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The Epsilon Jass Band was
founded in 1963 when a diverse group of musicians (including Bud Bechtold and Don Greenwell) was recruited by Dr. Bob Shanahan to play for a fundraiser
for a Child Guidance Clinic. (The band
was named for a small town near Greenwell’s deer hunting camp.) Unified by their affection for traditional
jazz, the membership was flexible and drew on practically all willing players
in the northwest corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
The personnel included a dentist, a physician, a commercial pilot,
several schoolteachers, a machinist, a retail businessman, a librarian, a
manufacturer of hunting bows, a dental lab technician, an innkeeper, and a
medical technician. The band usually
plays with seven members. Four of the original six members have passed away.
Celebrating their 52nd year, the Epsilon
Jass Band has become an important part of the music scene in
northern Michigan. Their determination
to keep traditional jazz and swing alive and well has made their home base in
beautiful Petoskey, Michigan the “Jazz Center of the North.”
For more information, contact Bud
Bechtold at: 231 533-8951 |
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Petoskey, Michigan |
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Bobby Bryan,
piano Larry Wojcik, drums |
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Bud Bechtold , c larinet, leader Bob Shanahan, trumpet & vocals Jerry Turner, trombone Gene Rebeck (substituting for Gig Stewart), string bass Jennifer Perry (substituting for Bill Bramer), banjo & vocals |