A New Orleans and Chicago Style Jazz Band
The Hadacol Bouncers formed in the summer of 2013 for a Portland, Maine Swing Dance festival and have never looked back. They have continued their close association with the dance crowd and are always looking to play for dancers.
The group is a joint effort by co-band leaders Tom Whitehead (piano) and Peter Dunphy (banjo). Tom has a multi-style background in blues, New Orleans R&B and bebop piano. Peter has been playing New Orleans and Chicago-style jazz since he was fourteen. For the Hadacol Bouncers, Tom and Peter handpicked some of their favorite musicians from the Portland and Portsmouth jazz scene. Like any band of this size, there are several players who rotate in and out, but the following are the established core.
Tom Whitehead – Piano, Vocals & Guitar
A multi-faceted musician, Tom has been playing jazz and blues piano and guitar since the mid 80’s. Tom is also an active music educator and historian, and has a Masters in music education, with an emphasis in Jazz education. A lover of the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Tom was co-founder of the Fogcutters Big Band of Portland. Tom is also a huge fan and practitioner of the style of New Orleans piano put forth by players such as Professor Longhair, Dr. John, James Booker and Henry Butler, and he loves to merge this style with that of the earlier stride and music of the 1920’s.
A multi-faceted musician, Tom has been playing jazz and blues piano and guitar since the mid 80’s. Tom is also an active music educator and historian, and has a Masters in music education, with an emphasis in Jazz education. A lover of the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Tom was co-founder of the Fogcutters Big Band of Portland. Tom is also a huge fan and practitioner of the style of New Orleans piano put forth by players such as Professor Longhair, Dr. John, James Booker and Henry Butler, and he loves to merge this style with that of the earlier stride and music of the 1920’s.
Peter Dunphy – Tenor Banjo, Tenor guitar & Vocals
Peter has played banjo and guitar since the age of fourteen. He also studied classical guitar at the University of Southern Maine. A natural entertainer, vocalist and banjo virtuoso, Peter was impressed at a young age by the music of Louis Armstrong in his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. He also has a special love of the music of Fats Waller, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington and enjoys finding and performing rare and sometimes humorous tunes by these and other artists. He is also a highly skilled finish carpenter and furniture maker.
Peter has played banjo and guitar since the age of fourteen. He also studied classical guitar at the University of Southern Maine. A natural entertainer, vocalist and banjo virtuoso, Peter was impressed at a young age by the music of Louis Armstrong in his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. He also has a special love of the music of Fats Waller, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington and enjoys finding and performing rare and sometimes humorous tunes by these and other artists. He is also a highly skilled finish carpenter and furniture maker.
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Don Whitney - Drums
Don has always been drawn to the rhythm in music. He purchased his first drum set from a hoc shop in 1962. His second set, bought new, was purchased in 1964 and he is still playing them, including his 1930’s Zildjian cymbals. Don has shared the stage with renowned jazz greats such as The Flying Neutrino's, Ingrid Lucia, Jim Cullum, Doreen's New Orleans Jazz, Peter Ford, Mark Tipton, Jack Fine and Loose Marbles. He has also played with many of the area Jazz Bands including the Bellamy Jazz band, State Street Jazz Band and the Royal River Philharmonic Orchestra. Don worked as a firefighter for the city of Portland for many years. He is also a writer and has published several books about firefighting, and has collected some fascinating oral histories of musicians in Maine. |
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Nat Balch - Clarinet
Nat hails from Durham, NH. He works as a mechanical design engineer in Portsmouth. Nat started playing improvisational jazz as a teenager in his hometown of Rockport, Massachusetts, and later played regularly with the Memorial Bridge All-Stars while a student at UNH. He has studied the styles of numerous jazz performers, including Sidney Bechet, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Desmond and Clark Terry. For Nat, playing jazz is as exciting as downhill skiing, is as meditative as yoga and is an amazing adventure into imaginative play and storytelling. Nat is also a folk musician (5-string banjo), and a classical musician. When he’s not playing music, Nat enjoys designing and building fine furniture, and sailing with friends on his 23-foot sloop. |
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Ray Sapirstein - Cornet
Ray is a veteran cornet player from Brooklyn, NY, newly residing in Portland, Maine. He has performed and recorded extensively for more than 30 years. He started on trumpet in 1974 and was fortunate to study with Jimmie Maxwell who played with Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee. He bought his first cornet in 2008 and now has several vintage instruments. Ray has worked with numerous independent rock bands, pop groups and singer-songwriters, ranging through traditional jazz, latin, soul, rhythm and blues, and folk genres. Ray is also a history professor specializing 19th and 20th century U.S history of ideas, visual media, U.S. culture, and has taught in departments of History, Documentary Studies, Art History, and American Studies at the university level for many years. His most recent publication highlights the role of ragtime in the poetry of the influential African American poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the birth of Modernism at the dawn of the twentieth century. |
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Bill Rayne – Trombone, vocals
Bill has been singing and playing trombone in New England for many years. He was a founding member of the Bellamy Jazz Band and of the Original State Street Traditional Jazz band with trumpeter Captain John Page. One of Bill’s biggest inspirations and influences is Jack Teagarden – both for his melodic trombone style and blues infused vocals. Bill continues to perform in church and always finds inspiration in hymn singing. This connection with the church has endowed him great empathy and soul for the parade and hymn music of New Orleans. Of vital importance to Bill are the many veteran trumpeters he has shared the bandstand with, including Mel Tukey, Cal Cordeiro, Dick Creedin, Paul Monat, Mark Tipton and Steamboat Willie of the French Quarter, New Orleans. |
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Tom Wilbur - Tuba
Tom Wilbur has been playing the tuba for many years with a variety of groups around Maine. He began playing the sousaphone when he was nine years old. "I was going to play the flute", Tom recalls, but Robert Lucia, his first band director, had another idea. A product of New York State's public music education system and the youngest of three musical brothers with classically-trained parents, Tom has played ensemble-style bass lines for half a century. The rich diversity of styles, the very talented musicians he has performed with, and the unique opportunities to make music have shaped Tom's ensemble sense for what the bass line can be in a variety of performance settings. Tom was a founding member of Fanfare Jazz Band with Joe Mageau on trumpet, The State Street Traditional Jazz Band with John Page, and Maine Street Paraders with Craig Johnson. He also plays seasonally in Tuba Christmas, Chandler's Military Band, The Oktoberfest German Band, and Olde Thyme Jazz. He is also a retired high school science teacher, a carpenter and sailor. |
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Alternate players and associates:
Peter Lord – Soprano & Tenor Saxophone Kris Day - Bass Zach Lange – Trumpet Zach is very active in the music scene of Portsmouth, NH – playing in any number of local jazz and funk groups, including the Publik House Nonet, the Zach Lange Sextet and the Soggy Po’ Boys. Claude Fried – Sousaphone |
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