Stomp Off Records helping to preserve Dixieland Jazz

Put together musicians performing on the piano, trombone, clarinet, and washboard – yes, a washboard – and you have the French-based Paris Washboard band playing Dixieland Jazz.

The group will be performing at the Capitol Theatre of the Appell Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, February 21, at 7:30 p.m.

That is just one York connection.

Eleven of Paris Washboard’s albums have been produced by Stomp Off Records. Stomp Off Records was created by Bob Erdos around 1980, after he retired from Danskin.

“He fell in love with traditional jazz/ragtime music,” his wife, Erda, said. Bob produced 436 albums prior to his death in 2017. “He wanted to preserve the style of 1920s jazz.”

“Bob discovered jazz while traveling in London after college. He heard the music coming from the open door of a club and became very interested,” Erda recounted.

A number of the original albums were on vinyl and later on cassettes and then compact discs (CDs). Today quite a bit of the Stomp Off Records repertoire is available as digital downloads on the internet through Spotify, iTunes and other online sites.

“I inherited the label,” Erda says, and now distributes the albums online and keeps track of the digital downloads. The market for Stomp Off Records is world-wide.

“There’s definitely a market for this music,” she adds. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, another of Stomp Off’s recording artists, “performs every Monday and Tuesday in New York City,” Erda notes. Giordano’s music was an integral part of the HBO series, “Boardwalk Empire,” several years ago.

Paris Washboard trombonist Daniel Barda contacted Erda to tell her the band would be appearing at several locations in the United States. Erda then contacted the Appell Center’s Todd Fogdall and arranged for the Feb. 21 performance in York.

The group has appeared at the Strand Theatre twice previously, but this will be the band’s first performance in the more intimate setting of the Capitol Theatre.

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The band is popular throughout France and Germany and often tours in those countries. “There’s a big market for (their music) there,” Erda says.

Thanks to Bob Erdos’ love of traditional jazz/Dixieland music from around the world, the sounds live on.

“It’s Bob’s legacy,” Erda says.

Additional information on Stomp Off Records is available at www.stompoffrecords.com.

Tickets for the Paris Washboard performance, ranging from $25 to $35, are available through the Capitol Theatre and www.appellcenter.org.

Gordon Freireich is a former editor of the York Sunday News. Email: gordonaf2805@gmail.com.