Bruno's Salon Band

In 1970 several German trad jazz players chose to launch an ensemble devoted to the sounds of the 1920s rather than dixieland. The group took its name from pianist Peter Mette’s pet guinea pig and began performing live engagements only months later. Its book extended from Jelly Roll Morton to Cole Porter, and the band committed material to disc for Telefunken in 1972 and 1974, for WAM in 1977, and produced a 1992 Stomp Off CD. Fronted by cornetist Cris Herrmann, clarinetist Bolle Burmeister and trombonist Wolfgang Schmitz, and anchored by a capable four-piece rhythm section, the seven-piece unit restores vitality to classic jazz and dance-band repertoire.