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| | Besides being a world renown jazz record collector and historian, Ray Smith has been broadcasting jazz
Since 1958. He has been with WGBH 89.7 in Boston since 1972. His signature show, Jazz Decades, has been in syndication for
many years and can be heard in many U.S. cities and on the internet at
www.wgbh.org on Sundays evenings. Jazz Decades delves into the roots of jazz, explaining a different aspect of traditional jazz every week. In 1997, Jazz Decades won first prize from the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association for Metropolitan Stations Musical Programming. A charter member of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors, Smith culls Jazz Decades programs from the more than 90,000 titles in his collection.
Ray was the original drummer for The New Black Eagle Jazz Band, The Yankee Rhythm Kings and
The Rent Party Revellers. He has recorded with The Yankee Rhythm Kings, The Rent Party Revellers, Banu Gibson, Billy Butterfield and Johnny Mince. Ray founded the Paramount Jazz Band in 1985.
 Jeff Hughes - cornet, trumpet, flugelhornJeff 's solos flow from his horn like a well conceived story, with a beginning, a middle and an end. His improvising ability is only outdone by his gorgeous tone and masterful technique. He played with the Rainy City Jazz Band, and the Rainier Jazz Band in Seattle. He Currently leads Lost in the Sauce Swing Band and The Brahmin Bellhops, as well as being a member of The Wolvrine Jazz Band and The Crackerjack Jazz Band. He also played and recorded with the Canal Street Jazz Band of Madrid, Spain. He has played with the New Black Eagle Jazz Band, the East Bay City Jazz Band, the White Heat Orchestra, the Happy Feet Dance Orchestra and has played and recorded with Bob Connor's New Yankee Rhythm Kings.
 Gary Rodberg - clarinet, soprano sax , alto saxCurrently playing in the New Orleans area, Gary has played with the Very Seldom Jazz Band and the Empire Jazz Bandits and has done many symphonic performances, including one under the direction of Arron Copeland. He has contributed many arrangements, including several Duke Ellington pieces, that have turned out to be some of Paramount's hottest tunes. Listen carefully to his solos. Gary's exquisite tone and imaginative, emotional improvisations make him a delight to listen to.
 Steve Wright - soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxes; clarinet, alto & bass clarinet, cornetSteve acts as musical director for the band. He has an uncanny ability to set the tempos and delegate the solos while switching between seven or eight instruments and playing delightful, rocking solos. He has played and recorded with The Back Bay Ramblers and The Happy Feet Dance Orchestra. His ability to play many instruments makes him popular as a substitute with many of the nationally known bands such as
Uptown Lowdown, Hume Street and Stumptown and was the cornet player for the Evergreen Classic Jazz Band of Seattle. Steve is a major contributor to the Paramount's music library.
 Robin Verdier - pianoRobin utilizes his outstanding technique, his knowledge of music theory, his understanding of the early jazz piano styles, his wonderful imagination and his emotions to create solos that will, at times, tug at your heart, and at others, bring you to you feet. He is the leader and arranger for his own Monte Carlo Jazz Ensemble, and is a member of The Crackerjack Jazz Band. He is a veteran of the East Bay City Jazz Band, the Historic Jazz Band and the Exit Jazz Band. He is a regular substitute in the New Black Eagle Jazz Band and records with the Back Bay Ramblers, with whom he can be heard on the sound track of the motion picture Eight Men Out. He is a major contributor to the band's library. Joined a 5 piece group to write and perform music for the first full-length silent film comedy, called Tillie's Punctured Romance, starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, and young Charles Chaplin. Performed it at the Motion Picture Academy in Hollywood , Le Giornata del Cinema Muto, in Pordenone, Italy. Jim has appeared several times as a guest on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, and is a much sought after featured soloist at all the major jazz festivals. He is a member of The Wolverine Jazz Band and The Crackerjack Jazz Band, and has recorded a number of albums for Stomp-Off Records, and has been a guest of many of the jazz bands on the festival circuit. He travels and records with Duke Heitger and Butch Thompson and as Jimmy Mazzy and Friends. He can be heard on the sound track of the motion picture Eight Men Out. He was also voted #1 banjoist and #2 singer by the Mississippi Rag and Jazzology readership polls.
Chuck worked with cornetist Bobby Hackett for two years on Cape Cod and has appeared with George Masso, Pee Wee Irwin, Johnny Mince, and Billy Butterfield. He also appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show with the band from the nightclub chain Your Father's Mustache. He is a veteran of the East Bay City Jazz Band, the Steamboat Stompers and the Happy Feet Dance Orchestra and is currently leader of The Crackerjack Jazz Band and a
charter member of Tex Wyndham's Rent Party Revellers. He played with the Concord Massachusetts Symphonic Band. for 15 years and is currently a member of The Arizona Winds concert band, The Arizona Classic Jazz Band, and The Desert City Six. He has appeared at jazz festivals and cruises with
Rent Party Revellers, The Paramount Jazz Band, The Desert City Six, The Golden Eagle Jazz Band, the Buck Creek Jazz Band and the Golden Gate Rhythm Machine . He has recorded with Your Father's Mustache, The East Bay City Jazz Band, the Rent Party Revellers, Banu Gibson, Billy Butterfield and Johnny Mince.
Chris Tyle, drums, cornet, clarinet, vocals
Chris Tyle is a multi-instrumentalist
playing drums, cornet and clarinet. A second-generation jazz musician, he grew
up in Portland Oregon and formed his first band there, Wholly Cats,
in 1979. In 1989, he moved to New Orleans, where he freelanced with a number of
groups until 1992, when he formed another group, the
Silver
Leaf Jazz Band. The group performed a steady engagement at the
Royal Sonesta Hotel until 2002, when Tyle returned to his hometown. He can be
heard on a number of recordings with both his own and other groups, some of
which have gotten superlative critical notices. He currently performs with a
number of national and internationally known jazz groups, and is involved with
jazz education, teaching and writing.
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