Mother's Day at the Academy with
The Southern Fried Jazz Band
May 8, 2005

What a refreshing, high energy afternoon for Dixieland Jazz lovers! Excellent, accomplished musicians - many of whom had careers that included working with Louis Armstrong and other jazz legends - played foot-tapping, swinging numbers. The band members had obviously played together for a long time because they could swing into a number with ease and keep up the light-hearted banter with each other. The audience loved it. And not only did we hear great music, but the whole afternoon was a pleasurable excursion through the exhilarating history of jazz. Bandleader Don Edwards illustrated the transformation of jazz through the years by having both the whole band and individual members perform pieces to illustrate the changing jazz styles. As one audience member said, “The musical ability of each musician was outstanding! I used to play clarinet, and I couldn’t get over how the clarinet player make his notes as smooth as silk.”

Photographs by George Edwards