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Jim Cullum Jazz Band
Are you a jazz fan? Are you looking to relive the golden age of jazz, back when names like Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman were to order of the day? Then now's your chance to grab your tickets to see the Jim Cullum Jazz Band play live in concert. This unique band was become synonymous with the jazz music and sound that was prevalent before the Second World War. What makes this band special however is the fact that they interpret these classics using authentic instruments and playing styles of those times. They also interpret them creatively, thus putting their own unique sound and stamp on everything they play.
The Jim Cullum Jazz Band is the direct descendent of the Happy Jazz Band that was formed in 1962 by Jim and his father Cullum Sr. The band began to perform regularly at the Original Jazz Landing Club that was set up just a year after the band was born. Since then the Landing has moved to the premises of the Hyatt Regency Hotel but the band can still be found at the Landing Jazz Club on the Riverwalk , where they play every night, Monday to Saturday.
The way jazz music sounds today is very different from the jazz sound that existed before the Second World War. During those days, the sound was more like hot, tight sets that were played in ensembles, a practice that isn't followed much today. Another strong feature of those times was the improvisations that were often done, known as collective improvisation. This is in the true sense of the phrase a lost art, as it requires the band to congregate into little ensembles, thus creating a band within a band effect. Nowadays jazz bands usually just follow a set course of melody, solo and then melody. The music of the Jim Cullum Jazz Band follows the collective improvisation method and takes the listener back to the early days of jazz when the ensembles played a much stronger role in the jazz sound.
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The historical link doesn't stop there. All of the musicians in the band are specialists in the historical playing and interpretation of jazz styles for their own particular instrument. They also play authentic instruments whenever possible, follow the playing styles of that time and acknowledge the influences that also went into shaping that sound. Cullum himself plays a cornet instead of a trumpet and his band also boasts of a double bass complete with gut strings. 
