Chicago Tribune, Feb. 11, 2002
Red Rose warms room with ragtime

By Howard Reich

Jazz lovers may not consider Lake Forest exactly a hot spot for the music,
even if the great Bix Beiderbecke lived there briefly as a student.
But each winter the suburb starts to swing, thanks to the indispensable Cabin
Fever Jazz series, which opened over the weekend in Lake Forest's Gorton
Community Center. If subsequent installments in the Sunday afternoon series prove
as appealing as the opener, Lake Forest should be very hot indeed this winter.
Certainly Joan Reynolds and the Red Rose Ragtime Jazz Band played an
exuberant kick-off concert for Cabin Fever Jazz, which this year is celebrating "Women
in Jazz." And though Reynolds heads a mostly male ensemble, her 20-plus year
tenure as leader of this group has made her a noteworthy figure among women in
early jazz in Chicago and beyond.
More important, her band dispatched classic ragtime and historic jazz fare
with verve and scholarship. For even though the performances sounded vivid and
fresh, they consistently respected the conventions of music conceived nearly a
century ago.
For starters, one had to admire the tempos that Reynolds and friends chose,
which avoided the hurried pace that often characterizes modern versions of
vintage ragtime. Nothing about the music of Joseph Lamb, James Scott or other
ragtime giants suggests that the tempos were nearly as frenetic as many of today's
performers believe. Reynolds' band underscored the point, taking a generally
leisurely pace that allowed every melodic strand and rhythmic detail to be
heard and savored.

One would expect no less from an ensemble that includes such early jazz
specialists as the sensitive trumpeter Bob Neighbor, the sublime clarinetist Kim
Cusack and the unflappable drummer Wayne Jones. Add to the mix the fluid
virtuosity of banjo player Leah Bezin, the ebullient solos of trombonist Tom Bartlett
and the imperturbable bass lines of tuba player Chris Strind, and you have
one of the country's best vintage jazz units.
In the ensemble passages of "The Love Nest," a tune associated with
Beiderbecke, Cusack unfurled silken lines, while Neighbor's muted horn provided warm
support. And in "Camp Meeting Blues," Cusack, Neighbor and Bartlett crafted
exquisitely detailed counterpoint.
Ragtime bandleaders who work from the piano often overstate their part, but
Reynolds remains the beguiling exception. In four- and eight-bar solos, her
touch proved sparkling but never overbearing or lacking in clarity. Finally,
Reynolds played James P. Johnson's "Snowy Morning Blues," in a solo version, with
uncommon delicacy and grace.