Photo By Rick Farrell
David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band
Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 2pm
Community Arts Center
414 Plush Mill Road
Wallingford, PA 1908
Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and their colleagues, David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band breathes life and passion into America’s own great art form.
Since 1980, this acoustically electrifying group has appeared nationally and internationally in varied settings - currently in the twenty-fourth year of its open-ended weekly Wednesday evening engagement at New York City’s Birdland, at the 2021 Newport Jazz Festival, at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer’s Night Swing, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, at Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y, at Lionel Hampton’s New Orleans-style funeral procession, and at four appearances at Scotland’s Nairn International Jazz Festival. The band’s guest musicians have included Wynton Marsalis, Dick Hyman, Jon Hendricks, Clark Terry, Jon Faddis, Joe Wilder, Benny Waters and blues great Big Joe Turner, whose recording with the band, one of five it has made, was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Visit Dave Ostwald's website.
Personnel
David Ostwald, leader - tuba
Jim Fryer - trombone
Will Anderson, clarinet/alto sax
Alex Raderman - drums
Ben Polcer - trumpet
Mark Shane - piano
Background
David Ostwald was raised in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He began studying piano at age seven and tuba at eleven. Solely a classical musician until his junior year at the University of Chicago, David formed his first jazz band at that time, inspired by the heart of America’s greatest art form.
Since 1980, David has led the Louis Armstrong Eternity Band (formerly the Gully Low Jazz Band) whose second album, with blues great Big Joe Turner, was nominated for a Grammy Award and whose fourth album Blues in Our Heart (Nagel-Heyer) has received international critical acclaim. Since 2000, the band has been engaged in an open-ended weekly Wednesday run at New York City’s Birdland.
Before moving to New York in 2005, trombonist Jim Fryer was for many years a jack of all trades in Connecticut, playing many styles of jazz, Broadway musicals, salsa, and classical music. Now a resident of new York City, Fryer pays concerts and clubs the top classic jazz musicians throughout the region. He has played trombone for Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, with whom he shared a Grammy for work on the Boardwalk Empire sound track.
Alex Raderman is a NYC based drummer and percussionist. Originally from Chappaqua NY, Alex is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he studied with Ralph Peterson, John Ramsay, and Victor Mendoza. He received his Masters Degree in Jazz Performance at NYU Steinhardt, where he studied with Billy Drummond and Dafnis Prieto.
Multi-instrumentalist and reed master Will Anderson was born in Washington, DC and raised in Bethesda, MD, where early on he showed interest and aptitude in jazz music. He was well-mentored in his early studies by saxophonist Paul Carr and drummer-vibraphonist Chuck Redd. He subsequently earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Julliard, where he both received the Illinois Jacquet Scholarship in Jazz Studies. His professional rise has included headlining and performances (with his identical twin, Pete Anderson, also a reeds prodigy) for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Paquito D’Rivera, Tootie Heath, Ken Peplowski, Steve Turre, Warren Vache, Frank Vignola and Wynton Marsalis, among many others.
Named to the Steinway international roster of piano artists, Mark Shane has been called "...one of the great accompanists of his time...” by the Mississippi Rag. Shane's piano, featured on many recordings, reflects a true sense of living jazz history and continues the tradition of deep swing and lyrical melodic improvisation. Mark Shane plays Classic Jazz Piano, America's unique musical contribution to world culture. Mark had a solo concert at Tri-state in 2023.