Riverboat Stompers

”How do I get in touch with the Riverboat Stompers?” you may ask.
You should probably start with clarinetist and business manager, Steve Straus, at 508-238-9882,
stephen.straus@comcast.net
Or Larry Baxter at 781-372-1002,
larry@capsense.com
”Will they play any song I want?” you’re probably wondering..
Gosh, yes, within reason, although they’re much better at the songs your grandmother used to sing to you than at Rock ’n’ Roll.
”Do they have any CDs or anything?” you may inquire. ”Why, yes,” they will answer, pleased but modest, ”several CDs, very high quality.” All at reasonable prices and with a wide selection of fun-for-the-whole-family renditions.

The very perceptive Missisippi Rag, widely respected national magazine for the traditional jazz enthusiast, says...

”...Boston band that performs interesting head arrangements of well-known standards in a lively manner with feeling, sometimes with passion...the group plays ensemble very well, especially on the front line, and there are interesting solos plus a few vigorous vocals...[the] Riverboat Stompers deserve more recognition.”

Boston’s own Riverboat Stompers are easily the most exciting proponents of New Orleans Jazz north of the Mason-Dixon line.
The Stompers have entertained thousands at traditional jazz festivals, and at Castle Hill, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and Quincy Market, not to mention countless weddings, barn-raisings, political rallys and bar mitzvahs. They’ve appeared on WBZ and WGBH and are regulars at the Regatta Bar and the Mall at Chestnut Hill jazz series. They’re a no-holds-barred crew of foot-stomping devil-take-the-hindmost Katy-bar-the-door leasebreakers.
The instrumentation often includes but is by no means limited to trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piano, drums, tuba, often not one or two but even THREE banjos, and sometimes fire siren, Klaxon horn, and kazoos. Vocals are committed by the spectacularly unsubtle Baxter and/or Straus. The instrumentalists are some of the area’s finest musicians.
The Stompers eschew musical subtlety and innuendo for a visceral high-octane excitement. They play the familiar Dixieland ouevre, with a sprinkling of tongue-in-cheek tender love songs, hand-clapping gospel and stirring patriotic warhorses