Potomac River Jazz Club - Celebrating Over 50 Years!

The PRJC is excited to feature Rickey Riccardi back for our July Jazz Talk. Louis Armstrong's Hot Five was formed 100 years ago, and their music is still HOT! Join us on an audio/visual journey with Ricky Riccardi. In November 1925, Louis Armstrong recorded his first session as a leader, assembling a studio group known as the Hot Five. By the time of the group's second session in February 1926, Hot Five had altered the course of jazz history. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Hot Five, Louis Armstrong historian, author, and archivist Ricky Riccardi will be on hand to do a deep dive on these seminal early sessions. Ricky has been with the Louis Armstrong House Museum since 2009. He was originally hired as Archivist and now serves as Director of Research Collections. Ricky is the author of two critically-acclaimed, award-winning biographies on the legendary jazzman.

The Conservatory Classic Jazz Band   
  and the PRJC Jam

The Conservatory Classic Jazz Band opens and closes the music, with a Jam Session in the middle. All are welcome to sit in or just sit back and enjoy! The Conservatory Classic Jazz Band was formed in 2003 to present the sounds of traditional jazz to Washington DC audiences. A seven-piece group, they play New Orleans style, Chicago style, small-group swing, and mainstream. CCJB members include Dave Robinson, leader/cornet/trumpet, Brian Priebe on trombone, Gary Gregg on clarinet/sax, Dan Hall on bass, Jeff Reynolds on guitar/banjo, Brian Alpert on drums. Note: Alfio's has valet parking, street parking, and a full dinner menu available. Visit the band's website at ccjazzband

Jordan Hirsch takes us on a musical journey through New Orleans' red light district in the formative years of early jazz. In recent years, scholars have debunked the long-held misconception that Storyville, New Orleans' red light district, was the center of early jazz performance, and the point from which the music spread across the country. However, Storyville was still an important site in the music's formative years, and we still have much to learn about how it functioned. This talk will offer a fresh look at a single block of Franklin Street in the heart of the district, which was a hotbed of music before, during, and after the Storyville era, which lasted from 1898 until 1917. We'll get to know the European immigrants who built music venues here, and presented African American musicians including Buddy Bolden and Tony Jackson, key figures in the emergence of jazz. We'll also examine the origins of the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, the world's oldest continuously performing jazz group. Jordan Hirsch is a writer, editor, and researcher with a specialty in the music and cultural history of his native New Orleans. He is the editor of ACloserWalkNola.com, the award-winning interactive map of New Orleans music history. His writing has appeared in Slate, Bitter Southerner, The Lens, and ANTIGRAVITY, among other outlets, and he was a staff writer for the HBO series Treme.

   Rosensteel Hall Directions: From the Capital Beltway (I-495) in Maryland take Georgia Ave. (Md. Rte. 97) a short distance north to signal at Forest Glen Road (Md. Rt. 192). Turn left and go west 0.4 miles. Turn right on Rosensteel Ave. The Hall is at 9707 Rosensteel Ave. on the right, opposite a church and cemetery. Parking is in the back. * This location is metro accessible: FOREST GLEN METRO STATION is only 2-3 blocks away. Rosensteel phone is 301-588-3303.
Rosensteel Knights of Columbus of Silver Spring , 9707 Rosensteel Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Planning an event where a jazz band would add excitement? Check our listing of PRJC-affiliated bands and contact them directly for rates and availability.    Recorded tunes by 16 of these bands can be found on the CD ‘The Bands of the Potomac River Jazz Club.’