San Francisco Starlight Orchestra

For nearly twenty years the San Francisco Starlight Orchestra has conjured the sounds of the jazz era inside ballrooms across California by reproducing the original scores with scrupulous accuracy. Their performances transport listeners back to the exuberant atmosphere of the 1920s. The ensemble draws its repertoire directly from the libraries of the decade’s leading groups, among them those led by Paul Whiteman, Duke Ellington, George Olsen, Ben Selvin, Ben Pollack, and Bennie Moten. Dancers in attendance are free to execute tangos, foxtrots, waltzes, two-steps, rhumbas, lindys, and Charlestons.

John Howard, who plays alto saxophone, established the orchestra in 1984 from his own residence before reviving the project in 1990. Earlier, in 1970, he had co-founded the Chaos Mountain Boys; since then he has appeared with the Black Diamond Jazz Band, the Berkeley Mandolin Ensemble, and the Santa Fe Opera. Violinist Ray Landsberg shared the Chaos Mountain Boys stage with Howard during the early 1970s and, in 1971, received the Hot Jazz Fiddler award at the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest.

Tuba player and manager Jim Brennan previously performed with the Fourth Street Five Jazz Band and the Red Garter Jazz Band. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Campbell, heard on clarinet, saxophone, and vocals, directs Campbell’s Soup Jazz Band and has also appeared with Marty Egger’s Blues Destroyers. Violinist Pamela Carey, active in numerous regional ensembles and orchestras, additionally instructs elementary-school music students. Banjoist Dave Frey serves as the orchestra’s marketing director while offering banjo lessons. Alan Hall maintains the music library, prepares arrangements, and plays piano. Trombonist Gene Isaeff has appeared widely throughout Nevada and California; he and his wife, violinist Gloria Isaeff, perform together as the duo Rags, Strings, and Bones. Percussionist Hugh O’Donnell, whose kit includes washboard, bells, and xylophone, founded Hugh & the Heffners. John Pedone contributes saxophone, accordion, and clarinet and leads his own trio. Violinist and vocalist Ed Rosenback is a regular member, as is Bay Area singer Janine Marie Braddock. Bruce Vermazen serves as musical director and principal cornetist. Another cornetist and singer, Bob Schulz, established the Frisco Jazz Band and collaborated during the 1980s with trombonist Turk Murphy.