KEN KEELER - Leader, banjo, guitar.
A former pilot for the USAF and TWA, Ken is retired from an industrial sales
career in electronics instrumentation, and continues life as a farmer and
freelance musician/ band manager. As a boy, he played banjo and mandolin in the
family square dance band, backing his father as dance caller. His first
exposure to Dixieland music was Spike Jones' 1941 recordings. Ken shares many
of Spike's musical philosophies, unlike some members of the band! He studied
trombone in high school but became fascinated with early jazz music in college
where he played banjo with several bands. Ken was a featured performer in Japan
at the 1988 Kobe Jazz Street festival, and can be heard as guest string-man on
several other nationally-known jazz bands' recordings. He is a renowned ham
radio competitor and has built a very large station on his vineyard in the
TOM BARNEBEY Piano
Tom has been in trad jazz
since the 1960s, when he began playing banjo and piano in pizza parlors around
the Los Angeles area, and cornet with the then newly formed Jelly Roll Jazz
Band. After moving to
VIRGINIA TICHENOR - Piano - has been consumed by ragtime her
entire life, as the daughter of Trebor Tichenor ,
the noted ragtime scholar, pianist, collector and founder of the
PETE MAIN - Clarinet, alto & soprano sax, vocals and duck call!
Pete is a retired music teacher and spends time at the duck-hunting club and
goes fishing a lot. He taught at the Navy Music School, played in the Santa
Clara Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed in a Renaissance music group in
Stockton for many years. Pete founded this band, when he assembled a few
friends of his for a gig at the Byron firehouse in April, 1982. He's unearthed
some fine old novelty tunes to sing with the band. He can also be heard
regularly with the Cell Block 7, Ted Shafer's Jelly Roll JB, and Tom Barnebey's BEYOND SALVATION
NOEL WEIDKAMP - Cornet.
Joining DMJB in 2000, Noel has been playing cornet since since
he was 9 years old, inspired by his bandleader father. He played in his
brother's dance band at the age of 12 and has been playing popular music ever
since. A 'recovering' member of the Stanford Marching Band, he has played with
big bands and small combos while pursuing a career as a real estate developer.
He has retired from this endeavor and is now a full time musician, working with
such area bands as, Phil Howe's 'Jazz D'Elegance',
the Bay Area Repertory Big Band, and the swing group, '400 years of Swing', as
well as primary lead horn with DMJB.
TOM
BELMESSIERI – Cornet,
vocals
Tom began
playing trumpet when he was 9 years old and has been involved with music ever
since. He grew up with an appreciation
for the music of the '20s, '30s, & '40s because his dad was always playing those
records, particularly Bing Crosby, the early jazz of
Bix Beiderbecke and Paul
Whiteman, and the big swing bands. In high school Tom sang in the music
department's barbershop
quartet. In 1985 he organized a group of musicians to play dixieland and that was the birth of the Fog City Stompers. He has
composed a number of his band's original tunes. Tom joined DMJB in late
2012.
GLENN CALKINS - Trombone, Ophicleide.
Glenn started playing trombone in fourth grade in 1955. His parents would host
a jam session every Monday night at their home in Alhambra. Occasionally such
musicians as Mike Delay, Buddy Burns, Teddy Buckner and
ALLAN GRISSETTE - Drums.
Allan has been providing solid rhythm to a variety of groups since the late
fifties, including symphonic and stage orchestras, country, rock, and dance
bands. Tom Cantrell and Allan's high school big band was one of the first to
make a recording in 1960. He played with DMJB at our first festival in 1983,
and rejoined us in 1988. Allan is a retired commercial appraiser with the
County Assessor's office, and on weekends, worked as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff.
KEITH BALTZ - Tuba.
Keith started his musical training at age 7 on the accordion (!), played baritone
horn at age 10, and began on the tuba in high school. He studied tuba in
college, and for many years, was band director for Davis High School in
Modesto, CA. He is also a building contractor. He has played professionally
with various groups including brass quintets, marching and polka bands, and has
been in demand as a jazz tubist with numerous
Dixieland bands since 1980. He first joined Devil Mountain JB in 1988.
FORMER MEMBERS, SOMETIMES APPEARING WITH THE BAND:
KEN BROCK - Cornet.
Ken Brock is a 1969 graduate of the
RICK ELMORE - Trombone and Tuba
Rick started at age 10 in 1964. As a teenager in
JEAN KEELER - Piano, vocals, arranger.
Jean is a retired grade school teacher and has now retired from full-time work
with the band. She has a Master's Degree in classical piano and voice, and at one
time was an opera singer - a coloratura soprano. Her favorite operatic roles
were in Mozart's Don Giovanni, as 'Zerlina,' and
'Gretel' in Hansel & Gretel. Now, she's better known for singing the blues.
The big musical change for her came in 1975, when she got a saloon gig, playing
'Dixieland'. Jean has played ragtime piano with Ken on banjo at festival pianoramas and Ragtime specials, and she wrote Devil
Mountain Rag, the band's theme song.
TOM CANTRELL - Cornet.
Tom is an insurance agent and former teacher. He's a symphony player, played in
a mariachi band, and was indoctrinated in traditional jazz by DMJB in 1982. Tom's vocal talent can be heard on several of the band's most
popular tunes, including 'Home in
ANDREW STORAR - Trumpet, flugelhorn.
Andrew is a graduate of C. S. U., Hayward with a B.A. in music performance, and
is now teaching junior high school music. He has played in symphonies, theater
pit orchestras, and various big bands in the Bay Area. Andy joined DMJB in
1988, and also plays with the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra as well working as a
private trumpet instructor and free-lance musician. He has become one of the band's
most popular vocalists and plays inspired solos.
FRANKLIN DAVIS - Cornet,
Trumpet.
Franklin was born in San Francisco, started playing trumpet at age 10,
graduated from Lowell High and San Francisco State, and now lives in
JIM LEE - Trombone.
Jim is a music graduate of California State, Hayward, where he played in
various jazz groups. He has toured nationally with contemporary gospel bands
and joined DMJB in 1986. Jim was recently transferred to his day job's national
HQ in Iowa, where he's a major account executive. He's able to join us when the
band travels outside of our local area for major festivals. Jim's vocals add
spice to our shows. He does a great job of directing the band and arranging
on-stage.
JIM MAIHACK - Trombone.
Jim hails from the Midwest where he started playing accordion when he was 6.
Jim formed his first band in the late '50s, the Dixie Lads Jazz Band with Bill Allred, Stan Black, and Don O'Dette.
By this time he had taken up piano, trombone, and tuba, and for the next 10
years played with many groups on both piano and trombone, including
Other musicians who frequently play with the band are: Tom Barnebey, Marty Eggers, Renee Deeter