Semper Swing
Sean Nelson is always ready to play trombone and lead bands with military polish or off-the-cuff panache
Sean Nelson, center front, with the New London Big Band (photo credit Vincent Scarano)
It would be easy to look at Sean Nelson’s resume and think he could be anywhere he wanted to be with his trombone and a blank staff waiting for notes to come, and career success would follow without much trouble. Jazz fans in southern New England might be able to thank the stars Sean decided the itinerant cobble-it-together MO a lot of musicians follow didn’t appeal to him, though.
“When I was studying in college and music school, I was playing a lot of orchestral music and jazz, and I loved composing and arranging,” Sean told 8495Jazz. “I was going in lots of different directions at the same time, and part of me was wondering what I would be doing after college. I told myself ‘I can’t just do a bunch of random things and piece things together’ – I mean I could, people do it, but I guess I wanted more of a stable lifestyle.”
Enter the U.S. Coast Guard Band in New London, Conn. While Sean was mulling over how best to combine his prodigious talents as a player, composer and arranger into the stable and satisfying career path he sought, the band was looking for a trombonist who could play both orchestral concert music and jazz.
“When I saw that, it seemed like a natural fit with what I had been doing,” Sean, who arrived in New London and the Coast Guard in 2011, said. “I’m also the staff arranger for the band. So I have my hand in a lot of different parts musically in the band – it was a good fit for me. A stable dependable lifestyle. Stable paycheck. Healthcare. All those things. It’s worked out great for me.”
In addition to his playing and arranging duties for the full 55-member band, Sean also leads two of the band’s jazz ensembles, the Guardians Big Band and the nine-piece Beacons Jazz Ensemble, and plays trombone in the six-piece trad jazz band.
Ah, but lest one think the duties associated with the Coast Guard Band are full plate enough, Sean has also realized a long-held dream of his own, founding and leading the 17-piece Sean Nelson’s New London Big Band (NLBB) since 2016. About half the regular members of the band are also in the Coast Guard band with Sean; the bands’ performance demeanors differ – perhaps the major difference is the degree of formality the musicians must display while wearing the USCG uniform – but the intent, to provide top-quality entertainment, is the same.
The NLBB has performed all over the Northeast, including Birdland in New York, but the monthly show at the Social Bar & Kitchen in downtown New London is what fits Sean and his bandmates like a glove.
“I had been waiting to find the right venue,” Sean said. “I had wanted a big band for years, but finding the right place to play was in some ways the hardest because it had to be big enough for that many musicians and the sound. The Social had the right vibe and the right relationship with the management, which has been great. The Social folks have been very warm and supportive and it has been a huge part of the band’s success.”
And, beyond the club itself, he noted New London is a great locale for an endeavor like his.
“New London has a really cool arts scene and identity,” he said. “It’s a small town, but has multiple art galleries and all kinds of music and restaurants – it has a real identity and I wanted to tie into that.”
The NLBB ventures out from its New London home occasionally; they’re a regular presence at venues in southeast Connecticut and Rhode Island. They’ve played the Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series in Hartford’s Bushnell Park, the Side Door in Old Lyme, and Sean said they have played several weddings in Litchfield in northwest Connecticut, as well as the Birdland gigs. Southern New England as a whole, he said, is full of hidden jazz treasures.
“And it’s funny, because sometimes you wouldn’t know it unless you look. It’s sort of like hiding in plain sight. Like around the corner and in all these little places, there are all these little groups, just there. There’s maybe not a huge audience for it always, but there are really cool things going on in all these little places.
“I think maybe some people look for those big flagship type venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center. Is that going on here? Maybe not in the same way. I think it’s a little more scattered, but it is there and all over the place, and we just have to know where to look.”
The New London Big Band swings the blues with a Sean Nelson original, “Brisket and Beans.”
If you’d like to catch Sean Nelson and his colleagues in action, The New London Big Band’s next shows at The Social are Nov. 6, and a two-night Christmas party Dec. 4-5. The Coast Guard band’s Guardians big band’s holiday show will be held at the Coast Guard Academy’s Leamy Hall Friday, Dec. 6, at 7 pm. Admission to that is free.
Out and about in SNE with 8495Jazz
Upcoming club and concert highlights (all information is current at press time, please confirm by contacting the venue):
Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Allen Lowe and The Constant Sorrow Orchestra (sax, combo), Fri., Nov. 1, 8:30 and 10 pm. $20/8:30, $15/10 pm set.
Elicit Brewery, Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra featuring Leala Cyr (vocals), Mon., Oct. 28, 7:30 pm. Free.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
David Sneider (trumpet, combo), Thur., Oct. 31, 7:30 pm. $15.76 - $20.76.
Parkville Market, Hartford, CT
Nat Reeves (bass, combo), Mon., Oct. 28, 6:30 pm. Free.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday jazz jam most Saturdays, 4 pm. Free.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
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