Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band


The Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band was an American Dixieland jazz band from the Bellevue, Washington area, active for forty-seven years, from 1971 until 2018. It was founded and led by cornetist Bert Barr.

History

Barr was born in 1945 in Vallejo, California. As a teenager he was inspired by Turk Murphy and the Firehouse Five Plus Two, learning the solos from his uncle's record collection. Barr began attending shows by Murphy at his San Francisco traditional jazz club, Earthquake McGoon's, and later formed a band in high school which played a few local events, including a standing Saturday gig at Red's Pizza in Vallejo.
Barr matriculated to the University of Oregon where he formed The Emerald City Jazz Band with other students. Drafted into the Army, he was stationed at Fort Lewis before shipping off to Vietnam, where he formed another band with fellow soldiers called The Hot Rats of Saigon. After his service he returned to Eugene, where he finished his degree at the U.of O., before moving to Seattle.
In 1971 he formed his first Uptown Lowdown Jazzband, naming it after a tune by Isham Jones. The band performed continuously from 1971 to 2018, with Barr being the only constant member. At their peak in the 1990s they appeared at over 28 festivals annually throughout the United States and abroad, including the Old Sacramento Dixieland Jazz Jubilee, Sun Valley Swing & Dixie, The Great Connecticut Jazz Festival, San Diego Jazz Festival, Pismo Beach Jazz and America's Festival in Lacey, Washington, held over the 4th of July weekend. The full seven-piece band has a worldwide reputation having performed in Japan, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, and Canada. An 'Uptown Lowdown Lite' quartet, consisting of members of the big band, also does commissioned performances. Barr also performed as The Double Barrs, a duo with his piano-playing wife, Rose Marie Barr.
The band has released at least thirty-four albums.

Partial discography

  • 1976 Uptown Lowdown Jazzband - Volume One
  • 1977 Uptown Lowdown Jazzband - Volume Two
  • 1978 Uptown Lowdown Jazzband - Volume 3
  • 1980 Uptown Lowdown Jazzband
  • 1981 Hauling Ash
  • 1982 Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band in Colonial York, Pa
  • 1982 Live in Japan at the Kobe Jazz Festival
  • 1985 Your Requests
  • 1986 Seattle Style
  • 1986 Jingle Jazz
  • 1986 Live in Tokyo 1986
  • 1987 Road Apple Rag
  • 1988 Saloon
  • 1990 Live at Oak Harbor
  • 1991 Seattle Style II: Business in F
  • 1993 21st Birthday: 1972-1993
  • 1996 Cookin' with the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band, Volume I
  • 1996 Cookin' with the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band, Volume II
  • 1997 Apostles of Sax
  • 1998 Apostles of Sax: Sax Religious
  • 2000 Borneo & Other Vintage Rarities
  • 2001 At The Storybrook Ball
  • 2002 Apostles of Sax: 30th Anniversary
  • 2002 I Wish't I Was In Peoria
  • 2007 The Chattanooga Stomp
  • 2010 Hangin' In There: 30 Years
  • 2012 Well SeasonedPlay It Again!Seattle - Frisco ConnectionTribute to Fletcher Henderson Memories of YouUptown Lowdown Lite
  • ''Cruisin' Avalon''