Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band at The Concorde

We couldn’t find anyone playing vintage jazz in our hometown so we decided to do it ourselves - using a kazoo sellotaped to a cornet, a biscuit tin banjo – and a washboard we’d bought from eBay.

We took our name from the spasm bands that played homemade instruments on the streets of New Orleans in the late 19th Century. “Rabbit Foot” comes from The Rabbit Foot Minstrels – a black touring troupe featuring blues singer Bessie Smith, one of our heroes. I figured that if their troupe featured a spasm band then that was exactly what we needed to sound like.

With no jazz scene to prey upon we threw in our lot with noisy guitar groups - playing rock clubs. In most cases we were the first traditional jazz band to play these venues for over half a century. The local press said we were “the authentic sound of New Orleans – possible during a hurricane” Soon we were successful enough to persuade brass players to join in the fun – and ditched the kazoo solos....

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We couldn’t find anyone playing vintage jazz in our hometown so we decided to do it ourselves - using a kazoo sellotaped to a cornet, a biscuit tin banjo – and a washboard we’d bought from eBay.

We took our name from the spasm bands that played homemade instruments on the streets of New Orleans in the late 19th Century. “Rabbit Foot” comes from The Rabbit Foot Minstrels – a black touring troupe featuring blues singer Bessie Smith, one of our heroes. I figured that if their troupe featured a spasm band then that was exactly what we needed to sound like.

With no jazz scene to prey upon we threw in our lot with noisy guitar groups - playing rock clubs. In most cases we were the first traditional jazz band to play these venues for over half a century. The local press said we were “the authentic sound of New Orleans – possible during a hurricane” Soon we were successful enough to persuade brass players to join in the fun – and ditched the kazoo solos.

We’ve carried on playing clubs like these because they complement the gritty, gutbucket edge of the jazz we love. They’re the sort of venues where you wouldn’t expect to hear music based on traditional jazz - and we’re winning over a legion of fans who wouldn’t otherwise contemplate dancing to a jazz band. This has become something of a mission for us.

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