GJB 3/85 is a live recording of our 14th Millpond Anniversary in March, 1985, featuring Conrad Janis on trombone, Carol Leigh on vocals, Howard Alden on guitar & banjo, and Noel Kaletsky on clarinet & sax. Well-known for her singing with the Original Salty Dogs, Carol Leigh had worked with us a few times before, including three nights at the Art Institute of Chicago. As you will hear on this recording, she really knew how to swing a band. In his younger days, Conrad Janis listened a lot to Kid Ory in California. In the 1950s he was well-known for his trombone work at Manhattan’s Central Plaza; in the 1960s he was a favorite guest at the Connecticut Dixieland Society’s monthly concerts. In the 1970s he performed frequently with the GJB, and in the 1980s he was leading his own “Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band” in California while working as an actor in movies and television show such as “Mork and Mindy”. (He played Mindy’s father.) Meanwhile in the 1980s Howard Alden was a new guy in New York, just breaking into the big time. We first brought him to the Millpond as a substitute banjo player, but quickly realized that he was even better on guitar. (See our “Airmail Special” CD from 1984.) This is a live recording, originally issued on cassette and now digitally re-mastered from the original tapes. (The final two tunes on this CD are previously unissued.) I think you will agree that the excitement of the evening and the relative youth of the GJB come across well. Click HERE to see the review of this CD in the December 2018 issue of the Syncopated Times.

To hear a sample track in MP3 format click on "High Society" in the tune list below: