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Classic Jazz Band To Play In New Port Richey

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: November 5, 2008

Frank Greenstreet was impressed. Dr. James Adkins had three double-bell euphoniums.

A cousin of the brass musical instrument the euphonium, the double-bell has a second sound cone that can create additional sounds.

"I told him I had only seen three double-bell euphoniums in my entire life, and he had all three," Greenstreet recalled.

But Adkins had another surprise for Greenstreet. "He told me he had five," Greenstreet said.

A veteran jazzman, Greenstreet has since lost track of all of Adkins' other varied musical instruments. "He plays all kinds of strange instruments."

At 61, Adkins, a Palm Harbor ear, nose and throat physician, is the baby of Clam Bayou Jazz Band.

Greenstreet founded the band in 1971 and named it after the bayou between St. Petersburg and Gulfport.

Adkins has played with the Springfield, Va.-based Buck Creek Jazz Band and the Funky Butt Jazz Band in New Orleans.

"I keep telling him if he quit moonlighting as a doctor and paid attention to his playing, he'd be a good musician," Greenstreet joked.

Clam Bayou Jazz Band will perform Sunday, Nov. 16, at Trinity Presbyterian Church in New Port Richey.

At 85, clarinet and tenor saxophone player Bert Kempe is the oldest member of Clam Bayou. Kempe played in "Tars and Spars," the World War II Coast Guard musical recruitment show named after the Coast Guard's words for its male and female members.

Drummer Greenstreet is a mere 78.

He joined the American Federation of Musicians in 1948 and was sworn in by Martin J. Emerson, who would later become president of the International Federation of Musicians, a post he would hold until 1991.

Greenstreet got his first taste of the drums as a 12 year old living in Washington, D.C. His teacher also taught legendary big-band drummer Louie Bellson.

Bellson would later become a bandleader, composer and husband of singer-actress Pearl Bailey.

Greenstreet is typically laconic about why he chose the drums. "Why do kids want to do anything?"

There was never a question about the style of music he would choose. Greenstreet loved Dixieland and jazz. "It was the music of the era I grew up in."

After playing in Washington bands, Greenstreet moved to St. Petersburg in 1960. He built duplexes, had rental units, and tried his hand at assorted other jobs, but he never gave up his music.

Greenstreet has always stuck to his jazz roots. "We don't play country, rap, rock," he noted. "Just real music."

Other members are bass player Wes Bowen, who played with Woody Herman and Gene Krupa, and trumpeter Tom Miller, who played with Airmen of Note, the Air Force's premiere jazz ensemble. Bass player Bob Glascock has played with the Largo-based Garden Avenue Seven Jazz Band.

The band has played at Super Bowl XVIII, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and events sponsored by numerous bay area cities. It has also performed in Nashville, New York City, Atlanta and New Orleans.

Greenstreet is noted for educating his audience about the numbers his group plays.

How does the audience respond?

"Pretty good. We always fill the place."

The lowdown

Clam Bayou Jazz Band will appear at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 4651 Little Road, New Port Richey. Tickets, $10 in advance, can be reserved by calling 727-372-7203. At the door, they are $12.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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