About Us
Birth of the Blowhards
Band leader Sam Irwin picked up his trumpet the day after Allen Toussaint died on November 10, 2015 and began practicing. He was inspired by the brilliant trumpet work of Nicholas Payton on Toussaint's "The Bright Mississippi" and that was the birth of the Blowhards. We are currently playing a series of front yard concerts during the virus days.
What's trad jazz?
Traditional jazz is the first jazz. It's the jazz created in New Orleans around 1900 by musicians like Buddy Bolden, Jellyroll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and the Original Dixieland Jass Band among others. The Florida Street Blowhards are just carrying on the tradition of the early jazz greats.
Band Members
The current lineup of the Florid Street Blowhards is Sam Irwin, trumpet; Doug Stone, woodwinds; David Seymour, woodwinds; Ben Herrick, trombone; Dahveed Randall, banjo/guitar; Philip Vincent, bass; Gary Stewart, tuba; and Nick Blanchard, drums.
The Florida Street Blowhards began in March 2016 when clarinetist David Seymour met trumpeter Sam Irwin via social media. We jammed with "play-along" CDs until drummer Zachary Farris-Bourque appeared. Philip Vincent was recruited on bass and Dr. Terry Byars (a well-known local theater and church musician) was wooed from the pulpit to the jazz room. 92-year-old John Dupaquier (late of the Last Straws and the Rampart Street Six) filled in on banjo and piano. And that's how our music started...