Who plays in the band?

 

 

The City Steam Jazz Band plays with different musicians to suit the occasion, depending on the wishes of the client and the constraints of the venue. The photos in the Picture Gallery will give you an idea of the range of occasions for which we play, but we will do our best to provide the music the client wants.

Our favourite size of band is the Five Piece. It consists of a front line, made up of trumpet, clarinet/sax and trombone, with a rhythm section of bass, and guitar/banjo. This band is ideal for most occasions. However, sometimes, such as at village fetes, for events where there are lots of people who want to dance, or where we want to play more in the New Orleans way, we enlarge the band to a Six Piece with the addition of drums. We enjoy playing with this line-up since with it we can play the gutsy numbers like Bourbon Street Parade and Bugle Boy March.

The City Steam Hot Four is much more suited to smaller scale engagements. This quartet consists of trumpet / cornet, clarinet / saxophone, guitar / banjo and bass. This band is ideal when the venue is small or the music needs to be quiet - such as at a wedding reception as the guests gather for drinks after the service, or in a private house. We play regularly with this group at the Five Bells at Clyst Hydon. The music is loud enough for them to enjoy but not too loud that it prevents them holding a conversation.

The pictures below show the musicians who play regularly in the Five Piece band. If the occasion requires a drummer we have a pool of musicians who enjoy filling the hot seat.

 
Dave Martin
Dave has been playing in the band since it was formed in 1985. He plays cornet, trumpet and flugel horn, and has produced the pad of tunes which the band plays. His nick-name is "Whispering Dave" after his style of singing. Dave does much of the administration of the band.
Pete Bradley
Pete plays clarinet and tenor saxophone and has been playing in the band since the 1990s. He is affectionately known as "Professor" since he baffles us with his authoritative knowledge about any subject we discuss.
Ron Hurst
Ron plays trombone and delights us all with his wonderful vocals. He moved to the Devon from the Windsor area where he played for many years. He has played with the band occasionally for some years, but we are pleased that he is now our regular trombone player.

Tim Walker

Tim has been on the local music scene for many years, performing in a wide variety of bands. As well as playing  bass he produces our play lists, ensuring that the numbers we play are varied and suit the nature of the engagment.

 

 Pete Miller

Pete played with a number of Surrey and Hampshire bands in the 1970s and early 80s,  including Al Hogan's Goodtime Band and Jane Gwynne's Hot 6.  After nearly 25 years off the circuit he joined us in 2007 to play banjo and tenor guitar. If you use the links to contact the band Pete is the person you'll be dealing with.

 


 

 

 



 

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