Dixieland Group Opens
“Bands, Bands, Bands!” Series

The Dixieland Band Hotlanta will kick off the 2011-12 Bands, Bands, Bands! series, co-sponsored by the Defiance Community Cultural Commission and the Schomburg Series. This concert will be held on Thursday, September 15, in Schomburg Auditorium at Defiance College at 8:15 P.M. as part of DC’s 2011 homecoming activities.

Overall sponsor of the series is Sam Hornish, Jr., and other series sponsors are the Hubbard Company, Defiance Clinic, and Mercy Hospital. The event sponsor is Chief Supermarkets.

Hotatlanta has been described as “a trip to New Orleans without the hangover.” The band’s repertoire is wide, ranging from Dixieland classics such as “When the Saints Go Marching In” to jazz favorites like Hoagy Carmichael and Louis Armstrong standards.

Based in Atlanta, the group has performed extensively in the South since its founding by Don Erdman in 1990. It has appeared at The Famous Door on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter, the Brevard College Jazz Festival in North Carolina, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, to name a few. Beyond the South, Hotlanta's music has been enjoyed around the globe at clubs and jazz festivals in Spain, Germany, Japan, France, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.

Hotlanta concerts aim to entertain, and part of the fun is concertgoer participation. According to the group’s website, “Our audiences become part of the concert when we do audience requests. . . . Audiences always have a great time with this popular Hotlanta feature.”

Hotlanta's full instrumentation is the traditional sextet: clarinet, cornet, trombone, banjo/vocals, tuba, and drums. Hotlanta also performs as a trio, quartet, or quintet. In addition to their "Happy Feet" CD, other recordings include "Live in Spain," from a performance at Spain's Jazzaldia Festival, "The Saints," a CD on the Intersound label, and their newest CD, "There Ain't No Jazz Like Dixieland.”

Reviewers have been universally complimentary toward Hotlanta.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, “Jazz fans are passionate over Hotlanta Dixieland Jazz when they show off their revved-up renditions of everything from prewar New Orleans chestnuts to postwar Duke Ellington standards.” A Nebraska reviewer asserted that "Improvisation is the heart of this music and Hotlanta showed that they were up to making it happen. Dixieland is a true American form that has provided the basis for so many other types of popular music. It was a treat to hear it presented so well and with a lot of class."

Tickets at the door are $10, and advance tickets are available for $8 at Defiance Public Library, the Defiance Development and Visitors Bureau, and Kissner’s.

Other concerts in the series are held at the historic Valentine Theater at 7:30 P.M.  They include the Bob Rex Trio on October 6, Sax 4th Avenue on January 12, the Big Band Sound of the DCCB on February 2, and Axiom Brass on March 29. All DCCC events are supported by the Ohio Arts Council.

September 12, 2011