The Creole Cookin’ Jazz Band

The Creole Cookin’ Jazz Band performs Dixieland and swing jazz of the 1920s, 30s and 40s at Arthur’s Tavern, where it has played every Sunday since 1986. The band’s members are busy freelance musicians who have all worked with multiple bands and projects, and its lineup features 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. A New York City working group rooted in jazz tradition with room for freer turns, they state tunes plainly before opening them up through collective improvisation, moving between groove-based passages and open textures. They favor conversational interplay over solo display, giving each player space to steer the set.