and mellow blues, and exciting marches!
Inmate Personnel:
BOB ROMANS – LEADER, CORNET, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM
BOB SAKOI – CORNET, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM
PETE MAIN – CLARINET, DUCK CALL, SAX
JIM MAIHACK – TROMBONE, DBL BELL EUPHONIUM, VOCALS
TOM DOWNS – TUBA
JACK CONVERY – BANJO, VOCALS
DARYL HOSICK – PIANO
COLEMAN SHOLL – DRUMS
For more information on the band and players visit Cell Block Seven’s website.
March 2, 2014
Featured: “Hot Flashes w/ Men-O-Paws”
(with Kristy Reed, John Cocuzzi, et al.)
Originally, our guest band in March was going to appear as “The Hot Flashes with Men-o-Paws”. Bonnie had to bow out as she has learned that her son’s submarine will be in port for a few days at the same time as the March session at the San Joaquin Dixieland Jazz Society.
The “Hot Flashes” were to be pianist, Bonnie Otto and reed player/vocalist, Kristy Reed Cocuzzi. The other members, or the “Men-O-Paws,” were to be John Cocuzzi on drums, young trumpeter Jeff Kreis, and Bill Sharp on upright bass. With Bonnie having to switch her schedule around, adjustments were made and John Cocuzzi was on piano, then bringing in stellar drummer, Ian Stanbaugh.
The good news was that the musicianship of the 5 members treated our ears to the wonderful sounds of OKOM (our kind of music).
Kristy Cocuzzi is the former Kristy Reed who played for years with Big Tiny Little. One person she frequently plays with is Bonnie Otto in a group called The Hot Flashes. Kristy Reed Music: vocals, woodwinds, live musical entertainment.
John Cocuzzi can be found just by going to Google and typing in his name, or visiting the site for Wikipedia. You will see that his list of accomplishments is tremendous. John Cocuzzi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Artists
Northern California multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Kristy Reed Cocuzzi and John Cocuzzi bring the classic sounds and music of Miss Peggy Lee, Natalie Cole, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Pete Fountain and Sydney Bechet, Nat “King” Cole, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo with a little Jelly Roll Morton, among others, to the stage for an afternoon of classic swing and jazz.
February 2, 2014
Featured: “Jammeroo”
(Jammers’ – all day!)
Jammers’ month, or “Jammeroo” (as coined by our VP & Music Director), was organized with players coming in from all over – including Sacramento, to play.
Nancy Kreis and some members of the youth group TNT (Sacramento) joined us too. We also had a special group of reed players make an appearance for a surprise sound.
January 5, 2014
Featured: Cell Block 7
CELL BLOCK SEVEN is a California jazz band favoring the West Coast traditional jazz sound of Lu Watters, Turk Murphy and the Bay City Jazz Band of the ’50s in a classic jazz lineup led by two cornets. Their many festivals, tours, and concert successes are a direct result of their very professional approach coupled with a great sound and an extensive and varied repertoire.
As with most bands, the lineup has changed somewhat over the years, but most of the present team have been together for ten years or more. Cell Block Seven is a very versatile and entertaining band. By doubling their talents on the three double bell euphoniums, CB7 is able to produce some very different sounds — from fast, exciting trios to smooth and mellow blues, and exciting marches!
Inmate Personnel:
BOB ROMANS – Leader, Cornet, Double Bell Euphonium
BOB SAKOI – Cornet, Double Bell Euphonium
PETE MAIN – Clarinet, Duck Call, Sax
JIM MAIHACK – Trombone, Double Bell Euphonium, Vocals
TOM DOWNS – Tuba
JACK CONVERY – Banjo, Vocals
DARYL HOSICK – Piano
COLEMAN SHOLL – Drums
For more information on the band and players, visit Cell Block Seven’s website.