BUTCH THOMPSON, described by Jazz Journal International as "the premier player in traditional jazz today," has a busy schedule these days. He has lately appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Cairo Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic and other orchestras; been on solo tours in Hungary and Japan and has toured nationally with his trio; and has done concerts with his new eight-piece band, The New Orleans Jazz Originals.
He's been playing piano since he was three, in Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota; began piano lessons at six and took an early interest in blues and boogie woogie. As a teenager, he played clarinet in the Stillwater High School band, formed his first jazz group (Shirt Thompson and his Sleeves), and played his first professional engagements.
While a student at the University of Minnesota in 1962, he took over
the clarinet chair in Minneapolis' Hall Brothers New Orleans Jazz Band, and began a series of pilgrimages to New Orleans, where he met and played with veteran musicians, notably clarinetist George Lewis. He was among the few non-natives invited to play at New Orleans' Preservation Hall during the 6Os and 70s. By the early 70s his recordings on both piano and clarinet had been noticed abroad and he toured Europe, Scandinavia and Australia; he's been going strong ever since and has released a series of 9 CDs on the Daring/Rounder label.
He writes articles and reviews on jazz and produces his own weekly
show, Jazz Originals, on KBEM radio in Minneapolis. His writing has appeared in Down Beat, The Mississippi Rag, Keyboard Classics and New Orleans Music.
For more information, see: www.butchthompson.com
SPENCER BOHREN grew up on open range in the middle of Wyoming, near Medicine Bow, between Casper and Laramie; he draws a big crowd when he goes back there to play these days. He was the son of a deacon -- a proper gospel grounding for the blues -- and he found the real thing soon enough when he went to New Orleans.
He told writer Mike Zerwin: "I had bands, played with bands, endless bands, bands, bands. Then I went out solo, started to build my own circuit. It got better every day. I wasn't famous but I was popular in blues circles. I used the genuine Delta -- Georgia -- whatever you want to call it -- blues as a jumping-off point. I love the feeling of early blues. It's so informative, almost like reading a newspaper."
He travels with his family, in a Ford van and a 35-foot Airstream trailer. They have a lot of friends around the country, and he has children who would rather read books than watch television. He's leading what he calls a "horizontal life." He said "...I may not be famous but I'm working everywhere, I've got all the local gigs in America... I'm a local everywhere."
For more information, see: www.spencerbohren.com
TOPSY CHAPMAN was one of the original cast members of the Off-Broadway hit, One Mo' Time; she gained recognition in New York as well as internationally when the show played in London's West End and toured most of Europe. A critic called her "one of New Orleans' gifts to the international jazz world."
As a singer of gospel, traditional music, and Dixieland jazz, she's toured Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia, England, Spain, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Canada, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and of course the USA. She's traveled and recorded with the Magnolia Jazz Band and the Blues Serenaders, and the New Orleans Jazz Ladies.
And, as if that wasn't enough, she has performed before the Queen of England, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Democratic Party, although of course not all at the same time.
DUKE HEITGER started playing the trumpet professionally with his father's band in Toledo, Ohio, at the age of twelve. He moved to New Orleans in 1991 to work with Jacques Gauthe, and has since played at jazz festivals across the U.S., as well as in Europe and New Zealand. He currently leads the Steamboat Stompers jazz trio, playing daily on the steamboat Natchez; they have released a CD on the GHB label called Duke Heitger's Steamboat Stompers.
He was featured on the Squirrel Nut Zippers' platinum CD Hot, and on recordings with Banu Gibson. His latest CD, Rhythm is Our Business, was released last year on the Fantasy label. And somewhere in the middle of all this distraction, Duke has managed to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Geology from the University of New Orleans and is currently working on his Master's.
GEOFF MULDAUR has played guitar and sung on some 32 albums; some with the Kweskin Jug Band and some with Paul Butterfield; some solo and some with Maria; a few with Amos Garrett and a few more with "various artists," meaning too many to name. His roots in the blues run about as deep as those roots can go -- Leadbelly, Blind Willie Johnson, Son House, Robert Johnson, Bukka White, Skip James -- and on up through Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed and B.B. King. In his Butterfield Blues Band days he was able to spend time with Muddy Waters, who, he says, could "summon angels and look at his watch at the same time."
He has produced albums for saxman Lenny Pickett and the Borneo Horns, and the Richard Greene String Quartet, and he's done composing for film and television, receiving an Emmy for the score of It Happened Right Here. His recording of Brazil provided both the inspiration and the title music for Terry Gilliams acclaimed 1985 cult film of the same name. His latest CD is Password, on the HighTone label.
