John Gill's Novelty Orchestra of New Orleans

Biography

John Gill's Novelty Orchestra of New Orleans was led by drummer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist John Gill, a versatile musician who built a prolific career across multiple American cities including San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, and Austin.[1][2][3] Gill moved to San Francisco in 1977 and joined Turk Murphy's band, where he played drums, banjo, and soprano saxophone until the mid-1980s.[1][3] During his time with Murphy, he recorded with his Original Sunset Five in 1984-85, a group featuring Murphy sidemen including pianist Ray Skjelbred.[3] After leaving Murphy's band, Gill relocated to New York where he became a longtime member of Woody Allen's famed New Orleans Jazz Band, performing regularly on Monday evenings at the Carlyle.[2][3] He also worked extensively with Leon Redbone from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, playing multiple instruments and arranging music.[1]

Gill's musical interests spanned traditional jazz, ragtime, and pre-Beatles rock and roll.[2] In New Orleans during the 1990s, he performed with the Silver Leaf Jazz Band organized by trumpeter and clarinetist Chris Tyle, and with the New Orleans Classic Jazz Orchestra led by cornetist Eddie Bayard, joining the latter on banjo when he relocated to New Orleans in 1989.[1] He recorded extensively for Stomp Off Records, participating in 48 albums and CDs as either a leader or sideman, primarily in the traditional jazz realm.[1] His Novelty Orchestra of New Orleans released the album 'Headin' for Better Times' in 2000.[6] In 2019, facing rising costs in New York City, Gill returned to New Orleans where he found the cost of living more sustainable and continued performing in the city's thriving music scene, including performances on the Steamboat Natchez riverboat.[1][3]

Gill's musical style was characterized by his mastery of multiple instruments—drums, banjo, trombone, guitar, and saxophone—and his deep knowledge of traditional New Orleans jazz and ragtime.[2][4] His work helped preserve older styles of jazz that were becoming increasingly rare, and he was recognized as a specialist in traditional jazz forms.[2][3]

Fun Facts

• Gill met Woody Allen around the time Allen made his first movie, and they continued playing together for decades after that initial meeting at Your Father's Mustache in New York.[1]
• In addition to his jazz work, Gill led a trio called the Dime Store Romeos in California and later reorganized it in New York, where the group played pre-Beatles rock and roll and country classics from the 1950s and 1960s, with long residencies at The National Underground and The Ear Inn.[1]
• Gill was dismissed from Leon Redbone's band in the mid-1990s for 'some infraction that to this day I have no idea what it was,' according to his own account.[1]
• The Yerba Buena Stompers, one of Gill's bands, came about when he received a call to put together a Lu Watters tribute band for the Oude Stijl Jazz Festival in Breda, Holland in 2001; though the original gig fell through, the band continued together and played the festival circuit two or three times a year.[1]

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Freddie Moore - Crack drummer who worked and recorded with King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, and others; Gill played many gigs with Moore at Your Father's Mustache in New York (Various gigs at Your Father's Mustache) [1970s]
• Turk Murphy - San Francisco jazz bandleader whose band Gill joined in 1977, playing drums, banjo, and soprano saxophone; influenced Gill's traditional jazz approach (Turk Murphy Band recordings) [1977-mid-1980s]

Key Collaborators

• Woody Allen - Co-leader of the New Orleans Jazz Band with Eddy Davis; Gill was a longtime drummer member performing regularly at the Carlyle in New York City (Woody Allen and Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band) [1980s-1990s]
• Leon Redbone - Gill played full-time with Redbone, performing on banjo, drums, bass sax, clarinet, and soprano sax; also did arranging and musical directing (Leon Redbone recordings and performances) [Late 1970s-mid-1990s]
• Chris Tyle - Trumpet player, clarinetist, drummer, and singer who organized the Silver Leaf Jazz Band; Gill performed with Tyle on hundreds of occasions and made great recordings together (Silver Leaf Jazz Band recordings) [1990s]
• Eddie Bayard - Cornetist who formed the New Orleans Classic Jazz Orchestra; invited Gill to join on banjo when Gill moved to New Orleans in 1989 (New Orleans Classic Jazz Orchestra) [1989-1990s]
• Ray Skjelbred - Pianist who played with Gill in the Original Sunset Five, a group of Turk Murphy sidemen (Original Sunset Five recordings) [1984-1985]
• Lew Green - Salty Dogs bandleader who moved to the Bay Area and helped organize a band with Gill for a Sunday residency at Your Father's Mustache (Your Father's Mustache residency band) [Early 1970s]

External Links

• Spotify