Dixieland All Stars Featured At PCAA Concert Sunday

Jun 25, 2008 - 14:55:31 CDT.

ACRYLIC artist Bert Garcia puts the finishing touches on a martini glass during the “All Members Show” at the Fredericksburg Art Guild. Guild members demonstrated their craft throughout Saturday’s show. n Standard-Radio Post Photo

Seven “Dixieland All Stars” will be shining on stage long before sunset Sunday when the Pedernales Creative Arts Alliance (PCAA) hosts the band for another one of its free concerts.

The very informal outdoor performance is expected to offer up a mix of upbeat jazz tunes to a sea of lawn chairs and picnic tables in and around the Adelsverein Halle (the largest pavilion) on Marktplatz.

The music will start at 6:30 p.m. and the entire community is invited to pack up picnics (and even their dancing shoes) for some free evening entertainment.

PCAA hosts the summer music series each year as a way of “giving back” to the community, whose support PCAA credits as a major driving force to the success of its annual Oktoberfest celebration.

There are two remaining performances on the 19th season schedule, including: the “Fabulous Six Polka Band” on July 27 and the “Almost Patsy Cline Band” on Aug. 24.

But first, fans will be treated to the Dixieland All Stars on Sunday.

The band is a group of seven professional musicians who all reside in Kerrville, Fredericksburg or San Antonio, and who have all been performing together for over three years.

Dixieland All Stars got its start when George Eychner (trumpet player and Kerrville Rotarian) established the band for a one-time jazz worship service at the Rotary District Convention being held in Kerrville.

The performance was so well-received that the group was asked to provide a similar service for all three of the Sunday morning worship services at First United Methodist Church in Kerrville.

Since then, the jazz worship service has continued to be a core aspect of the group.

Members of the group include:

•Clarinet player Phil Armstrong, who was born and raised in Oklahoma, but who holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in music in Texas and is retired from teaching band for 36 years in Texas;

•Banjo specialist Bob Black is a native of Corpus Christi and his love of music dates back to early childhood. He began playing the coronet at age five and the banjo at age 13. His banjo performances with Jim Cullum’s Happy Jazz Band and Shakey’s Pizza Parlor helped Black put two kids through college. Currently, he also plays guitar in the Sentimental Journey orchestra and mandolin at a San Antonio eatery, when not selling dental equipment and supplies;

•Pianist Ted Conerly, who is the current Fredericksburg Middle School choir teacher and a former banker, has family roots in New Orleans and “Dixieland in his blood.” He formed his first Dixieland band, “The Basin Street Five” when he was only 13 years old. Since then, he has played in bands ranging from the University of Houston Dixieland Band to the Sentimental Journey Orchestra, which he founded and directs;

•Founder of the band and trumpet player George Eychner started “playing” trumpet when he was seven years old -- with his father holding the horn and fingering the notes to the Beer Barrel Polka while Eychner provided the air. He has performed with a variety of musical organizations and settings throughout a United States Air Force career and currently performs with a number of Hill Country groups to include the Symphony of the Hills;

•Kerrville native Gary Hatch plays upright bass. He started playing Dixieland jazz as a kid with a borrowed bass from Tivy High School. It didn’t come with a bow, so he never learned how to use one. Currently, he works in the daytime as an architect with Peter Lewis Architect and Associates and performs regularly with Harry and the Hightones, the Dick Walker Trio and Part of the Problem;

•And, finally, Jay Thomas is the trombonist for the group. He started singing and playing music at the First Methodist Church in Flandreau, SD, in his early childhood. In addition to playing the “Super Bone”, invented by Maynard Ferguson, he is an arranger and piano player.