Digging deep into the roots of jazz

Skip Conkling

No matter your style preference, it is good once in a while for all jazz listeners to go back to the source material - the roots, if you will. Drummer Skip Conkling's band, Skip's Dixie Mix, provided the itinerary on Thursday, February 25, and had toes a-tapping at a South County Jazz Club matinee concert at the Venice Art Center.

His septet rolled through an extensive series of Dixieland tunes, but Conkling also made space for a riveting boogie-woogie spotlight for pianist Bill Buchman. The Sarasota-area band included Conkling, Buchman, Bill Carmichael on clarinet and soprano sax, Marv Luckett on trombone, Joe Miller on trumpet and cornet, Mike Evans on banjo and vocals, and John Dewitt on bass.

Bill Carmichael

Mike Evans, Skip Conkling

Bill Buchman

Highlights included the band's  romps through "Basin Street Parade," "Algiers Strut," "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" and Bill Carmichael's poignant spotlight solo on "Memories of You."

Skip's Dixie Mix