Don Vappie & the Creole Jazz Serenaders

Flights & Sounds of Summer

August 8, 2009, 8:00 PM
Free Admission, $8 Parking (Map)

Classic jazz from the likes of Jelly Roll Morton, Jabbo Smith, Sam Morton and the New Orleans Owls – this unique American music explodes on stage with all the excitement and sizzle and satisfaction that defined the French Quarter 70 years ago. Vappie’s virtuosic banjo fronts a bold horn section, piano, bass and drums.

Banjoist Don Vappie and his seven-piece Creole Jazz Serenaders will take you back to the birth of jazz, and then will rock the cradle until everyone goes home happy.

New Orleans native Vappie, who also sings and plays guitar, mandolin and standup bass, was born into a family that had already been active in the Crescent City music scene going back to the 1800s. His band’s repertoire dates back nearly as far, celebrating the music of early jazz originators such as King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong. When some previously unknown Morton compositions were recently discovered, it was Vappie and Co. who were tapped to play their world premiere.

Creole jazz, a.k.a. Dixieland, grew out of the African, French, Spanish and Native American traditions that mixed in New Orleans. Unlike most European-born music, nothing was played as it was written; instead, a song’s melody was merely a springboard for improvisation and intuitive accompaniment. Played with the right talent and spirit—both of which Vappie’s band has in abundance—the music is at once elegant and unfettered.

He and the Creole Jazz Serenaders are a must-see in New Orleans. On tour, they’ve appeared at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and now the Orange County Great Park. When they play, you’ll find that history has never sounded so alive. Artist Website