The Creole Cookin’ Jazz Band
Arthur's Tavern57 Grove Street, New York 10014
The Creole Cookin’ Jazz Band brings its long-running Sunday engagement to Arthur’s Tavern with a six-piece lineup: Barry Bryson on trumpet, Joe Licari on clarinet, Dick Dreiwitz on trombone, Steve Elmer at piano, John Beal on bass, and Ed Bonoff on drums. Expect a set devoted to Dixieland and swing jazz from the 1920s through the 1940s, played by musicians whose shared focus is the early language of American jazz.
Based in New York City, the band has performed at the West Village club every Sunday since 1986. Its members are freelance players who have worked across multiple bands and projects, and the group is known for maintaining a repertory rooted in traditional jazz. Their approach draws on the collective improvisation and solo features associated with Dixieland, with tunes including “On The Alamo” among the standards cited in accounts of the band. The enduring residency places them firmly in the city’s traditional-jazz life: a working band returning week after week to music from jazz’s formative decades.
Arthur's Tavern is a basement club in the West Village where jazz, Latin, and blues are played with deep roots and modern energy. The stage is small, the room intimate, and the audience sits close to the musicians, often with a few people standing near the back. Shows start around 5 PM and go late, with some sets extending into the early hours. The club has a history of hosting top-tier performers since 2001, including regular appearances by Yuichi Hirakawa Jazz Group. It's a place where music is the center, and conversation flows naturally between the audience and the performers.