This footage of "John Handy and his New Orleans Stompers" aka the "December Band" was filmed while on a tour through Connecticut during December of 1965.
Captain John Handy ( 1900-1970) is an important musicians playing in the New Orleans idiom and yet he is almost totally unrecognized. One the main reasons for this is that he plays the saxophone, an instrument thought to have no place in a traditional New Orleans Jazz Band. another reason for his obscurity is that he made very few recordings having lived in New Orleans all of his life.
The band consists of four musicians from the early New Orleans tradition Capt. John Handy on alt sax, Kid Thomas Valentine trumpet, Jim Robinson trombone and Sammy Penn drums.
From the young generation are Sammy Rimmington clarinet, Bill Sinclair piano, Dick Griffith banjo, and Dick McCarthy bass.
