Dawn Lambeth & The Usonia Jazz Band

Across the Airwaves

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:52:20 -0800

Thanks so much to all the great radio stations that have been giving the love to “Let's Get Lost”! It’s so exciting to know we are being heard around the country as well as in Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan and online, too cool! Both KRFP in Moscow ID and WHMB in Waterville, ME made it the #1 jazz cd of the week a couple weeks back, and it made the Top 10 list at the following stations:

CSCR Scarborough, Ontario
KBUT Crested Butte, CO
KSAU Nacogdoches, TX
WERU East Orland, ME
WPTC Williamsport, PA
KMUW Wichita, KS

Before we headed to Japan (more on that to come!) I had the pleasure of speaking with Jim Stone of WLNZ, Grand River, MI. You can hear our chat on his Big Band Swing show this Tuesday evening, April 29th at about 8PM EST time, though naturally you'll want to tune in at 7 so you can catch the beginning of this great show. Listen online at: www.lcc.edu/wlnz.

Also big thank yous to Derrick Lucas at WGMC in my hometown of Rochester NY, who did a nice interview of me at the beginning of April, to Mal Sharpe who featured it back in January on his show on KCSM in San Mateo, and to all our friends at KCSM and KCBX San Luis Obispo who played the CD when it first came out and encouraged me to send it to more stations.

Finally, I’ve also gotten some really nice quotes and reviews about the CD. In writing about it all, I have to say I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the positive feedback, thank you!

Let’s Get Lost!

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:36:12 -0800

My new CD has arrived! It’s still enroute to the online retail outlets (at this point CDBaby, World's Records, and Amazon), but right now is available in San Luis Obispo at Full Circle, BooBoo’s Records, and Apropos.

I was fortunate to have an absolutely stellar group of musicians behind me:

Clint Baker, guitar and bass
Marc Caparone, cornet and bass
Dave Caparone, trombone
Chris Dawson, piano
Jeff Hamilton, drums and a cameo piano appearance
Bob Reitmeier, clarinet
John Reynolds, guitar, banjo, and whistling
John Smith, soprano and alto saxophone

I’ll be playing selections from the CD this Saturday, November 17th, from 5-8 at Vinoteca Wine Bar in Paso Robles, and then again on Sunday, December 2nd from 5-9 at Full Circle. Check our calendar for all the details.

Calling all food and wine lovers, swing dancers, jazz aficionados, and yachtsmen - We've got great events for you all month long!

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:51:57 -0800

October finds Dawn and the gang entertaining throughout the county, playing for candlelight dinners, cruises of Morro Bay, and the Paso Robles Harvest Festival.

Wine lovers, get your tickets today to the Zenaida Cellar's Harvest dinner on Friday, October 19th. Spend a lovely fall evening taking in the gorgeous view at Zenaida winery. Enjoy a courtyard fire, Tapas-style dinner catered by Trumpet Vine Catering, and live music with the Usonia Jazz Band.

Fans of the hot ‘30s swing music of Django Reinhardt won‘t want to miss our free Swing in the Colony performance on Saturday, October 20th in Atascadero, when we will be joined by LA based master guitarist John Reynolds and his brother Ralf, who is one of the world’s greatest jazz washboard players. Grandsons of the silent screen star Zazu Pitts, both brothers are veterans of over 30 years of entertaining and have worked with musical greats including Cab Calloway, John Jorgensen, and the Smothers Brothers and had long residencies at Disneyland.

More info about all our upcoming events can be found on our calendar.

See You in C-U-B-A

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:03:16 -0800

Back in March we played for the Dazzling Diamond Ball, a benefit for the Hospice Partners of the Central Coast. I finally remembered to ask for some photos, and they were so cool I had to put them up. We were honored to be asked to perform for this prestigious fundraiser, and I loved being a part of an event planned with such care and creativity. M.C. and event designer Mark Padgett, along with Corinne Smith out did themselves transforming a vanilla banquet hall into this eye popping tropical hot spot evoking a 1940’s Havana nightclub. We dug being framed by the arch and palm trees, and Ken Wagner’s lighting set the nightclub feel. Julie Wilson captured the energy in her technicolor photos.

We don’t, unfortunately, play salsa or other authentic Cuban music, so we branched out of our regular swing repertoire to play some fun, Latin and Cuba inspired tunes from the period, including “I’ll See You In C-U-B-A”, “Besame Mucho”, “Siboney”, “Amor, Amor” “Green Eyes” and “Cuban Love Song”.

I’m kicking myself I neglected to get a photo of my outfit for the evening, a vintage Mexican hand painted skirt from the great online store Blue Velvet Vintage!

Around About Town in August

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:21:16 -0800

We’ll be hitting all corners of the county in the next few weeks, with public performances in Shell Beach, Baywood Park, Atascadero, and San Luis. Tonight I’ll be at the Carlton hotel, and on Sunday we’ll start the day poolside at the Cliffs and finish off with cocktails at Blue. Catch all the details on our calendar.

Anchors Aweigh

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:45:19 -0800

Dave and I had a great evening last Friday night, entertaining on the Papagallo yacht. If you haven’t yet been on the yacht, it’s a fabulous way to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, or just spend a lazy, lost afternoon. We’ve done a number of private and public events on board, and without exception they’ve been great parties. The crew is friendly and inviting, Midge is the hostess with the mostess, chef Len’s food is terrific, and Dennis is rumored to be generous at the bar. The yacht can only hold about 30 people, and so the trip always feels like an intimate private cruise.

We’ll set sail next on Sunday October 14th, from 1-4pm, and I’m on the lookout for the perfect vintage sailor dress!

Past dates have sold out, so be sure to get your tix early!

“LomPoke” not “LomPock”!

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:56:51 -0800

Last week we ventured south to the city of Lompoc to play the first concert in a summer series of jazz concerts produced by the public library. I had no idea what to expect, and was very pleasantly surprised by the attentive crowd that turned out for our concert, despite the cool weather and overlapping time with another music festival down the street. Interest had obviously been piqued by the well received jazz lectures given by Fred Friedman at the library earlier in the year.

Most of our performances tend to be of a more background music nature, and it was a lot of fun to get a chance to interact with the crowd, speak a little bit about the music, and see people actively listening and singing along. Many, many thanks to my dear friend, Clint Baker, who was able to interject plenty of amusing historical anecdotes into our performance.

To our new found friends in LomPOKE, thanks so much for the warm and enthusiastic welcome!!!

Digital, baby!

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:04:44 -0800

My 2004 release “Midnight Blue ” is now available for download:

I’ll keep updating this entry as more companies are added. I’ll confess, I’ve only used iTunes, so I’m curious to hear any experiences you might have had with the other companies. .

Wedding Gallery

Thu, 10 May 2007 10:47:57 -0800

Planning a wedding can be a daunting task, each part of the celebration is its own project with lots of details to imagine and then make happen. I thought it would be fun to profile some of the weddings we’ve done in the past, showing how past clients have made their event an affair to remember.

Our first feature wedding took place last September ....

Meredith and Jason
September 2006
Location: A private ranch in Paso Robles

A picturesque working ranch was the perfect setting for a beautiful autumnal wedding. The ceremony occurred in a grove of olive trees a short distance from the barn being used as a reception site.

After the ceremony, the band set a celebratory tone as the guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails outside the barn.

The party lingered into the evening with dinner and dancing inside the barn.

Song Requests and Music Details

Cocktail Hour: Festive instrumental songs
Dinner: Mellow soft music
After Dinner: Upbeat jazz and swing
First Dance: Fly Me To The Moon
Father/Daughter Dance: My Heart Belongs To Daddy

Planning Tip

For venues in scenic locations (such as barns, gardens, wineries), having cocktails outside lets your guests enjoy the natural surroundings. One instrumentation that works well in these situations is a quartet of trumpet, bass, guitar and piano/vocals. We can set up the piano (keyboard) and PA system inside where most of the evening will occur, and the trio (trumpet, bass, and guitar) can play acoustically outside with minimal setup. When it’s time to move inside we won’t have to move very much equipment and can have music playing on our PA system as your guests enter.

A big thanks to Meredith and Jason for letting us be a part of their celebration and to Allyson Magda for her great photos!

Into the JungleRoom

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:33:40 -0800

Back in March we ventured in to the studio, a trip that has been long overdue. Great musicians and a cool sound engineer and studio made for a fun, if exhausting, 3 days of recording. I can’t yet say when the CD will be out, hopefully sometime in June. We're pretty excited about it!

In the meantime, check out a preview sound clip and some photos from the session taken by our friend, Mike Larson.

If you'd like find out when the CD is going to be available, sign up for our mailing list!