Perigueux, France
The Creole Jazz Serenaders
"Traditionnel à moderne"

That was the talk of the town following the European concert debut of the Creole Jazz Serenaders with Don Vappie. The show started on a high note and continued to rise from there. The band performed traditional classics such as King Oliver's "Riverside Blues" and Chick Web's "Liza" and turned up the heat with an original arrangement of the Sam Morgan Band classic "Short Dress Gal." Ocie Davis' drum solo climaxed into the New Orleans funk groove that took the performance into another dimension by building on the foundation of the street groves of the early 1920's. The rest of the band then joined in, spicing up the sound like adding seasoning to a good creole gumbo. Dancing in the aisles was inevitable. There was even a sing-a-long as Vappie led the audience in a traditional creole song called "Eh La Bas." It was a fantastic night and all of the CJS were swinging as hard as ever.
Toward the end of the set the band was joined by Plas Johnson, best known for his saxophone solo in the "Theme from the Pink Panther." Plas, also a cousin of Don Vappie, played as great as ever and even traded solos with Don on guitar. The next morning at hotel breakfast, many of the concert goers were singing songs from the night before. If you weren't there. you missed a good one! One thing for sure, CJS will be touring Europe again.