Sammy Miller and The Congregation Wesleyan CFA Courtyard 7/5/18

Wesleyan always puts on a free outdoor show on a summer weekday evening. Sammy and company were an assemblage of jazz poofters playing their shtick on a beautiful summer evening. Sammy on drums and vocals was joined by organ, upright bass, trumpet, sax, and a gregarious trombone player. They started out by playing the Looney Tunes Theme, which was apt. This crew could play and had a sense of humor, the inter-song banter was comical and a decent crowd rolled in for the affair. At one point, Sammy talks of keeping the Jazz tradition alive for the next generation by fusing it with...rock and roll, no...hiphop, nah... opera?! That's right, Jopera, tunes that are always "longer than you want them to be." Sammy starts singing as the goofy trombone player dons a dress and a blond wig. The other musicians get into character (and costume) as the Jopera jazzily reaches a climax. The show closed with an excellent schmaltzy version of My One And Only Love, and ended with a rousing Nawlins second line number.