TWO CONCERTS NIGHTLY ~ 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM
“He knows how to swing and stride — with both hands — and his playing is fluid, supple — never stiff. His accompaniment is the very definition of sweet teamwork, and his solos are full of surprises: you can’t tell where he is about to land, but it’s graceful and satisfying when he does.” – Michael Steinman ( Jazz Lives)
Kris Tokarski was born and raised just outside of New York City, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Growing up in a Hungarian – American household, he was raised on classical music and Hungarian folk music.
Kris attended and completed his bachelor’s degree at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. While attending Berklee, he would make regular pilgrimages back to New York to study with bebop master, Barry Harris.
In 2011, Tokarski moved to New Orleans to complete a master’s degree at the University of New Orleans. Shortly after moving to the “Cradle of Jazz” he embraced the early piano traditions of the city as well as those of the early New York and Chicago masters. A keen interest in the music of Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson; combined with his bebop roots allowed Tokarski to develop an all encompassing voice of his own, deeply rooted in the jazz piano tradition.
Tokarski also manages a busy schedule outside of New Orleans. He has performed at a number of major national and international festivals including the Umbria Winter Jazz Festival, The Montreal Jazz Fest, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the French Quarter Fest, San Diego Jazz Fest, etc. He’s performed at world class venues such as Snug Harbor, Preservation Hall, The Green Mill, and The Jazz Corner. Kris has shared the stage and performed with Jason Marsalis, Duke Heitger, Evan Christopher, Tim Laughlin, Andy Schumm, Connie Jones, Hal Smith, and many others.
He has recorded on a number of records as a sideman and as a leader. While he is recognized largely by traditional jazz lovers, he has also recorded and toured in the realm of popular music with the “Squirrel Nut Zippers”.
Andy Schumm is willing to do whatever it takes to play the good stuff.
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Andy began taking piano lessons when he was 6 years old. He dabbled as a trumpet player in grade school and high school until he found his true passion for jazz while studying with Mike Plog, a well-known modern jazz trumpeter. At the University of Illinois, Andy studied trumpet and cornet with Tito Carrillo and began arranging under the tutelage of program director Chip McNeill.
His fate as a ’20s musician was sealed one night after hearing Bix Beiderbecke’s transcendent recording of “At the Jazz Band Ball” on an authentic Victor horn machine. Andy started sitting in with Dixieland bands and, ironically, discovered that he could get more work as a ’20s musician than a modern player – yeah, man! While he is heavily influenced by Bix, Andy draws inspiration from a variety of musicians including Red Nichols, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Jabbo Smith and Tommy Dorsey (especially in his covert recordings as a trumpeter!). He also enjoys listening to Johnny Dodds and Herb Morand.
Andy is currently a full-time musician traveling the world and touring with various groups. One such group is the Archipelago Project which is a non-profit educational outreach group advocating musical arts for young students and their teachers through performance, residency and consultation.
Never content to play just one instrument, he has taken various jobs on piano, trombone, bass sax, clarinet, banjo, baritone and drums. He also plays a mean melodica and a fractured frumpet (it exists; look it up). In his spare time, Andy enjoys arranging new charts and collecting junk, including old instruments and 78 r.p.m. records.
During his brief moments outside of the world of music, he also enjoys camping and kayaking in the key of Db. In addition he frequently revels in the humor of the Marx Brothers.
Hal Smith took up drumming in 1963. He listened to classic jazz drummers such as Ben Pollack, Nick Fatool, Wayne Jones, and Fred Higuera in person and later took lessons from Jake Hanna. Hal has also been inspired by the recordings of Dave Tough, Big Sid Catlett, Zutty Singleton, Jo Jones, Vic Berton, Andrew Hillaire, Ray Bauduc, Gene Krupa, George Wettling, Kaiser Marshall, Stan King, Harry Dial, Minor Hall, Wally Bishop, Morey Feld and Johnny Wells. “Chicago Style Jazz” is his favorite type of music, but Hal also enjoys listening to and playing “New Orleans,” “New York” and “Kansas City” styles.
He has played in many well-known bands, such as the Dukes of Dixieland, New Black Eagle Jazz Band, Jim Cullum Jazz Band, Butch Thompson Trio, Banu Gibson and New Orleans Hot Jazz, South Frisco Jazz Band, Chicago Six, Yerba Buena Stompers, Climax Jazz Band, Jonathan Stout’s Campus Five, West End Jazz Band and the Hall Brothers Jazz Band. Hal’s own groups have included the Roadrunners (with Bobby Gordon and Rebecca Kilgore), Hal’s Angels (with Anita Thomas and Katie Cavera), the New El Dorado Jazz Band, Jazz Chihuahuas, Down Home Jazz Band and the California Swing Cats. He has also played blues with James Harman, Nathan James, Ben Hernandez, Billy Watson and Blue Largo, Western Swing with Dave Stuckey and the Hi-Lo Playboys and Rockabilly with the Cash Kings, Gino and the Lone Gunmen, Big Rig Deluxe and his own Hayriders. Hal has made over 200 recordings and has appeared on numerous televisions and radio broadcasts. In February, 2014 he returned to freelancing as a professional musician.
MUSIC CHARGE: $20.00
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