Album Notes

While the rest of America is frozen in the depths of her winter blues, New Orleans is warming up to another season of revelry. At their weekly gigs on Frenchmen Street, the Panorama Jazz Band leaves the doors open, exotic melodies and tropical rhythms spilling onto the sidewalk. Curious passers-by stand outside and peer into the dimly lit club where old friends and regular barflies are sitting and sipping, or crowding the dance floor. For the occasional tourist who has strayed into the Faubourg Marigny from the French Quarter, this is a rare delight to be photographed and described to the folks back home. But for us, it's just ANOTHER HOT NIGHT IN FEBRUARY...


They look like a New Orleans jazzband and they are! But the presence of an accordion on stage is the first sign of
trouble...

These guys play the goodtime music that gets people dancing: a New Orleans "second-line" AND a Jewish hora; a biguine, a polka, and a habañera. The instrumentation (clarinet, trombone, accordion, banjo, string bass or tuba and drums) lends itself to traditional styles of music from all over the world. Rowdy or gentle, sweet or hot, the music is always appealing, evocative, and exciting.

On Bourbon Street... at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival... in Mardi Gras parades... at weddings and bar mitzvahs, school picnics and backyard barbecues, the Panorama Jazz Band puts out a sound that takes audiences all over the world - dancing!

To add the Panorama Jazz Band's joyous, sophisticated, international flavor to your function or venue, send an email or give a phonecall...

bschenck@bellsouth.net
504-896-9945


"The album is a showcase for the band's stirring eclecticism..."
Scott Jordan - Gambit Weekly

"Humor and joy are the watchwords throughout..."
Keith Spera - Lagniappe Arts and Entertainment Weekly

"(The) most eclectic and least stodgy of the so-called "trad" jazz groups currently
active in town. (Their) approach vividly illustrates that fun and intelligence are not
mutually exclusive states of mind."
Rob Cambre - Where Y'at, August 2003

"With its energy and flair this might be just the right CD to stick in the player to get
you going when it's time to mop the floor..."
Geraldine Wyckoff - Offbeat

"Economy Hall woke up in a very nice way on that first Friday with the appearance of
clarinetist Ben Schenck and his krewe, The Panorama Jazz Band."
Offbeat, June 2003 Tom Morgan

Gambit Weekly's Count Basin previews all the music in week one of Jazz Fest Critic's
Pick: Panorama Jazz Band 11:15 a.m., Economy Hall Tent Traditional Jazz / eclectic
They offer "jazz, klezmer, biguine, Balkan and more," and they aren't kidding. With
the Panorama Jazz Band, any genre is fair game, thanks to their stellar musicianship
and unique instrumentationion - an accordion pumps up trad-jazz fare and allows for
polkas and habaneras, too. The band's a regular on the hoppin' scene on Frenchmen
Street and also gets hopped up on their recent CD, Another Hot Night In February.
Gambit Weekly, April 22, 2003

Street Regal: Mardi Gras parade reviews Knights of Babylon: "Highlights included
the mule pulled royalty float and the Panorama Jazz Band, with an energizing solo
from clarinetist Ben Schenck"
Gambit Weekly, March 11, 2003