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 on piano, John Beal on bass, and Ed Bonoff on drums. The set draws on Dixieland and swing jazz from the 1920s through the 1940s, framing the night around the early jazz traditions the group has made its regular Arthur’s program.
The band has performed at Arthur’s Tavern every Sunday since 1986. The venue describes its music as representing facets of America’s original music, jazz, delivered with “musical enthusiasm and professionalism.” Its members are working freelance musicians who have each played with multiple bands and projects, while this collective focuses on traditional Dixieland, swing, and New Orleans jazz. No hometown, specific collaborators, or published critical assessments are identified in the available material, but the group’s decades-long residency makes it part of the continuing musical life of the room.
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.