Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band

The Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band is a Dixieland jazz band from the Bellevue, Washington area founded in 1971 by Bert Barr.[1] Inspired by Turk Murphy, who he would watch as a teenager at Earthquake McGoon's, Barr knew what he wanted and set high standards for the band. Over the years he recruited musicians who could read and improvise, hear harmonies, had discipline and were team players. Each member was expected to carry his own weight, the sum total resulting in rich harmony, rhythm and counterpoint and making for a cohesive unit. The Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band played West Coast Revival Style Jazz of the highest order. It is sometimes referred to as “Seattle Style” or even “Barr Modified West Coast Revival.”

The band has performed continuously since 1971, at their peak in the 1990s appearing at over 28 festivals annually throughout the United States and abroad. Major festivals include The Sacramento 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.

Their first album, Your Requests was released in 1985, and the band has since released at least thirt-four albums. Their album, Chattanooga Stomp was recorded in 2007.

References
  1. Bebco, Joe. "Bert Barr, leader of the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band has died". Syncopatedtimes.com. Retrieved 2019-04-18.


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