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 The Randy Oxford Band

All the Buzz

Randy Oxford has become an important and vital part of the Northwest Blues scene in a relatively short period of time (the Washington Blues Society's 2002's Hall of Fame inductee). Oxford first came to wide recognition as a part of Little Bill & the Blue Notes in the summer of 1989. With incredible stage presence and astounding showmanship, the bone-man nearly stole the show from the veteran bluesman at every performance. It would be this collaboration that would inspire Randy to break out on his own. After a long stint with the cross-over blues band, Junkyard Jane, The Randy Oxford Band was born. On All The Buzz, their debut recording, the band lays down some of the tastiest blues to come out of Seattle so far this year.

The members of The Randy Oxford Band are legitimate blues players who are schooled in the classics as they look to past masters for a majority of the covers. Oxford and company pay homage to Chicago blues legend Sonny Bo Williamson on a couple of tracks. The juice is turned up on 'Crazy 'Bout You' which is done in a high energy rock fashion whereas 'Help Me' is performed in its relaxed original form. Virginia Klemens' voice gets a little seductive on a version of the suggestive Memphis Minnie hit 'Bumble Bee'. Stepping out of the confines of blues, the band slaps a PG rating on the Prince tune 'Peach' by replacing a few choice words, but the funky vibe still comes through loud and clear. Another funk-drench cover is James Brown's 'Think' which features Oxfords signature trombone antics as he builds from a low murmur to an orgasmic climax. [you can hear this when you open <http://users.owt.com/rpeto/randy/cd/buzz.html>]

All The Buzz is a fun and jubilant recording, chock-full of great riffs and awesome solos. Randy's band mixes it up nicely with well-known standards and some rather obscure songs which have gone unnoticed, until now. The Randy Oxford Band will surely be taking home a couple of BB's at the next WBS awards ceremony, and rightfully so.

To give you an idea as to how busy Randy is, let's check out his calendar. In the year 2002, Randy has played or is scheduled to play at 150 jam sessions. Since Randy manages these sessions, he is there from beginning to end keeping track of each player and figuring out which combination of musicians will work out the best. And he is playing trombone at each session. On top of the jam sessions, Randy has an additional 125 nights playing with various bands. The Steamers, The Howlers, Fat Cat, Little Bill and The Bluenotes, Jr. Cadillac, Funkin Groovin, Loose Gravel, The Hudson Blues Band, The Silverbacks, The Michael Kahler Band, and Randy's new band, Nicole Fournier and Her Three Pound Universe are just some of the bands Randy plays with this year. Now for those mathematically challenged blues lovers out there, that's 275 nights of playing in one year. Randy swears that he spends the other few nights a year checking out the local scene. It's no wonder that this man has received multiple awards from The Washington Blues Society (Entertainer of the year, Hall Of Fame, Keeping the Blues Alive, 4 times Horn of the year, and also a number of band awards). This man is truly amazing. I have followed Randy this year to a number of gigs and it's been a wonderful experience. Randy knows the name of every musician at every jam and how they play. He knows the name of every waitress and bartender. He also knows everyone in the bar. If I was out at night that much, I wouldn't know my name, but Randy? He knows everybody. He's like a traveling Cheers (the old TV sitcom). So how did he get this way you ask. Let's turn back the way back machine.

Randy was born in Ballard in 1960. At age 5 he moved to Chicago. Randy remembers growing up with music always playing in the house. In 6^th grade, he took up the trombone and credits band director Steve Hoernamann as an early influence. In high school, he played in the 200 piece marching band, the concert band, and the stage band. Obviously his obsessive personality started early. Randy played in the Orange Bowl Parade and also received the Louis Armstrong award from his high school. Randy said he had to choose between music and baseball due to time constraints and we are so glad he chose music. I have a hard time seeing that distinctive figure of his in Center Field at Safeco. Although since Randy will be gracing both Cheney Stadium in Tacoma and with the Aquasox in Everett this Summer, maybe Safeco isn't so far off. Randy remembers seeing Maynard Ferguson and Led Zeppelin in high school and being impressed with their energetic performances. Anyone who has ever seen Randy knows he gives it all at every show. As Little Bill says, 110 per cent, all the time. After high school, Randy joined the Army with the understanding that he would be in the Army Band. So for the next 6 years, Randy got the best training in the world. He played all over Europe in a variety of musical settings. He played in large jazz bands using Stan Kenton and Count Basie charts. He played with the Berlin Radio Orchestra. He played in smaller combos in NCO Clubs on Earth Wind & Fire and Kool & The Gang tunes. In addition to his earlier recordings with his high school ensembles, Randy recorded LPs with The Berlin Brigade Army Band and The Ambassadors of Jazz, as well as with the Al Porcino (of Woody Herman fame) Big Band.

In 1981 Randy finagled a transfer to California to Fort Ord. There, Randy hooked up with his first blues band, The Broadway Blues Band. This band included a B-3, and a three piece horn section. The highlight of their time together was playing the 25^th anniversary of The Monterey Jazz Festival. What an honor! Randy played with this group until he left the Army in 1984. In his post army career Randy managed a number of Domino's Pizza franchises (I make none of this up) in the San Francisco area until he was held up at gunpoint one too many times. Randy then packed his bags and moved back to the NW to join his parents printing supply business.

After settling in Redmond in 1986, Randy called up Marlee Walker who was at that time hosting her show, "All Blues", Sunday nights on KPLU-FM. Marlee sent Randy down to the Blue Monday jam at The Owl in Ballard. At Randy's first night at The Owl, he played with Dick Powell backing up singer Lily Wilde. Not bad for the new kid in town. Randy then hooked up with the band Duo Glide and ended playing Larry's in Pioneer Square on Sundays for the next few years with likes of Mark Whitman and Leslie Clinkingbeard. Playing with Les and Lily also led to many memorable nights playing with Jr. Cadillac throughout the NW. Randy's first commercial NW release is on Jr. Cadillac's 20^th Anniversary cassette from the Sheraton Ballroom.

In early 1989, Randy met the man who would turn out to be the most influential person in his career. Randy was asked to play at Little Bill Engelhart's 50^th birthday party at Prosito's in Tacoma. Soon after, Randy was asked to join the Bluenotes and for the next 8 years played in one of the finest blues bands ever to grace NW stages. Bill considers that line-up of Randy, Buck England, Tommy Morgan, Hans Ipsen, Robbie Jordan/Brian Kent, and Hadi Al-Saadoon to be his favorite Bluenotes line up. They played the Winthrop Blues Festival, The Waterfront Festival in Portland, Gig Harbor Jazz Festival, Sun Banks, Mt Baker and every bar and club in between. During this stretch, Randy recorded a series of classic NW blues CDs with Bill. Down For Double, Another Rainy Day, Shades, Retrospectively Yours, and Sweet Cucumber '89 all have great Bill Engelhart originals with Randy blowing his bone right along. Randy attributes Bill's professionalism, consistency, and financial acumen as major factors in influencing Randy's future direction. Randy also says he learned to play the slow blues from Bill. Bill has a whole chapter in his book, "Next Stop Bakersfield", about Randy. My favorite description of Randy is in there, as Bill says it so delicately, "Randy is a ball grabber". But after 8 years on the road and a full time day job, Randy was burnt out and took a break until his next big adventure.

Randy's reputation was growing by this time. His ability to quickly sight read written music has made him a favorite of NW record producers. He has appeared on over 25 CDs including Mark Riley, Annieville Blues, Led Jaxon, L.J. Porter, The Night Sticks, Kevin Wallace, Nora Michaels, and Seattle Women in Rhythm and Blues. Through 1997 and into early 1998, Randy played with the group Fat Cat, and of course won the award for "New Band of the Year" from the WBS. Fat Cat is a horn driven band featuring the strong vocals of Bear Barrus, original songs by keyboardist and vocalist Pat Gossan, Hans Ipsen and Hadi Al-Saadoon from the Little Bill band and a great rhythm section of Major Durst and James Busch. In late 1998, Randy started jamming with a Tacoma based band called Junkyard Jane. They play an eclectic array of original music based in folk, rock, blues, and country. The band features the song writing talents of Leanne Trevalyan and Billy Stoops with a solid rhythm section anchored by Barbra Blue on bass. When Randy first joined the band, he was part of a horn section with Sue Orfield on saxophone. After Sue had moved on, Randy found himself, for the first time in his career, the only horn player in the band. This new found freedom allowed Randy the room to grow and find new ways to express himself on his instrument. Randy recalls his three years with Junkyard Jane with great fondness. They quickly turned into one of the most popular bands on the NW circuit. The highlight was certainly the trip to Memphis where Junkyard Jane placed in the final 8 in national competition. This was a major achievement for a band that was not a traditional blues band. Randy contributed his playing ( Washboard Highway and Milkin' The Frog) and for the first time his singing and songwriting (Swampabilly Snake Oil Freakshow) to the first three Junkyard Jane CDs. Randy fans should seek out the first printing of Freakshow for the two extra Randy tunes, Cool Bus and 4 Dukes. After three years of touring, Randy felt he had contributed what he could to the band and felt it was time to turn his promotional and booking skills into a full time career in music.

Randy credits Barb and Bill Mosher of Jake's Ales in Federal Way for helping him get started. Randy started a weekly jam session on Wednesday nights that is one of the most musician friendly nights in the local scene. With a core band including rock steady bassist Jack Kinney of Stickshift Annie and the ever smooth Andrew Clouthier of Left Hand Smoke on drums, Randy imports two special guests every week. Past guests have included Alice Stuart, Henry Cooper, John Stephan, Mike Lynch, John Hodgkin, Ned Neltner, Tommy Boyle, Perry Sanders, Tim Sherman, and Steve Bailey. Regular jammers include the horn section of Steve Sarandos and Cheryl Clark and the vocal talents of Peaches with Paul Krug on keyboards. Randy soon started working with club owner Karl Hintz and added jams on Sunday nights at The Lucky Star in Kent and Tuesday nights at The Redondo Grill in Des Moines. These jams feature Nicole Fournier on guitar, Michael Stubblefield on very electric bass, and Karl Hintz on drums. Recent guests have included Kathi MacDonald and Patti Allen. Randy then decided to get busy and began co-hosting jams on Thursday nights with Loose Gravel at Tacoma's Emerald Queen and also started up Oxford Entertainment which is booking musicians in every nook and cranny Randy can find. Bill Graham would have been very proud of this boy.

If this wasn't enough, Randy and Nicole Fournier decided to start up a new band called Nicole Fournier and her 3 Lb. Universe. The band has already recorded a CD of all original music featuring the song writing and guitar playing of Nicole, the intricate and expressive keyboards of Ric Ulsky and the solid rhythm section of Michael Stubblefield and Michael Kinder on drums. Randy feels this band has amazingly talented musicians and the band has great potential for success. Randy thinks that this is a great time for blues in the NW due to the support given to him and other musicians by The Washington Blues Society. Specifically, the board of the WBS headed by Leslie Fleury has shown real commitment and dedication to the blues and to its practitioners. I think Randy's success is not due to just his talent as a trombone player. Randy takes his responsibilities very seriously. He feels very strongly that a musician should give his or her best show every time they are on stage. It costs a lot for a couple to go out to dinner these days. When you add in babysitting, parking, and cover charges, it's a real bite. By taking the time to meet the customers and get to know them, you make the people feel special and they will want to come back and hear you again. If you don't want to play for people, Randy feels you should just stay home. As I've mentioned before, and can't emphasize enough, Randy's enthusiasm for life comes through every time he plays.

Randy's plans for the future include recording projects with Eric "Two Scoops" Moore, The Howlers, Michael Kahler, Nicole Fournier, and a solo project. As of now, he still has Monday nights free so if any club owners out there need a Blue Monday jam, please contact Oxford Entertainment at 253-973-9024.

1. Washington Blues Society
2. Mark's Online Music Source in the Mogs, Inland Empire
3. Blues To Do