The Rampart Street Stompers

The Rampart Street Stompers bring the sights and sounds of New Orleans to audiences of all ages with their "musical gumbo"-a blend of traditional jazz and blues from the 1920’s and 1930’s mixed with the rhythms and syncopations of the New Orleans brass band tradition. The result is a sound that delights jazz and music lovers and listeners as well as swing dancers. Inspired by the traditional jazz revival that began on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans in the early 2000's, the Rampart Street Stompers draw on the greats of early jazz-Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, and Bessie Smith just to name a few. Bandleader/sousaphone player Scott Johnson sets the tone with his syncopated “street style” tuba. Throw in drummer Stephen Balgooyen and banjo player/guitarist Al Scholl , and the result is a foot stompin' rhythm section that sets the tone for the rest of the band. Trumpet player Fred Renken fronts the horn section with "Trombone Fred" Rollenhagen on, you guessed it, trombone and Micheal Bocim on clarinet.  Rounding out the group is vocalist Corinne Johnson, daughter of sousaphone player and bandleader, Scott Johnson.  Together, the Rampart Street Stompers share their joy of the hot, bluesy kind of jazz that you would here in the dancehalls of the French Quarter in the early 20th century-timeless music that sounds as good today is it did during it's birth in the 1920's and 1930's.