Area swing band to perform

By russ TArBy

Contributing Writer

A single string drives Djug Django. Ithaca’s Gypsy swing band features the washtub bass playing of Syracuse native Jim Sherpa. A Bishop Ludden alumnus, Sherpa began thumping the gutbucket in the mid-1970s for the Water Street Boys jug band in Oswego where he studied theater in college.

Now, after several years in New Orleans, Sherpa holds down the bottom for Djug Django, a snappy octet also featuring fiddler Eric Aceto, clarinetist Brian Earle, drummer Michael Wellen, pianist Chad Lieberman and guitarists Harry Aceto, Dave Davies and Doug Robinson.

Djug Django will play a concert hosted by the Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at the Spaghetti Warehouse, 689 N. Clinton St. in Syracuse. Admission costs $15 for JASS members, and $20 for others; jasscny.org; 315-652-0547.

“The group’s overall musicality is on a very high level indeed – sophisticated and dead-on,” said the late Syracuse cornet player Pat Carroll.

“In fact, these guys really enjoy playing together, and that spirit comes across clear as crystal.”

While the Quintette du Hot Club de France had Louis Vola playing double bass, Djug Django is driven by the spirited Sherpa, playing a single string attached to an old inverted bass drum. He’s showcased on tunes such as “Hit that Jive, Jack,” “Old Folks at Home” and – aptly –“Mr. Rhythm Man.”

‘Mr. rhythm Man’

The washtub’s sole string may seem limited, but Sherpa makes the most of it. Carroll, an astute observer of the jazz scene for more than six decades, was duly impressed.

“I’ve heard others play this seemingly simple instrument, players who fail to pass the first test,” Carroll said. “This is a rhythm instrument, and Jim has a natural sense of rhythm plus the skill to obtain a full range of sound out of a single string. Simply amazing.” html. “He provides the rock solid pulse that the dancers love and the steady drive that lifts the band up and out of the ordinary.”

Sherpa has become “the heart and soul of the band,” says Djug Django’s website, watershed-arts.com/djug.

The Ithaca octet specializes in the music of Roma guitarist Jean Baptiste “Django” Reinhardt (1910-1953) who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France which also featured fiddler Stephane Grappelli. Hot Club numbers revived by Djug Django include “Nuages,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Exactly Like You.”

The quirky combo also plays Mose Allison songs such as “Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy,” blues tunes like Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son” and Dixieland standards such as “Bourbon Street Parade.” l From page 1 Cafe l From page 1 Festival and for dessert, attendees could order up bread pudding or beignets. There were also food trucks representing Cue Dogs, Bold Coast Lobster, Ma & Pa’s Kettle Corn, Byblos Street Grill, Carvel, Birdsong Café and It’s a Utica Thing.

Sherpa, 70, is the son of the late Joe Sherpa, a former drummer who played for the Mario DeSantis Orchestra in Syracuse in the 1940s.

The Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of traditional New Orleans jazz. JASS president is trombonist Bob Morris, who lives in Liverpool.

Among the vendors, items like glass works, bottles of honey straight from the apiary, and pet accessories were being sold too, and for musical entertainment C’est Bon Cajun Dance Band, Letizia & The Z Band, The Fabulous Ripcords and Brass Inc. performed on the main stage with Bridget DeMarse, Christopher LeFever, Steve Maclean, Dylan Michael, Justin Parker, Kyle Miller, Caleb Liber and Michael Meredith on the acoustic stage.

When it was founded, the nonprofit entity was called Operation Southern Comfort, and then for a while it was known by both the Northern Comfort and Southern Comfort names under the same umbrella to distinguish between the projects down south and the ones nearer to home.

Once the amount of work that needed to be done in Central New York became clear, the organization incorporated as Operation Northern Comfort (ONC) solely in 2014, but the readiness to venture out of state when necessary remained.

That service trip side of the mission was put on hold for about three years due to the COVID pandemic, but it was restored in January of this year when a team of five representing the nonprofit traveled to Fort Myers, Florida, to reverse some of the damage brought about by Hurricane Ian. A second team that included Flanagan went to the same city in March.

Over the years, the trademark comfort has come in the form of putting in modifications like railings, ramps and platform lifts for senior citizens and veterans and creating better shelving for food pantries in addition to removing moldy drywall and damaged floorboards in the wake of natural disasters.

The organization’s steering committee and volunteers prepare for the Crawfish Festival all year long coordinating with a long list of sponsors, finalizing performer contracts and ordering 2,500 pounds of crawfish in total. The event serves as ONC’s primary fundraiser, and Flanagan said anyone unable to spare the time and resources to go on a service trip for ONC can always contribute to that planning process.

After outgrowing Hanover Square, subsequent moves to the New York State Fairgrounds and the Inner Harbor, and a cancellation in 2020, the festival has gotten nice and settled with the return to the more centrally located Clinton Square.

“There’s just a feel about Clinton Square with all the buildings in the backdrop,” said Flanagan, who took over as CEO of ONC at the beginning of 2022. “This is our home.”

ONC’s next service trip is to Buffalo for a week starting June 18, but Flanagan said people don’t need to make a full-week commitment to volunteer. Sign-ups are on the organization’s website, operationnc.org.